Exactly two weeks had passed since the apocalyptic battle with Nerath and the escape from that chaotic dimension.

Cassian, Fredrinn, and Cordelia had returned to Veythral.

At Cassian's request, Fredrinn had agreed to merge with the stones gained from the ruins a few months apart, rather than all at once. He planned to use this time to prepare both himself and Veythral for the coming war.

Cassian had spent the first few days resting properly, shaking off the mental and physical fatigue from the horrific wounds he had sustained.

He was in high spirits due to his victory. He had managed to defeat a god in its own dimension.

For him, this was not just a victory, but also the first real step against those nightmarish prophecies.

After defeating Nerath, he had received notification from the System that he had acquired new abilities and a title.

— — —「∆ STATUS WINDOW ∆」— — —

Name: Cassian

Prince of Nothingness

God Slayer

Race: ???

Age: 13

Ascension: 2nd Phase

∆ New Title: God Slayer acquired

ABILITIES

[Crimson Night]

Rank: EX — Forbidden / Transcendent Type: Area Status: Sealed Description:

The echoes of an unending war paint the sky crimson. The stars vanish, the moon turns red.

On that night, dominion is yours alone. Even the gods dare not speak your name.

∆ Activation Condition:

You must have a direct or indirect effect on the occurrence of at least 1,000,000 deaths.

These deaths can occur through war, plague, disaster, or a chain of magic.

When the conditions are met, the ability is activated upon user confirmation.

Effects:

• The sky turns crimson; all enemies suffer a 30% power debuff and a 20% resistance drop.

• User's all stats increase by 200%, attacks reach a divine level.

• All mana, energy, and stamina resources exceed regeneration limits (unlimited resource mode).

• Divine or holy powers are temporarily isolated from the world or weakened; the influence of gods on the world is limited.

[Kraken's Coffin]

"The depths are a tomb with no escape."

• Countless ghost hands extend from the coffin, capturing and sealing the enemy.

• It is possible to imprison a weakened enemy inside.

• The mind and body of the sealed person fall completely under the user's control.

_______________________________________

His newly acquired abilities both pleased and confused Cassian.

The Crimson Night ability. This ability was on another level. The enhancements it provided could be more useful than he could ever have imagined.

But the thought of ending 1,000,000 human lives...

Cassian already knew he was not a good person, that he was not fighting for goodness and humanity.

The only things that mattered to him were himself and the people he cared about. The deaths of people he did not know and whose lives held no importance to Cassian were not very significant to him. But still, he could not help but feel bad.

He remembered clearly how hatred and vengeance had turned Sethrak into a monster.

Moreover, Cassian had sacrificed a part of his life and his memories in the battle with Nerath. A loss of 2 years of memories.

Since that day, although he tried to act as he always had, deep down he could feel that he was not the same person.

Cassian had never told Fredrinn about the side effects of his ability because he knew Fredrinn would never accept it. He might needlessly put himself in danger to protect Cassian.

This was not Cassian's first battle, and it would not be his last. Cassian had a pretty good idea of what his own inevitable end would be.

Cassian was currently training in a large, protected room that Fredrinn had specially arranged for him in the castle.

Creating a new body for Julian was a much more complex task than he had thought.

He had "created" a body for Cordelia last, but what he did then was merely remove the existing curse and adjust the damaged physical body to harmonize it with her soul.

He was not very knowledgeable about how to make a fully functional, living body from scratch.

Every corner of the room was filled with the products of these failed attempts, flawed human limbs.

Hearts, some too large, some too small; arms with incorrectly connected veins; legs with unset muscle structures; skulls with missing pieces...

If an outsider saw this room, they would think a horrific massacre had taken place inside, or that it was the experimental area of a depraved sorcerer.

Cassian groaned as he examined another flawed leg, created using holy mana and alchemy.

"Damn it! Why can't I get the measurements and the mana flow right?" Cassian knew how much Julian meant to Fredrinn. In the original game's story, Fredrinn had never been able to defeat Nerath and save Julian.

