Chapter 69: Swollen Cheeks

Morghanna stared at Cassian for several long seconds before she chuckled, it was a low, dangerous sound that held an edge of dark amusement.

​"So that’s it?" Her crimson eyes locked onto his face. "Because you managed to land a lucky attack earlier, you’ve convinced yourself that we’re equals?"

​Cassian didn’t answer immediately. Instead, his gaze drifted across the battlefield, watching countless Orcs being systematically cut down by his relentless army as they advanced through the settlement.

​His eyes moved toward the remaining five council elders, who were covered in deep wounds, their earlier arrogance entirely gone.

Finally, his gaze shifted toward Grukhar, the four-meter giant was currently being launched through a building by Nyxara, only for shadow spikes to erupt beneath him and send him tumbling again.

​Only after taking in the entire field did Cassian look back at Morghanna.

​He raised an eyebrow, his tone completely casual. "Oh, I agree. We’re not equals."

​"..."

​Morghanna’s eye twitched.

​BOOM!

​The ground beneath her feet shattered.

​"You know that isn’t what I meant!" For the first time since the invasion began, her composure cracked into pure irritation. "I’m talking about you! You might command a powerful army, but you yourself are not strong!"

​Cassian stared at her, then a look of sudden realization appeared on his face. "Oh."

​Morghanna immediately regretted opening her mouth, as ​Cassian stood up calmly from the collapsed stone structure.

He stowed the remaining apple slices and wooden plate back into his Vault, then brushed imaginary dust from his black armor.

​"How about a wager?"

​Morghanna blinked. "A wager?"

​Cassian nodded smoothly. "If you defeat me in single combat, my army withdraws. We retreat from the Kragmar Dominion, give your people time to prepare, and return another day."

​The Chief was genuinely taken aback, that was not the proposal she expected. Suspicion quickly entered her eyes as a smirk formed on her lips.

​"That sounds remarkably one sided. Let me guess... if you win, we surrender?"

​Cassian shook his head.

​For the first time, the warmth left his sky-blue eyes, and the surrounding temperature seemed to plunge instantly as the shadows around them stirred.

​"You will do far more than surrender."

​Morghanna felt something fundamental shift in the atmosphere. Cassian’s gaze turned icy, sharp enough to cut, and though his voice remained calm, every word struck like a heavy warhammer.

​"If I win... you will offer me your life."

​Silence fell, so heavy that even the roaring chaos of the surrounding battle felt distant for a moment.

​Morghanna simply stared at him, the demand replaying in her mind. Not surrender, not servitude, and not tribute... her life.

​Then, a slow smile spread across her face, it was cold, predatory, and electric with excitement.

​That feeling returned in full force, the exact same sensation she had experienced when he punched her across the courtyard, and when she realized he had personally invaded her domain.

​It was the thrilling excitement of finally encountering an unknown wildcard, someone capable of standing before her without a trace of fear.

​Morghanna gripped her massive greataxe, the metal haft trembling slightly from pure anticipation.

​"You are either remarkably brave..." Her smile widened into a snarl. "...or completely insane."

​Cassian merely shrugged. "Perhaps."

​A genuine, booming laugh that caused nearby Orc warriors to freeze and the elders to stare in sheer disbelief, erupted from the chief.

None of them could remember the last time Morghanna laughed out of raw excitement.

​Eventually, she raised her axe and rested the heavy blade against her shoulder, her crimson eyes burning with intense battle lust.

​"Very well. I accept." She took a heavy step forward, then paused as a sudden realization occurred to her. "Tell me, Starbound Intruder... what is the name of the man who dares wager for my life?"

​Cassian stood straight beneath the emerald sun, its light reflecting off his pitch-black armor while the skull engraved upon his chestplate seemed to grin.

​His sky-blue eyes met her burning crimson gaze, and he answered simply:

​"The Undead Lord."

​A brief, heavy pause followed.

​"Cassian Voss."

​The name echoed clearly across the blood-soaked battlefield.

​Morghanna repeated it quietly under her breath, as if committing it to memory. "Cassian Voss..."

​Then, she dropped into a low combat stance.

​Crushing gravitational force began to distort the space around her as the air trembled and the ground cracked beneath her boots.

​Her smile widened into a lethal grin. "Good. Then if I kill you, Cassian Voss... at least I’ll remember the name of the first man foolish enough to challenge me."

​Cassian quickly added, "My life is not part of the wager, but it makes no difference, you won’t win regardless."

The battlefield held its breath as the gravitational force surrounding Morghanna’s frame began to shift.

​The mana around her churned violently, as though an invisible spring were being wound tighter and tighter.

Each compression drastically increased the density of the force surrounding her, while each expansion released only a fraction of that accumulated power.

​The ground beneath her feet fractured as cracks spread outward like spiderwebs.

​Then, the spring fully compressed.

​For a brief, terrifying instant, everything became dead silent.

​BOOM!

​The earth exploded.

​Morghanna vanished, not metaphorically, and not figuratively. She genuinely disappeared from where she had been standing, the resulting shockwave flattening nearby structures.

​To everyone watching, it looked less like high-speed movement and more like instantaneous teleportation.

One moment she stood dozens of meters away; the next, she was directly in front of Cassian.

​Her massive axe carved through the air, the heavy blade screaming as space itself seemed to groan beneath the raw force of the strike.

​Yet Cassian remained unnaturally calm.

​His eyes glowed with an ethereal blue light.

​[Soul Gaze]

​The world transformed. Countless tactical details flooded his senses: he could see the raw shape of Morghanna’s soul, perceive the precise vector of murderous intent driving her attack, and observe the flow of mana coursing through her body alongside the subtle tension of her muscles milliseconds before movement occurred.

​Three separate streams of battlefield intelligence entered his mind simultaneously.

​And the best part? No lifelong mastery was required, no decades of tedious training, and no intricate martial understanding.

The skill functioned as naturally as opening one’s eyes.

​All Cassian had to do was activate it, a perfect skill for someone possessing limitless mana.

​The moment Morghanna appeared before him, he reacted.

​[Burst]

​Mana detonated beneath his boots, propelling his body sideways in a flash.

​The gigantic axe missed him by mere inches. The crushing air pressure generated by the swing alone sliced through several distant stone structures, sending a violent gust rushing past Cassian’s face and whipping his dirty-blond hair wildly.

​The edge of the weapon was so close he could almost feel the raw, bloody killing intent radiating from the metal.

​But close wasn’t enough. Cassian had already moved.

​The shadow circles rotating around his arm brightened, mana surging into them like a roaring flood.

The constructs hummed with terrifying pitch as they absorbed vast quantities of energy.

​Morghanna’s crimson eyes widened slightly as she realized what was coming.

​Cassian stepped smoothly into her guard, his fist shooting forward toward her face.

​Specifically... toward the cheek he hadn’t hit yet.

....

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