Ashley stood up abruptly, her chair scraping backward, breaking the confrontation before it could escalate into actual physical violence.
"Youâll remain in custody here until the higher-ups decide what should be done with you," she stated coldly, her voice regaining professional control despite the fury still visible in her eyes.
Damianâs response was simple and venomous.
"Fuck off!"
Every officer in the room tensed, hands moving toward weapons instinctively, the casual dismissal pushing them toward violence.
But Ashley raised her hand, stopping them.
She gestured toward the door, and they filed out, tension visible in every movement and frustration at being unable to respond to such blatant disrespect.
Warren James moved to follow, but Ashleyâs hand on his arm stopped him.
They exited last with Ashley closing the door behind them with controlled precision.
The moment it shut, Damian collapsed back into the chair, all the rage draining away instantly.
His crimson eyes returned to that empty stare, tracking nothing and seeing only the hallucination that had never left.
"Worthless... youâre worthless... and now theyâll kill you too... just like you let me die..."
Neraâs voice continued its endless accusations.
And Damian sat alone in the white room, broken beyond repair, listening to a ghost that only he could hear.
****
Outside in the hallway, Warren turned to Ashley with barely controlled rage.
"Why did you stop me?! That insolent fool needed to be taught a lesson! His disrespect toward legal authority cannot be tolerated!"
Ashley looked at him with an expression that was almost pitying.
"If you want to die, Commissioner, then go ahead and try. But donât expect me to protect you from the consequences."
Warrenâs anger faltered, confusion replacing fury.
"What are you talking about? Heâs just a first-year Academy student with a powerful master... We have legal authority toâ"
"One word from Headmaster Kaiser is enough to end your career," Ashley said flatly. "He has connections throughout the Federation government that go back decades. Heâs trained half the current S rank awakeners in active service. If he decides youâre a threat to his disciple, your career ends... Possibly your life. Donât think about my previous words in that room, that old man is quite moody."
She started walking down the hallway, forcing Warren and the others to follow.
"And do you really think Kaiser is his only backing? Damian Valcor is smart. Manipulative, calculating and always three steps ahead of everyone around him."
Her voice became thoughtful.
"If he wasnât in his current mental state, completely exhausted and barely functional, he wouldnât have openly threatened everyone like that. The fact that he did means heâs confident. Absolutely certain that we canât touch him without consequences weâre not prepared to face."
Officer Sarah spoke up from behind them.
"What backing could he possibly have beyond his master? Heâs just a commoner student who built a criminal organization. That shouldnât be enough toâ"
Ashley stopped walking and turned to face her.
"Is just anyone protected so fiercely by GIA? The Federationâs Admin AI actively hides information about him, blocks investigations, and makes evidence disappear."
She let that sink in.
"No matter what backing he has, things arenât as simple as they seem on the surface. You all remember the Kestrel Family branch massacre?"
Everyone nodded slowly, that incident having been major news some time ago. An entire branch family was wiped out overnight, every member killed and the main Kestrel Family remaining mysteriously silent about it afterward.
"Everyone assumes it was Headmaster Kaiserâs work," Ashley continued. "Revenge for them attempting to harm his disciple. But the Director told me personally that Kaiser wasnât involved at all."
Silence as that information processed.
"And everyone knows itâs linked to Damian Valcor somehow. The timing, the targets and the complete destruction... it has his fingerprints all over it even if he didnât personally carry out the kills."
She looked at each officer specifically.
"Whoever is protecting him, whoever ordered that massacre, whoever made an entire Noble Family branch disappear overnight... weâll know soon enough."
Warren James stared at her, understanding dawning slowly.
"So youâre forcing all the backing behind him to come to light," he said slowly. "Not actually going after him directly, but creating enough pressure that his protectors have to reveal themselves."
Ashley smiled but said nothing, neither confirming nor denying.
Her silence was answer enough.
****
The SFD headquartersâ main conference room was packed with media personnel and reporters from every major news network across all five regions, with their cameras pointed at the podium where a tired-looking officer stood adjusting the microphone.
Officer Morales, a B rank SFD officer whoâd been assigned press duty, cleared his throat and began reading from prepared notes with a tired voice.
