Chapter 33: [Duchy of Inferna ] [24] Bloody Festival [9]
[Madness Influence: 73%]
Time itself had frozen, the very fabric of existence stretched taut.
In the center of the festival grounds, everything was focused on a single point: the miniature black sun being born at the tip of Ignis.
This was neither fire nor shadow; it was the very heart of nothingness.
The dark energy around the sword grew with an insatiable appetite, devouring the surrounding mana, the light, and even the sound.
Cassian’s silhouette trembled at the center of this world-devouring vortex of his own creation.
The ability to think was now no more than a whisper.
Logic, strategy, regret—all were crushed beneath the crown’s unending thirst for blood.
There was only one command echoing in his mind, an absolute truth carved into every fiber of his being:
Destroy.
This desire was so pure, so intense, that it had wiped away everything else of who Cassian was.
Far off, amidst the piles of rubble, Aron clutched his bleeding wounds, watching helplessly.
The pain in his chest was nothing compared to the aura of despair and pure destruction radiating from Cassian.
The agony of seeing a young boy turn into such a monster because of his own weakness was deeper than any physical wound.
He wanted to scream, to reach him, but his voice was smothered in the ominous silence that enveloped them.
A few meters away, Evelyn, with trembling hands, tried to weave a new mana shield.
But every attempt shattered against the suffocating, malevolent energy that pulsed in waves from Cassian.
Her mana refused to obey in the face of this pure madness, recoiling as if in fear.
This was unlike any magic, any element she knew. It was like a cancer torn from the veins of the world.
Under the pressure of the power Cassian had amassed, the entire festival ground trembled.
The stones on the ground cracked, and the windows of the remaining intact buildings rattled and exploded.
The sense of absolute power hanging in the air tied a knot in the throat of every survivor, making their lungs feel as if they were in a vacuum.
This was an ending that no mortal could wield, a power that even a god would envy.
And in the midst of this apocalypse, stood the white-haired man.
He wore a calm, almost melancholic expression.
His charred fingers and the blood seeping from the wound that pierced his armor stood in stark contrast to this absolute serenity.
There was not a trace of fear or panic on his face.
He looked upon the power aimed at him—a force capable of wiping a city off the map—as if he were watching the tragic end of an old friend.
In the depths of his eyes, beyond the battle and the rage, there was a painful sorrow.
This was not the sorrow of defeat, but of an inevitable farewell.
Cassian was ready.
As the final seconds of his Soveregian form melted away, he focused all his hatred, madness, and power into a single point.
He raised his arm, aimed the black sun at his target, and was about to tear the universe apart when...
The world turned upside down.
For a moment, Cassian couldn’t comprehend what had happened.
The sky was beneath his feet, and the blood-and-rubble-strewn ground was above his head.
With a flicker of confusion, he looked at his sword. It was empty. The overwhelming power he had gathered, the force that threatened existence itself, had vanished like a dream.
He was rapidly approaching the ground, upside down.
Strangely, he felt a cold, sharp pain in his neck.
This pain was followed by a sudden numbness that spread through his entire body. Everything below his neck no longer felt like it belonged to him.
And then, a terrible enlightenment pierced his mind like lightning.
It wasn’t the world that had turned upside down.
It was his head.
His eyes locked onto his own body, still standing on its feet.
From where his neck should have been, dark, thick blood was gushing towards the sky like a severed fountain.
His mind stopped. All thoughts, all emotions, froze.
His body, like a puppet with its strings cut, first collapsed to its knees.
Then, it toppled over as a lifeless heap of flesh, landing next to his own head, which was still staring in shock.
The warm blood flowing from the headless torso began to soak the head on the ground. His silvery hair and half his face were smeared with the sticky crimson of his own blood.
[Soveregian Form Duration: 00:00]
[Madness Influence: 94%]
These words, appearing before his frozen mind, were the cold, merciless declaration of absolute defeat. For Cassian, everything was over.
Above his bloody remains stood a silhouette that no one had seen move for even an instant.
The white-haired man, with that same sorrowful expression on his face, gently took Cassian’s bloody head by the hair, lifting it from the ground to his own eye level.
"I know you don’t understand why this happened," he said, his voice as mournful as a dirge. "In this world, there is always someone stronger than you, son. There are those whose true power no eye even deserves to witness."
A single tear fell from the man’s eyes, landing on Cassian’s blood-soaked face.
"I didn’t want this to happen, nor did I want you to die. In fact, at first, I even considered taking you under my wing. I was testing you, measuring your potential. But you... you surpassed all my expectations. So much so that your existence became frightening. You were able to stand against me despite having only a one-star mana core. And those unbelievable skills you used... Dark flames, curses, life force, such a Power... You were an anomaly."
