Chapter 1478: Calamity [5]

Darius had been close to fire for his entire life.

When he was young, he was notorious for running around causing mayhem. He always enjoyed visiting the palace forges to pull the beards of the blacksmiths and play with their fire.

There was a time when said blacksmiths wanted to take him as their disciple, realizing his love for fire, but those plans fell through.

At the end of the day, Darius was a member of the Void Clan. He was meant to use the main techniques of the palace.

From the day he started learning about space and time, his connection to fire began to fade, but he had several small experiences that seemed to hint towards his affinity.

And when Damien arrived, he was able to fully bloom, realizing his connection with fire and embracing it.

Damien's arrival was a breath of fresh air for everyone in the palace, not just Darius, but it was to another degree for the youngest of the Void sons.

Ever since then, he'd been able to truly feel like himself.

Ever since then, he'd been able to get rid of the hole in his heart, left by the lack of true affinity in his life.

Every single day Darius spent training with fire was fun for him. He was happy when he was at Void Palace with ample time and resources, but when they came to the Sacred Abyss Universe was when he really gained a connection with flames like never before.

The smiths of the Gehenna Tribe viewed fire spiritually in a way others couldn't comprehend. When he started to learn from them and internalize their ways, he gained a new appreciation for the flames that he'd been getting used to for the past ten years.

Of the three of them, Darius was the one who made the most improvements overall.

He had been waiting for a chance to test his mettle on the battlefield. This war couldn't have come at a more perfect time.

However, it was a shame that the Gehenna Tribe was involved.

Because of them, this battle meant more to him than it should have.

Which meant his actions were governed partly by emotion.

The woman he chose to battle, whose name was Caissa, didn't look like an easy target. The reason he chose her was because he could instinctually feel that he had an advantage against her.

He started off strong. Since it was currency daytime, his flame was in its sun mode. The benefit of this was its explosive power and ability to spread rapidly.

The Sun Flame was more obnoxious in every way than the Moon Flame. It represented yang, and it was just as wild and untamed. The Sun Flame was far more suited for Darius' personality than the Moon Flame, so when he started fighting, he immediately took the advantage.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Explosions rang out everywhere, illuminating the darkness. Flames spread rapidly and enveloped a huge portion of Tiamat's domain, marking it as Darius' territory.

Caissa wasn't weak just because Darius felt an advantage against her. Rather, she wasn't much weaker than the butler Cairo.

Darius felt superiority because of the laws he used.

Caissa flitted around the domain to dodge Darius' large sweeping attacks. Her body moved in and out of the darkness, expertly weeding through the chaos to stay in her enemy's blind spot.

It could be expected from her attire. Caissa was an assassin trained since young by Count Verex. In line with her career, she used Darkness Laws.

Darkness and Shadow were the two laws used most by assassins. Shadow had two sides, but not everyone could use them like Zara, which usually left darkness as being considered the best affinity for an assassin.

The problem with darkness was that it was a force leaning absolutely to one side. Unlike a Shadow affinity, which had a natural resistance to many light elements, Darkness had its enemies.

Fire was a big one.

Fire got humanity out of the darkness at a time long past. Its perception in the hearts of many was as the force that drove away the cold, dark nights.

Fire inherently suppressed Darkness, which meant when the battle began, Caissa was instantly put in a position where she couldn't take initiative.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

She was able to survive because of her experience, but it wouldn't be long before the fire consumed too much area and forced her into the light.

Caissa was observing her enemy closely.

Darius seemed reckless. He was obviously good with fire, but his mentality seemed to be prone to rushing and not properly thinking through things before acting.

She, as an assassin, wasn't somebody who fought directly. Her style was discreet, and just like the butler, she aimed to kill her opponents in a single attack.

However, unlike her male counterpart, she didn't look down on anybody.

She had been looked down upon for her entire life, whether by her peers or her employers.

She was well aware that she could kill most of them quite easily if she wanted to.

And she was aware that she couldn't be the only powerful person in the world.

She was taking a similar position to Tiamat as the battle began, but unlike Tiamat, she didn't start attacking soon.

She, instead, continued to wait.

Could her hesitation be considered indecisiveness?

Perhaps in the eyes of some, Caissa was too afraid of the suppression she felt from the flames and refused to move forward because of it.

In part, they'd be correct, but Caissa's mind went deeper than that.

Darius was the reckless type. If she could bait him into making a huge move and leaving an opening for her, she was confident in taking him down.

Because she hadn't been dodging without attacking.

She'd actually sent out several probes of malakh to judge Darius' perception. As of now, he couldn't sense her energy unless it was in an amount far higher than what she needed to kill him.

The opportunity would come to her as long as she waited. It was even better if the enemy thought her a coward.

Darius was throwing flames pretty wildly,

It was the best way to use the Sun Flame.

Unlike the Moon Flame, the Sun Flame didn't like to be controlled. It would listen to its owner, sure, but it would be sure to cause mayhem in the process.

As such, the best way to use it was to just let it do as it pleased.

Darius loved blowing things up. He was more than happy to blow up the environment in a way that his enemy could only interpret as recklessness if it meant using his flame properly.

The Sun Flame may have been wild, but it was still a flame with an owner.

As Caissa moved around, trying to avoid it, it set its proverbial eyes on her.

It watched her and stalked her movements, waiting and watching as it enjoyed the struggles of the prey it planned to consume.

The flames grew bigger and bigger, creating massive pillars that reached the sky,

It crashed around like a tidal wave, and as it all gathered in one place...

Caissa saw her opportunity to strike.

Her body started to flicker. She rushed forward with all the speed she had access to, practically teleporting through the darkness.

She was behind Darius before he could notice her presence. The Sun Flame was too busy running wild to attack her before she could reach him.

She pulled out a knife, coated with a poison of darkness that would immediately dull Darius' power.

She stabbed out, aiming for his throat.

Swoosh!

The blade swept through the air.

But there was one thing Caissa forgot to consider before she made her move.

She may have been able to use darkness to her advantage, but the darkness here was not natural.

This darkness had an owner.

And that owner was very happily praying on her downfall.