The Assassin's Seven Principles of Manipulation

Chapter 326: Chapter 321 — Calamity Properties

For a king, Cassian was almost absurdly carefree. The man had never cared much for formalities or, strangely enough, even the authority that came with his position, and the casual manner in which he’d just explained the situation made that painfully obvious.

He had essentially announced to an entire room of the empire’s most powerful figures that Arcturus wasn’t biologically his, yet there he sat, looking as though he’d just explained what he’d eaten for breakfast.

Garrick, along with almost everyone else in the room, could only stare at him.

In truth, the revelation wasn’t nearly as politically damaging as one might expect. After all, Cassian’s blood wasn’t actually that of House Eryndor.

It was the Queen who carried the royal blood, while Cassian had simply been the champion of the empire-wide tournament held to determine her betrothed. Which meant Arcturus still carried the blood of House Eryndor through his mother.

Still, that did little to lessen the sheer absurdity of the situation. What kind of man willingly agreed to something like this? Cassian had never been particularly concerned with politics, much less securing some overwhelmingly powerful heir for the throne, which left most of those present with only one obvious suspect.

His wife, the Queen.

After all, there had long been rumors about which of the two truly ran the empire.

Still, this meant Arcturus truly was a direct spawn of Ferravry, which finally explained to Garrick how he’d managed to withstand Zephyrion’s punch.

With the monstrous physique and bones he’d inherited from the Calamity Beast, Arcturus being able to take the blow suddenly wasn’t all that surprising. If anything, Zephyrion was the abnormal one for managing to push him back.

Cassian smiled at the stunned silence around him. ”See? Now you understand why I was surprised. Still, it changes nothing. My Arcturus is winning this.”

Finally snapping out of his surprise, Garrick let out a chuckle.

’Calamity Beast spawn, huh? Heh. So what? Kid’s still getting his ass kicked.’

”Oh?” Cassian immediately caught the look on his face. ”You still think your boy’s winning?”

”Damn right.”

Cassian’s smile widened. ”Then you might want to hear the rest before you start celebrating. Arcturus isn’t just Ferravry’s spawn. He’s a genius even among them.” He paused, clearly savoring the moment. ”He awakened five properties.”

”What!?”

Rathen shot out of his seat so abruptly that several heads immediately turned toward him. Realizing his mistake, he stiffened, then cleared his throat and slowly lowered himself back down. Still, the shock remained plain on his face as he asked,

”...did you just say five?”

Cassian gave him a brief, knowing look, one that made it clear he knew exactly why Rathen had reacted that way.

The others pretended not to notice.

Instead, their attention remained fixed on Cassian until he gave a curt nod, confirming they had indeed heard correctly. Almost immediately, several expressions turned grave.

Aside from the usual ranks of an Ascendant, Ferravry’s spawn had another measure, separate from the conventional system, used to determine their power and potential.

Calamity Metal was already fearsome for its ability to absorb other metals, but there was only so much that consuming generated metal could accomplish. What made Ferravry and his Calamity Metal truly terrifying was the ability to absorb natural metals, taking their properties and using them to strengthen himself.

It was known that Ferravry himself could absorb a total of seven natural metals, each granting him a different property.

Iron granted strength and structural integrity, forming the foundation.

Titanium granted strength while remaining remarkably light, allowing for greater efficiency.

Tungsten granted immense density and hardness.

Copper granted conductivity, allowing the World Pulse to flow through the metal and connect with greater ease.

Silver granted sensitivity, drastically heightening the user’s perception of the World Pulse.

Gold granted stability, allowing the metal to resist corrosion while maintaining a stronger, more stable connection to the World Pulse.

And lastly, platinum granted resistance, making the metal exceptionally stable and far easier to maintain under extreme conditions.

Only Ferravry had ever been recorded to possess all seven properties, while even the most direct of his spawn had awakened no more than four. Rathen himself had only awakened two, despite his lineage being fairly close to the source.

But five... for Arcturus to have awakened five...

It was monstrous!

”You get it now, don’t you?” Cassian was grinning from ear to ear. ”Your boy’s fucked. You should start stretching those old bones while you still can. Once you’re my slave, I’m working you like a damn mule.”

Naturally, several gazes immediately shifted toward Garrick, particularly those of Severin, Torvak, and Rathen. With everything Cassian had just revealed, there was no denying the truth.

The odds were overwhelmingly against Zephyrion.

