Chapter 226: She couldn’t really tell.
Chapter 226: Chapter 226: She couldn’t really tell.
Chapter 226 – She couldn’t really tell.
Fortunately for Cassius, Mallory was kind enough to teleport him directly into his own room, sparing him the long distance.
He immediately fell face-first onto his bed after stripping down to nothing but his boxers.
It was night. Night enough for him to sleep, preparing himself for tomorrow.
However, before that, Cassius wanted to take a look at his new ring and his overall progress.
Dragging himself up, he leaned against the bed frame, his eyes settling on the Ouroboros Ring.
His essence crept forth and coated the ring. Instantly, the hiss of a snake echoed around him, followed by the ring unravelling like a ribbon.
Visibly, Cassius watched as a snake, nothing like the inanimate object it had been a moment ago, appeared in front of him.
The snake looked strangely similar to his Innate.
It had beautiful white scales, shining even in that dimly lit room, and crimson slitted eyes. It wasn’t very large, only the length of his arm.
It hissed at him, gently and lovingly, before wrapping itself around him, nuzzling its head against his arm.
"What a cute thing." Cassius muttered to himself, smiling gently as he stroked the snake’s head.
It was still unbelievable to him that his ancestor had created a living being from something non-living.
"And I said I’d surpass him?" His lips twitched. "Sigh. I must have looked like such a fool back then."
[I’m truly surprised.] Ananke chimed in. [I don’t think anyone knows it was your ancestor who created this Path. Even I didn’t know, and I know the very first Alchemist.]
"Right? It must be tied to whoever is keeping them chained."
[Most certainly.]
Cassius sighed, then smiled, thinking of his 12th ancestor. "Now I know Albert Desdemona the Great, alright."
Ananke chuckled.
Cassius looked at his snake, wondering if a name was necessary. But he immediately decided yes, believing that only by having a name did something become... someone.
"What kind of name, though?" He mused, and the snake fixed its eyes on him, as if sensing what was about to happen. "Any ideas, Queen?"
[I’m bad with names.] the goddess whispered, sounding embarrassed.
"You get embarrassed so easily, Queen." He laughed. "Don’t worry, I’ll just name the little one..."
Instantly, the name of his little sister back on Earth came to his mind.
"...Stella." He muttered, the word suddenly heavy in his mouth. "I’ll name you Stella."
The snake hissed contentedly and snuggled deeper into him. It seemed to accept its name. Cassius smiled warmly, his mind momentarily drifting back to his little sister, who used to love being picked up by him and would cry so much.
’...false or not,’ he thought, steadying his heart, ’...to me, it was never false.’
That was all that mattered to him. All that ever would.
Letting Stella play around his body, and noticing his essence slowly draining because of her, he summoned his attributes.
[STR: 230 (+95); AGL: 250 (+120); CONS: 220 (+80); PER: 208 (+90); CHA: 260 (+130); Essence: 280 (+100)]
[Remaining Stat Points: 0]
Cassius let out a proud smile, looking at his progress. He was close to the 300-point limit across all his attributes.
Afterward, all he needed was to find an ACS and enter the Mirror Dimension to rank up.
He was close. Close enough to step into the Third rank.
’My agility has increased so much. Emrys, my dear, I almost want to give you a kiss right now.’
"CASS!!!!!"
Cassius jumped on his bed in fright, snapping his head toward the sound, and saw Isolde stepping in with a wide, beaming smile.
She halted, looking at his face stricken with surprise and fright, and at the snake around his neck, and cocked her head.
"What’s wrong with you? And what is this snake?"
"What the fuck! Why are you screaming while you walk in? You scared me, damn it. How did you even get my key?"
"How? I’m your wife, dumbass. I have the right to a copy of your key. As you do, but you’re so busy you don’t care about me, huh?"
Cassius fell instantly silent, realising he had been so caught up with Mallory, healing his body, the Echo, and everything else.
"But it’s fine." Isolde continued as if it were nothing at all, smirking. "I’m happy to see you healed, husband. Healed and with a beast. You have much to tell me, it seems. Perfect. Get ready, let’s go."
"Where?" Cassius asked, Stella hissing at Isolde.
Isolde’s smirk deepened.
"A date, husband."
