The next moment he was right next to the wolf, his single enormous knife aimed at the beast's eye.
Cassian did not act foolishly, he did not attack where the wolf was covered by thick armor; he went straight for the beast's left eye.
The knife, although it didn't emit heat, was like a burning knife piercing firmly and continuously.
...
Again, the technique seemed to make silence reign in the surroundings, and Cassian saw everything happen slowly, calmly, but precisely, as the tip pierced the wolf's cornea.
But the laws of inertia were not so easily broken. The blow dragged both of them along: Cassian and the wolf were thrown out of the windy territory, crashing to the ground.
But that didn't stop what he was doing, and even though things were getting shaken up, he remained steady continuing to penetrate the eye of the beast, reaching deeper and deeper.
It was a large knife, and it penetrated deeper.
Bang! Rumble!! Thud! Crash!
The sound returned, caused by the constant pounding, rolling, and dragging of the wolf and Cassian, who kept forcing his knife deeper, even using the dragging to his advantage.
He had to go as deep as he could, he understood that the creature had enormous vitality and that this would not be enough.
"GRRAAHH!!"
The beast seemedsense the danger.
It sent several spikes flying toward Cassian and began thrashing violently, trying to shake him off.
But this time Cassian would not give in. He used the darkness at his feet to keep himself steady, and two arms emerged from his back, holding his knife, which precisely deflected the ice spikes.
Cassian, for his part, pushed down harder, trying to sink the knife deeper and deeper.
Even though he was attacking such a vital point with preparation and power, it was difficult. But he did not give up.
He pushed harder, sinking the blade, inch by inch, deeper and deeper into the beast's eye.
And as before, once inside, he dispersed the shadow to liquefy the inside of the wolf's head.
For some reason, logic told him that there was darkness inside living beings, but he couldn't control it, not until he came into contact with his own.
And thanks to that, he slowly invaded the wolf's head.
But he couldn't waste any more time. He didn't know what would happen, and he didn't want to end up wasting the opportunity.
The wolf seemed to have learned from the previous encounter and had reinforced itself with armor. Cassian didn't know what to do next.
So he didn't hesitate and put all his intention and will into the darkness.
"Destroy it."
He gave an order, an order to the darkness inside the head to destroy everything there was more quickly.
This stimulated the darkness, and it began to invade the wolf's head more quickly as it continued to struggle and thrash about. It sent more spikes, but Cassian stood firm and repelled them with his shadow arms.
It continued to invade his head and destroy.
"Grrrffhh."
It began to make less erratic, weaker movements and was slowly losing strength, as were the ice spikes, and slowly all movement ceased.
"Huffff~"
Cassian let out a breath; that was intense and exhausting. Those two beings had brought out the best in him and tested what he was now capable of, but in fact, it wasn't over.
Cassian was in hunting mode, and without stopping, with still more than half of his energy and physical condition, and since the aberration did not reappear, he thought he had finished off these two and it was time to go where the other one was, who seemed to dominate these two.
Similarly, he did not rule out the possibility that the town leader was his enemy; he was willing to fight even if they were stronger than that aberration and that beast.
"..?"
But at that moment, he sensed something, the signal of treasure was coming from the beast's corpse, specifically from its chest.
This caught Cassian's attention.
And perhaps because he knew it was dead, when he wanted to move the darkness inside the body, it now obeyed easily, opening the wolf from within and taking out what it was pointing to.
A blue sphere.
Again, it was like the cores of the aberrations, almost identical, but this one was blue.
He looked at it, but there was something curious: inside it there was a little blue wolf moving, it seemed alive and even growled at him.
He didn't understand what it was, neither he nor Yeling knew what it was.
But he could sense that it was a very good thing because of his skill. it had had no reaction, apart from the chests and what was under the town , which he would investigate later.
But in fact, it emanated pure mana, and the feeling was better than the aberration cores.
He thought about it for a moment and, even under the little wolf's growl, put it in his mouth and chewed it.
"Hmm, it tastes like ice... oh, this amount of energy..."
Cassian felt it; at that moment, he felt incomparably superior to when he ate the aberrant cores. His mana and energy recovered a lot, approximately thirty percent, although it was just a feeling and not entirely accurate.
Well, that helps, now let's see about interrogating those two.
He looked east where the barrier, the aberration, and the town leader were, but at that moment he saw it: he saw a light.
A light rose on the horizon. This light reached him and bathed him warmly; it was the light of dawn, which undoubtedly marked the end of this tragic night.
"Haaah~, dawn has come, haah~ I really feel... huh? Another sun? No, that's a—"
BOOOOMMM!
!!!!
Just as he was distracted by the warm dawn, he suddenly felt another intense source of light, also coming from the east, but this one was coming from where the barrier was.
It was an intense light accompanied by a loud boom that immediately set off Cassian's alarms.
