Chapter 34: The Demon Risen from Ashes
[Madness Effect: 100%]
[Status: Dead]
My soul was like a stone, sinking toward the deepest abyss of the ocean.
There was neither light nor sound around me.
Only an absolute darkness and a crushing pressure that swallowed my very being.
I had lost my sense of time and space. I didn’t know if a second had passed, or a century.
I didn’t want to think.
The memories seeping from the wreckage of my mind were like embers searing my soul. I just kept sinking in this darkness, toward the heart of this nothingness.
And then, in the midst of that infinite void, two lines of bright, cold text appeared right before my soul.
[ You have died. ]
[ Would you like to use the ’Rebirth Flame’ ability? ]
[ Yes / No ]
I didn’t want to answer.
There wasn’t a single reason to return to that world. The short life I had lived was nothing but an endless cycle of pain.
That brief time in the Duchy of Inferna...
Iris’s stubborn yet sincere smile, Aron’s infuriating yet protective demeanor...
They were like faint candle flames flickering in a corner of my mind.
But even those memories weren’t strong enough to convince me to return to that cruel world.
Was there truly anything good about living?
For me, there was not.
Just as I was ready to sink even deeper into this surrender, familiar whispers began to drift along the edges of my mind.
The Crown of Madness, its existence rooted in the darkest corners of my soul, would not leave me be, not even in this peaceful oblivion.
"[Are you happy like this?]"
The whisper coiled around my soul like a venomous vine.
"[How much longer do you plan to hide in this darkness like a coward?]"
Its voice grew more insolent, taking on a more mocking tone.
"[Don’t you want to take revenge on those who stole your happiness, your life? That white-haired man... Don’t you remember that arrogant face that crushed you like an insect, that disregarded your very existence? That moment when he looked at you with pity? All you have to do is return to life.]"
The white-haired man’s sorrowful, yet utterly condescending face materialized in my mind. The gracious grief in his eyes was like a god’s disappointment in a failed creation.
Rage fanned the embers I thought had turned to ash.
"[Come on, Cassian. You can destroy everyone who begrudged you the right to live. You can bring this ridiculous order they’ve built, this ’unchangeable fate’ they try to protect, crashing down upon their heads. Sounds appealing, doesn’t it? I know you want this! I can feel that fire burning in the depths of you!]"
The whispers were relentless.
Every word was a drop of fuel feeding the hatred in my soul. For a long time, perhaps for ages, I was subjected to these whispers. And slowly, those poisonous words began to make sense.
That’s right...
Why should I be the only one to suffer?
Why didn’t I have the right to live? Who decided that?
Fate? The gods? Or another reincarnator stronger than me?
Whoever they were, what right did they have to decide my end?
A torrent of pure hatred and unrestrainable rage flooded my soul. In that moment, the only thing I wanted was to return to that world and become chaos itself. To shatter that damned, unchangeable fate, and to hurl a new ending written in blood and ash into the faces of its authors.
I looked at the text flickering before my eyes.
A crazed grin spread across my face—or rather, the visage of my soul.
[ Would you like to use the ’Rebirth Flame’ ability? ]
[ Yes / No ]
Before I could even make a choice, the pure hatred and destructive rage surging from the depths of my soul had already made the decision.
My will surrendered to the darkness itself.
[ Yes ]
Instantly, I felt a blast of power that shook my entire being. The darkness was torn asunder, and my soul was pulled into a vortex.
Before my consciousness faded, the system’s cold, mechanical text was etched into my mind.
[ Your body is regenerating... ]
[ Blessing of Lilith has been acquired. ]
[ Blessing of Serene has been acquired. ]
[ Blessing of Kaiser has been acquired. ]
[ Crown of Eternity / Crown of Madness has been acquired. ]
[ Some abilities have been damaged! ]
[ The system will notify you when your abilities have recovered. ]
When I opened my eyes, I was met by a rotting wooden ceiling, blackened in places.
