Chapter 21: Limitless

The words Cassian had spoken echoed within her mind.

​Believe in the one standing before you.

​Nyxara found herself unable to process them. All her life had been devoted to protecting others. That had been her purpose, her duty, her sole reason for existing, to stand before danger, to take the blade meant for another, to sacrifice herself so those she served could live.

​Whether it was the noble family that had adopted her or the Lord who had summoned her from the Nether World, she believed her role remained the same.

​Yet... he stood before her now. Fighting her battle. Protecting her.

​Nyxara felt something stir within her chest, a strange, unfamiliar sensation. She was certain it wasn’t her heartbeat, as she had lost that the moment she became an undead, yet something was undeniably there. Something warm. Something she couldn’t describe.

​Before she could dwell on it further, the Treants arrived.

​Nyxara’s eyes widened. She had become so lost in thought that she had momentarily forgotten the monsters surrounding them.

​"My Lord—"

​Before she could finish, the aura surrounding Cassian’s blade intensified.

A tremendous amount of mana flooded into the weapon, causing the aura surrounding the blade to grow denser and brighter until Aura Blade reached its absolute maximum output.

The pale sword hummed violently, distorting the surrounding air beneath the sudden pressure.

​At that moment, a Treant’s massive fist descended with enough force to flatten a house.

​Nyxara’s expression fractured with worry, yet Cassian remained stoic.

​He simply swung, as the glowing blade met the colossal wooden fist.

​BOOOOM!

​A shockwave erupted from the point of impact. Then came the impossible, the Treant’s massive arm was stopped dead before its nine-meter frame was blasted violently backward.

It tore through several ancient trees before crashing heavily onto the forest floor.

​Nyxara froze, her violet eyes wide with disbelief.

​Aura Parry.

​Cassian had activated the second skill inherited from his Elite Skeleton Knight. Yet that wasn’t what shocked her. What truly left her stunned was that he had executed it simultaneously with Aura Blade.

​Two skills at once.

​The mana consumption should have been catastrophic; combining skills was something even veteran combatants actively avoided, as the simultaneous strain often exceeded hundred times the normal cost. Yet Cassian had done so casually, as though it were second nature.

​The Treant that had been thrown away slowly dragged itself upward, its grotesque face filled with confusion.

It could sense Cassian’s raw physical baseline, he was clearly weaker than the undead elf they had been fighting, yet for some reason, the power radiating from him felt far more terrifying.

​The remaining Treants noticed it as well. Their synchronized advance slowed as their instincts warned them that the man standing before them was dangerous. Very dangerous.

​They began circling cautiously, searching for a gap in his guard.

​Cassian never took his eyes off them.

​"Nyxara."

​"Yes, my Lord?"

​"I need you to hold them back for me."

​Nyxara immediately frowned, panic lacing her tone. "My Lord, I am currently out of—"

​"Nyxara Nightshade."

His voice cut through hers with unquestionable authority, silencing her instantly.

​"Hold them back."

​Only then did she understand. Cassian wasn’t asking her to conserve her energy; he was ordering her to draw upon his.

​Nyxara’s eyes widened. Throughout the Lord’s Domain, this was something Champions avoided whenever possible.

Drawing upon a Lord’s mana was inherently dangerous, excessive drain could weaken a Lord, cripple their combat ability, or in extreme cases, threaten their life.

A Champion who recklessly drained their Lord’s reserves was viewed as incompetent.

​Yet Cassian was ordering her to do exactly that.

​Every instinct within her resisted, but it was a direct command from her sovereign. She could only obey.

​Hesitantly, Nyxara opened her soul link to establish a deeper connection with his core.

​The moment she did, her body froze.

​Her eyes widened, then widened further.

​A tidal wave of energy surged through the link, endless, boundless, vast beyond mortal comprehension.

Mana flooded into her empty vessel like an ocean breaking through a cracked dam. The dry well that had been her reserves filled instantly, then continued filling, and filling, and filling.

​The shadows beneath her feet exploded outward. Trees bent under the sudden atmospheric pressure, the earth cracked, and the darkness of the forest itself seemed to bow in answer to her call.

​Nyxara stared at the soul link connecting her to Cassian, and for the first time since her summoning, true fear appeared in her eyes, not fear of an enemy, nor fear of death, but fear born from witnessing an anomaly she could not comprehend.

​Because what was flowing through that bond... was not merely a large amount of mana.

​It was limitless.

The torrent of mana flooding through the bond gradually stabilized.

​Nyxara inhaled sharply. Even after the initial shock subsided, disbelief still lingered within her.

​Questions filled her mind in rapid succession: How was her Lord’s mana boundless? How could a mortal body contain such an unimaginable well of power? How was he standing there so casually, as if nothing unusual had happened?

​Yet she forced those questions aside. There would be time for answers later, for now, her Lord had given her an order, and she intended to fulfill it with absolute perfection.

​The shadows responded immediately. Unlike before, there was no hesitation, no restraint, and no concern over conserving her reserves.

​The darkness throughout the forest stirred violently, gathering, molding, and twisting before transforming into countless thick, jet-black chains.

​CRASH!

​The chains shot forward like striking serpents, wrapping tightly around the Treants’ limbs, torsos, and necks to bind all fourteen monsters in place.

​The Treants roared in fury, their immense physical strength straining against the shadow constructs.

Cracks appeared along the bindings, but the moment they fractured, more mana surged through the link. The cracks repaired themselves instantly, and the chains thickened, hardening into an unbreakable cage of darkness.

​The Treants thrashed, but they could no longer move an inch.

​The experience was exhilarating. For the first time in her existence, Nyxara understood what it felt like to fight without the crushing fear of mana exhaustion.

​When she finally confirmed the creatures were completely immobilized, she turned toward Cassian.

​"They have been bound, my Lord."

​Cassian nodded calmly. "You did well, Nyxara."

​A faint, rare smile touched her lips.

​Cassian shifted his attention to the fourteen remaining Treants.

Nyxara had already slain fourteen before his arrival, a feat she had accomplished while suffering under severe mana limitations.

​The thought pleased him deeply. His Champion was exceptionally powerful, far more formidable than her current Common classification suggested.

She was actively slaughtering Advanced ★★★ mana beasts, a feat very few could replicate at her current level.

​Which only made the icy fury simmering within Cassian’s chest burn colder.

​His most prized follower had nearly died at the hands of creatures he could only describe as oversized firewood.

​Frankly... it pissed him off.