Last Born Of The Desdemona

”Hey, Will... I can call you Will, right? Yeah, I’ll call you Will. Will, I’m talking to you. You should smile more, you know. Julaibib always smiles, that’s part of why I like him. He makes you feel like life isn’t that hard, like it’s not worth stressing over. He’s so carefree. But you look like you don’t have a personality beyond that sword of yours.”

”And you have no personality beyond being close to Julaibib,” William finally spoke, timing a jump just right to clear a boulder blocking his path.

His response caught Diaila off guard, but he wasn’t finished yet.

”You haven’t said one real thing about yourself this whole time,” he continued. ”Just Julaibib, over and over. Tell me, is that who you are, because of him? Did you build your entire identity around being close to him?”

He glanced at her for a moment, then clicked his tongue.

”Pathetic.”

That was all he said, but something inside Diaila cracked at the word. Her face twisted, and in a sudden burst of indignant rage, she thrashed against him. Tried to, at least.

William, seemingly anticipating it, tightened his hold around her enough that she couldn’t move a single muscle.

Her anger boiled over into something close to fury.

”You know nothing about who I am!” Diaila screamed. ”Don’t you dare call me pathetic! You’re the pathetic one! You are!”

”I’ve heard enough to judge. And you are pathetic. Now shut up before I knock you out,” he glared at her. ”I don’t have energy to waste on you.”

William didn’t speak again after that, even as she kept talking, demanding an apology.

Eventually she grew tired of talking, her anger fading with every kilometer. But the frustration lingered.

”You have the nerve to call me that,” she scoffed, ”as if you have any personality beyond your sword.”

”I chose this life,” William said. ”You, on the other hand, chose yours because you’re nothing without Julaibib.”

Those words looped over and over in Diaila’s mind, relentless, as if they demanded to be replayed.

She fell completely silent, her chest aching, though she couldn’t say exactly why.

The rest of the journey passed in complete silence, neither of them willing to speak to the other.

Meanwhile, Cassius ran ahead of them, occasionally chatting with Meadow, but mostly conversing with Scarlet, seeking her advice.

By now, Cassius was starting to figure her out. She was overbearing. So the trick was to make her feel like she was the one in control.

That was why he kept asking her for advice on how to hunt these dragon hunters. If her answer sounded reasonable, he planned to act on it. That way, the Primal Queen would have no reason to refuse doing something she’d suggested herself.

And so,

’Oh, yes, Scarlet, tell me more. What a brilliant idea!’

...Scarlet went on to show Cassius just how long and eventful a life she’d actually lived.

1 hour 12 minutes remained.

...

At the same time, in a dark alley off Lesquin Street inside Vorn City, Anesthesia and Raven, wearing masks that hid their faces entirely, stood before a black wall.

They exchanged a look for a couple of seconds, then nodded. Anesthesia raised her hand and knocked on the wall.

Not once.

She knocked twice, paused a second, then knocked three times in quick succession, switched to her left hand for seven more knocks, ending with both hands striking at once.

The sound came out strange, trailing off on a note that didn’t seem to echo at all.

Raven watched her with curiosity before turning his attention to the wall itself.

A moment after Anesthesia finished, the wall in front of them cracked, then split open, revealing a black door with a small viewing slot cut into it.

That slot slid open a second later, revealing a pair of green eyes, lashes so long they hung over them like hoods, peering out at them.

”Who are you? What do you want here?”

”I am Trustworthy,” Anesthesia said.

”And I, Untrustworthy,” Raven added.

Both of them pulled out a black card, a grinning jester printed on its face. ”And we’re here on business that’s absolutely none of your concern,” Raven murmured, his tone dark.

And Anesthesia followed,

”Now open the damn door.”

—End of Chapter 381—