He took a deep breath, his voice trembling.
"Not even the gods could have predicted how strong you would have become if you had lived. Perhaps you might have even had the power to change this world’s fate... But fate must not be changed. This rotten world does not deserve a happy ending. I know you don’t understand what I mean..."
He looked into Cassian’s vacant eyes with a deeper sorrow.
"We are both reincarnators. We had things in common, son. We both suffered indescribable pain in our former lives. We are the ones who deserve happiness the most... But Fate is cruel. No matter what we do, it always finds a way to crush us, to take our loved ones from us."
His words hung in the air like a confession. Then, his eyes drifted to the others.
"I don’t know if it will mean anything to you but... I will spare the lives of these insects for your sake. In your honor, no more blood will be shed here. It’s the only thing I can do. I’m sorry, son."
[Madness Influence: 98%]
Cassian’s mind was now shattered beyond recognition. Nothing the man said meant anything to him. Not reincarnation, not fate, not pain... There was only emptiness. The last embers of his consciousness were slowly fading.
[Madness Influence: 100%]
Then, something happened.
The first signs appeared on the head the man was holding and on the lifeless body on the ground.
First, thin, black cracks formed on the surface of the skin, like fissures in dry earth. These cracks, like a spider’s web, spread rapidly, deepening and blackening everything they touched.
Then, as if it were a thousand-year-old statue, his body began to crumble.
Parts that looked as if they were charred flaked away, turning into a fine, black dust that scattered in the wind. This dissolution began at his fingertips, spreading to his arms, his torso, and finally to the head the man was holding.
But this dust did not fall to the ground.
It hung in the air for a moment, preserving Cassian’s silhouette. Then, as if with an internal whisper, this cloud of black dust condensed into a thick, dark smoke.
The smoke slowly drew into itself, as if returning to the nothingness from which it came, and in the next moment, it vanished completely.
Not a single drop of blood nor a fragment of bone remained.
All that was left was a blackened, bloody stain on the ground, marking the spot where a warrior had just died.
Cassian was no more.
After watching the last remnant of Cassian’s existence fade into nothingness, the white-haired man turned away. The sorrowful expression on his face had been replaced by a deep exhaustion.
The shadows amidst the rubble rippled at their master’s silent command.
Just as they had come, they retreated into the darkness without a sound, as if they had never been there at all. Without a final glance at those left behind, the man vanished into a tear in space, leaving only destruction and a deathly silence.
The deafening noise of battle was gone, replaced by the silence of a tomb.
Not a sound could be heard except for the crackling of the burning rubble and the moaning of the wind as it passed through the wreckage. The festival grounds had become a mausoleum.
Aron was on his knees, staring into the void.
His eyes were locked on the spot where Cassian had just vanished. His face was a mask of shock, denial, and a slowly rising despair.
He clenched his fists with such fury and helplessness that his nails pierced his palms. The warm blood that trickled from them dripped onto the ground, leaving small, dark red stains. But he didn’t even feel the pain.
The agony within him was more searing than any physical wound.
That boy he had never liked, whom he had belittled at every opportunity, whom he had found arrogant and annoying... had sacrificed his life for them, for everyone.
Cassian’s insolent glares flashed in his mind. How those looks had infuriated him then. Now, he would give anything to bring those memories back.
All of this was because of his weakness.
"Damn it..." he whispered, his voice hoarse and trembling.
If only he’d had the courage to cancel the festival... If he hadn’t been so arrogant, so blindly confident in his own strength and his city’s defenses, none of this would have happened. Aron, the Fire Lion of Inferna, the man sworn to protect his people, had thrown them before a monster because of his own pride.
And a boy, still in the spring of his life, had paid the price.
This shame was seared into his soul like a brand.
And then, an even more horrific thought struck him: Iris.
How was he going to tell Iris about Cassian’s death? He knew how much that stubborn, vibrant girl cared for Cassian. He had seen that strange, contentious, but undeniable bond between them. The very thought that the bright smile on Iris’s face would be extinguished, that the light in her eyes would never shine the same way again, stabbed him in the heart like a dagger.
This thought pushed his grief and regret to an unbearable level. His chest tightened, his breath caught. Aron bowed his head, and a silent, bitter sob escaped his lips.
In that moment, the demigod of the duchy, who struck fear across the empire, was gone. In his place was only a failed man, crushed under the weight of his mistake.
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The Duchy of Inferna Arc Has Ended