Chapter 7 – Pity
Cassius stood outside the Desdemona Mansion, his handsome figure enough to make any passing woman's mouth water.
Océane stood faithfully at his right, eyes focused and alert at all times. Cassius could almost taste the difference in the air around her.
Something close to the damp, sturdy feeling of earth, he wagered.
Two guards — armour crimson-black, the white Snake Eating Sigil of the Desdemona on their chests — stood like pillars in front of the humongous door behind him.
Their faces were hidden behind demon-like helmets with horns jutting sinuously upward, but their eyes were fully visible. And those eyes rested on Cassius's back, carrying a mix of fear and something that sat uncomfortably close to hidden contempt.
He felt both perfectly.
The fear, Cassius guessed easily, was due to his family's reputation and what awaited anyone foolish enough to show it openly.
The contempt's origin was obvious enough.
'Because of my low Capacity.' He mused, arms crossed on his chest, bearing their gazes without flinching. 'This is who you are now, Cassius. This is the world you live in. A world where everyone looks down on you the moment you fail to meet the expectations of your bloodline. A world where the weak are overlooked, trampled, worth less than the dirt everyone steps on. A world where the strong hold the right of life and death over anything beneath them.'
He knew it well. His family was exactly like that — cold and cruel to anything outside their own blood.
And beyond that, he had played the Game. He had lived through the many events scattered across the First Game, over and over.
He knew the Chosen Heiress — one of the Main Heroines — but also the other Main and Minor Heroines and what had been revealed about them.
But more than all of that, there was the Protagonist. Emrys Stormblessed.
Cassius clenched his jaw. 'I didn't want to think about it. But there truly is no other way.'
He loathed even the act of thinking about the Protagonist right now. Not because the man was hateful. Not even close. The man was a goddamn saint. Genuinely impossible to hate.
At least, to anyone who wasn't on the villainous path.
'So like Kaden. Alike in so many ways.' He hissed out a quiet breath of frustration. 'That's why I thought I'd like him.'
And he did.
Until he uncovered the hidden backstory with Emrys being Isolde and the Chosen Heiress's childhood friend. Which meant plainly that Isolde ended up falling in love with him.
That was one of the main reasons she turned dark.
Emrys didn't choose her. He chose her little sister as part of his harem.
Why not Isolde?
Simply because Emrys Stormblessed had an Innate that made him existentially uncomfortable around people on the dark path.
Isolde was one such person. And…him too.
'Argh.'
He could already feel what a headache Emrys would be.
But coming back to Isolde loving Emrys…
Honestly, Cassius had been fine with it at the time. Playing from Emrys's perspective, he hadn't minded watching Isolde fall for someone else, even knowing the Protagonist would kill her at the end of the First Game and choose her sister instead.
How did he know?
That bastard Kaden had spoiled him.
'But I can't afford that, can I?' Cassius thought, just as the distant sound of an approaching carriage rumbled through the air. 'I can't let her be killed. And I certainly can't let her love anyone else.'
Isolde was his. She didn't know it yet. But she would.
Not to say it would be easy, but Cassius was willing to try.
'For that, I need the Goddess's Blessing. That specific one. It's the only way to activate the unique Hidden System.'
At that thought, Cassius watched a fully black carriage appear and stop in front of him.
It ran on runes — no horse, no driver. It was automatic. The kind only the wealthy like the Desdemona could afford.
Océane immediately stepped forward, took hold of the door handle, twisted it inward, and opened it gracefully.
"Please, Young Master." She murmured, lowering her head.
Cassius nodded with a smile and strode forward with measured steps. Arriving at the door, he paused.
He twisted his head and looked at the two guardsmen stationed at the door.
They flinched. A bad feeling crawled through their guts immediately.
"Do you know their names, Océane?" He asked softly, a gentle smile on his lips.
"Yes, Young Master." She answered, puzzled.
"Report them to my mother." He paused, then shook his head. "No, she will be too cruel. My father instead. He will be swift about it, hopefully for their sake. Tell him I was looked down upon by these two, and that my time is too scarce to deal with it myself."
Their eyes went wide, the colour draining from their faces. Their knees hit the hard ground, both men bowing completely, their bodies shaking like cloth caught in a restless wind.
"Young Master, please—!"
BAM.
The carriage door slammed shut. Cassius was already inside, yet no one saw his body subtly trembling after his cold verdict.
Océane turned and looked at the trembling guards. She shook her head in quiet pity. She wasn't surprised, her young master had always been this way.
He was not the forgiving type.
'None of them are, anyway.'
"Go home." She told the shaking guards. "Say your goodbyes. You will meet the Butler by end of day."
Their deaths were guaranteed.
The guards broke into hot tears.
…
The Desdemona controlled the Tier One City of Desde in the Badur Kingdom, sitting close to the Wastelands of Dukji. And since the Fractured Land was situated at the edge of Storm City, a travel of over an hour was necessary.
It would have been faster to take a transportation portal directly, but Cassius wanted the travel time to gather himself and prepare.
He needed to go over everything he remembered about the Fractured Land and the hidden conditions required to achieve what he was after.
And beyond that, he needed to use the time to accept the very real possibility of pain.
'I will need to fight if necessary, even though I have never fought. And I will most likely get wounded. In other words, I need to get used to pain.'
He felt a genuine stir of fear and apprehension at the thought, but he knew there was no other way.
There was no path to strength that didn't run through suffering. That was simply impossible.
And even beyond the Fractured Land, there would be many dangerous situations ahead if he intended to achieve his goals.
'Especially once I start looking for them.' He added inwardly, thinking of those low and mid-level villains with interesting characters and aspects scattered throughout the First Game.
As those thoughts paraded through his head, Cassius set about preparing his mind for the sensation of pain by ordering Océane to twist his hand every five seconds.
Nothing too severe but enough to give his mind a taste.
To say the maid was shocked would be an understatement. Still, she obeyed.
Soon enough they arrived.
And there, Cassius Desdemona stood face to face with his first Fractured Land.
…
'So this is how it looks in reality.'
Cassius thought with a tense smile, looking at the swirling mass of grey essence forming a wide rectangular portal. Along its edges ran what looked like thin silver threads, weaving in and out with unnatural precision.
His heart was beating in both excitement and dread. Standing this close, he felt a soft pressure settle onto his chest, something trying to choke him from the inside.
He did his best to ignore it and willed the Fractured Land's information open.
The System chimed.
[Fractured Land: ******]
[Rank: Tier Six]
[Monster Type: Voids — Mind Eater]
[Slot: 0/5]
[Enter the Fractured Land to reveal the conditions and corresponding rewards!]
Cassius nodded faintly. Then, without turning to face Océane or the three black-hooded men his sister Morgan had sent…
"I will enter alone." He declared.
And without waiting for any of them to process it, "Océane, make sure of that."
The maid was completely thrown, eyes dilating.
Enter alone? Into a Tier Six Fractured Land? At Mortal Self rank? With a Birthright Capacity this low?
That was absolute madness, she wanted to shout it! But Océane did not have the strength or the will to refuse her young master.
His back was to all of them. But there was one thing every person standing there knew with chilling certainty.
Even with his weakness, Cassius Desdemona was a Desdemona.
And only a fool disobeyed the order of a Desdemona.
So she bowed her head, the three hooded men behind her completely unsettled by the turn of events.
"I hear. I obey." Océane said, bowing, fist clenched tight at her side.
Cassius smiled, then took a step forward. The essence of the Fractured Land wavered, then burst outward to envelop him and pull him into its depth.
Cassius entered the Fractured Land.
—End of Chapter 7—