Chapter 900: Cowardly cats...!
Kyle closed his eyes as Cassian’s voice faded into silence. The space around him shimmered, pulsing with unstable energy.
He was trying to comprehend a unique natural law he had discovered back in his own universe, in Avalon, where Alec and Regius had unsealed the Second Realm.
At that time, when he had attempted to study the remnants of that unique law, his life force had begun to dissipate—plus, he had a battle to fight, so he had no time.
The law was too difficult and eerie.
So, he had simply condensed some of its traces into a core and tossed it into in his mind space—because even touching it felt like it would devour him completely. Now that he was far stronger, he could try to learn it—perhaps he would succeed.
Cassian raised a surprised eyebrow, his tone a mix of curiosity and taunting.
"What are you trying to grasp this time?"
His gaze dropped to the shadows coiling around Kyle’s fingers—tendrils of darkness slowly but steadily eating away at the cold flesh, dissolving it into nothingness.
"What law are you chasing now? Is it really more important than the question that was left unanswered back in the Hell’s Layer?"
His lips curled upward when a clear vein twitched on Kyle’s forehead. Whatever Kyle was chasing clearly wasn’t like the laws he had stolen from Cassian—natural laws that had taken Cassian years to understand, yet had been laughably easy for Kyle to grasp.
If it were, he would’ve already mastered it instead of getting distracted and annoyed by Cassian’s voice beside him.
"What is it?"
He asked mischievously.
"How about you share?"
With that, he reached out toward the darkness coiling around Kyle’s fingers.
The black tendrils writhed—hungry and unstable—threatening to consume him, which only made his smirk widen.
How interesting. Where had Kyle found such a strange darkness? No—when he looked closer, it wasn’t the same as the darkness he himself had surrendered to.
This was something else.
Something even darker.
Still, Cassian had no plans to steal.
He was feeling light—a bit unhinged.
So, he was just annoying Kyle—the man who had found out so much about him.
After all, how satisfying it would be if his little interference made Kyle fail. But really, Kyle had only himself to blame for trying to comprehend a natural law so volatile and eerie... in front of someone like Cassian.
Did he really think Cassian would just sit back and let him learn another powerful natural law without interference?
This was Cassian’s revenge for all the beatings he’d endured at Kyle’s hands.
But the instant his hand brushed against the tendrils of darkness, his body, soul, and consciousness shook. For a brief moment, he saw his own death flash before his eyes—then blood began to trickle from them.
He let out a breathless laugh, eyes locking on Kyle—who appeared perfectly fine, aside from his fingers being devoured by the dark tendrils slowly creeping up to cover him.
"How are you enduring such pain without even flinching? You’re so young. So how?"
His question went unanswered.
Because the moment the darkness he had just touched crawled up his own fingers, his consciousness was yanked into the abyss.
Cassian gasped for breath as he found himself in a bleak, shadow-drenched land.
Gloomy darkness loomed all around him.
His eyes contracted as he felt his life force slowly being drained by the eerie darkness around him—the longer his consciousness remained in this place, the weaker he grew.
"What the... How can a natural law have the power to pull someone into itself? I thought only laws tied to time could do that."
His consciousness within the darkness started to break apart—also disintegrating into the surroundings—and he clenched his jaw, trying to bear the sharp, burning pain.
"I need to get out of here... before this space devours me completely. Whatever this is, no one should ever step into it."
He stepped back, ready to sever the link with the tendrils that had crept up his body—darkness that had dragged his mind into the domain of the natural law it carried.
But just then, he caught sight of a familiar figure floating within the darkness far away, glowing as brightly as he remembered in an icy light—yet also steadily withering away.
"Kyle...?"
Cassian’s eyes trembled.
"Did he finally lose it? After everything he’s done... he wants to die in this place?"
He gritted his teeth and shot toward Kyle, attempting to stop the madman—who was laughing like a maniac even as his mind and life force vanished into nothingness.
"Damn it!"
At the same time, in the outside world, the mountain where Kyle and Cassian’s bodies sat began to tremble violently. The tendrils of darkness around Kyle’s fingers became more powerful, erupting in a chaotic wave that began devouring everything in its path.
In its wake, only withered grass, parched earth, and a lifeless silence remained. The surrounding trees disintegrated into ash, their trunks crumbling into dry splinters.
All the Celestials quietly meditating in the surrounding mountains fled at once, their eyes locked onto the dark aura descending from the peak where Kyle and Cassian sat.
Silver’s gaze sharpened, turning hard.
"What is Kyle doing now? The Clan Leader might’ve forgiven him for covering the clan in ice, but now he’s harming the mountains—Ares is definitely going to kick him out."
In no time, before the eyes of many, the once vibrant, tall mountain—brimming with natural energy—became a dry wasteland.
Even the wind dared not stir the scorched air, as if the vibrant land itself were dying.
Gvette appeared beside Silver.
"We need to quickly stop Kyle before the damage spreads beyond one mountain."
Cold sweat gathered on his forehead.
"The Clan Leader’s going to kill us all."
Silver hurriedly pushed him toward the mountain where Kyle and Cassian sat.
"How about you go stop him? You’ve got the most luck among us—maybe you will survive that darkness. I tried to send my senses in, and it started devouring them."
Gvette’s face paled.
"What?? If you can’t stop that darkness, how do you expect me to? You want me to walk in there and die? I would rather die at the Clan Leader’s hands than perish here!"
With that, he vanished.
Silver deadpanned.
She turned to the other Clan members, hoping to find another scapegoat—but the instant she looked back, the space behind her was empty. Everyone had already fled.
"Cowardly cats...! At least, call Ares!"