Chapter 455: Sudden Understanding

Chapter 455: Chapter 455: Sudden Understanding

Chapter 455 – Sudden Understanding

Meadow then told them everything she had gone through inside that broken Gate of Worms. She had no reason to hide anything, and by telling them, she hoped to gain new information.

And she was right.

The moment she said that Rayel was one of the Royal Monsters of Inara Serpentine, the Womb of Monsters, Cassius’s eyes went wide.

He asked Meadow to repeat it, and when she did, the Last Born was visibly still struggling to believe it.

"What?" Meadow said, curious and apprehensive now. "Do you know something about this... Inara?"

Isolde and Sarah stared at him, waiting for his answer. Even Isolde was in the dark at that moment, which made the other two believe this was more serious than they had expected.

And yet, Cassius was just as confused as they were.

’Inara Serpentine... isn’t she a character in Kaden’s book?’ he wondered, frowning as he sat cross-legged on the grassy field, his eyes lost in endless thoughts. ’Not just any character. She was one of Kaden’s four wives, the little snake princess who conquered the Warren of Madness and Monsters. The woman who inherited Echidna and slaughtered the Orders!’

If it had only been the name, Cassius would have forced himself to believe it was just a lucky coincidence. But even Inara’s powers and titles were exactly the same.

And that was when it hit him like a bloodydamn punch straight to the face.

Staring back at Meadow and her eyepatch, Cassius finally recalled that Inara herself had the exact same features at the beginning of the story.

She wore an eyepatch. And one of her eyes, he no longer remembered which, was a literal monster she had created herself.

And that monster had been named...

"...Oeil?" Cassius whispered, dazed.

Meadow’s left eye widened. "How do you know the name of my monster eye?"

’Holy shit. What in the world is happening? Why are the characters of Kaden’s book real in this world?’ Cassius didn’t answer Meadow, still lost in his thoughts.

Meadow was about to speak again, but Isolde raised a hand, gently silencing her. The Assassin knew that whenever her husband was like this, it was wiser to let him digest his newfound knowledge.

The Halfmortal reluctantly complied, pressing her lips tightly together.

Cassius’s thoughts were still turning over on themselves, swirling in dizzying circles, trying to find an answer.

’With this, Queen’s Blessing, I can no longer dismiss the possibility that the White Phoenix, Blanche, from Kaden’s book is the same White Phoenix living in the Sun.’

And that White Phoenix had been called an Error by her master. A being that existed in this world without the right to exist, yet whom the world was unable to reject.

And just like that, it felt as though an explosion of understanding had occurred inside Cassius’s mind as things began to click into place.

In his profound state of reflection, his power flared unconsciously, and the temperature began to climb higher and higher.

’The White Phoenix is not from this world, and because of that, and because of how strong she is, she became an Error,’ he deduced. ’But then where did she come from? I know her from Kaden’s book. But that was a Vorn-damned book!’

And yet... the world he was currently living in had been a Game. A Game most likely created by his ancestors to give him a head start in their plans.

So did that mean Kaden’s book had been about a real world?

If that was indeed the case, then...

’Kaden... Kaden Warborn. He who was born amidst war, and from it inherited the power of Death. He who created thousands upon thousands of timelines, for death itself could not claim him. He who killed the Sun, the Moon, and the Stars... He who, in his boundless wrath and grief, brought death to every world. He who became the Hero of a Thousand Faces, and the Master of History. And finally, he who discovered his true self and became Kaden Lightbringer, once the rival of... whom?’

Cassius’s head was overheating as the story of Kaden’s book resurfaced in his mind, though many things were hazy and forgotten.

He was lost in an instant, yet the evidence was all here.

Kaden Lightbringer, his friend, hadn’t simply used his own name in his book out of vanity and pride.

He was the man himself. And that world was true. It was real!

Inara was here. And the White Phoenix, too.

Who else?

Were his other wives here too? The Primordial Frost? Sorrow? Golden Voice?

What about his believers? White? The Seer of Stars?

Just... just what was the correlation, the very link, between that world of Darklore... and this world of Sunu Gaal?

’Queen’s breath... what in the hell is this world? Just what is going on?’

