Chapter 166: Iron Resolve

?Cassian wasn’t simply interested in learning more about her abilities. He wanted her to understand something heavy that he had been carrying alone for a very long time.

?After a moment, Seraphina released a quiet sigh. "You really have grown up, haven’t you?"

?Cassian smiled softly. "I’d certainly hope so."

?She shook her head, a faint, proud smile appearing on her lips. "Very well, sweetheart. If this is what you want, I’ll do it."

?Her expression gradually became serious. "But if I see anything that troubles me, you must promise to tell me the truth when I ask you about it."

?"I promise."

?Seraphina nodded.

?Then her eyes changed.

?Her blue irises vanished, swallowed by an absolute, cosmic blackness that seemed to extend far beyond the physical surface of her eyes.

The atmosphere around her shifted as she reached out with her [Psions], carefully establishing a direct connection with her son’s consciousness.

?Cassian remained perfectly still.

?For a brief moment, Seraphina encountered the familiar surface of his mind.

?Then she went deeper.

?And everything changed.

?Her expression froze.

?A single tear slipped down her cheek.

?She saw memories that did not belong to the life her son was currently living. She witnessed a future that had already played out once, a future filled with bloodshed, devastation, and the merciless destruction of everything he had desperately tried to protect.

?She saw Cassian standing helplessly before the complete annihilation of his world.

?She felt his crushing despair as the people he loved disappeared before his eyes.

?She saw Ruby’s quiet death.

?She saw her own passing.

?And then she understood.

?Her breath caught violently in her throat.

?For several agonizing seconds, Seraphina could not move. The memories continued to unfold, revealing five years of brutal struggle, countless sacrifices, and an overwhelming loneliness her son had carried without ever allowing her to see a single trace of it.

?The future he had experienced was one she had never imagined.

?A timeline in which she and Ruby had died.

?A timeline in which Cassian had been utterly powerless to save them.

?And a timeline he had somehow returned from, carrying the unbearable weight of everything he had lost.

?Another tear rolled down Seraphina’s cheek.

?Her lips parted, but the words that emerged were barely an audible whisper.

?"What... is this?"

....

Cassian had made up his mind to reveal everything to his mother.

?After all, Seraphina had trusted him enough to disclose the truth about her origins, her reality-bending abilities, and the strange, hive-like existence she had lived before awakening.

Keeping his own secrets buried now felt fundamentally wrong.

?More importantly, he needed her to understand why he had been probing into the potential weaknesses of her powers.

If there was even the slightest vulnerability that could threaten her or Ruby in the coming storm, he had to uncover it before it was too late.

?And so, he had opened his mind completely and shown her everything.

?Unfortunately, the raw emotional weight of those memories proved far more devastating than he had anticipated.

?Seraphina’s hands trembled violently as her mind withdrew from his consciousness. Her eyes gradually returned to their usual brilliant blue hue, but the tears streaming down her pale cheeks showed no sign of stopping.

?She reached out and gripped Cassian’s shoulders tightly, holding him as though she desperately needed to reassure herself that he was truly sitting alive in front of her.

?"Sweetheart..." Her voice quivered, choked with grief. "I had no idea... I had no idea you went through all of that."

?She had always known her son was strong. She had watched him grow from a child into a disciplined young man, admiring the quiet determination with which he pursued his goals.

Even after awakening as a Lord, he had never once uttered a word of complaint regarding the burdens he carried.

?But she had never imagined the true depth of his suffering.

?Five years.

?For five agonizing years, her son had fought in the trenches of the cosmos to build his territory, empower his legions, and defend their civilization.

He had faced horrors that defied comprehension, all while holding onto the solitary belief that his strength would eventually allow him to keep his family safe.

?And in the end, he had lost everything.

?His world had been reduced to cosmic ash before his very eyes. The people he had sworn to protect had perished, and the immense power he had bled to acquire proved useless against the whims of a Tier VII Sovereign Lord.

?Seraphina’s grip on his shoulders tightened until her knuckles turned white.

’?My poor, sweet boy...’

?She hadn’t been there to comfort him. She hadn’t been there to wrap him in her arms and remind him that he didn’t have to carry the universe on his back.

And when the final catastrophe arrived, she and Ruby had simply become two more corpses weighing down his soul.

?The sheer horror of that reality was unbearable.

?Cassian gently placed his hands over hers, squeezing softly. "Mom, don’t worry about me."

?Seraphina looked up, her tear-filled eyes meeting his.

?"Those memories belong to a dead timeline," he continued smoothly. "Whatever happened in that future, it’s already done. I can’t rewrite what I went through, but I can dictate what happens next."

?His expression remained perfectly calm, but the cold, unyielding resolve burning in his blue eyes was absolute.

?"This time, I will ensure the outcome is entirely different. I’m going to protect you, Ruby, and everyone else I care about. I’ve been handed a second chance, and I have zero intention of wasting it."

?Seraphina stared at her son for a long, silent moment.

?Then, she slowly gave a single, firm nod.

?She wanted to tell him that he didn’t have to bear the fate of the world alone. She wanted to swear that she would shield him just as fiercely as he intended to protect them.

?Yet she knew her son too well, she recognized that empty platitudes would do nothing to alter his iron resolve.