He felt it again. Time seemed to slow down before him as he watched the source of that light: a huge ball of fire, resembling a miniature sun
It was growing at a very fast rate, even though his perception saw everything slower.
Cassian felt it: it was a matter of seconds, no, moments, before it reached him.
And he would be devoured. It was something he could not resist unless he gave it his all. It was a force that would consume everything in its path.
"Hah~"
I guess this is where it ends...
Cassian quickly understood the whole situation and sighed; the explosion was coming from where the leader and the aberration were, and they were surely no longer there, so he dismissed any intention of interrogating them.
Besides, the mini-sun didn't look like it was going to stop even after it reached him, so he had to move.
So I enter his shadow.
..
.
The next moment, he appeared at a considerable distance, specifically in the center of the town, where the still-living residents and the young people were inside the barrier.
The giant ball kept expanding even as it began to touch the city walls. It was obvious what would happen if he didn't do something.
"Hey, Ling, what do you think? No, I guess your thoughts are mine now. I can really feel you there, but at the same time, you're not. This skill is crazy... Haah~."
Hat night had been very revealing for him; he had discovered how foolish he could be when he let himself be guided solely by 'what was reasonable'.
Thanks to that, he had done a lot of things wrong when he could have done better.
A 'perfect body', yes, that was his skill, but as a person, he was not perfect at all. He had too many flaws, and he still does. He was as imperfect as any other being.
He even broke down like anyone else, failing at many things, weighed down by frustration, anger, and the burden of his own mistakes, and there was still a lot of sadness and regret in him.
Yes, he had done a lot of things wrong... but at least... he thought he would do at least one thing right and made a decision.
"I am going to give you this order... it is an absolute order..."
Cassian began to speak in an authoritative and firm tone, putting all his intention, feelings, and will into that order.
That order was directed at the remaining darkness and shadows that the dawn had not consumed.
Quickly understanding what Cassian wanted, its went to him.
The darkness that enveloped him also began to move; his hands and feet were completely stripped of this, as well as the rest that covered most of his body, not caring that it left several open wounds.
All that darkness began to gather on the angry demonic face on his back; it absorbed everything, enhancing its presence, detail... and life
Yes, the demonic face began to move and seemed to be alive, writhing, as if it wanted to separate from Cassian's body.
And it succeeded; little by little it began to detach itself from him and finally broke away completely, leaving Cassian with no trace of darkness on his body.
"By any means necessary, protect them."
Cassian finished speaking and the giant demonic face disappeared behind him.
So… you agree with me on this, right? Since there's no doubt in my mind, do you also think it's the right decision?... I guess we're very similar; even now, the fear of death has never existed… What does it matter, right? We've already killed all those sons of bitches...We've already avenged them. it's better to leave with the rest… But there's one last thing to do.
Yes, there was one last thing, he looked at the colossal fireball; it seemed unstoppable, and it was, but on his face there was no doubt about what he had to do.
He took his position. There was no darkness, what the light from that giant ball of fire hadn't covered, he had used a moment ago; not to mention his mana, he had put everything he could into the demonic face, he was completely dry.
All that remained was his physique, as always, pure brute force, against a giant magical ball of fire; it seemed pointless to even try.
But he didn't care.
"ART OF THE INNER VOID"
He took a firm step forward, with no intention of backing down, as he shouted at the top of his lungs:
"FIRST STANCE—FINDER'S KEEPERS."
BOOOOMM!!
The sun finally caught up with Cassian, but he stood firm and put his hands in front of him.
He was like a tiny ant stopping a flood, but he stood his ground.
"aaaaaaAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!"
And in fact, he stopped it almost entirely, using everything he had, every part of his being, to stop that immense and colossal thing, absorbing and using the energy it emitted to remain stable, pushing his body to the limit.
Still, he was slowly pushed back; his feet carved deep marks into the ground, and he seemed to be gradually overwhelmed.
It all seemed like futile resistance, but for him it wasn't: the longer he held on, the more time he gained; even a few more seconds could mean victory for him.
Behind him,
Just below the bewildered remaining residents outside the barrier, a huge mouth appeared and swallowed them whole.
The next moment, the floating demon's head seemed to let out a silent scream.
Nothing could actually be heard, but there was a clear pain transmitted from its grotesque appearance; that being seemed to lament the imminent fate of its creator... of its monarch.
And yet it fulfilled its duty, for which it was created, and in the next moment it became a large stain that covered the barrier.
It transformed into a dark dome and covered those beneath its domain with its darkness.
Cassian, however, was about to succumb to the inevitable. He could no longer feel his hands—he had probably lost them—and his body could no longer endure.
In the end, he could no longer bear the overwhelming sun.
Who would have thought that questionable name would be the last thing I would say, it's kind of funny...But in the end... at least I did one thing right.
That was his final thought, as his body was consumed...
End of Volume 1, The Trial of Existence: The Seeds of Varnorr