However, contrary to what they expected, Garrick’s lips slowly stretched into a wide, almost maniacal grin.

”Heh... this is even better than I thought.”

”...what?” Cassian’s smile faltered slightly.

”Finally... finally, we get to see that brat fight seriously.” Garrick suddenly burst into laughter, slapping his thigh in excitement. ”Hahaha! This is gonna be fun! So fucking fun!”

He turned toward the two men beside him, looking almost childishly excited. ”You hear that, brothers? Five! Isn’t this fucking great?”

Kastor gave a simple nod, his expression barely changing, while Garaxe merely smiled.

Their reactions left Cassian somewhat taken aback, but after a moment, he simply dismissed it as another symptom of the drunkard’s deteriorating brain. Zephyrion might have somehow beaten Arcturus in a contest of pure strength, but his boy had far more than raw power going for him.

Cassian leaned back, confidence returning to his face.

”Heh. Laugh while you can. Keep those eyes nice and wide, because you’re about to see what real talent looks like.”

Garrick didn’t respond.

There was no longer any need for words. From here on, only the result would speak for itself.

...

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Arcturus stared at his torn, trembling arm, disbelief flickering through his gaze as droplets of blood fell steadily from his fingertips.

”...I got pushed back?”

His eyes slowly lifted toward Zephyrion, who hadn’t moved a single step from where he stood.

”By this guy?”

’How the hell does that make any sense?’

His physique surpassed anything an ordinary human could ever hope to achieve, while his bones were harder than stone. Yet now, his entire arm trembled from the impact, the bones beneath his flesh still vibrating as though they had just collided with something even harder.

However, the disbelief lasted only a few moments. Then, Arcturus laughed.

There was no anger or humiliation in it. If anything, he sounded genuinely amused, almost delighted by the fact that he had lost the exchange.

By the time his laughter finally subsided, the disbelief had completely vanished from his face, replaced by a wild gleam of excitement as he stared at Zephyrion.

”Good... good...” Arcturus slowly nodded, ”Man, I really had you all wrong, huh? Here I was thinking you were some overrated bum, but you’re actually strong. Really fucking strong. Good. That’s exactly what I wanted.”

He rolled his injured shoulder, seemingly uncaring of the blood dripping down his arm.

”Now I know this won’t be boring.”

The air around Arcturus began to vibrate as metal aura poured from his body, growing denser with every passing second.

”Calamity Metal.”

Zephyrion pulled back just as Arcturus detonated.

The resulting shockwave ripped across the plains, but Zephyrion simply rode the force backward, skidding to a stop several hundred meters away before calmly raising his gaze.

A massive pillar of force now pierced into the sky, parting the clouds for miles. Arcturus stood at its center, an incredible amount of metal aura pouring from his body and swirling around him like fumes from a volcano on the verge of eruption.

The cadets watching couldn’t help but shiver at the sheer power radiating from him. This was far beyond what any cadet, even a Mark Seven veteran, should have been capable of!

In response, though, Zephyrion calmly stepped forward and rolled his neck.

’Urge.’

His blood churned.

’Resolve.’

His body firmed.

’Passion.’

His blood boiled.

’Frost.’

His body cooled.

’Freedom.’

His body became light as a feather.

Then, finally, his eyes turning cold, he evoked.

”Metal aura.”

The southern cadets had witnessed Zephyrion’s metal aura before. They knew it as something almost unnaturally calm, emerging from him as smoothly and gently as the surface of a still lake. Considering the opponent before him, perhaps they expected something more forceful this time, even a violent burst.

But, none of them expected what came next.

A violent blast erupted from Zephyrion.

The sheer force slammed into the southern wall, causing the entire structure to tremble as several cadets staggered back.

At the same time, a pillar of formless power tore into the sky, while the earth beneath Zephyrion’s feet cracked apart, massive chunks of soil and stone billowing upward as a crater rapidly swallowed the ground around him.

Despite the vast distance separating them, the two metal auras collided in the space between their owners, sending violent tremors across the plains.

The ground shook beneath thousands of feet, forcing several cadets to brace themselves as their gazes remained fixed on the two figures.

Then, a palpable tension settled over the battlefield as both Primes stared at one another through the raging forces between them.

Then, Arcturus grinned.

”Now this is more like it. Come on, Lightning Prince... let’s have some fucking fun.”

A blinding whiteness swallowed the plains as both Primes clashed.