Chapter 263 — Rage

The flames spread across his body, making him look like a demon rising from hell.

"I didn’t want to just survive anymore. I wanted to make sure those Giants understood what happens when they come after MY men. When they kill people under MY protection."

His voice became something inhuman, carrying echoes of slaughter that made people step back involuntarily.

"I SLAUGHTERED THOSE GIANTS AND MADE THEM DIE IN TERROR!"

WHOOOOSH!

The crimson flames exploded outward, the killing intent washing over everyone like a physical wave.

Students screamed.

Some fell to their knees.

Others vomited from the sheer malevolent pressure.

The Imperial heirs went pale, their instincts screaming danger despite Damian being lower rank.

Because this wasn’t about power levels.

This was about someone who’d descended into genuine madness, who’d embraced slaughter so completely that his Aura itself had transformed into something that rejected sanity.

"I made sure they knew that killing my men had CONSEQUENCES!"

The flames raged higher, Damian’s face showing expression that was simultaneously fury and pain and something approaching religious fervor.

"I tore them apart! Made them watch their own limbs being removed! Made them experience the same terror they’d inflicted! Made them understand what it meant to face someone who’d stopped caring about survival and only wanted VENGEANCE!"

The girl who’d been standing close stumbled backward, her face pale, legs giving out, collapsing into mud from the overwhelming pressure.

Others followed, unable to withstand the concentrated killing intent radiating from Damian’s crimson slaughter intent.

Then his voice became calmer, though no less intense.

"And the result was that we won. Against impossible odds, against creatures that should have killed us all, against a hostile portal that wanted us dead..."

The flames began receding slightly.

"I managed to save around twenty men from the initial more than seventy. Brought them home. Gave them back their lives they wouldn’t have had if I’d just accepted defeat."

His crimson eyes scanned the crowd, landing on each person individually.

"So... if you want to survive this portal, if you want to make it home to see your families again, if you want to live rather than just become food for mindless monsters..."

His voice became absolute command.

"CHANGE YOUR BLOODY MENTALITY!"

WHOOOOSH!

The flames exploded again, larger this time.

"When these creatures want to bite you to death, BLOW YOURSELF UP! Take those fucking bastards down with you! Show them what you’re made of!"

Students were clenching their fists now, feeling something stirring in their chests.

Not just fear.

Something else... Something hot and angry and defiant.

"Discard the fear!" Damian’s voice was rising again. "Discard the terror! Discard your thoughts about going home! Discard your identity as Noble or commoner!"

His Aura blazed brighter.

"CONSIDER YOURSELF ALREADY DEAD!"

The words hit like physical impacts, making hearts race and blood pump faster.

"You died the moment you entered this portal! Your old life is over! Your future is gone! All that remains is NOW!"

Students were breathing harder, their exhaustion forgotten, something primal awakening.

"Your only purpose now is to burn with RAGE!"

Damian’s voice became thunder.

"Rage over the fact that you’re being hunted like animals! Rage over the fact that you were brought here without permission! Rage over the fact that those untalented E rank men had more guts than you fucking B rank lot!"

"..."

Something shifted in the crowd.

Eyes that had been dull with despair began burning with fury.

Fists clenched so hard knuckles cracked.

Teeth ground together with audible force.

’He’s right,’ a Noble boy thought, his previous fear transforming into anger. ’I am B rank. I have power those men didn’t. And I was crying about dying? Fuck that! FUCK THAT!’

’I’m not some worthless piece of meat,’ a commoner girl thought, her hands trembling with rage rather than fear. ’I’m human! I have Aura! I can fight! And if I’m going to die, I’ll take those bastards with me!’

’We’re already dead,’ Edrin thought, his tactical mind processing Damian’s words and finding the brutal logic within them. ’So what’s there to fear? Dead people can’t be scared. Dead people can only rage against what killed them.’

William Greene felt fire spreading through his chest, his earlier fury at Nobles transforming into something more primal.

’Those men had nothing. And they went down fighting. What the fuck am I doing? What the fuck are we all doing, crying and waiting to be eaten?!’

Even the Imperial heirs felt something shifting.

Cassius’s grey eyes blazed with new intensity.

’I’ve been treating this like a survival exercise. Trying to conserve strength, maintain formation, stay alive. But that’s not how you win against overwhelming odds! That’s how you delay death!’

Jonathan’s golden features hardened.

’The Divine Aegis is meant to bring light to darkness! To burn away despair with divine fury! And I’ve been using it defensively?! Pathetic!’

Ben’s extinguished flames began flickering again, powered by emotion rather than Aura.

’Royce family burns! That’s what we do! We don’t fade out! We don’t go gently! We fucking BURN!’

Damian moved through the crowd, his crimson flames still raging, his eyes landing on each Noble, each Imperial heir, each student who’d shown cowardice or fear or weakness.

His voice became quiet again, but somehow more terrifying than his shouts.

"And inside this portal, if I see any Noble trying to use commoners as shields..."

He let the pause stretch.

"Or even commoners using Nobles to save themselves..."

His crimson eyes promised horrors worse than death.

"I will make sure your deaths are even more terrible than what you just witnessed."

Students swallowed hard, remembering the eight who’d torn themselves apart.

"So do yourself a favor when you’re about to die..."

Damian’s smile was cold and empty.

"Blow up your core. Take the enemy with you. Die with rage rather than terror."

He turned and walked back to his sitting position, the crimson flames dissipating as he moved, his entire demeanor shifting back to calm meditation.

"Because trust me – dying by your own choice, taking enemies with you, going out in fire and fury..."

He sat down, crossed his legs, closed his eyes.

"That’s infinitely better than dying by my hands."

"..."

Silence spread across the area as Damian returned to his breathing exercises, his Aura cycling becoming smooth and controlled again.

But it wasn’t the same silence as before.

This was charged.

Electric!

Filled with fury and determination and the desperate courage that came from accepting death and choosing how to face it.

Students looked at each other with different eyes.

Not Nobles and commoners.

Not Imperials and Republic.

Just humans.

Just prey that had decided to become predators.

Just people who’d been shown what true courage looked like and found they wanted it for themselves.

And in the blood-soaked mud of a hostile portal, the Federation students stood transformed.

They were no longer crying, no longer begging and no longer breaking.

Just burning!

Burning with rage and determination and the terrible courage of those who’d accepted their deaths and chosen to make them matter.