[Worlds collide, darling.] Tysche said. [And when Worlds collide, the stories of each world become interwoven into something... unknown.]

’Then you mean... my thoughts are correct?’ Cassius’s lips trembled slightly. ’That bastard was not just a random human, was he? His trash book was not a trash book. And its damned ending was... not just the ending of a book. It was all real. And some of these people... are here?’

[We believe so.] Ananke nodded. [And if what we know about Kaden is true and still accurate, then... he is not dead. After all, that man...]

’...is Undying.’

That realization opened up a multitude of questions, and the Last Born didn’t know how to address them.

It was Kaden who had given him the Game to play in the first place. It was also that man who had urged him to play the following games, while he had stubbornly stayed on Game One.

Now things were slowly beginning to make sense, horrifically so.

’That bastard,’ Cassius cursed, burying his face in his hands. ’He should have forced me to play the other games. He truly didn’t play his role well, even though I don’t know what his role was.’

And he had even criticized the book’s ending, not knowing it was real.

’So he went through all of that? So many losses? So many battles and deaths? And not even a proper ending to his fate? No... How did he survive such pain?’

No wonder Kaden had been mad at him.

’You should have told me...’

[He did actually tell you that the two Kadens were the same. You didn’t believe him.] Ananke cut in, using the information she had fished out of his own memories.

’And thank God I didn’t. I would’ve gone mad,’ he thought, before raising his eyes again. ’The only reason I can handle knowledge this mind-breaking is that I’m slowly getting used to this whole fucking mess.’

Ananke, Tysche and even Marvela, who was beginning to understand a larger plot in Cassius’s life, smiled wryly. [You are adapting fast. Worthy of your Innate, I guess.]

Cassius didn’t answer those sarcastic words. Despite being used to it now, and the fact that his identity had been solidified, it was still hard to take all of this in.

But this discovery gave him information about the White Phoenix, and suddenly, he had hope of finding a way to deal with her.

Hopefully.

And it also gave him hope that one day... he would meet Kaden again. Not necessarily to find answers to all of this, but simply to see his friend once more.

After all, Kaden had lost everything. Almost everything.

And that thought alone made Cassius’s heart ache.

He sighed. ’The question remains: who are the other Six Errors... Is Inara one of them? Or are there more requirements than just being from... another world?’

Cassius had no idea.

And there was no way to know.

He sighed again, closed his eyes, and tilted his head back. Feeling the gaze of his sect members hard on him, he knew it was time to break his silence.

But to say what?

There was no way he could tell Sarah and Meadow all of this yet. Not now.

It was still too early.

There was only one solution left.

’Well, Queen, I think I will blame it all on you.’

Ananke shrugged. [Like you always have.]

He smiled at her, opened his eyes again, and said, "Meadow, you are more special than I initially thought."

Immediately, all of them listened.

Cassius knew Meadow could spot his lies, so he told only the truth, but only the truths that directly addressed the current situation.

He told them that he had heard of Inara, and that, just as Rayel had said, she was the mother of all monsters and the walker of the Warren of Madness.

They didn’t understand what a Warren was, and Cassius’s own knowledge of it was blurry and half-forgotten.

But he could still remember that a Warren was a sort of realm, and that seemed to satisfy them.

The discussion went on and on, with Cassius explaining that Inara had also worn an eyepatch, and that her eye was a monster.

It was still too early to draw any kind of conclusion. Even so, Meadow didn’t know how to feel when told she shared some... characteristics with a being who had gods as children.

But like Cassius, she quickly learned to look only at the present, and not to poison herself with thoughts of the future.

After talking about it a while longer, the four fell into a collective silence.

After what had just happened, each of them needed some time to absorb all this new information.

Cassius and Meadow especially. For Cassius, what he had just learned was enough to shake his entire understanding of the world and everything he thought he knew about it.

The truth was far deeper, far more profound than he had ever imagined.

Still, then, a couple of minutes later, with Meadow slowly accepting her new state and power, Cassius spoke again, his words this time surprising all of them except Meadow herself.

"Let’s recruit William Castria into the Sect. But also..."

He managed a smile, and Meadow scowled.

"...let’s add Diaila Law to the recruitment process."

—End of Chapter 455—