Chapter 24: [Duchy of Inferna] [15] unknown memories [2]
A hum had begun to resonate in Cassian’s mind as he watched these different stories.
The names, the places, the events... all of it was unsettlingly familiar.
He knew most of these names; they belonged to the world he lived in.
His time spent in the library had armed him with considerable knowledge about his world.
Without a doubt, all of this was about his home.
This chaotic hum transformed into a deafening shriek in his mind when a story titled "The Bloody Festival" appeared on the screen.
Because this story took place in the Duchy of Inferna—the place that had embraced him, the place he called home.
The scene was a festival night, bursting with life.
Cassian felt the moment with all its vibrancy.
The air was thick with the scent of roasted meat, spiced wine, and the smoky tang of burning torches.
People danced with laughter around giant bonfires while musicians played joyful melodies.
Children, their faces alight with happiness, darted between the stalls.
It was a celebration of peace, of life.
Everything was perfect.
Until that moment.
Suddenly, a cold, deathly silence fell over the music and laughter.
From amidst the crowd, a group of figures emerged as if born from the shadows.
They wore pitch-black cloaks that seemed to swallow the light, and on their backs, an ominous emblem was emblazoned: four intertwined black suns.
Before anyone could comprehend what was happening, the massacre began.
This was not a battle; it was a slaughter.
The assassins, like specters of death, plunged into the crowd.
The unprepared soldiers died silently, daggers finding their throats.
Children, the elderly, women—everyone was being slaughtered without exception.
Screams replaced the cheerful tunes.
Stalls were overturned, and food was splattered with blood.
Cassian’s blood ran cold.
What he was seeing was not a scene from a game; it was his reality, the one he had lived and breathed.
His eyes found the protector of the duchy, the demigod Aron Inferna, father of Duke Veynar.
Aron stood at the center of the festival grounds, surrounded by three assassins.
A man whose face was shrouded in shadow, clearly their leader, had cornered him with the other two.
Aron was a mighty warrior.
He could have turned the entire square to ash with a single gesture.
But he couldn’t.
For his power would also harm the very people he had sworn to protect. In this state of helplessness, he was forced to fight with only his physical strength.
Swords of flame clashed against dark daggers.
But it was a three-on-one fight, and his opponents served death itself.
At the height of the battle, the leader of the assassins seized a momentary opening.
A black, cursed-looking dagger slithered like a serpent and plunged into Aron’s chest.
The demigod’s face contorted in agony as he collapsed to his knees.
The blood flowing from his chest gleamed in the light of the festival fires. In that instant, it felt as though not just Aron, but the hope of the entire Duchy of Inferna had been pierced by that same dagger.
Cassian had turned to ice at the sight.
This couldn’t be. This was a game about his world.
How could this horrific tragedy be turned into entertainment for a crippled child on a world thousands of light-years away?
His mind buckled under the weight of this horrifying paradox.
The scenes on the screen continued to change; battles of demons, oaths of knights... But Cassian no longer saw them.
Before his eyes, there was only the festival ground turned into a lake of blood, Aron’s dying body, and the helpless screams of his people.
His mind was shattering.
Reality and illusion, memory and game, had become entangled in an incomprehensible knot.
This burden was too heavy for even his ghostly existence to bear.
The world before him began to blur, the sounds fading into a muffled drone. The last image in his mind was the black dagger in Aron’s chest.
Then, that image, too, flickered and died out like the flame of a candle.
Everything went dark.
The images, the sounds, the memories, the pain... all of it vanished.
Cassian was no longer in a car, nor at a festival. He was standing alone in an infinite, bottomless, absolute darkness.
Just a black space.
And silence.
...
Strange, luminous letters floated in the air before him.
Congratulations, you have acquired a system.
— — —「∆ Status Window ∆」— — —
Name: [Cassian] (Prince of Nothing)
Race: ???
Age: 12
Ascension: 1st
─────────────── Skills ───────────────
[Chaos Flames]
• Three times hotter than normal flames.
• Rapidly drains the mana of enemies it burns.
[Dragon’s Pride]
• Immunity to mental attacks.
• Grants immense willpower and an overwhelming ego, preventing submission even to the most formidable foes.
[Cataclysmic Lightning]
• Summons black-sky lightning strong enough to disintegrate matter to atoms.
• Each strike burns the enemy’s nervous system, disabling muscle control.
• An electric field surrounds the user, dealing continuous damage nearby.
• "Stormheart" mode: Speed & reflexes rise to superhuman levels, making time seem to slow.
[Child of Nature]
• Ability to command nature.
[Rebirth Flame]
• Revives the user once after death.
• Cooldown: 3 years.
[Peerless Regeneration]
• Heals all wounds, dependent on mana.
• Keeps the body in peak form.
[Absolute Zero]
• Perfect control over the ice element.
[Sovereign of Light]
• Absolute mastery over light.
• Can create swords, spears, or armor of pure light instantly.
• Nullifies dark/shadow magic.
