Chapter 84: Relief

​The Eternal Serpent’s golden eyes softened slightly. "Do not concern yourself. You will most likely survive."

​Cassian’s face darkened completely.

​Most likely?

​Before he could voice a single protest, the spatial force surrounding him erupted violently.

​"Wait—!"

​His voice vanished alongside his body.

​The last thing Cassian saw was the Eternal Serpent watching him disappear into the spatial rift.

​Then, he was gone.

​Silence returned to the void.

​For several moments, the Eternal Serpent remained completely motionless.

​Then, the entire realm began to collapse.

​The stars shattered into countless motes of golden light, the endless cosmos dissolved, galaxies faded into mist, and space itself unraveled.

​Soon, only a single figure remained standing within the fading world.

​The Eternal Serpent, or rather, the true being beneath the cosmic entity.

​Its colossal body fragmented into shimmering rivers of golden particles. The enormous sun around which it had coiled vanished, its scales dissolved, and its endless form shrank.

​Until finally... a woman stood where the cosmic serpent had once been.

​Her long, snow-white hair cascaded down her back like flowing moonlight, and her golden eyes shone with ancient, unfathomable wisdom. Her skin was pale and flawless, resembling polished white jade.

​She wore an elegant white jūnihitoe, a layered noble robe historically worn by aristocratic women of ancient kingdoms, embroidered with intricate golden patterns that traced across the luxurious fabric.

The robe’s wide sleeves flowed like clouds around her, while a delicate crown of intertwined golden branches rested atop her head.

​She was breathtakingly beautiful, yet her physical beauty felt entirely secondary.

What truly stood out was the overwhelming sense of eternity surrounding her, an aura that suggested she had existed long before history itself began.

​The woman quietly stared at the exact spot where Cassian had vanished.

​For a long moment, she said nothing.

​Then, her golden eyes narrowed slightly.

​"Interesting."

​Her voice was soft, yet it echoed with crystal clarity across the collapsing realm.

​She slowly raised a slender hand, and a tiny strand of silver-gold light materialized above her palm.

It flickered weakly, almost imperceptibly, so faint that most beings in existence would never have noticed it.

​But she did, because she knew exactly what it was.

​The woman’s expression turned deeply thoughtful. "The Eternal Will..."

​The strand was extremely faint, yet there was no mistaking its signature: she had sensed a lingering trace of the Eternal Will around Cassian’s soul.

​It wasn’t enough to affect reality or draw external attention, but it was more than enough for someone of her status to notice.

​Her gaze deepened as she reflected:

​"A mortal with a D-Rank Lord Seed. Three Divine Blessings. A temporal anomaly. And now... a trace of the Eternal Will."

​The woman slowly smiled, not a warm smile, nor a cold one, but the intriguing smile of someone who had suddenly discovered something truly worth observing.

​"How curious."

​The surrounding realm continued crumbling into pure starlight.

​The woman watched the last remnants of Cassian’s spatial presence fade away before making a simple decision, one that would quietly alter the future of the cosmos.

​"I shall keep an eye on you, Cassian Voss."

​Her golden eyes glimmered with ancient amusement.

​"Let us see what kind of existence you become."

​The final star faded, the realm collapsed completely, and the [Cosmic Pillar of Order] vanished alongside it.

....

Cassian felt pain.

​Not the kind that came from broken bones or torn flesh, no, this pain originated from the very core of his existence.

​His Lord Seed trembled violently within his soul, as though countless hairline cracks were spreading across its surface.

​The agony radiated from the Lord Seed directly into his soul, from his soul into his physical body, and from his body into every nerve, every muscle, and every thought.

​For a moment, or perhaps an eternity, Cassian couldn’t tell where he ended and the pain began.

​His senses ceased to function. Sight vanished, sound vanished, and touch vanished.

Everything was drowned beneath endless, suffocating waves of spiritual torment.

​The only thing that existed was pain.

​Then, slowly... very slowly... the suffering began to fade.

​The cracks threatening to shatter his Lord Seed stabilized, the crushing pressure lessened, and the agony receded from an unbearable inferno into a lingering, dull ache.

​His thoughts gradually returned, and his physical awareness followed closely behind.

​The first thing Cassian noticed was cold air brushing against his bare chest, a faint draft sweeping across his exposed skin.

​Then, compression.

​A firm, rhythmic pressure slammed into his chest, causing his body to jolt slightly.

​Before his muddled thoughts could process what was happening, another sensation followed immediately after: warmth, softness, and a firm pressure directly against his lips.

​Cassian’s sky-blue eyes snapped open.

​For a split second, his mind completely blanked.

​Silver-white hair filled his vision, and long eyelashes rested against closed eyelids. Nyxara’s face was merely inches from his own, her lips pressed firmly against his.

​Cassian froze.

​The shadow elf Champion didn’t notice he was conscious. Focused entirely on her desperate task, she attempted to force air into his lungs once more.

​Then, she pulled back.

​A thin, fleeting strand of saliva stretched briefly between them before snapping.

​Nyxara immediately moved to resume chest compressions, her hands rising into the air, and then freezing.

​Cassian was staring directly at her.

​"..."

​"..."

​The usually stoic, composed champion looked completely stunned, her hands remaining awkwardly suspended above his bare chest.

​The world around them seemed to grind to a total halt.

​"My Lord...?"

​The words escaped her lips in a delicate mixture of sheer relief and utter disbelief, as if she couldn’t quite bring herself to trust her own eyes.

​The deep-seated terror she had kept hidden behind her calm demeanor finally surfaced on her pale face.

​"My Lord!"

​This time, her voice carried unmistakable, overwhelming relief. Her rigid shoulders slumped, and the frantic tension she had been holding onto instantly vanished.

​Cassian blinked several times, his groggy mind still struggling to catch up to the situation.

....

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