Exiled Prince: I'm the Unexpected Extra in the Novel-Chapter 174: The Crimson Night [2]

The War for The North [61]

Chapter 174: The Crimson Night [2]

When reality shattered like a broken mirror and pieced itself back together, Cassian was neither in the warm waters of the hot spring nor under that magical sky.

The air filling his lungs was not humid and sulfurous steam, but deadly air smelling of ash and burnt earth.

The ground beneath his feet was hard and black like volcanic glass. The massive crater surrounding him... was where he had defeated Aethrax and Seralya.

Luin and the others had brought him back to where the battle had raged most fiercely, to his own graveyard.

There was no time to think. Instincts moved faster than logic.

"[Sovereign Form!]"

The split second his mind gave the command, his body was covered in black smoke and crackling scales. Horns erupted from his forehead, his muscles swelled, and human weakness gave way to the absolute power of an ancient predator.

The transformation was so fast that the pure white dagger made of light, descending towards Cassian’s heart, met armor of black scales before it could even touch his skin.

CLANG!

A metallic sound echoed. Cassian had caught the dagger Luin was trying to stab him with in his clawed hands.

However, the tip of the dagger cut through the scales of the Sovereign form, and black blood leaking from Cassian’s palm dripped onto the ground.

Cassian roared at the flawless, silver-haired man standing before him. He opened his mouth like a dragon and vomited all the chaos in his lungs. Pitch-black Chaos Flames covered everywhere to swallow Luin.

Luin disappeared without breaking the annoying calmness on his face.

Just then, Cassian felt an intense, cursed flow of mana coming from his left side. Umbrelion. Jumping out of the shadows, he threw the black sphere in his hand at Cassian.

The moment the sphere hit Cassian, it expanded and trapped him inside. Jet-black, sticky energy wrapped around Cassian’s limbs, restricting his movements and imprisoning him in a strange sphere.

Simultaneously, dozens of white light spears directed by Luin rained down from the sky onto the trapped Cassian.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The sphere shattered under the light spears. Dust and smoke rose. Umbrelion grinned, sure of his victory. However, when the smoke cleared, the inside was empty.

The moment Umbrelion turned around in panic, he felt a terrible emptiness in his chest.

Cassian, using [Heart of the Storm], had slipped out of the sphere within split seconds and gotten behind Umbrelion.

His clawed hand had entered through Umbrelion’s back, shattered his rib cage, and exited from the front. And in his hand stood the black heart, still beating.

Cassian squeezed his hand. Umbrelion’s heart exploded. But Cassian wasn’t satisfied with this. He released a wave of pure, burning Holy Mana from his palm.

Holy mana burned Umbrelion’s cursed body from the inside, dispersed his shadows, and destroyed him within seconds leaving nothing behind.

Another Prince had fallen.

Cassian shook the blood off his hand and tilted his head to the side. His eyes locked onto his remaining two enemies, Luin and Lyria.

He expected to see fear, panic, or sadness on their faces. The horror of losing a comrade...

But all he saw was the smile on Luin’s lips.

Suddenly, there was a disconnect in Cassian’s mind. The images rewound.

He hadn’t even blinked but now... Now Umbrelion was standing in front of him again. Alive and intact. Cassian’s hand was still reaching towards Umbrelion’s chest, about to rip his heart out.

This time, the scenario played out differently. As if Umbrelion knew Cassian’s move beforehand, he blended into the shadows and disappeared right before the blow landed. Cassian’s claw grasped emptiness.

And from within that void, a sharp sword strike descended on Cassian’s face.

SLASH!

A dark sword cut Cassian’s eyes horizontally. His field of vision went dark, pain stabbed into his brain.

"GRAAAH!"

The moment he was blinded, Cassian instinctively released all the Chaos Flames in his body in an explosion. He pushed everything around him, everyone trying to approach him.

He jumped back, putting distance between them. His [Unique Regeneration] ability was working frantically. His cut eyes healed within seconds, his vision returned. He wove an impenetrable barrier of Chaos Flames around him.

He narrowed his eyes and looked ahead.

Luin, clasping his hands behind his back, was walking on the ashes in his flawless white clothes. The smile on his face had widened.

"Impressive," said Luin. His voice was calm and melodic even in the middle of this hell. "You seem to have learned to use your powers since our last meeting, Prince of Nothingness. That wild, uncontrolled boy is gone, a real prince has taken his place."

Cassian tilted his head slightly as Luin spoke.

"No wonder you defeated Aethrax and Seralya."

His eyes narrowed.

"Most likely," said Luin, as if revealing a secret. "Lady Lilith gave you quite a bit of information about us. Our weaknesses, fears, strengths..."

Luin slowly raised his right hand into the air. Intense, white mana rose from his palm.

"So I hope you know."

Luin released the wave of mana in his hand into the sky.

The light found the small, dense blackness hidden in the sky, still forming... the black hole made of chaos that Cassian was secretly trying to create, just like he used in his fight with Aethrax.

CRACK!

