CHAPTER 330: POSSESSED BOY-I

Arabella stared at the monster in horror. Iliza wailed, her shrieks loud enough to shake the chamber’s very walls, as her massive hands clawed at the air, blindly searching for something, someone, to crush. Despite her size, the creature moved fast. Unnaturally fast.

But it wasn’t Iliza’s speed that terrified Arabella.

It was the fear that the wounds Cassius had inflicted, particularly the gaping injury in her eye, might begin to heal.

Arabella’s breath hitched.

But to her relief, the wound remained. It didn’t close.

Cassius gave the monster no room to recover. He struck from all angles, keeping her attention fixed on him. Iliza roared in frustration, her arms swiping through the air, missing him by inches every time. She was strong, but he was faster, relentless and merciless.

The other ministers stood frozen, swords clutched uselessly in their trembling hands. Even if they joined the fight, they knew they would only get in the way. None of them had the strength, or the courage, to go toe to toe with that monster the way Cassius did.

They exchanged helpless glances as Helena scowled in frustration. Her hands clenched into fists.

"Is there really nothing we can do?" she hissed toward Juan.

Juan, ever composed, hummed in thought. "There’s a cannon," he said. "But moving it into position would take time."

"I don’t care if it takes an hour," Helena snapped. She turned to the others, her voice sharp as a blade. "Don’t just stand there! You heard him, go find the cannon! Now!"

Better to try and fail than to stand still like cowards.

Across the room, Arabella’s mind was racing too. She didn’t just see a monster, she saw a problem to be solved. It wasn’t Iliza’s sheer size that had Cassius struggling. It was her skin. Thick, rubbery, nearly impenetrable. Cassius’s sword, even with all his strength behind it, could barely cut through.

There had to be a better way.

She turned to Atlas, frowning. "Is fire the troll’s weakness?"

He shook his head. "Not exactly a weakness," he replied. "But trolls don’t regenerate like remnants do. Their skin is just... too thick. Heating the sword helps, it softens the flesh enough to pierce through."

He muttered under his breath, "But this one... this troll is far too big."

Arabella narrowed her eyes. Something was taking shape in her mind, a new idea, a plan.

"But fire still works, doesn’t it?" she asked.

Atlas looked up and paused, recognizing the gleam in her eyes. The spark of resolve. She had a plan.

And it might just be their only chance.

Cassius clicked his tongue, crouching on what remained of the shattered second floor. Debris lay scattered around him, and the air stank of burnt flesh and dust. From this vantage point, hidden in the blind spot of Iliza’s ruined eyes, he could observe her frenzied movements without being detected. The troll thrashed, letting out guttural, distorted cries as she swung her arms blindly in search of him.

He hadn’t retreated because of exhaustion.

No, he needed a moment to calculate. To study her movements from a distance. To take in the full scale of her grotesque form and formulate a faster, more efficient way to kill her.

Unlike remnants, trolls could be defeated. They weren’t immortal monstrosities that refused to die no matter how many times you severed their heads. And unlike sorcerers, they weren’t intelligent enough to outmaneuver him. Thus, Iliza was beatable.

The only problem... was her flesh.

That wretchedly thick hide that puffed up like a bloated balloon, too dense for his sword to cut through cleanly.

He narrowed his eyes, thinking.

"Bubbly," he muttered, addressing the black blade in his hand. "Can’t you enlarge yourself?"

The sword gave a low tremble, responding to his voice.

The demonic power that had named itself so absurdly as Bubbly, was far stronger than he had anticipated when it first awakened within him. With it, his weapon could shift, expand, change form, but control was still an issue. There are other power that Bubbly told him he could preform, some that would even give him a power akin to a demon itself.

But Cassius hadn’t trained long enough to master it fully. Using it recklessly could harm the very people he was trying to protect. So he had fallen back on his old abilities, the ones he was more familiar of but now enhanced by Bubbly’s latent strength.

Still, he couldn’t ignore the potential.

If he could just—

Iliza roared beneath him, tearing through another pillar, and the building groaned in protest.

Cassius tightened his grip on the hilt, the black blade quivering with untapped power in his hand.

"I don’t need you to go wild," he whispered to the sword. "Just sharp enough to end this fast."

Meanwhile, a young man named Noah had stepped out of the courtroom, but not too far. He stood quietly in the hallway that, moments ago, had been crowded with people fleeing in panic. Now, it was eerily empty. The black and white tiles of the hallway was simply left in a mess, leaving trace of the panic.

In his arms, he still held the white, furry cat.

Noah’s eyes, those strange, blood red irises he had possessed since birth, had taken on a faint green hue as he stared ahead at the woman in the green gown, Alice.

She stood with her back partially turned, a wide smile curving on her lips as she glanced over her shoulder at him.

"I don’t think I owe a cute boy like you any fun," she said playfully.

But Noah didn’t respond.

Something felt off.

He was clearly following her, and yet... his gaze, though directed at her, didn’t seem to truly see her. His eyes looked hollow, distant, like he was trapped in a dream, walking in his sleep.

The only one who answered was the cat.

"Meow."

Alice blinked, then laughed. It was light, airy, almost mocking. She gave an exaggerated shrug and tapped her elbow, frowning slightly.

"To think I suspected you were hiding something," she mused aloud. "But maybe you’re just... ill? How pitiful. Especially for someone so young."

That’s when the voice came, not from Noah, but from the white cat nestled in his arms.

"The patient is you."

Alice froze.

Her smile, so full of confidence just moments before, slowly faltered, then dropped entirely.