...
It was dark.
Or was it?
Coco truly couldn’t tell as she lay on the floor, her body continuously spasming with pain. Her mind was hazy and blurry, filled with nothing but rows of punches, slaps and curses directed at her.
Her left hand was broken, bent at a strange angle. The same, probably, with her nose. And her lips. Probably. Yeah, probably.
She couldn’t really tell.
She tried to open her mouth to breathe more steadily, yet even that simple, mundane action demanded more strength than she’d ever needed before.
Was her jaw broken?
She couldn’t really tell.
But it hurt like hell. So perhaps it was. Perhaps, yes.
Eventually, Coco gave up the useless attempt to stand and simply accepted her fate.
In that moment, agony gnawing all over her body, she thought about what had happened after that golden-haired man came to confront her mistress, pleading on her behalf.
Coco would have chuckled if she could. It was so righteous of him, yeah, she admitted that, but so useless of him.
If it weren’t for him, she would only have been beaten enough to limp back to her room.
Just like always.
But because of him, because of that bastard Sky... she had been beaten six times worse. Now, Coco felt like she was dying.
Was she dying?
She couldn’t really tell.
Her consciousness slowly began to fade again, yet the pain refused to fade with it. So Coco conjured the image of Angel in her mind.
His smile. His tone. His soft, sweet words, and his eye that seemed to hold more love than one could ever imagine from him.
Oh... yes. Yes.
Her pain was easing. Finally.
Slowly, but steadily.
Perhaps she could get up soon enough and crawl back to her room. Perhaps.
She couldn’t really tell.
However, soon after, Coco began to hear a sound approaching her.
The sound of something sharp against the floor, and awkward, careful footsteps.
Oh. She knew who was coming.
And she was proven right when a pair of hands, cold and merciless — nothing like her Angel, certainly — grabbed her jaw and forced it open.
Something gushed into her throat.
A healing potion, she guessed. She knew the taste well by now.
"Here. Here." He spoke, his voice, as always, holding an ever-present bitter tone.
Some breaths later, Coco was finally able to open her puffy, bloodshot, teary eyes and look at the young man in front of her.
Her face was a mess.
Blood, snot, tears... all mingled together, enough to make even a heartless man pity her.
That was strange. The man was blind — or more accurately, had been made blind — so he could no longer see her face.
’Then why does it feel like he can?’
"Y-You... you did it again." Coco croaked, looking at him, his eyes closed shut.
He smiled strangely, strands of his navy-blue hair falling over his face. "You’d have died otherwise. Coco, you stupid girl, you’re bothersome to take care of, you know that, I hope."
"I never asked you to, Cripple."
"Cripple, indeed. My name now. What everyone calls me now. Even the teachers. Strange, Coco. I no longer remember my own name."
"Liar."
"Lies I would have loved to be true. But oh well." He grinned. "Can you get up now, Coco? It’s late. Very late, even."
"Naomi will beat you again."
"Oh, beat me she will indeed. And kneel and beg for mercy, I will indeed. Nothing new. I’ve done it so many times I can beg my way out of a beating. Now get up. I’m blind and weak, I can’t help you much with that."
Coco knew this well.
"Why," she asked, her voice sore, "why do you help me so much?"
Cripple smiled again.
Oh, what a smile it was.
"Because if you die," he whispered, pressing his weight on his stick and standing up, "who will I share my pain with? Now get up, Coco. Don’t die. I need someone to listen to me. Yeah, listen. I can no longer see."
He turned and shuffled away, using his stick to guide him, his steps slow and nervous.
"Ah. You live in the Hades Building, right, Coco? You have a runic elevator, then. Ah, lucky you. I have to climb stairs." He laughed humourlessly. "Bloody stairs. I hate stairs."
"And I hate Naomi, Cripple."
"Then hate her in silence." His voice wavered for a moment. "I can teach you how, if you’d like."
Cripple disappeared into the darkness, the sound of his stick against the ground fading away.
Coco finally forced herself up, every part of her body screaming in protest. But pain was something she was used to.
So she gritted her teeth, stood up, and limped off, swaying and shaking, her mind still on the sound of Cripple’s voice.
Was he crying again?
She couldn’t really tell.
—End of Chapter 226—