Shadow Slave novel Chapter 2865

A cold blade pierced Cassie's heart.

Cassie did not even register the pain, since her mind was already drowning in agony. Instead, she only felt disbelief — disbelief that she was dying, and that Rain had killed her.

It did not make sense.

Cassie simply could not believe that her life was over. At the same time, it made no sense that Rain would be the one to stab her to death — the young woman was incapable of taking a life, after all.

Not to mention that she had no reason to.

‘Right!'

Cassie concentrated, her battered mind focusing into a sharp point.

The feeling of cold steel piercing her heart was a message from the future. It was a prophecy of what she would experience in less than a second, given to her by her Awakened Ability.

Which meant that she had not been delivered the fatal wound yet.

‘Right, Rain has become a thrall of Asterion.’

Why had Cassie not realized it sooner? Rain's Ascension had coincided with the attack on the Ivory Island, becoming a perfect tool to distract Cassie at the worst possible moment. The Night Garden even arrived under the cover of the stormcloud that Rain's Ascension had summoned — damning evidence that the two events were connected.

It was painfully obvious, so how was it that Cassie had not noticed the connection?

‘My mind is compromised.'

It must have happened just before she erased the marks from the souls of the Fire Keepers. Asterion had subtly influenced her thoughts, directing them away from connecting Rain to him... as well as cutting her own connection with Effie and Kai, thus leaving herself completely isolated.

Luckily, that seemed to be the extent of how he had managed to manipulate her.

Cassie moved her body slightly, causing Rain's dagger to miss her heart by a few centimeters. She grabbed the young woman's wrist with one hand, and used the other to pull down her blindfold.

But it was strange...

How had Rain been able to attempt to kill her?

That just went to show how insidious the Dreamspawn and his powers were. Rain's Flaw prevented her from being able to kill, but it was subjective. The universe was not going to intervene and prevent her from delivering Cassie a lethal wound — rather, Rain's hand would refuse to move as long as she believed that moving it would directly endanger the life of a living being.

Stabbing a person in the heart was obviously an act of murder. But if Rain earnestly believed otherwise, her Flaw would not stop her from pushing a dagger between someone's ribs.

So, all Asterion had to do to circumvent Rain's Flaw was to twist her mind enough to make her believe that Cassie wouldn't die from being stabbed in the heart.

Which meant that he had made a complete mess of Rain's perception of reality.

‘That bastard...’

Rain tried to twist her stiletto in Cassie's chest, but Cassie was holding her wrist tightly.

She might have been a woman of slight build, and suffering both from a blinding pain and two other debilitating Epithets... but she was still a Saint. And a Saint could easily deal with a Master in a contest of physical strength.

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