• "Sacred Domain": Allies heal rapidly, enemies weaken.
[Void Decay]
• Infests opponent’s life force and mana veins with dark mana.
• Spreads like a plague: drains strength, resistance, and regeneration.
• Whispers despair into the opponent’s mind, shattering will.
• Victims become vulnerable to further attacks.
[Toven’s Memories]
• The memories of Toven, traitor chosen by the gods.
• Memories acquired: 9%.
[Serena’s Blessing: ???]
[Lilith’s Blessing: Talent Echo (Soul Thief)]
• Souls of slain enemies echo within for a moment.
• A random talent is permanently stolen.
• Power depends on the victim’s potential and user’s affinity.
• Stolen talents can grow with mana and will.
[Sovereign Form]
• Body reshaped into a primeval hunter.
• Superhuman strength, speed, and senses (hearing & smell sharpened).
• Natural armor, claws, and elemental energy (fire/ice/lightning).
• Driven by instinct to hunt & destroy. Without Dragon’s Pride, risk of losing control.
• Spellcasting limited, but unmatched in close combat.
• Duration per use: 3 minutes (rapidly drains the user).
───────────────────────────────
....
Cassian remained suspended in the deepest recesses of his mind, at the very center of the absolute void.
There was no time or space.
Only him and the strange, luminous words floating before his eyes, words he couldn’t comprehend... "Reincarnator," "Ascension," "Chaos Flames"...
The words were like symbols devoid of meaning. His soul, crushed under the weight of the horrific memories he had just witnessed—Aron’s blood and the screams of the festival—could not process this new information.
His mind had become a labyrinth where reality had shattered into a thousand pieces, each fragment reflecting a different nightmare.
It was then that something in the infinite darkness changed.
First, there was a scent.
Fresh, like the first snowflake of winter touching the earth; sharp, like the frost of a starlit night, and in an indescribable way, familiar.
Then, a sound.
A delicate and melodic chime from afar, like crystal bells gently brushing against each other.
This sound and scent slowly silenced the hum in his mind, creating an island of calm in the midst of the chaos.
Then came the light.
The darkness gently parted, like a drop of ink spreading in water.
Directly in front of him, a figure began to materialize, as if born from the void itself.
Skin as pale as a rose petal touched by frost, almost translucent...
And her hair... Her hair was the vibrant purple of an amethyst vein, glowing so brightly it pierced even the deepest night.
The dim light that cascaded from every strand illuminated the nothingness around her, giving her a surreal aura.
When her eyes opened, Cassian held his breath.
Her purple irises held within them thousands of years of wisdom and an equally vast, sorrowful compassion. On her face was a sincere, heartfelt smile that Cassian recognized from the deepest corner of his shattered memories.
That smile was once the only home he had ever known.
All the locks in his mind broke. Logic, fear, shock—all were cast aside.
More a cry of awe from his soul than a whisper, a single word escaped his lips:
"You!"
The woman’s smile widened. Her voice was the same melody that had echoed in his mind; cheerful, full of life, and in complete contrast to the infinite void they were in.
"It’s been a long time, hasn’t it, Cassian?"
Her cheerfulness struck the walls of ice within Cassian and shattered them.
How was this possible? How could she be so... normal, in the middle of this nightmare, this meaninglessness?
As if reading his thoughts, the woman continued.
"I know you’re very confused. But unfortunately, we don’t have much time, so you need to listen to me carefully."
Her voice had become serious, but the sparkle in her eyes had not dimmed.
"You have two years. Within those two years, you must go north and claim Mordret’s sword."
Mordret...
The name unlocked another door in his mind. Toven’s Memories flooded his consciousness like an unwanted tide. Scenes flashed before his eyes: snow-covered, ruthless northern lands... a sword gleaming with ancient runes, hidden in the depths of an ice fortress... the face of Mordret, the most loyal avatar of the Light God Radiar... and the treacherous plans of the Empire to set the Northern Duchy ablaze, all to seize that sword...
These memories were as vivid and painful as if they had happened yesterday.
Cassian shook his head, trying to push the memories from the game out of his mind.
He fixed his gaze on the woman. His voice, like the grating of rusted metal, came out shaky but firm.
"Why... why should I do that?"
The woman tilted her head slightly, a look of innocent surprise on her face. She brought a hand to her ear and leaned forward.
"Did you say something, dear? It’s a bit noisy in here, I can’t hear you at all."
Her act was so obviously feigned it sent a chill down Cassian’s spine. She was refusing to answer him.
Her smile returned to its former cheerfulness as the purple light around her began to flicker and fade. Her body was growing transparent, returning to the nothingness from which she came.
"Ah, I suppose our time is truly up now."
Her voice became a whisper, like a receding melody.
"Take care of yourself, Cassian."
And then, as quietly as she had appeared, she was gone.
Leaving behind only the echo of her final words, the scent of frost and starlight, and a broken-minded boy left alone with a purpose in the center of the absolute darkness.