Time didn't seem to move for Cassir as he was lost in deep thoughts since he had left Marcus's estate gates.
He returned to Maney's residence ahead of the man and waited for him there.
"Could it be that I was wrong?" He muttered as he stared out into a garden filled with faceless humanoid statues.
Cassir closed his eyes and focused on his inner self–his inner world.
Within him were dense clouds of darkness. It was almost as if every part of him was made of this substance.
However, around his very core, there was a spec of blue light that seemed capable of overturning and destroying every single thing about him.
"Lord Daemon Von Sirdi. This mark that you left on me can be activated by anyone with your blood, huh?"
Cassir clenched his teeth and smiled, creating a paradox of expressions on his face.
The corners of his brows trembled as though he was on the verge of flaring out in anger.
He tapped his feet on the ground all so continuously that it started to sound like an applause.
Wisps of dark energy seeped out of him, dropping the temperature in the room he was in.
"Why won't you let me be?" In Cassir's eyes, he had returned to the day he crossed paths with Marcus's father.
The man's figure was shrouded in blue light that came from his eclipsing aura. He stood tall, looking down on the bloodied and injured Cassir that was kneeling before him, holding his organs in his hands.
"Why didn't you kill me then? Why subject a one-in-a-million talent like me to this torture and humiliation? Did you detest my arrogance that much!?"
Cassir raised his head and glared at the glowing figure, waiting for an answer.
However, just like every time he relived this scene, every episode left him with no answer.
Just a feeling of receiving a cold glare. One that suppressed Cassir's intentions, humbled his arrogant nature.
Rarely did Cassir choose to fight against this cold glare.
During the early days of his trauma, he used to try to free himself from the suffocating grasp of this lucid nightmare, but each time he was left with a backlash.
"Because of you, I have remained at the same level for years, afraid to make the breakthrough because of your grasp on me.
Time and time again, I thought about why you didn't kill me.
Was it to let your mortal child mock me!? To have a mortal child send me away like I was nothing but a nuisance!"
Cassir's voice echoed eerily and loudly as he spoke, as though he was speaking into the void.
"If it wasn't for this thing you left in me, I would have taken his heart out of his chest and eaten it before his dying eyes!"
Boom!
The floor beneath Cassir caved under the pressure from Cassir's aura leaking.
As if to answer him, a soul-wrenching pain shot through his body. The spec of blue within his inner world began to shine even brighter, cleansing even more of the darkness around.
"Argh!" Cassir coughed a few mouthfuls of blood, both in the flashback and the present.
As though the two scenes had superimposed each other.
"Just you wait. The day I find out how to break out of this curse, that's the day your bloodline ceases to exist. Alongside every man, woman, or child who has so much as greeted anyone related to you with a smile on their face!"
As if the blue spec was responding to this threat, its influence rose, cleansing more than half of the dark clouds within Cassir, forcing his aura to drop sharply.
A fear etched deeply into his mind and heart surfaced again, reminding him of whom he was threatening.
"Argh!!" Cassir wailed again as the process of cleansing by the blue light was painful.
Knowing that if this continued anymore, his life would be at risk, Cassir forcefully changed his train of thought, taking his mind away from anything that had to do with Sirdi's name.
This was how he had coped over the years with this trauma.
It had made him mentally unwell. Also restricting his talent and growth.
This was the price he paid for being arrogant before a Sirdi.
A few minutes passed and Cassir was able to recover a bit. Though his strength had fallen, and he was somewhat weaker, his life wasn't at risk at the moment.
He looked down at the blood he coughed out, staring at it for a while, before sweeping his hand over it.
Black smoke trailed his movement, seeping into his blood and turning every drop into smoke before returning to his body.
Not long after this, Maney arrived at his mansion.
When he entered and saw the state of the room Cassir was in, he could already guess what had happened.
Maney walked past him and made his way towards the bar that was at the end of the room. He brought out two glass cups from a cupboard and set them beside.
He then picked a wine bottle out of another cupboard and poured the red substance into the two cups.
"Another episode?" He asked lightly as he poured himself a drink.
A few seconds passed before Cassir smiled wildly, as though this question was pleasing to hear.
"What do you think of him?" Cassir replied with a question of his own.
Maney, who had already placed a cup against his lips, paused and looked at Cassir.
"Unassuming, mysterious, patient, deceitful, and almost… dangerous. That was all I could glean from him." He took a sip of the wine and his problems seemed to fade for a few seconds.
Cassir arrived beside him and took the other cup, staring at the wine within.
"Why almost?"
"There were things I couldn't glimpse and many of them were already tied to my Causality without me knowing.
The only way that's possible is if there's another person with my abilities and more understanding of cause and effect out there. Someone very strong, possibly, a higher being."
Cassir took a sip of the wine and said: "That's highly unlikely. Entering this world, this dimension as a Tier 1 is already arduous. Unless the person in question was born in this world, it's almost impossible. Unless…"
Maney chuckled softly. "Indeed, unless the individual has one of the seven parts of Aethera's Casket, then that difficulty will be reduced."
"Then?"
"Then what?"
"Are you going to give up?"
Maney sneered, "Without a fight? Unlikely. Four months from now, the seven dimensions would align. With the auspiciousness of the day, I should be able to summon even more powerful Devilish Mutants.
Moreover, many things are still uncertain. If after four months the young governor remains, then a battle is unavoidable. One side has to perish."
"Your personal strength will be surprised by the nature of this world. It wouldn't be wise to step onto the battlefield yourself unless you're ready to face the consequences."
"Mayores, I have my own wishes. Hopes, dreams, and promises that I want to fulfill. Agard, no, this world is just a stepping stone to achieving that. Regardless of what happens here, I cannot die."
Maney spoke as though he had authority over his destiny.
Cassir eyed him a bit, observing the man's aura. After a while, he smiled and said nothing.
"Are you going to join me, or are you going to leave Agard?"
Silence filled the room.
"I was planning to leave this place if the young lord caused my curse to react…and that it did. However,"
Maney finished the wine in his cup and faced Cassir with a brow arched.
"You do not wish to fight the young lord."
Cassir nodded.
"I understand."