The Spell whispered into Cassie's ear, announcing that her Citadel was lost. Nightwalker shuffled, sensing that sothing about the Ivory Island had changed. He remained silent for a mont, then asked in a guarded tone:
“What did you just do?"
A pale smile twisted Cassie's lip.
“I simply followed your advice, Nightwalker... I surrendered the Citadel. Go on, take it — it's yours now."
She paused for a mont, then added:
“Well, not just yet. Since I surrendered my claim to the Tower of Hope, it belongs to no one at the mont. You will have to tether yourself to its Gateway first if you want to beco its master."
She leaned down slowly and picked up her dagger.
The Ivory Island, anwhile, kept accelerating.
Nightwalker chuckled darkly.
“Did you, perhaps, decide that if you relinquish control of the Ivory Tower and stop posing a threat to Bastion, Asterion would once again prefer to keep you alive?"
Cassie straightened and faced him once more.
"Honestly, I don't give a damn about what that ghoul prefers. It is true that I pose no threat to Bastion anymore... but I can still threaten the Night Garden, can't I?"
She pointed to where the titanic ship lood in the darkening sky.
“Right, I might have forgotten to ntion. Just before relinquishing control of the island, I sent it on a collision course with the Night Garden. The Tower of Hope has no master at the mont, so there's no one to stop it. Which ans..."
Cassie's smile widened, and she let out a chuckle.
Many years ago, she had ramd into the Sun Prince with the Chain Breaker. Now, she was sending the Ivory Island to ram the Night Garden...
Whose idea was it to keep letting the blind girl behind the wheel?
Nightwalker remained silent, so she spoke instead:
"In other words, you have a choice to make. You can stay here and continue to keep company, or you can rush to the Gateway and attempt to gain control of the Tower of Hope before it slams into the Night Garden — if you don't want to see one of them fall from the sky and crash on top of Bastion, that is. It all cos down to what you value more, I guess. It is simply a question of value."
All that t her was silence.
Cassie waited in the darkness, wondering what Nightwalker's... no, Asterion's... decision would be.
In the next mont, Nightwalker suddenly took a single step and breached the distance between them, delivering a crushing blow to her head. Cassie toppled, blood streaming from her nose, then felt him grab her by the hair and violently yank her head sideways. At the sa ti, another dreadful blow descended upon her, cracking her skull open.
Her consciousness faded.
...In the past, Cassie activated her bracelets and moved, dampening the force of Nightwalker's attack while at the sa ti enhancing her own. She ducked under his blow, sliced apart the tendons of his wrist, leaned forward, and drove her dagger into his side in one smooth motion.
"Argh!"
The sharp blade plunged deep into his abdon, forcing Nightwalker to hiss.
In the vast expanse of possibilities, a grueso barrage of crushing blows descended upon Cassie, breaking and mutilating her body. She weaved between them, finding the rare few where she escaped relatively unscathed.
For a brief mont, the two of them were entangled in a violent clash. Nightwalker did not make mistakes after that first reckless attack, so Cassie was unable to deliver anything more than a few minor wounds to him. The number of possible futures where she escaped, anwhile, kept dwindling with distressing speed — that was the result of him learning how to fight her and adjusting accordingly.
Nightwalker did not continue his onslaught after that first clash, though... that was because he understood that he would not be able to bring her down quickly. It also seed like Asterion had changed his mind about having her killed imdiately after she relinquished the Tower of Hope, removing herself from the list of powerful threats.
In any case, ti was a luxury Nightwalker could not afford anymore.
He disengaged, remained silent for a mont, and cursed quietly.
Then, without uttering another word, Nightwalker turned around and vanished. A single step took him to the skull of the dragon, and another step took him inside the great pagoda.
He was rushing to tether himself to its Gateway and prevent the Ivory Island from crashing into the Night Garden.
Cassie staggered.
She felt fatigued enough to faint and overwheld by the mory of the pain she had endured... but she had no ti to waste, either.
She had to escape before Nightwalker tethered himself to the Tower of Hope. Turning around, she rushed toward the grove of ancient trees — and the portal arch where Rain had already summoned divine fla.
The portal to the Ebony Tower was now open once more. A pool of inky darkness rippled inside the stone arch, and Rain was standing in front of it, confused.
Landing on the ground near the young woman, Cassie used so of her last strength to push Rain inside. Then, she carefully guided the wheelchair where the Hollow remnant of Smile of Heaven sat into the arch, and finally crossed the threshold herself.
A cool darkness enveloped her battered body. The portal collapsed behind her, taking all light with it.
Cassie was once again left in the darkness.
...This darkness was far more soothing, though.
It was as if all strength left her in an instant, making it difficult to stay upright. Cassie exhaled slowly, and then sank to her knees. In the silence that followed, there was suddenly the sound of unhurried steps approaching them.
A cold voice resounded from above her, echoing in her stone chamber.
"Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in. Ah, if it isn't my favorite witch! Welco to my humble Domain, Lady Cassia. I must say, being covered in blood suits you really well.”
The world was painted by a myriad shades of gray since Cassie was observing it through Rain's eyes.
As Rain watched, Mordret remained silent for a few seconds and then smiled darkly while looking down at Cassie.
"What took you so long?"
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