"Ladies and gentlemen, Iâll keep this brief."
His voice carried across the room despite not being particularly loud.
"At approximately fourteen hundred hours today, the hostile portal that appeared at the ACC Stadium... stabilized and reopened."
He paused, letting that sink in.
"...And forty students emerged alive from the portal dimension."
Click click click click
The sound of cameras erupted with flashes going off and reporters already typing frantically on communication devices.
Morales continued, his voice becoming heavier.
"Two hundred and ten students did not return. At this time, we are operating under the assumption that those who did not emerge are... deceased."
The conference room exploded with shouted questions, hands raised and voices overlapping into chaos.
"WHO SURVIVED?!"
"WHICH ACADEMIES?!"
"WHAT HAPPENED INSIDE?!"
"ARE THERE ANY IMPERIAL HEIRS AMONG THE DEAD?!"
Morales raised his hands, trying to restore order.
"We cannot release names at this time! Families are still being notified! The survivors are currently undergoing medical evaluation and providing testimony about what occurred inside the portal dimension!"
His voice became firmer, carrying authority despite his relatively low rank.
"That is all the information we can provide at this moment! Further updates will be issued as the situation develops! This press conference is nowâ"
"IS IT TRUE DAMIAN VALCOR IS BEING DETAINED?!"
The question cut through the chaos like a knife, making Morales freeze mid-sentence.
Every camera swung toward the reporter whoâd asked, then swung back to Morales with predatory focus.
Moralesâs jaw clenched, his prepared statement not including anything about individual students.
"I... that information is classified pending ongoing investigationâ"
"INVESTIGATION INTO WHAT?! DID HE COMMIT CRIMES INSIDE THE PORTAL?!"
Another reporter jumped in immediately, smelling blood in the water.
"THERE ARE RUMORS HE KILLED NOBLE STUDENTS! CAN YOU CONFIRM OR DENY?!"
Moralesâs face went pale, realizing this press conference had just spiraled completely out of his control.
"I cannot comment on ongoing investigations! This conference is over!"
He turned and walked away despite the eruption of shouted questions behind him, leaving the media in a frenzy.
****
Hundreds of people had gathered outside the imposing SFD building, a crowd that had been growing steadily since news of the portal opening broke across every news network.
Families of the students whoâd been pulled through stood in clusters, their faces showing every shade of hope and dread and desperate prayer.
Most were Nobles, wearing expensive clothes that marked their status, their usual arrogance replaced by very human fear for their childrenâs lives.
"They said forty survived!"
A Noble mother clutched her husbandâs arm, her voice shaking.
"Our son is strong! He has to be among them! He has to be!"
"They wonât even tell us who made it out!"
An older man, clearly a family head, was arguing with SFD officers manning the barricades.
"My grandson was in that portal! I have a right to know if heâs alive! Do you understand who I am?! I can have your career ended with one phone call!"
The SFD officer remained stoic, following orders despite the threats.
"Sir, families will be notified as soon as medical evaluations are complete. We cannot release information prematurely."
But the crowdâs tension continued building, fear and uncertainty creating volatile atmosphere.
Then someoneâs communication device chimed with a news alert.
Then another.
Then dozens simultaneously as a breaking news update spread across the Federationâs information networks.
[BREAKING: DAMIAN VALCOR DETAINED BY SFD - ACCUSED OF KILLING NOBLE STUDENTS INSIDE PORTAL]
And the crowd erupted.
"WHAT?!"
"VALCOR DID WHAT?!"
"THAT COMMONER BASTARD KILLED NOBLES?!"
But almost immediately, a counter-article appeared from an anonymous source, spreading just as rapidly across forums and social media.
[ANONYMOUS LEAK: VALCOR ONLY EXECUTED STUDENTS WHO USED COMMONERS AS MEAT SHIELDS - SOLE REASON 40 SURVIVED AT ALL - SFD OFFICER ASHLEY BLACKHEART TARGETING HIM FOR HIS WEAPON ART]
The Federation, which had been unified through grief and rage over Eleanorâs attack just hours ago, suddenly fractured again into chaos.