Last Born Of The Desdemona

Chapter 210: Chapter 210: If I die, you die.

Chapter 210 – If I die, you die.

[...she will die if she kills you.]

Cassius truly didn’t know how to process the words he had just heard. His breathing was heavily shallow, his chest rising and falling as if he had run hundreds of marathons without a single rest.

He could feel his heart thundering in his chest, his blood roaring in his ears, so much so that a headache was slowly creeping into his mind.

He swallowed a mouthful of saliva and cursed under his breath, watching Mallory slowly regain her senses.

Her silver eyes were now fully draconic, and something in their current form made his left eye throb.

Cassius held himself back, stopping himself from scratching his eye vigorously.

But the throbbing sensation didn’t lessen. It increased dreadfully the more he looked at the Dean.

’What in the Queen’s name is going on?’

He wondered in an exhausted inner voice, as Ananke transferred directly into his mind the information about the Fate Link Token he had just used.

Cassius Desdemona stifled a gasp.

’No way?’

[It is, Cassius.] Ananke said, suddenly guilty for having ordered this of her Blessed. [You are now linked by Fate to this woman. In other words, if you are hurt, she will be hurt. If you die, she will die. But the same applies to her. So if the Dean were to die...]

Cassius shook his head in disbelief.

[...you will also die, Cassius. And this is a Gift from the Eye of the World. At your current power, and even at my own, it is absolute.]

’You’ve got to be kidding me!’

"This must be a joke." Mallory finally spoke after thoroughly analysing her current state. And to say she was shocked would be an understatement. "A terrible joke, even."

She snapped her eyes upward, looking deep into his eye. "What did you do, little bastard?"

Cassius gritted his teeth, annoyed and angry beyond understanding.

This was the kind of item he would have used on Isolde, so they might die and live together. Totally worth it.

But instead, he had wasted this precious item on a bloody Dean, just because she wanted his eye?

Cassius Desdemona snapped.

"What did I do?" He said harshly. "What do you mean, what did I do? You’re the one who caused all of this. I only tried to protect myself, and now here we are!"

"Are you raising your voice at me?" Mallory asked, her voice shrinking to a whisper.

It was so dangerous that he trembled slightly, afraid of something deep within the Dean.

Mallory approached him again. He was unable to move, as if his shadow had been frozen in place.

"Do you think I won’t touch you because of the little stunt you just pulled?" she tilted her head as she crouched down before him. "Do you truly believe, little bastard, that I won’t take your eye?"

"You’re more powerful than me." Cassius retorted with a wry, cold smile. "So you can feel it better than I can, Dean. You know that if I lose my eye, you’ll lose yours."

"I don’t mind losing an eye."

"I knew you’d say that. But trust me, if you touch my eye, I’ll drag you back with me to the Gate of Death."

Mallory chuckled humourlessly. "Are you threatening me?" Once again, she clamped her hand tight on his jaw and began to apply her strength.

This time, though, the Dean felt the same pain Cassius was going through.

That pain was nothing to her, not even worth mentioning. But the fact that she felt it at all proved exactly what she had been fearing.

She truly now had a Linked Fate with this human. A human who could die at any moment.

’Is this a joke? Is this my punishment for what I did in the past, finally catching up to me? But why now?’

How had she fallen so low in mere seconds?

The worst part was that she could do nothing about it. Which made her wonder how Cassius had obtained such an artifact.

Because if it was something capable of binding a being at her Life Level...

’...who is this damned bastard? What kind of being have the Desdemona sent to me now?’

"Threats?" Cassius said, snapping the Dean out of her turbulent thoughts. "I’m simply making you realise a simple truth. If you take my eye, I’ll die. And if I die, you’ll die."

"You underestimate me. I can keep you alive and imprisoned for hundreds of years after taking your eye."

"You’re the one underestimating me." He scoffed. "If I want to die, all I need is a little faithful prayer to my Goddess. Now let’s see if you can stop that."

[...Cassius, I will never kill you. No matter what.]

’I know that well. And you think I’d kill myself? I have a family and loved ones, Queen. I can’t leave them behind. But right now, I need to bluff.’

Still, it was terribly annoying that his fate was now linked to the Dean.

However, thinking about it in retrospect, he wasn’t really losing much.

The Dean was truly powerful. The Game never went deep into her power, but to be able to stop a god from descending into the mortal world without revealing her draconic nature was a feat.

And Mallory Octavia of Claweye had done it in the past.

Besides, the fact that his death would cause her own would make her serious about training him.

In every way, this was a win-win situation. Only for him, though.

Mallory gained nothing from it. And that was why her face twisted into one of pure anger.

"Did you anticipate all of this?" She hissed.

"No. But I had no choice but to adapt to the death you just brought down on me." He answered truthfully. "Why do you want my eye so badly? You don’t need it. You have your own dragon eyes."

"How did you obtain it?"

"I can feel your hatred and anger." Cassius said, mentioning one of the other effects of the Fate Link.

He couldn’t sense everything, but he was able to make out the particularly strong feelings coming from Mallory.

Just as she could feel his dissatisfaction and his sense of being wronged.

"My dragon eye is a Characteristic, which means it was made using the dead bodies of dragons." He said, analysing the situation. "And since you’re a dragon yourself, seeing it angers you. So I’d guess you want to know how I obtained it in order to figure out who to kill."

’But you can’t kill me anymore.’

"If you know, then speak." She hissed impatiently. "I need to know. I need to know who killed him."

