Chapter 31: [Duchy of Inferna] [22] Bloody Festival [7]
The castle’s thick stone walls offered a false sense of security, reducing the sounds of the apocalypse outside to a muffled roar.
Thanks to the protective wards meticulously placed by Evelyn, the room they had taken refuge in possessed the eerie calm of a storm’s eye.
While all this chaos unfolded, Iris and Cassian were the temporary inhabitants of this sanctuary.
Aron had fortified every corridor, every shadow of the castle with loyal guards and strategic magical traps.
He knew the enemy’s true target was the duchy’s priceless and ancient artifacts, objects each holding the power to change the course of history.
Cassian stood before the narrow, iron-barred window, watching the hellish landscape outside with vacant eyes.
Every scene he witnessed was a living, breathing reflection of the nightmares that plagued his dreams.
Shadow assassins of the Order of the Obsidian Dawn, appearing as if seeping from the darkest crevices of the earth; grotesque monsters spreading terror; and against them, the duchy’s guards, their armor caked in blood and mud, fighting a hopeless battle.
Further on, the deadly arcs drawn by Aron’s flaming sword, a one-man army, illuminated the night’s darkness with momentary flashes of lightning.
The battlefield was fractured into countless small fronts, each fighting its own desperate struggle.
But there was one difference from his dreams: for now, everything seemed to be under Aron’s overwhelming control.
While this knowledge offered a sliver of comfort, it was not enough to dispel the deep, gnawing unease that had settled within Cassian.
It was an illogical feeling, its source unknown.
It was as if an ancient power, rising from the castle’s very foundations, from beneath the stone and soil, was calling to him, whispering only for him to hear.
As the chaos outside intensified, every explosion, every scream, amplified the call’s power, pressing against the walls of his mind.
It was as seductive as a melody, as irresistible as a command.
Cassian was using all his willpower to resist the urge.
The Dragon Heart, burning silently in the center of his chest, spread a protective warmth through his veins, strengthening his will, trying to weave a mental shield against this sinister call.
Iris, sitting beside him, squeezed Cassian’s hand tighter.
She had felt him tremble, seen the cold sweat bead on his forehead.
Deep concern filled the little girl’s eyes at the situation she couldn’t comprehend.
"Don’t worry, Cass," she whispered, her voice trying to offer comfort despite her own fear. "Everything... everything will be alright."
But even her own words seemed to hang in the air, losing their strength.
With each passing minute, Cassian’s condition worsened as the call’s intensity grew.
His body trembled, his eyes lost their focus.
This strangeness had not escaped the notice of Elara, who stood guard in the corner of the room.
The sword master’s sharp eyes had noted the tension in Cassian’s muscles, the irregularity of his breathing.
Suddenly, as if pulled by invisible strings, Cassian stood up.
His eyes were blank, his movements mechanical.
He began to walk instinctively toward the source of the call—the door.
"Cassian!" Elara’s voice was sharp and commanding. "Where are you going?"
But Cassian didn’t seem to hear.
He didn’t answer, merely continuing to walk as if hypnotized.
Realizing she had no other choice, Elara moved like a shadow.
In two steps, she cut off Cassian’s path, grabbing him with a deft movement and pinning him to the floor.
"Cassian, snap out of it!" she ordered, her voice attempting to seize control of the situation.
At this scene, Iris let out a small scream of fear, frozen in place, not knowing what to do.
Cassian began to resist with a feral strength, trying to break free from Elara’s iron grip.
But Elara was a seven-star sword master; her physical power and technique were an insurmountable wall for Cassian, who could not yet fully control his own strength.
Their struggle lasted for a few minutes.
Just then, the air in the center of the room rippled and condensed.
Shadows bent, light was absorbed, and out of nothingness, a crown appeared—forged of twisted, blackened metal, with a sinister jewel that pulsed like a heartbeat.
It was the thing that had been calling to Cassian.
In the next moment, the crown floated through the air and settled directly upon Cassian’s head.
Elara’s face went white as a sheet.
She was in shock. She instantly understood what she was seeing and just how much trouble they were now in.
Deep within Cassian’s mind, a metallic and emotionless voice echoed:
[Congratulations. You have been chosen by the Crown of Madness.]
[∆ WARNING: The Crown of Madness is attempting to dominate your will!]
[∆ WARNING: The Dragon Heart is resisting the madness!]
