Chapter 1380 Cage of Futures
In the darkness of the flood temple, a second passed. Sunny was still falling into the water.
During that second, Cassie had lost count of how many times her slender body was broken and mutilated by the monstrous sybil. A thought was much faster than a blade, but it had the same effect on the future as an action. Every time she mentally changed her plan of action, the immediate future changed, as well — and currently, Cassie was thinking with stunning speed. 'A step to the right.'
'A step forward, high attack.'
'A step forward, low attack.'
'A half-step...'
She imagined a future and suffered the consequences, again and again. The sybil was too powerful, too sinister, too vile... but not insurmountably so. Another moment passed, and finally, Cassie imagined the future where she did not die.
'Found it.'
In the approaching moment of time, she managed to evade the fury of harrowing tentacles unscathed and deliver a fatal strike. The Quiet Dancer whistled melodiously as she cut the air and plunged into the sybil's neck.
Cassie prepared to move...
But then, the fragmented future turned vague, disappearing. Instead, there was more pain, more defeat, and more horror. 'Of course... thought so.' Investigate the source of this data, deeply rooted in n0v(lbin★
She did not lose her composure because that was what she had been expecting. Cassie was not the only one oracle in this temple, after all.
The sybil had just as much control over the future as she did... much more of it, even.
Just as Cassie finally found one path that led to her victory, the Defiled abomination destroyed it, pulling over other outcomes from the abyss of possibilities. Instantly, whatever chance the graceful young woman facing her had was gone. Their unseen and motionless, but furious and chillingly violent battle continued.
Another second had already passed. 'Faster, faster...'
And smaller still...
...Down in the water, Sunny used the convulsing body of the Corrupted Devil to push himself to the surface and shot into the air. Landing on a pile of rubble, he tossed the fiend's severed head at an approaching abomination and followed up with a strike of the Sin of Solace, piercing the creature's heart. After that, he had a second to breathe. Turning swiftly, Sunny looked at the dais where Cassie was facing the sybil. He was both surprised and intensely relieved to realize that neither of them had moved, still.
'Strange...'
Spreading his shadow sense through the battlefield, he allowed himself a split second to evaluate the situation. Nephis and the horror of the depths seemed to be in a stalemate... the abomination's body was too alien and vast for her to deal fatal damage to it, while the abomination itself was not smart enough to catch the supremely skilled and calculating human with a devastating strike.
His Shadows were in the middle of a furious battle. Neither Saint nor Fiend were seriously injured, although there were several dents on the infernal ogre's armor. Nightmare had avoided being seriously wounded due to his speed and agility, for now, but there was already blood on the tenebrous stallion's sable coat. The two Echoes were mostly intact, as well. The sybil was cruelly vivisecting a Drowned champion, while the four-armed mannequin had lost one of his four blades. The latter Echo was struggling...
'No choice.'
Sunny had to help Cassie, even if it meant abandoning the battle with the Drowned and throwing more pressure at his subordinates. A moment later, he was already leaning to step through the shadows and appear on the dais...
But at that same moment, Cassie finally moved.
A split second before, she had been frozen like an ice sculpture, but then, abruptly, she was already in motion. Dashing forward with stunning speed, the blind girl danced between the surging tentacles, somehow avoiding each inescapable and lethal strike.
Before Sunny could even blink...
The blade of the Quiet Dancer flashed once, and Cassie was suddenly behind the monstrous Tyrant.
The sybil swayed slightly.
Her tentacles grew still.
Then, a thin stream of crimson blood flowed from a small hole in her neck. As the invisible ripple spread through the flooded hall, the Defiled oracle swayed once more...
And toppled into the seething black water.
