[Cassidy Viviani (Contrast Deity Warden) Offense 20 Defense 20: Unique Deity Warden. Unfuseable. Dominator of Contrast. Realm Reversal. Absolute Domination. Master of Order’s rules. Skills—Force of Reversal (All things in the world perish and are born relative to each other)
Realm of Contrast (All things shall be reversed)
Deity Warden Authority (Release skills with absolute suppression properties)
Reflecting Mirror (All attacks targeting the holder will be reflected)
Fusion of Order (Chaos and Order will always be at the opposite end of balance)]
Cassidy’s abilities weren’t considered weak. Even though she seemed to possess only a few abilities, this actually proved that she didn’t need any complicated supporting skills to display her true strength. Cassidy dominated with only one move and only a few people in this continent would be able to stop her. In fact, didn’t Rhode also fall into her trap? This went to show that Cassidy’s abilities were indeed terrifying and no wonder Marlene and Alice thought that she was only second to Christie among the six Deity Wardens.
Cassidy’s abilities weren’t hard to understand. They were simply the reversal of realms. She could transform anything into its respective presence in contrast, be it physical, magical, or conceptual. Everything was within the range of her transformation. Besides, she could also deflect all attacks and Rhode didn’t manage to witness this ability during their battle. It seemed like this ability was only available for Cassidy in her ‘perfect’ form now. Fortunately, she wasn’t able to use the ability in her soul fragment back then. If not, Rhode would have had a much harder time defeating her. Furthermore, what caught his attention was the final line of information. Although he did mention that Order and Chaos were relative, it was apparent that it had a deeper meaning as this spirit card specially mentioned it… Perhaps the relationship between Order and Chaos wasn’t as simple as he thought.
But now, Rhode gazed at the card with a rather complicated emotion because just a few moments ago, his younger sister told him the reason why they ‘switched places’ due to the power of contrast. It was, in fact, due to the resonance caused by his younger sister’s soul fragment. And now, after Cassidy was awakened by Rhode’s spiritual power, she could no longer use the ‘Realm of Contrast’ to make him switch places with his younger sister. The reason was because her power had fused with Rhode and as her master, he would naturally be immune to her abilities.
In fact, Cassidy didn’t leave a good first impression on Rhode. Moreover, he had also ridiculously fallen into her trap. Even though he didn’t mention anything now, it was apparent from the fact that he didn’t seal her up as one of the Ten Strongest Spirit Decks that he was discontent with her. No matter what, it was impossible for Rhode to have a nice impression of her after being tricked by her unconscious self.
But now, since she returned, Rhode had no reason to imprison her anymore. It was about time to release her. At this thought, he extended his hand and along with his movement, the black and white card with a mirror imprinted on it spun quickly. Then, a familiar system prompt appeared before his eyes.
[Detected Core Card. Confirm to join the Ten Strongest Spirit Decks?]
Yes.
Sweeping a glance at the system prompt, Rhode answered firmly. All of a sudden, a large, magical ritual consisting of three circles appeared with him in the middle. He tapped it gently with his right finger and the card of black and white flew toward the center of one of the circles engraved with strange symbols.
[Appointed Core Card. Base Position. Begin fusion]
Shortly after, the card of black and white emanated a dazzling brilliance and a petite figure could be seen appearing from within. Then, Cassidy emerged before him. But unlike what she looked like before, her rather revealing white, leather armor had transformed into a pure, white dress with long sleeves. She looked just like a girl from a wealthy family, which was a world of difference from her previous look of a wild warrior. But the same enormous sword that could be used for teppanyaki was still hanging on her back. Could this also be the result of the power of contrast?
“Ah… I-I… Greetings… Your Majesty…”
Cassidy seemed to have returned to normal… or perhaps not as she winced and addressed Rhode cautiously like a young lady being robbed by a hooligan in an empty alley. Her clearly disturbed gaze left Rhode completely speechless.
Do I really look like a bad person?
“Don’t stand on ceremony, Cassidy.”
Rhode responded and waved his hand airily. But to his surprise, Cassidy curled up at the sight of his moving hand and took several steps back instinctively. Judging from her reactions, Rhode seemed like a savage who whipped his slaves whenever he was in a bad mood, while Cassidy was the good-for-nothing slave whom he took his anger out on.
“… Are you okay, Cassidy? Do you know what is going on?”
Rhode crossed his arms, gazing helplessly at the young lady who retreated far away. He didn’t know what he should ridicule her about at this point. He merely said one sentence and this Deity Warden scrambled away. Wouldn’t she retreat to the edge of the hill if he spoke more? But this time, Cassidy didn’t seem to have the intention to back off anymore. She lifted her head and gazed cautiously at Rhode. Then, she spoke with lingering fear.
“Yes, I have learned the specifics from Big Sister… I-I will work with you, Your Majesty Rhode. I…” As Cassidy spoke in uncertainty, she glanced to the left and right. Then, she turned to him with a worried expression. “… Your Majesty, although this is rude of me, can I ask if the other big sisters are…”
“I got it.”
Looking at her behavior, Rhode didn’t have any ways to deal with her, which was why he nodded helplessly and summoned Marlene through spiritual communication. Shortly after, a magical radiance flashed and Marlene emerged quickly. She looked at Rhode with a warm, joyous smile, before sweeping her glance to the Astral Telescope and pitch-black coffin, on which she paused her gaze for a few moments. Then, she turned to Cassidy who stood by the side. As soon as Cassidy saw Marlene, she spread her arms apart and pounced on her like a puppy who found its owner.
“Big Sister Margaret!”
“Cassidy?”
Even though Marlene had some impression of this young lady after awakening the Deity Warden’s memories, she was startled to see such a huge reaction from her. Marlene spread her arms wide to embrace her, while lifting her head and gazing dubiously at Rhode because she saw clearly how Cassidy leaped into her arms with tears welled up in her eyes as though she were bullied. But apart from Rhode, there was nobody else.
“Rhode. She…”
“Bring her back and let her settle down first. We will talk about the details later.”
Facing Marlene’s doubts, Rhode didn’t explain further because after witnessing Cassidy’s reactions, he seemed to have realized something. On the other hand, Marlene didn’t pester him for an answer. Instead, she nodded and a magical radiance flashed in the blink of an eye and the two young ladies were nowhere to be seen. After they were no longer around, Rhode, who was crossing his arms, knitted his brows and spoke.
“I have something to ask you.”
“Big Brother… what is it?”
Compared to Rhode’s ice-cold voice, his younger sister’s voice was as gentle as always and he could easily detect the vitality in her voice. Based on his understanding of her, he knew exactly what this meant from her and he let out a snort: “Frankly, there seems to be some problems with Cassidy’s personality… You should know what I mean.”
“It seems like you’ve managed to find out the truth, Big Brother.”
Rhode heard the crisp laughter from his younger sister.
“Yes, Cassidy’s personality… Honestly, I was once worried that she couldn’t get along with others. So just in case, my original self added an insurance when creating her and that was… Cassidy is afraid of men. In other words, this Deity Warden has a ‘male phobia’…”
“… Will everything really be fine?”
“Don’t worry, there won’t be any issues~ Big Brother, I suppose with your strength, you can save her from the predicament.”
Rhode let out a long sigh in response.
