NOVEL WEB Chapter 53: {[Common-Grade Evoball]}
{[Common-grade Evoball]}
—[Lowest-ranking Evoballs, but can still be used to capture and keep any monsters at or below the D-Rank. The stronger and more willful the monster, the less likely the Evoball is to successfully capture said target. It is recommended that the target first be beaten into submission before attempting to subdue it with an Evoball.]
Cassius's expression turned unreadable for a second as he wondered how something like this could be best utilized. "With so few of them, and all of them capped at the D-Rank, they won't prove to be very useful… But maybe I am missing something here?"
Just as he said that…
*Ding!*
[The captured monsters of Evoballs can be temporarily fused with the user, which will give the user specific racial traits of the monster. This can be considered the first step of the 'Evolution' segment of the system's details and will eventually lead to more intricate features.]
[Only the evolutionary qualities of a SINGLE captured monster can be fused with the user at a time. Furthermore, only 10 'Evomonsters' can be stored at the same time with the Host's current capabilities.]
"How interesting," Cassius mused, already brainstorming various ways that this could be used if he played his cards right. "For now, however, I have something more urgent to attend to."
His striking blue eyes instinctively fell on the stunned girl tied up in bonds. Her babydoll eyelashes quivered in response as she saw the mysteriously powerful hooded man approach her.
Memphis closed her eyes, prepared for the worst. Yet, she was bewildered to find all the ropes on her body suddenly loosen. Moreover, her gag had been taken out, allowing her to finally speak once more.
"T-Thank you… for saving me," she mumbled meekly, her pupils darting everywhere but toward where Cassius was standing. "W-Without you… I would've ended up li-like… my dad—"
"You don't have to think about it if you don't want to," said Cassius as he bent down and ruffled her hair, with only his kind smile shining through. "Say, how about we get out of here? My companion just finished the clean-up, but the decor of this place is simply horrid! Wouldn't you agree?"
Memphis shifted her flickering eyes to the hundreds of drained Kobold husks scattered about. Confused, she softly murmured a question. "What happened to them…?"
"Oh, that?" replied Cassius, a playful smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "It's all because of my companion here." He promptly raised up Lilith in full sword form, who was currently going through a dazzling blood evolution. Her stats were being constantly improved the more blood she completely assimilated, which led to several eruptions of crimson energy tendrils.
"Isn't she beautiful?" asked Cassius.
"Mhmm…" Memphis was left momentarily dazed, both because of Lilith's resplendence and the mildly enamored look plastered across Cassius's covered face. She couldn't help but wonder what he looked like underneath. However, figuring it to be rude to ask something like that, she kept quiet.
Noticing a bit of discontentment in the golden-eyed girl, Cassius explained, "The hood is there to shield the world from my hideous appearance… Haiz, it's rough being so ugly…."
"...Are you really that ugly underneath…? I don't think that's true…"
Cassius chuckled. "Maybe, maybe not. I have been told that I have terrible aesthetic taste."
Confused, Memphis asked, "What do you mean by that?"
"You want an example?" Cassius's grin widened.
Memphis got a bad feeling, but she still nodded.
"...I would like one, please," she murmured, to which he replied, "Sure, I'll give you an example."
He then leaned in close, getting just close enough for her to glimpse at his thin nose. "The truth is that I believe blood to be especially beautiful, just like my Lilith here."
Lilith vibrated happily while continuing to undergo her evolutions.
"...You think blood is beautiful…?" asked Memphis, her head tilted cutely. "Isn't blood gruesome? Often associated with…"
"Death," said Cassius, his smile shining brightly. "That may be true, but is death not something beautiful as well? Death itself may be saddening to some, but the act of dying can oftentimes be charmingly poetic. I know I told you not to think of it, but your dad's death… Were the actions leading up to his death not something that weaved his death into something awe-inspiring…?"
"Awe-inspiring…" Memphis's eyes watered as she recalled how her father jumped out in front of her and held on until his very last moments.
"...Yeah, it was awe-inspiring," she said as crystalline tears streamed down her dazzling, smiling expression. "It really was…!" She beamed, her eyes creasing up exquisitely.
Cassius nodded warmly as he let go of her head. "You are tough, Memphis. Now, can you get up and walk out of here with me? Or would you prefer it if I carried you? I don't mind either way—"
Embarrassment mixed with Memphis's sorrow as she vehemently shook her head, causing her long silky black hair to sling left and right. "I-I can get up myself," she said.
She attempted to get up, only to immediately fail to stand. Her legs were just too shaky from everything that happened to make it possible for her to walk.
Wasting no time, Cassius swooped her up into his thick arms in a gentlemanly manner. Looking down at her, he smilingly said, "We can just pretend this never happened, alright? If you won't tell, then I won't tell," he joked.
Flustered, Memphis hid her gorgeously flushed face from sight. "...Mhmm…" was all she mumbled before staying silent the rest of the return journey.
As the two of them silently walked, both thinking about a multitude of complicated matters, Cassius received numerous system notifications. They also just so happened to come as he was leaving the Gate after having collected all of the valuable parts of the Kobolds, which included their Magic Shards.
*Ding!*
[You have trolled Memphis for 0.3 AP!]
[|Devil Blade: Lilith| has absorbed tens of thousands of gallons of D-, D, D+, and D++ Blood!]
[|Devil Blade: Lilith| has ranked up from the D+ Rank to the D++ Rank, achieving the peak stage of the D Realm!]
[|Devil Blade: Lilith| – |Attack +35|]
OOOM!