But Nerath was defeated, and Julian's soul was in Cassian's hands. Two loyal friends, separated from each other. Cassian himself wanted to reunite Fredrinn and Julian as soon as possible.

Nivelle's voice came from Cassian's soul. "Big bro, you need to rest a bit. It's late and you haven't eaten anything since morning."

"No... a little more. I'm very close to getting it right," Cassian insisted.

But at that moment, his eyes met Cordelia's, who was sitting cross legged in the corner of the room, silently watching him.

Cassian had wanted to entrust Cordelia to Rose or Eric. But Cordelia adopted a sullen and defensive attitude towards everyone except Cassian, especially towards Rose and Fredrinn, constantly pushing them away.

After thousands of years of trauma, the only being she could trust was Cassian, who had saved her from that nightmare.

Cordelia barely even spoke to anyone other than Cassian. She followed Cassian around all day like a shadow.

When Cassian was training or busy, he wanted to send her away, but when he saw the instant sadness in her eyes, the look filled with the fear of abandonment, he had decided not to bother her.

Cassian sighed deeply and summoned the Chaos Flames.

He burned all those flawed, failed experiments in the room, turning them to nothingness, leaving no trace behind.

He called out to Cordelia. "Come on, let's go outside. You're hungry, aren't you?"

Cordelia's blue eyes instantly lit up at this offer. She shot up from her spot and ran, intertwining her fingers with Cassian's, holding his hand.

It was evening, and they were walking side by side in the streets of Veythral, which were becoming crowded.

When Cassian looked at Cordelia, he could not sense much happiness in her gaze towards the people around them.

Even the way she squeezed his hand so tightly showed how uncomfortable and tense she was in the crowd.

He could not blame her for this. Her whole life, from the moment she was born, she had been ostracized, tortured, and treated like a monster by people.

He could not expect her to suddenly forget everything and act normal in this crowd.

At that moment, Cassian smelled the aroma of roasted corn cooking over embers on the side and called out to Cordelia.

"Want to eat something different before dinner?"

Cordelia, as if she had caught that wonderful smell, lifted her head and her blue eyes sparkled as she replied.

"I do!"

Cassian got two hot ears of corn from the stall, fresh off the embers, and held one out to Cordelia. "Be careful, it's ho-" Before Cassian could finish his sentence, Cordelia took a huge bite of the corn.

Her face winced for a moment in surprise, but she continued to chew. Then, she looked at Cassian, whose words had been cut off, and tilted her head sweetly.

Cassian laughed. "Haha, it's nothing. I was just going to say the corn is hot. You could have burned your tongue."

A sad expression flickered across Cordelia's face at these words.

"My brother Mordret," she whispered, "he used to make me eat flaming hot food in the barn sometimes. This little bit of heat isn't a problem for me."

Cassian's smile faded. He reached out and gently picked a kernel of corn that was stuck to Cordelia's cheek with his finger.

"Those times are in the past now," he said, his voice soft. "Everyone who tortured you is dead, too. But even if they were alive, you don't need to be afraid anymore. After all, you're under the protection of the strongest kid in the world."

Cordelia's face turned bright red at Cassian's sudden, gentle gesture, and she stammered.

Although Cassian's intention was only to comfort her, this simple touch was one of the few acts of affection Cordelia had ever known in her life, and for her, it was much more precious.

Cassian looked at the stammering Cordelia. "Did you burn your tongue?"

Cordelia turned her head away in embarrassment. "Y - yes... I think I underestimated the corn a little."

"You need to be more careful. Your body is much more delicate."

Cordelia just nodded, and the two continued their walk in the evening air.

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Author's note🧣:

Hey everyone!

The next chapter will be the finale of Volume 1! 😶‍🌫️

Volume 2 will start after a time skip of a few months.

If you'd like to see extra chapters covering that missing period, let me know in the comments!

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

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