Chapter 358: Two Protagonists, One Story

Chapter 358: Chapter 358: Two Protagonists, One Story

Chapter 358 – Two Protagonists, One Story

Cassius had never seen Keisha, Natalia, and Sarah so nervous in such an endearing way.

He truly hadn’t expected to witness three women completely clueless about how to make friends.

When Sarah arrived, blushing lightly, her cute blue eyes on display, wearing a black dress that looked far too formal for meeting a couple of friends, it seemed to make Keisha and Natalia suddenly self-conscious about their own outfits — they’d only worn pants or skirts, nothing fancy.

Cassius simply made the introductions, then sat on the couch with popcorn beside him, watching.

He knew something funny was going to happen. He just didn’t know it would be this awkward.

It was a disaster.

Even Keisha was silent, only nodding and hiding behind Natalia. Natalia tried her best to build a connection, but she had no idea how.

In simple terms, their social skills were absolute trash.

Cassius had expected Sarah to be better. After all, she was a maid. So being socially adept was, in some sense, part of her job.

But she was even worse. She looked like an entirely different person.

In the end, the Last Born saved the day. Just like always, he told himself, smirking after snapping a few pictures to keep for later.

One of the best ways to break the ice with someone new was to do something together, something that made everyone work as a team and temporarily forget what to say.

So Cassius, being the proud, entitled bastard he was, took the girls shopping.

They had only one job: to style him. He promised a gift to whoever won the contest.

That created some fun rivalry as they each tried their best to style Cassius.

It was oddly fun, especially when they used it as an excuse to put Cassius in every kind of outfit they’d always wanted to see him in.

He was so beautiful he looked like a perfect doll. The spectacle drew women, young and old, gathering around the shop to watch.

Cassius felt like a chimpanzee in a zoo.

Natalia, meanwhile, secretly got to live out one of her fantasies. She was so overjoyed she was grinning widely.

Seeing Cassius in ’that’ outfit was phenomenal. Cassius was utterly flabbergasted, but it was too late.

Natalia already had the picture saved and hidden from all prying eyes.

Slowly but surely, the girls began talking more easily with each other. Keisha was the first to open up, and once she did, she naturally pulled both Sarah and Natalia into her momentum.

That was simply how she was.

The winner of the contest was, surprisingly, Natalia, and Cassius gave her 5,000 EP to spend.

That turned out to be the worst mistake he could have made that day.

Because right after, the girls sent him away: they no longer needed him around.

They wanted their own girls’ moment, they said.

Cassius nearly told Natalia to give him his EP back, but he just smiled and let them go.

He was tired anyway, and he was happy to see the three of them getting along.

Sarah was smiling more often, and he could see the heaviness in her eyes slowly fading.

That was all Cassius wanted.

So he left the girls to themselves, telling them not to waste his EP on useless things (they definitely would), then headed back to his room.

Once there, Cassius bathed, changed into something relaxed, and settled peacefully on his bed.

He browsed Gossip Girl to pass the time, and came across a post made about him and Sarah.

There was also another post about Emrys himself, who’d been spotted often lately wandering the Outer Ring, alone.

People were starting to wonder why, and even Cassius grew curious about Emrys’s behavior.

What was he trying to do? It wasn’t like Emrys to do anything alone, he loved company, especially a woman’s.

That was an odd shift in Sky’s character, one Cassius took note of and filed away in his mind.

Either way, the Last Born was ready for whatever changes came regarding Emrys. He wasn’t foolish enough to think the Chosen One would still be the same as in the game.

That was impossible. Emrys would change because of everything Cassius had already changed in the story.

In a way, the story was no longer the one Cassius once knew. If someone were familiar with both versions, they’d never believe it was the same story, aside from sharing characters and names.

So Cassius knew change was inevitable.

What he wanted to know, though, was whether that change would make Emrys more dangerous to him or not.

Because no matter what happened, Emrys Stormblessed remained his nemesis.

Not by choice, Cassius honestly had nothing against him. It just so happened that they were on completely different paths, ones bound to collide no matter what.

