Chapter 616: Cassandra and Monica Discover the Truth
The sea still trembled with the memory of the shattered Kraken. The blood had already disappeared, consumed by the ocean itself, but the aura of fear still permeated the waves like an eternal echo.
Strax didn’t stand still to contemplate victory.
His wings beat once, and the air around him ruptured in bursts of pressure. He took flight, cutting through the storm, his colossal silhouette ripping the sky like a black tear. Each beat made the sea below shudder, and the clouds curled, fleeing his path.
His gaze burned, fixed on the horizon.
There were still four to go.
Frieren. Kali. Rogue. Xyn.
The next island awaited—and with it, another piece of the game that someone, somewhere, believed they could control.
Cassandra and Monica flew north, away from the destruction zone. Their bodies still ached, their wings heavy as lead, but nothing was worse than the weight in their hearts.
For a while, neither of them said anything. The silence was broken only by the sound of their wings cutting through the wind.
Until Monica took a deep breath. “He’s changed.” Her voice was tense, heavy.
Cassandra glanced sideways, the icy blue of her scales reflecting the gray of the clouds.
“No… he only showed what he was keeping.” She paused, lowering her tone. “And I don’t know if that’s worse.”
They didn’t have time to continue.
Ahead, the horizon shifted. Three colossal forms, each as immense as themselves, appeared among the clouds, their wings beating in sync.
Bellatrix, her black scales as red as burning blood.
Samira, red, with eyes that shone like miniature suns.
And Beatrice, covered in pale pink, shimmering as if carved by a famous sculptor.
On their backs, four female figures. Xenovia, wielding her sword even at rest. Kryssia, alert as a beast about to spring. Yennifer, her gaze intent and cold as a deep lake. And Cristine, her expression serious, holding tightly to Beatrice’s silver scales.
As they approached, the entire sky seemed to light up. Their reunion, even amidst the chaos, brought a thread of relief.
“Cassandra! Monica!” Xenovia raised her hand, her voice cutting through the wind. “You’re alive!”
The two landed, transforming their draconic forms mid-air, until they touched down on the neighboring island, now in their human forms. The impact was strong, kicking up dust. The others followed, landing right behind them, creating a circle of power so intense that the earth itself seemed to tremble under the weight of so many dragons gathered.
Cassandra took a deep breath, still trembling. “We lived… but not for long,”
Monica finished, her eyes hard. “If we’d stayed near him for another minute, we would have been crushed.”
Bellatrix crossed her arms, her slit-like pupils blazing. “I felt it from here. His roar carried for miles. It was as if the sky had been ripped in two.”
Samira looked at the horizon, serious. “He’s heading for the next island. He won’t stop until he finds them all.”
Beatrice, ever calmer, turned to Cassandra and Monica. “What exactly happened?”
The two looked at each other. Cassandra started to speak, but stopped. It was Monica who answered, her voice heavy.
“The Kraken… retreated. As if it were just another insect before him. Strax… he didn’t just win. He made a point of humiliating, tearing apart, ripping out every part of the monster until nothing was left.” She clenched her fist. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Silence fell over the group for a moment. Even among dragons and warriors who had faced countless horrors, the description left them speechless.
It was then that Cristine stepped forward. Her eyes, clear as polished glass, were charged with gravity.
“This isn’t just force.” Her voice was firm. “This place… this island… this entire archipelago is being manipulated.”
Cassandra stared at her, frowning. “Manipulated?”
Cristine nodded.
“The runes. I’ve been watching them since we arrived. They’re not just to contain or weaken. They shape reality within. Like a chessboard, where each piece is placed purposefully.”
Monica crossed her arms, her body still vibrating with nervous electricity. “Are you saying all of this was planned? The hordes, the monsters, even the Kraken?”
“Yes.” Cristine took a deep breath, staring at each of them in turn. “And not by just anyone. By her.”
The name took a while to leave her lips, but when it did, the air seemed to cool.
“Scathach.”
Cassandra blinked, confused for a moment. “What…?”
Cristine didn’t look away. “Strax’s mother.”
The words fell like stones into the silence.
Monica laughed, a nervous, almost incredulous laugh. “You’ve got to be kidding… His mother? Wasn’t that woman his protector, blah blah blah?”
“We think so too,” Beatrice interrupted her seriously. “But it seems she wasn’t that protective.”
Samira nodded, adding somberly, “And if she’s the one manipulating this place, then it’s not just force we’re facing. It’s intent.”
Cassandra felt her body go cold.
“That explains everything…” she murmured, looking at the ground. “The barriers. The Kraken blocking us as if it were more than instinct. The runes forcing the island to hold us back.”
Monica sighed deeply, running a hand over her face. “Shit… I already knew something was wrong. But not something like this.” Her eyes met Cassandra’s. “His mother. That changes everything.”
Bellatrix slapped her tail against the ground in irritation, even in her human form the gesture reverberated. “So, in the end, it was all just a test of hers. As if Strax were just… a pawn.”
“Not a pawn,” Cristine corrected. “The goal. The center. She’s shaping the board for him. And we, all of us… just prey.”
The silence that followed was heavy. Even the wind seemed to stop, as if afraid to cross that circle.
Xenovia broke her weight, her hand tightening on her sword. “Then we need to run. If Strax keeps advancing at this pace, if he keeps feeding on this energy she’s spread through the runes, he’ll be lost.”
Kryssia snorted. “Lost? He’s already lost. Didn’t you see what Cassandra and Monica saw? He doesn’t fight anymore. He devours.”
Beatrice gave her a cold look. “But it’s still him.” Her voice held conviction. “And as long as it’s him, there’s still a chance.”
Monica looked to the horizon, where Strax’s shadow had already disappeared into the clouds.
“Chance…” she murmured bitterly. “I don’t know if that word still exists when we talk about him.”
Cassandra took a deep breath, trying to dispel the tightness in her chest. The weight of the revelation was suffocating.
Scathach. Strax’s mother.
If she was behind everything, then nothing was coincidence. Every enemy, every horde, every blockade. Even the growing rage in Strax could have been shaped.
She closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them, there was resolve.
“Then we only have one thing left.” Her voice was firm. “Find where she is. And break this damned manipulation before Strax… before he’s no longer himself.”
Cristine stared at her, and for a moment, something almost seemed to show approval.
“Exactly.”
The others nodded, each with their own anger, fear, and determination.
But deep down, they all shared the same certainty:
If Scathach was truly behind everything, then they weren’t just facing monsters.
They were facing a goddess.
And the price of failure wouldn’t just be losing Strax.
It would be losing the entire world.