Chapter 195: Chapter 195: Final Test
Chapter 195 – Final Test
<...Let the Third and Final Test begin!!!>
The words thundered through the minds of every being in the Kingdom and every participant. Even those who had forfeited and now found themselves in a room designed specially for them looked at the screen with aching hearts.
And there, a change was born.
The landscape of the four zones began to shake and rattle, the earth completely shattering and caving in.
"Wow wow wow!" Klaus exclaimed, trying to keep himself steady, but it was no use.
None of them were able to protect themselves, causing them all to fall as the ground parted like the opening maw of a beast and revealed an entirely new sight.
The monsters that existed in each zone were all transported elsewhere, while the zones themselves disappeared, as if they had been nothing but illusion.
Which was exactly the case.
The zones themselves, and the arena, had all been created through a Soulblade’s Manifestation. It had all been illusion made real for a moment.
The Chosen Ones took in the sight of such absolute-seeming power and felt a shiver in their souls.
Then finally, they began their descent into the underground.
In the Yellow Forest, Jeanne moved faster than Meadow could follow and snatched Omm away with her, using her black fire to propel herself faster.
Omm was unable to react in time, leaving him completely helpless in Jeanne’s hands.
And for the first time, Meadow shouted with wrathful anger on her face.
But it was far too late.
In the same way, Love’s rune-covered fist struck Klaus the moment the opportunity arose. The Heir of Handoff’s jaw broke sharply, his lips split by the blow.
His eyes flashed black as he bolted toward Love and headbutted her with all his strength, cracking her forehead.
The two were soon locked in a fight as they fell together.
Meanwhile, Sarah was trying to pull Esmeray away from Theophane, but the Seer would not allow it. She grabbed Esmeray tightly and embraced her.
Esmeray lost all composure and melted into Theophane’s embrace. Sarah was pushed away, falling alone as she stared at Theophane’s cold eyes.
In the black dunes, Cassius, in his concerned state, gathered Océane into his arms as he fell.
Jurkil Julaibib was laughing heartily, holding Diaila in his right arm with ease, as if she weighed nothing.
Layla Bint Aicha’s face hadn’t changed since the first time she appeared. And from the beginning, her eyes had never left Cassius Desdemona.
Anesthesia watched all of it, unbothered.
Before they reached the underground, however, a teleportation rune appeared beneath all of them, separating each Chosen One to a completely different location.
The only ones transported together were those in physical contact at the moment of teleportation.
Just like that, Cassius found himself on the ground, Océane on top of him.
A sweet, peaceful scent washed over him, accompanied by the sound of rustling wind and gently flowing water.
He groaned, raised his head, and saw the numerous cameras around him.
He let out a faint, bitter smile.
"Seems people are truly interested in me." He said, then immediately fell silent.
Something inside him was... restless? Not restless, exactly. It was something like excitement mixed with fear.
And Cassius realised the feeling wasn’t coming from him.
It was from his Innate, Snake of Adaptability.
’This is...?’
[It’s the Echo reacting to you.] Ananke said, looking around at the landscape of mountains and rivers surrounding them. [Or should I say your Innate is reacting to that Echo. It seems the Echo is something tied to it.]
’Something tied to my Innate? In what way?’
[I don’t think you have the time for such questions, Cassius.]
And it was just as Ananke had said. After making sure everyone had been transported correctly, the voice spoke once more.
But this time, it did not echo globally.
The voice spoke to each person individually, telling each of them who held their Key, and whose Key was now in their possession.
At the same time, beside the big screen of the Academy, a new screen appeared, this one showing the list of Keys and who held them.
The reactions to the list were ones of dismay.
<Cassius Desdemona, your Key is held by Theophane Celeste, while Océane Terre’s Key is held by Tiger Woods.>
Cassius drew a deep breath at the first name. Theophane Celeste.
He swallowed a curse and listened to the rest of the voice’s words.
At that moment, two keys appeared beside him.
Each looked identical — gold with white stripes — but the names inscribed on them were different.
And before the voice even told him, Cassius had already read the names on the keys and felt his heartbeat quicken.
<Cassius Desdemona, you hold the Key of Omar Ibn Omar. Océane Terre holds the Key of Emrys Stormblessed.>
<Once you have your own Key, the place where the doors are located is the summit of Mount Hivetop. But be warned, the Mount cannot be climbed.>
<One last thing. You are not allowed to hide the key in your space ring or by any other means. The key must remain on your body. And you are not allowed to hold someone else’s key for more than three seconds, unless you are giving it to them.>
With that final warning, the voice vanished, and for all participants, one thing was now clear: the Third and Final Test had officially begun.
Cassius was still on the ground, Océane on top of him. He neither moved nor said anything, only staring blankly at the sky, his mind wandering in all directions.
Ananke remained equally silent, only watching him.
In the nobles’ room, Sefira bit her lower lip, her fist clenched tight as she watched her son. In that instant, the desire to slaughter Océane in the worst possible way was far too tempting.
Aldrin, for the first time, wore a frown.
Morgan’s eyes were dead cold, while Dorian’s face no longer carried its characteristic unserious flair.
Isolde was genuinely speechless, not even knowing what to think in such a situation. Lucian and Lilien remained silent, their identical faces transfixed on the screen, watching their little brother.
It was obvious to everyone at that moment that Cassius would not become the Palatine. Because of who held his keys, and whose keys he held.
Added to that was the fact that he would have to fight while protecting Océane. All of it made the task almost impossible.
And that was something Cassius dreadfully realised.
"This is harder than I thought." He whispered with a wry smile. "A lot harder."
He had always known it was never easy to carry the burden of others. But at that moment, Cassius understood it was not only a question of easy or not.