And the Last Born hadn’t forgotten that Emrys was the one meant to kill his family. That future might no longer exist after everything Cassius had changed about the story, but Emrys remained the protagonist of this story.

Cassius was the intruder in this world. He was the anomaly.

And though some stories could have more than one protagonist... this clearly wasn’t one of them, as Cassius remembered well what the White Phoenix had told him.

So the question naturally rose in his mind,

’What happens when a story gives birth to two protagonists... and places them on opposite sides?’

Turning that over and over in his mind, the Last Born couldn’t help but sigh.

He hadn’t asked for any of this. But he found himself unable to shrug off responsibility for whatever his family had in store for him.

Ananke had once told him his fate was to bring all stories together.

And as he closed his eyes to rest his mind, Cassius thought again about those words and, only now, wondered about something important:

’Which stories was she talking about?’

Then he fell asleep on that very thought.

And just like that, a day passed.

...

In the morning, Cassius opened his eyes rather late, around 9am. He felt refreshed, having done nothing the day before but wander around.

He picked up his phone and saw a stack of notifications, but one caught his attention. It was from Sarah. The message was simple:

<Thank you. Again.>

Cassius smiled, glad Sarah had enjoyed the outing with Keisha and Natalia.

Now he could relax a little, knowing Sarah was opening up to other people, widening her circle of friends.

Pleased with that news, he got up and got ready to see his master.

Even though he didn’t feel like doing anything, there was still one thing left before heading out on his mission.

To finally make a contract with the Three Spirits.

With that in mind, Cassius called his master, and she teleported him from his room straight to her office at the top of the Tower.

"I thought you wanted to just... what was it you said again, ah yes... laze around?" Mallory asked the moment her disciple appeared in front of her.

She was leaning against her desk, wearing tight black pants and a silver, sleeved shirt, arms crossed over her chest, watching him quizzically.

"That was actually the plan," Cassius said, glancing around the wide, high-ceilinged room. "But I thought maybe I could take this chance to make a contract with the triplets before I go."

"Oh?" Mallory murmured, raising an eyebrow. "Are you sure you want to do it now? It might weigh on you."

"I think I’ll manage just fine."

"Alright." The Dean nodded, then took one step forward and appeared instantly right in front of Cassius.

Before he could react, Mallory’s hand shot out and wrapped around his right wrist.

She lifted it to eye level, staring at his palm, her eyes narrowing coldly.

"Master, what—!"

"You’ve met her, I see."

"Her? Her who?"

"White Phoenix."

Cassius’s eyes widened in realization. He looked at his own hand, noticing it was the same one he’d used to feed that white bird.

"I did," he nodded slowly. "How did you know?"

"Because she left a mark on you." Mallory said, her anger evident. Her eyes shifted into their draconic form, and with a murmur under her breath, something began to appear on Cassius’s palm.

It was, just as Mallory said, a mark; one shaped like a phoenix with its wings spread wide, colored deep white.

Cassius frowned, surprised he hadn’t sensed anything wrong this whole time.

Even his goddesses hadn’t noticed.

"What... what does this mark do?" he asked, slightly nervous.

"I don’t know," Mallory said flatly. "And I don’t need to."

She acted immediately, wrapping her own essence around his hand, then...

"Erase."

...Mallory spoke, and the world around them shuddered. For a brief instant, even Cassius felt the urge to erase himself from existence.

And he would have, had Mallory’s attack been aimed at him. But it wasn’t.

It was aimed at the White Phoenix’s mark, which vanished into oblivion.

Everything returned to normal within seconds, and Mallory finally let go of his hand.

She cracked her neck, her eyes still annoyed, and looked at him.

"From now on, there’s one rule between you and me, Cassius," she said, her voice dead serious. "Never get close to the White Phoenix. Do you hear me?"

...

At the same time, deep within the Sun itself, in a secluded zone consumed by white, immaculate, blistering star fire, a beast made of that very fire slowly opened its eyes, revealing white eyes that could burn kingdoms in seconds.

A grin slowly spread across its face as it closed them again.

"These descendants of the Ruined Vaelgrim. So meddlesome."

—End of Chapter 358—