Chapter 534: Bad Karma [Bonus]
The smile was almost blinding.
Sometimes Cassarae forgot how handsome Sylas was, but that wasn't because his stoicism washed it away. It was rather because she had grown up with him, making it easy to forget.
Ironically, it was something the both of them dealt with. Sylas hadn't seemed to realize just the sort of bombshell Cassarae was until recently, having practically erased his 17th birthday memory from his head.
But looking at his smile now, it was hard for Cassarae to ignore it... even if she preferred when he was being aggressive and pushy.
Sylas didn't have what she might describe as movie star looks. If that was the case, she might cringe instead. She didn't favor men like that very much.
That wasn't to say he lacked in the looks department. Instead, it was to say that he looked more like he should have a spot reserved in an old western town, sitting at a bar and rotating a glass of whisky in his hand slowly.
He had an aura to him that was almost smoky and smoldering, one accented by the sharpness of his green eyes in a way that any other color might not have been able to match.
"It's the fucking five o'clock shadow," Cassarae mumbled absentmindedly.
Sylas was always clean-shaven, but the Summoning had made him fall off the wagon with his normal routines. It was no wonder she had noticed his looks more this time around; he didn't even look like the normal Sylas.
Just this slight change was enough to send her gushing.
"I can't make it too easy for this bastard."
"You know, you're speaking out loud."
"Shut up and let me," Cassarae replied without missing a beat and lacking the slightest bit of shame.
After a while, Cassarae regained her bearings and shook her head. This really was a bit too embarrassing, but her libido and dripping innards aside, how attractive Sylas was to her was quite low on her "take seriously" priority list right now.
There were attractive men all across the world. And she was sure that at least a handful of them had a personality like Sylas' that was likewise to her liking.
The matters of all those years ago weren't so easy for her to forget. And honestly... it really didn't seem like Sylas had changed much at all since then.
He had changed his mind not because he felt bad, and not because he had had a change of heart about his treatment of her, but purely because he decided he wanted her now.
And honestly...
That just wasn't good enough.
She spent ten years looking for a way to fill the hole he left behind, even if she had never admitted it to herself. If she fell into his embrace again, what would she do the next time he decided that he didn't want her anymore?
...
The two got down to business, neither mentioning the earlier matters again. For a moment, it didn't even look like they had once shared a romantic relationship at all.
Cassarae had somewhat expected Sylas to keep pressing, but she had almost forgotten the kind of man he was. His pride was placed above everything.
If he could fluster her a bit, he would. But the moment he sensed that she had made up her mind for the moment, he pretended as though nothing at all had happened.
It was enough to leave her one part frustrated and another part relieved.
Honestly speaking, if Sylas really decided he wanted to be pushy, she wasn't sure how long she could say "no" for.
Of course, if anything happened between them, she would be sure to deny it all the next morning. But the moment that Pandora's box was open, there would be no closing it again. So she would prefer to avoid that at all costs.
It wasn't long before Sylas got a firm understanding of the sort of situation Cassarae was in.
She had managed to raze The Enclave to the ground, which had opened up the path for Casstle Main to return to the top ten. In addition, she had managed to clear the Common Leg of her Chain Quest as well.
There were about two and a half years remaining in Cassarae's Quest, and the fact she was still working on the Bronze Leg even now was truly worrying. It would only get more difficult from here, and a four-month pace for a Common Leg of a Chain Quest didn't bode well for the rest. This was especially troublesome because after listening to Cassarae complain about her troubles, Sylas remembered something extremely important...
[Path of the Executioner (Bronze) (Quest)]
[You have displayed a tenacious Will and a sharp intent for battle, but you are missing the final piece to your power. Following the Path of another is easy; following your own is much more difficult.]
[The Executioner is the Reaper of All. But wreathed in bad karma and a flagrant temper, their Luck also tends to be particularly bad. Taking up this mantle will put you in untold danger, and many more will chase you down for your arrogance.]
[Open up the Path of the Executioner or die trying.]
[Bronze Reward Requirements]
[>Behead 10,000 enemies 10 or more Levels above you.]
[>Extinguish a Bronze Evil Cult.]
'Wreathed in bad karma and a flagrant temper, their Luck also tends to be particularly bad...'
A deep-seated worry sprouted in Sylas' heart.
After taking down The Enclave, pretty much nothing had gone well for Cassarae. Professor Broussard, the traitor pegged by Sylas, was ramping up efforts, coordinating with Guiz City to help suppress the Memory Merchant and Cassarae's father. Cassarae's Steward summon, Gregory, was slowly clawing back power with the help of a new summon who went by Mathilda, throwing Casstle Main's civil war into a cold one. And, with the ocean still pouring into the Amazonian Wilds, there was pretty much no usable land around any longer.
No one had found a method to close it yet.
Of course, Sylas now knew the perfect method, but it would require conquering the System Cities. If it was that easy, Cassarae would have done it already.
'Her Luck... it's the problem...'