The white light hit the black hole and shattered it before it could grow, before it could become a threat. Cassian’s biggest trump card was destroyed before it was even played.

Luin smiled, looking at the calmness in Cassian’s blank gaze.

"I," said Luin, emphasizing every syllable. "Have no weakness."

Narrowing his eyes, Cassian looked at the remnants of his black hole dispersing in the sky.

"No need to be so surprised," said Luin. "You didn’t think we were stupid enough to fall for the same trick twice, did you?"

Luin extended his hand to Cassian, invitingly.

"You must have different tricks. Come on, show me how much you’ve improved."

Even though Cassian’s body was inside the barrier, he appeared behind Luin at the same time.

He swung his sword made of Chaos flames to stab Luin’s vulnerable neck.

However, Luin didn’t even turn his back. He just reached his right hand back over his shoulder.

CLINK!

Luin caught Cassian’s sword between two fingers. The sword trembled, couldn’t advance. And then, white rays emanating from Luin’s fingers invaded the sword. Chaos melted against purity and the sword shattered into nothingness.

"Slow," said Luin.

Simultaneously, with his other hand, he landed a palm strike on Cassian’s chest, right over his heart.

BOOM!

Cassian’s rib cage collapsed. His ribs broke, his lungs were crushed. Black blood gushing from his mouth, he was thrown backwards, meters away.

His back hit the ground, he dragged on the ground. Before he could stop, a shadow fell on him from the sky.

Lyria.

Her long, spiraling white spear was descending to stab Cassian’s chest.

Despite the pain, Cassian used his reflexes. He caught the tip of the spear with both hands at the last moment. His palms were cut, bleeding, but he stopped the spear.

But what he couldn’t stop was the attack coming from the side.

Umbrelion appeared from the shadows again. He was holding a rotten scythe dripping with black liquids.

He swung the scythe horizontally.

SWISH!

Cassian’s torso was bisected at the waist.

His intestines and black blood scattered on the hot soil. His legs fell to one side, his torso to another. He lost his balance, his hands holding the spear loosened.

[Unique Regeneration] and [Holy Mana] kicked in at the same time. Cassian’s body was pulled towards each other at a visible speed. Flesh fused, bones joined.

Simultaneously, hundreds of razor-sharp ice vines shot out from Cassian’s body.

The moment the vines reached Lyria and Umbrelion, that feeling came.

Time rewound again.

Cassian opened his eyes. There were no vines. There was no healing.

His torso was still bisected.

This time, Luin appeared above him. He stomped on his bisected torso, right in the middle of his face.

CRACK!

Cassian’s nose broke, his head was buried in the soil.

"You can’t make a surprise attack against someone who plays with time," said Luin from above.

As for Umbrelion, he was now standing far away, secreting toxic, green smoke. The smoke was melting and rotting the new ice Cassian was trying to create before it could even reach him.

Lyria lunged forward once more. Her white spear descended rapidly towards Cassian’s vulnerable heart lying on the ground.

The dragon inside Cassian roared. His perception of time came to a standstill.

Lightning flashing from his body, he reached immense speed.

ZIZZTT!

Lyria’s spear stabbed into the soil. But Cassian wasn’t there.

Where he was just a moment ago had turned into a smoking crater full of crackling lightning. There was a heavy smell of ozone and burnt flesh in the air.

Cassian appeared on a rock fifty meters away. His body was fully healed, his two parts united. He tilted his head, looking at the spear stuck in the ground.

He turned his gaze towards the three princes opposite him.

Luin was brushing a single speck of dust off his clothes. Lyria had pulled her spear, Umbrelion was waiting ready to blend into the shadows.

It was a 3 vs 1 situation. And this was not a fair fight.

He couldn’t harm them. Whenever he made a move, whenever he killed someone or gained an advantage, Lyria rewound time.

And every time it was rewound, Cassian found himself in a worse, more vulnerable position. As if in a chess game, his opponent was taking back every move until they made the perfect one.

On the other hand, the counter in the corner of his field of vision was slapping the brutal truth in his face.

[Sovereign Form: 3:07]

Time was against Cassian. Three minutes. That was all that remained.

When this time was up, his transformation would be undone and he would remain a defenseless boy against those three monsters.

If it went on like this, he would have to sacrifice his lifespan, memories, maybe another piece of his soul to use the Sovereign form again.

And that wasn’t the worst part.

Cassian fixed his eyes on the horizon visible from the edge of the crater, far away.

The Winter Castle.

Even from here, he could see those massive, colorful magic explosions covering the sky, the rising smoke and flames. The sound of explosions reached here with the wind.

The capital was in chaos. The army of the Obsidian Dawn, Elves, Vampires... They were all there. Fredrinn, Cecilia, Cryomara... They were dying there.

Cassian checked the [Scarlet Night] ability in his mind.

There was a counter. A death counter.

[Death Count: 42,890]

[Death Count: 43,547]

Something was wrong; somehow they had found a way to bypass Cryomara’s barrier and the civilian population was currently stuck in the middle of hell.