It was something far bigger than that.
Because with Océane, he was unable to go toward the Echo of the Desdemona he had been waiting for all this time.
Not only because he didn’t know what would happen there, or whether bringing her was a good choice, but also because with two keys to obtain and two more to protect, he had no time.
With Omar and Emrys after him, he was afraid the others would reach their keys first and pass through their doors.
’Queen’s breath...’
He could spare himself the trouble and simply give them their keys. But that would be foolish.
Cassius knew tremendously well that there was no way he could hand Emrys or Omar their keys. One had lightning affinity, the other space affinity.
The moment they got their keys, they would reach the top of the mountain faster than any of them.
’This feels awfully deliberately chosen.’ He thought, and for the first time ever, he began to doubt whether he would become Palatine.
[Are you going to give up, then?]
’I am simply thinking of a way out of this, Queen.’
[They are coming toward you. Can you hear them?]
Cassius could hear the sounds of battle already echoing around him. And amid those sounds, he could make out the crackle of lightning.
Emrys was coming. And if Emrys was coming, then Omar would not be far behind.
He had little time to find a way out of this situation. And lacking the time to think it through properly, Cassius decided to... just go wild and throw out any logical ideas.
’If my problem is the fear that people might get ahead of me, then I just need to make everyone else lose more time!’
With that, he pushed Océane off his chest and stood up.
He looked around, seeing numerous mountains and countless rivers flowing between them.
The sight was mystical.
He scanned the area and found a large tree beside a clear-water river just a few metres away.
He took Océane and ran toward it in an instant. Once there, Cassius tied heavy rocks lying around her waist, then placed a Tracking Mark on her.
Afterward, he took out the Cloak of Invisibility he had once obtained on an Origin Store day and wrapped it around her.
Then, without hesitation, he threw Océane into the river. The young maid immediately sank deep within, disappearing completely, settling at the bottom. There were no monsters, so she was safe.
And Cassius was not worried that Océane would die from lack of oxygen. Her entire internal system had been sealed by the Tier Four Seal Mark.
It could be said that Océane was like a corpse at that point.
She didn’t need to breathe.
Cassius stood and looked overhead. His red eye was stern.
’Queen, I need your help.’
[You want me to find them for you?]
’Aye. Can you do that?’
[Already done.] Ananke said, and immediately, Cassius saw two threads extend out from him and disappear into the surroundings.
The locations of both Tiger and Theophane.
Cassius closed his eyes, feeling the two threads, and found that one was quite close to him.
He opened his mouth in a wide, bloody grin, and crimson smoke wafted out of it. He took one step — the ground beneath him instantly scorched — and vanished in a burst of red light, heading straight for his target.
His speed was fast and silent, only repeatedly detonating a low, compressed amount of fire that compounded to generate enough shockwave to propel him far faster.
The closer he came to his destination, the more clearly the sounds of battle echoed.
He narrowed his eyes and went faster.
Soon enough, Cassius appeared in a wide space, his eyes immediately falling on an ongoing battle that had reduced the surroundings to splintered rock and cracked earth.
A ferocious white tiger with red stripes was locked in close-quarters combat against a strange being covered from head to foot in a full suit of black armour made of unknown material.
It was Jonathan of Grace.
And if Tiger was the one who held his key, then Cassius guessed that either Jonathan held Tiger’s Key, or they were simply fighting for the sake of it.
The second possibility seemed less likely. However, it hardly mattered to him.
His arrival was not immediately noticed by the two, as they were deeply focused on their battle.
A terrible rookie mistake.
Then, just as the two were about to exchange another heart-shaking punch, Cassius appeared instantly between them.
His two hands snapped out to each side like wings, blocking each punch.
The air whistled, space shook, and the ground beneath Cassius cracked and sank inward, pieces of stone and dirt spraying into the air.
The Last Born felt his insides rattle, bringing him a sharp pain, but he ignored it.
"Huh? Cassius?" Jonathan blurted out in surprise, his voice heavily distorted by the armour.
Cassius smiled at each of the two, his red eye flickering with fire.
"I’m sorry to interrupt you two, but I’m in quite a rush here." He said. "So let’s make this fast, shall we?"
Giving them no time to react, he grabbed each one by the head and cracked them against each other with all his strength.
Their heads met and exploded like thunder. They recoiled from the impact, blood gushing out and spraying.
"CASSIUS, YOU BASTARD!!!"
"ROARRR!!!"
They roared in pain and moved in unison, attempting to strike back with everything they had.
However, Cassius was already pointing both hands at them, shaped like guns.
And at the tips of his fingers was a tightly condensed fire — so condensed its colour was almost no longer crimson, slowly shifting toward the yellow of the sun, the temperature shooting up exponentially.
Tiger and Jonathan froze in dread, feeling in that instant the approach of death.
Cassius smiled mercilessly, and fired at their foreheads.
BANG! BANG!
His two twin balls of fire shot out like gunshots, yet touched nothing, instead landing on the nearby trees and boulders, exploding them instantly.
Cassius looked at where Jonathan and Tiger had been and found two Keys on the ground.
One was Océane’s. The other bore the name of Esmeray Hood.
At that instant, the voice echoed.
<Tiger Woods and Jonathan of Grace have been transported out of the Test due to the feeling of certain death induced by Cassius Desdemona. They will, by default, hold the positions of 24th and 23rd respectively.>
<Cassius Desdemona has obtained one of his keys. The Key of Esmeray Hood is now in his hands.>
Cassius cracked his neck, crimson smoke all over his face, and looked toward the remaining thread, his eyes growing colder and colder.
"Alright. Playtime’s over, little bastards."
He took one step, flickered like fire, and shot straight toward Theophane.
—End of Chapter 195—