The air was heavy and smelled of mildew.
For a while, I just kept staring at the ceiling, not even trying to understand where I was. My body felt weary, but there was no pain.
It was as if I had woken from a long sleep.
When I turned my head slightly, I was startled by the rusty iron bars that entered my field of vision.
I was in a cage.
I slowly pushed myself into a sitting position. The scene was bleak.
I was locked in a cage inside a narrow, swaying cart. Around me were other people, just like me. A group of slaves, mostly women, their bodies covered in bruises and wounds, the light in their eyes extinguished.
Some were in the same cage as me, while others were chained to the outside of the cart, forced to walk barefoot on the muddy road.
Not knowing what to do, I decided to just sit and wait.
Frankly, I didn’t feel like doing anything. The fiery rage in my soul had, for now, given way to an icy indifference.
The slave traders holding us captive weren’t particularly strong.
As I sensed the flow of mana around me, I realized that only three of them possessed a mana core. The strongest among them was a muscular, burly man riding a horse at the front of the cart. He was at the three-star level, and it was clear from his aura that he was no mage, but a warrior who relied on brute force.
There were nine of them in total.
Destroying them would be child’s play. But I wouldn’t rush, not for now.
After a while, one of the guards noticed I was awake and called out to the burly man who seemed to be their leader.
The man just nodded, not taking his eyes off the road.
He didn’t even glance in my direction. In his eyes, I was nothing more than a worthless slave, perhaps one who would soon be dead.
This indifference began to slowly melt the cold apathy within me.
When evening fell, they stopped in a wooded area and decided to make camp. They built a large fire, positioning their horses and carts in a circle to form a makeshift defensive line. The slaves, however, were left chained and caged just outside the firelight, in the darkness.
The traders gathered around the fire, drinking wine and letting out crude bursts of laughter. They made idle chitchat, laughing at each other’s lewd stories.
I watched them with a faint, contemptuous expression on my face.
These pathetic creatures had no idea what kind of disaster they were carrying with them.
A few hours later, they were thoroughly drunk from the wine. It was then that their true colors showed. Their eyes turned to the defenseless female slaves in the darkness.
A few of them got up and staggered toward them. They grabbed a few women by the hair and dragged them into the firelight.
The women’s helpless screams were drowned out by the men’s lust-filled laughter.
Their intentions were all too clear.
One of them, a vile smirk on his face, approached my cage. When our eyes met, he was met with the pure contempt in my gaze.
He didn’t seem to like that very much.
"How dare you look at me like that, you brat?" he snarled, his voice thick with alcohol.
He pointed a finger at me.
"Maybe I should start with you tonight, eh? You’ve got too pretty a face for a boy. The boss won’t mind."
He reached his hand toward me through the rusty bars.
His filthy nails, his grimy fingers were about to touch my face when...
Something he never expected happened.
A moment of silence.
The smirk on the man’s face froze. His eyes widened in disbelief.
He looked at his outstretched arm.
His hand... wasn’t there.
It had been severed with a perfect cut, right where his arm ended, just above the wrist. The gushing blood painted the air red for a moment, splattering onto the bars of the cage and my face.
When the pain reached his brain a second after the shock, he let out an ear-piercing scream.
"AAAAAARGH! MY ARM!"
As for me, feeling a strange pleasure from the warm blood on my face, I began to laugh.
It wasn’t a joyful laugh.
It was the crazed sound of a monster who had lost its mind, one who took pleasure in pain.
Everyone in the camp froze, staring at what was happening. The music had stopped, the laughter had died.
Only the man’s agonized cries and my psychopathic laughter tore through the silence of the forest.
In the flickering light of the fire, with blood splattered across my face and my silvery hair, my red eyes glowed like embers.
My appearance at that moment was no different from a bloodthirsty demon, clawed straight from a nightmare.
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Author’s Note 🧣:
Hey guys, I’d really love to hear what you think about this Chapter and the new Cassian!