[∆ Madness Influence: 43%]
It was as if a thousand bells were ringing inside his head at once.
A brain-splitting pain spread from there to his entire body.
A pure, primal bloodlust and a desire for destruction tried to invade every corner of his mind.
If not for the Dragon Heart in his chest, he would have lost his sanity in that instant and fallen completely under the power’s control.
[∆ WARNING: Your body cannot withstand the power of the Crown of Madness!]
[∆ WARNING: Survival protocol engaged. Soveregian Form is being automatically activated!]
The next moment, Cassian’s body became the epicenter of an uncontrolled power.
An overwhelming wave of energy radiated from him, causing an invisible explosion that threw back everything in the room.
Sensing the destructive nature of the transformation, Elara didn’t hesitate for a second, grabbing Iris and throwing herself and the child out of the room.
At the center of the blast stood a single, no-longer-human silhouette.
The figure was a being from a nightmare, both magnificent and terrifying.
Long, ebony-black hair cascaded down its back like a waterfall of night.
From either side of its forehead grew a pair of long, curved horns that shone like polished obsidian, lending it a demonic majesty.
Its body was encased in a living, natural armor covered in the elemental energies that flowed through its veins, accentuating its muscular form.
Its hands ended in deadly claws, each appearing as sharp as a small dagger.
But the most terrifying feature was its face.
Where its eyes should have been, there were only two voids of pitch-black darkness.
And in the very center of that darkness, a pair of crimson lights glowed like embers, promising pure destruction and rage.
These eyes, ignoring all the chaos and battle, were locked onto a single person standing in the middle of the square: that white-haired man.
Between them was a tension that electrified the air, a challenge that went beyond words.
Cassian’s body, now in its Transcendent Form, was overflowing with indescribable power. To this was added the uncontrolled force granted by the Crown of Madness.
He remembered the moments he fought against Dr. Arise. Though not as refined or controlled as back then, the raw power coursing through his veins was incredible.
But he was also aware of the strain this form put on his body; every second was precious.
The man before him, however, was indescribably powerful.
Despite all the power he had gained, every fiber of his being, every instinct, was screaming at him to run.
My eyes, ignoring the chaos for a moment, locked directly onto the white-haired man. In that instant, a challenge of pure power, beyond words, passed between us. He was looking at me with an unsettling smile I couldn’t comprehend. My only response was pure, untamable rage.
The next moment, as if I had teleported, I was beside Evelyn and Aron.
The crushing aura radiating from my presence caused the few remaining assassins to retreat in hesitation.
I glanced at Evelyn, exhausted from fatigue, and Aron, clinging to life with one arm.
I raised my clawed hand into the air and whispered the name of a skill in my mind: [Sovereign of Light].
From the palm of my hand, a burst of pure, warm golden light erupted, as if torn from the heart of the sun.
This light spread like a gentle wave across the entire festival ground, flowing over all the wounded, over Evelyn and Aron.
Evelyn’s cuts and burns closed at a visible rate, color returned to her pale skin, and her shoulders, slumped with exhaustion, straightened once more.
Evelyn looked at her hands in shock, realizing that her depleted mana was refilling, feeling even stronger than before.
Aron’s ordinary wounds healed just as quickly, his bleeding stopped.
But the curse of the black dagger remained, a deep darkness in a corner of his soul that even the light could not touch.
Still, this sacred energy continued to circulate within his body, slowly eroding the cursed energy. Sooner or later, he would heal.
They had expressions of bewilderment on their faces, as they did not recognize Cassian in this form.
When I picked up Aron’s massive artifact sword from the ground, Aron cried out in pain.
"Stop! Only those who carry the blood of Inferna can wield that sword! You’ll destroy your entire body!"
The next moment, his eyes fixed on the crown on my head.
The expression on his face turned into a mixture of shock, disbelief, and horror.
His mouth fell open, and a single word escaped his lips like a whisper:
"YOU!?"
I looked at him and spoke in my new, deeper voice.
"I don’t think I can hold him for long. Try to recover quickly."
As I said this, no matter how powerful and majestic I tried to appear, the tremor of fear—brought on by this new power and the enemy before us—was visible in my eyes behind those crimson embers.
The white-haired man in the middle of the square yawned with a bored expression.
His voice was clear and mocking, cutting through the noise of the entire battle.
"If your loving family reunion is over," he said. "Shall we begin?"