’Him?’ Cassius echoed, frowning, then sighed heavily inwardly. ’Did she sense someone close to her among the many dragons used to create this eye?’

He looked at her strangely.

’How old is she, for that? Was my 333rd ancestor not so ancient after all? And how could she sense it?’

[It’s possible if the being is powerful and the connection between her and the one she’s referring to is exceptionally solid.]

’Solid in what way?’

[At the level of your relationship with Isolde. Maybe even more.]

Cassius drew a deep breath instantly, finally understanding why Mallory had been so impatient and merciless all this time.

All she wanted was to reclaim a part of someone close to her, now dead, killed by his own ancestor and used to grant power to another being.

He took a moment to see the situation by putting himself in her shoes, and instantly knew that if Isolde had suffered the same fate, he doubted he would have been this patient.

That person would die without question, and he would investigate later himself.

He sighed again, quieter this time.

’But I really can’t give you my eye. It was given to me by my ancestor. And no matter how it was obtained... I simply can’t let it go.’

He then felt a sincere sense of guilt, one Mallory felt instantly.

She looked at him, and saw a wry smile on his lips.

"I can’t give you this eye." He said. "But there must be a way. If I increase my control over this Eye, one day I might give you the chance to see and speak to him. As you know, since Characteristics are made from living beings, we tend to unlock their memories the more we advance. And some talented ones could even revive the dead spirit of the past owner through an evolution of their Characteristic beyond the norm."

"That’s a level even I have not reached yet. And no one in recorded history ever has. For all we know, it’s only a myth." Mallory said.

"But all myths hold a semblance of truth. And this is our only chance anyway. So we must at least walk toward it."

Mallory Octavia fell silent, looking at Cassius in contemplation before sighing and letting go of his cheeks.

"This is truly ridiculous." She muttered under her breath, passing a hand over her face, still not believing it. "I’ve become linked by Fate to a human, and now I’m hoping for him to reach that mythical level..."

And all of it had started with her wishing to gouge out his eye and leave him for dead.

The irony of the situation was not lost on Mallory.

"You know, I don’t like this either. What am I supposed to tell my wife now? She’ll kill me."

"Is that my problem?"

"Yes, it is, because you’ll die if I die."

"Aren’t you enjoying this situation a little too much, little bastard?" Mallory grated. "Don’t forget, we’re not the same. I can bear the pain of your bones breaking one by one, your head smashing into the ground, and—!"

"Alright, I understand." He gave up.

They might feel the same pain, but the Dean’s pain tolerance was far beyond his own.

"What are we now?" Cassius asked, wiping his sweat. "Now I know you took me as a disciple only for my eye. Tsk. I knew something was wrong."

"We are nothing. Increase your proficiency with your Eye and let me see him. That’s all I care about."

"But I’d increase it faster with you as my master. And if you train me, I’ll be less likely to die and drag you down with me." He tilted his head. "We should become disciple and master in the end. And you’ll need me, you know."

"Need you?"

"You’ve been in the Dean’s position for as long as anyone can remember of this Academy." He smiled, slowly recalling one of the hidden plot points in the Game. "And there’s nothing people hate more than a king who refuses to let go of his crown. Or in your case, a Dean who refuses to give the younger generation the chance to surpass her."

"How do you know that?" Mallory asked sternly. "Who told you?"

"It’s simply obvious." Cassius replied. "You’re making everyone lower on the ladder stagnate. Because as long as you stay in your place, the Vice Dean won’t advance, and so the other Head Teachers can’t hope to become Vice Dean. And knowing the number of teachers and Head Teachers is limited, people have to battle each other, blackmail and kill just for a chance to step higher."

He shrugged slowly.

"All because the one at the Top has been there forever. They’re restless, and they want you down. And you’re alone in this fight."

He paused, then...

"Take me as your disciple, officially in the eyes of the world itself, and let me help you remain the god of this little Eden until the end of time. Let’s weed out the snakes before it’s too late."

Mallory’s silver eyes flashed dangerously at his words.

Everything Cassius said was true. And that was one of the reasons she had been so quick to anger and lose control of her emotions lately.

These ungrateful people all wanted her flesh and blood.

And since the Academy had rules in place from the dawn of its existence — back when it wasn’t truly known as an Academy in itself — she couldn’t use her power to crush them like the bugs they were.

Not that it would be easy, with that bastard Kai around.

Something needed to be done.

And as she looked at this crafty little bastard before her, Mallory felt that Cassius’s chaotic nature could be of help.

If there were rules, one simply needed someone adaptive enough to respect the rules while playing them at the same time.

Cassius seemed perfect for that.

Added to that, it was better to hope to see and speak to Him again through Cassius reaching that level than to simply collect the eye.

You had to be patient, after all.

"So you owe me an eye, and the full ownership of this Academy as my disciple?"

"Seems about right."

"And what if you fail?"

"What if I succeed?"

Mallory grinned slowly. "You damned sneaky little arrogant bastard."

"That sounds like praise to my ears."

The Dean clicked her tongue, then stood up, walking toward her wide silvery desk. "Come, little bastard."

Her voice dropped suddenly.

"Let me test your Spirit Affinity as the holder of a dragon eye, and tell me what you know about the factions in the Academy."

"So I’m your disciple now?"

"Don’t make me repeat myself."

"I’ll take that as a yes."

Mallory decided to stay silent, afraid of losing control and killing herself by killing him.

’Why am I doing this?’

—End of Chapter 210—