Chapter 230: CHILD OF DOOM
~CASSIUS
My memories were still intact.
I remembered everything that happened up until the moment Dimitri kidnapped us and forced us into the final lust— one of the final conditions of the convergence.
Then, we had all drank from Dahlia's blood again.
I could clearly see how we lost control of our consciousness, one after the other.
I imagined that I would wake up in that same cave again. But when my eyes finally opened, I was somewhere else.
And I was alone.
My heart tightened. But I took deep breaths to access my location first. I needed to understand where I was, before I could help the others.
My eyes slowly scanned the area. And I frowned.
Where was I?
I was standing in front of a large invisible barrier that glowed with my own memories.
My head cocked to the side as I tried to read through what this could mean. Was I dead?
Suddenly, I saw myself— the younger version of me on the other side. My throat squeezed as it clicked. It was the younger version of me on the day, everything began...
The day I gave my mother that corrupted blood.
My lungs stopped working and my insides started to fold as I watched her go berserk again...
She started killing people and the loop of destruction that followed felt like knives that flew past my eyes and went straight for my heart.
I saw Vlad—
I saw the way he was forced to become a monster to keep everyone alive…
I watched how he cried when his dagger killed our mother—
I watched how our father began to resent Vlad… How he blamed him for everything…
How he assaulted Orion—
I gritted my teeth, trying to stay strong but I failed.
Watching everyone vent out their pain and anger on Orion all over again, was too great a pain to bear.
My throat grew tighter as I watched how every monster Vlad and father couldn't contain got released on Orion.
I watched how this began to affect him mentally… How he cried and wished anyone could love him... Yet no one gave it to him—
Not even me.
My breathing became ragged as I watched how I was too busy trying to hide the footprints of my crime...
How I worked tirelessly to hide that I was the true monster who had destroyed everything… who had ruined everyone…
The memories suddenly shifted and I saw how I helped finalize the pieces of the convergence…
How it had always been me— I created all the loops.
I killed my mother...
I accepted Azarel... I destroyed my brothers... I started the convergence.
Every milestone and target... was me.
I ruined the world.
As if on cue, the images twisted and I saw how the world truly became under Azarel's rule.
He had taken over Lyon's body. He held Dahlia captive.
Father and Morgan were hopelessly hanging around.
And the worst— my brothers and I.
We became his mindless soldiers. He sent us to kill our own people… and we did it like monsters.
None of us could fight or oppose because he controlled us.
He owned us…
As the killing began again, I couldn't take it. I ran to the screen and began to hit it as hard as I could.
“Azarel, stop!” I growled, refusing to remain a spectator to the destruction I caused.
"It's me you wanted! I already offered myself!" I threw my body against the barrier, hoping to break through. "Let my people go!"
But my assaults were nothing. The barrier stood strong. Not even a crack.
My throat tightened but I refused to give up. I fisted my hands and rained punches over the barrier.
Yet, there was no change.
“Damn it! Shit!”
I had to protect my brothers. I had to fix the problem I had brought upon them. I had to save my people!
They were innocent. They didn't deserve this!
“Ahh!” I yelled, throwing my weight against the barrier all over again.
I could feel my muscles protesting against the pain. But it was nothing compared to the sting of guilt I felt in my heart.
When my attempts to break the screen with my body became clearly futile, my eyes started moving around, searching for something I could use.
Anything that could get me on the other side… to Vlad... to Orion… to Dahlia... Or even Lyon.
Yes, even Lyon was innocent. He was caught up in all of these because of me. If only I hadn't started this loop…
If only I hadn't—
“Cassius,” A familiar voice suddenly called, breaking me out of my guilt.
I turned to the voice and my heart stopped as I saw them.
It was... me. A darker and more broken version of me!
Pain bled through his red eyes. And his body was covered in dark clothes.
“You are wasting your time… you can't break free… not like this…”
His dark glowed eyes with an aura that only reminded me of my guilt.
He was like a mirror to the conscience I had stained... To the lives I had destroyed...
"You can't leave here... You can't get to them..." He repeated and my soul cracked.
“I— I need— I can't stay here and do nothing,” I stuttered. "I need to help them."
“And you will…” he said in a voice that drilled a hole through me.
Goosebumps appeared all over my skin.
“I hope you understand now what needs to be done…” he whispered, coming closer to me.
I tried to speak, but my throat grew heavy as the comprehension hit me. Hard.
With a voice that drove my head deeper into my sins, he continued; “ You are an abomination, Cassius… the reason all of this started—”
“—Your existence… is everyone's doom...”
The images on the other side of the barrier changed and I watched with wide eyes as everyone met their horrible end.
Orion was strangled and hung on a tree…
Dahlia was thrown into a pit of burning white flames screaming for help…
And Vlad, he couldn't take the horror. He lost his mind and became the monster he always feared….
Seeing these, my body started shaking. My heart boiled like I was standing on molten pain...
My throat tightened and I could feel multiple lumps grow deep inside as the darker version of me continued speaking;
"—All this will happen because of your very existence, Cassius…” he said, "and there is only one way to end it."
Every nerve within me stood erect as I met his red gaze. "What is it? Please tell me. I will do it! I will do anything—"
"You must die…”