Chapter 154: The Monster Within
Chapter 154: Chapter 154: The Monster Within
Chapter 154: The Monster Within
Cassian stood by the shattered window of the VIP suite.
The cold wind whipped his expensive suit. He looked down at the central plaza far below. The immense height made the Vanguard Knights look like tiny insects scurrying across the pavement.
He watched Gunther Stillbane drop heavily to his knees. The invincible Lord Commander was finally paralyzed.
Cassian smiled. A deep laugh escaped his throat.
He had spent his entire life living in Gunther’s massive shadow. Gunther got the cheers. Gunther got the respect.
Cassian was always just the weak younger brother sitting behind a desk. But the weak brother had just toppled the strongest man in the Bastion with a single glass of vintage wine.
"I need to get out of here!" Cassian shouted to the empty room, his voice echoing off the high ceiling.
"I will show them that I cannot be mocked! I deserve to be the Lord of this Bastion. It is my Legacy!!"
He turned away from the shattered glass. The grand game was finally over. The Vanguard Knights would surrender. The Cult would march him out to the plaza and crown him. He just needed to walk out the front door and claim his shiny throne.
Cassian strode toward the heavy oak door. He smoothed his silk tie, preparing to greet his new subjects. He grabbed the brass handle and pulled.
The door did not move.
Cassian frowned. He yanked the handle harder. A faint layer of blue kinetic energy hummed across the wood, actively repelling his hand.
It was the Captain’s barrier. The masked leader of the Eclipse Hunters had locked him inside this suite hours ago. Cassian had assumed the Cult would have broken the spell by now.
’No,’ Cassian thought, his heart rate spiking.
’Not now. I am the King. I cannot be late.’
Cassian ignited his mana core. He summoned a concentrated sphere of blazing fire. He threw the spell directly at the wooden frame.
BOOM!
The kinetic shield absorbed the impact flawlessly. The violent magical backlash threw Cassian backward. He slammed into a plush sofa, groaning in frustration. The expensive furniture splintered beneath his weight.
He scrambled to his feet. He threw another fireball. Then another. He screamed in pure rage, blasting the door until his mana core ached.
The kinetic barrier did not even flicker. Draven’s magic was far too dense for a politician to break.
Panic set in.
’If I was not down in the plaza when Tharzek Noctis declared victory, the Vanguard Knights might not accept me. The Cult might choose another puppet to lead the city. My entire life’s work is slipping through my fingers because of a single locked door.’
He was getting delusional. His mental state was not so good at the moment. He was not able to think straight. He still thought the Elder wanted to make him the puppet ruler.
Desperation clouded his mind. He reached into the inner pocket of his ruined suit jacket. His trembling fingers pulled out a small glass syringe.
"This is my final chance! i have to get out of here!" he said with his trembling hands.
The syringe was filled with a bubbling black liquid. The dark substance seemed to move on its own, scraping against the glass walls like a trapped insect.
Tharzek Noctis had given it to him during their final secret meeting in the lower levels. The Elder had promised it was a sacred serum reserved only for the highest chosen of the Eclipse.
Tharzek claimed it would grant a temporary surge of overwhelming physical power, enough to shatter any mortal obstacle.
[Cult Relic: Abyssal Marrow]
Cassian looked at the glowing black liquid. He hated relying on Cult magic, but he had no choice. He did not have time to wait for a rescue team. He needed to be down in the plaza right now to cement his legacy.
"A temporary boost," Cassian whispered to himself, justifying the desperate action.
"Just to break the door."
Cassian uncapped the needle. He pressed the sharp steel directly into the side of his neck. He pushed the plunger down, emptying the thick liquid into his veins.
He pulled the needle out and dropped the empty syringe. The glass shattered on the floor.
Cassian closed his eyes, waiting for the golden rush of ultimate power. He expected his mana core to expand. He expected to feel invincible.
Instead, his blood turned to liquid fire.
"What is this?! What is happening?!" he was shocked.
Cassian dropped to his knees. He clawed frantically at his own throat. The pain was completely unimaginable.
It felt like millions of tiny razor blades were swimming through his bloodstream. He tried to scream for help, but thick black blood filled his lungs.
A terrifying realization hit his fading mind.
’The Elder had lied.’
The syringe was not a power boost. It was a curse. Tharzek Noctis never viewed him as a king. The Cult never intended to crown him.
Cassian was just a gullible fool who had opened the gates for them. He was a disposable pawn, and his usefulness had just expired.
"AAAAAARRRRGGGHHHHH!"
Tears of sheer regret leaked from his eyes. He had poisoned his own brother for a throne that did not exist.
His human consciousness violently shattered.
SNAP!
Cassian’s spine violently arched backward, breaking at an unnatural angle. Instead of growing thicker muscles, his entire skeleton erupted outward.
CRUNCH!
Massive bone spikes pierced through his skin and his expensive suit. The white spikes formed a jagged crown around his shoulders. His skin tore open as his ribs forcefully unfolded.
The long bones pushed through his chest, forming a terrifying external cage to protect his mutating internal organs.
The creature thrashed on the bloody carpet. Its elbows and knees elongated with a sickening sound. The joints snapped into enormous, razor-sharp blades.
SWISH!
A long tail made entirely of thick vertebrae whipped behind the beast, shattering a heavy glass table into fine dust.
Cassian raised his hands. His human fingers fused together. The bones extended and flattened, transforming into monstrous white scythes capable of cleaving solid steel.
The horrifying transformation finished. The creature that used to be Cassian Stillbane slowly stood up.
GRIND!
When the beast took a step, there was no normal footstep. The sickening sound of grinding bones echoed through the ruined suite.
The beast had no human eyes. It had no royal ambitions. It did not remember Gunther, and it did not care about the Vanguard.
It only felt a mindless, insatiable hunger for human flesh. The Abyssal Marrow had completely overwritten its soul.
The monster turned its faceless head toward the locked door. It raised its massive bone scythes. It did not use magic to break the barrier.
It swung the physical blades with terrifying, unadulterated brute force.
CRASH!
The heavy oak door, along with the Captain’s kinetic barrier, was cleaved cleanly in half.
The beast stepped out into the hallway.
It destroyed the surrounding walls with casual swipes of its scythes. It smelled the massive concentration of fresh blood down in the central plaza.
The monster walked toward the shattered balcony edge, preparing to drop.