Chapter 286 — Who?

The moment Damian’s foot touched ground outside the portal...

CRACK

The pavement beneath him shattered, spiderwebbing outward in a perfect circle, chunks of concrete exploding upward as if something impossibly heavy had just landed.

The change in environment – from the portal’s dense Aura to normal reality – combined with his enhanced stats made his body reject proper control for several seconds.

But Damian didn’t seem to notice and didn’t react to the broken ground or the staring officers or anything around him.

He just stood there, supported by Ronan, his crimson eyes fixed on nothing, staring at some distant point that nobody else could see.

They were completely empty.

"MEDICAL TEAMS! WE NEED MEDICAL TEAMS HERE NOW!"

The SFD commander was already activating emergency protocols, his voice carrying authority that demanded immediate response.

Healers rushed forward, green Auras flaring as they began triage, assessing injuries and prioritizing treatment.

The Imperial and Noble subordinates crowded around their masters, questions erupting simultaneously.

"What happened inside?!"

"Where are the others?!"

"Are you injured?!"

"Did Monsters–"

"ENOUGH!"

Cassius’s voice cut through the chaos despite his exhaustion, his authority as an Eckhart heir making everyone go silent.

"We’ll explain everything. But first, take care of everyone."

He looked around at the assembled guards, his expression becoming grim.

"And someone should inform the families... that only this many made it out."

The words hit like a physical blow.

Two hundred fifty had entered and only forty emerged.

The Vance guard’s voice emerged quietly, almost afraid to ask.

"The others... where are they?"

Cassius’s expression became harder and colder.

"Dead."

Silence fell across the entire area.

Then movement at the perimeter – powerful awakeners arriving, having been summoned the moment the portal opened.

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH

S rank awakeners materialized through various movement techniques, their presence making the air feel heavier.

And among them, the highest-ranked officer present was...

Ashley Blackheart.

S rank SFD officer, one of the most powerful awakeners in the entire organization, her reputation preceding her arrival.

Her eyes swept across the assembled students, taking in their condition, the bodies being treated and the trauma visible on every face.

When she spoke, her voice carried across the area despite not being particularly loud.

"Only this many survived?"

The question wasn’t accusatory, just... sad.

Acknowledging reality with the kind of weariness that came from seeing too much death over too many years.

"..."

Nobody answered because there was nothing to say.

Then she looked at the Imperial heirs specifically, her gaze lingering on each one.

"Everyone here will need to provide testimony about what happened inside that portal. We need to understand what kind of threats you faced, whether there’s danger of the portal reopening and what caused such catastrophic casualties."

Her tone became firmer, carrying expectation of cooperation.

"I hope you’ll all work with us. This isn’t about politics or family standing."

Her eyes seemed to fall on Damian specifically, sharpness erupting in her gaze for just a fraction of a second before her expression returned to neutral professionalism.

’Interesting... So he survived again.’

Edrin moved toward Damian, his cracked glasses reflecting light as he tried to get his leader’s attention.

"Boss? Boss, can you hear me?"

But there was no response.

Damian’s crimson eyes remained fixed on nothing, his expression completely blank.

Ronan tried next, his large hand gentle on Damian’s shoulder.

"Boss? We made it out... We’re safe now."

Still nothing.

Zavier approached from the other side, concern breaking through his usual nonchalant demeanor.

"Hey! Snap out of it! This isn’t funny anymore..."

But Damian didn’t react, didn’t acknowledge them and didn’t show any awareness of the world around him.

The SFD officers began organizing the students, directing them toward separate rooms for individual testimonies, medical teams providing initial treatment as they moved.

Nobody noticed when a small shadow detached from the darkness nearby.

And nobody saw it merge with Damian’s shadow, becoming one with it, disappearing completely into the darkness that followed him.

Kuro had returned.

****

[SFD Headquarters - Interrogation Room 7]

The room was sterile and cold.

White walls, single table, two chairs and observation window that was probably one-way glass.

Standard interrogation setup designed to make people uncomfortable and to encourage honesty through environmental pressure.

Damian sat in one chair, still wearing his blood-stained combat uniform, still covered in dried mud and things nobody wanted to identify.

His hands rested on the table, completely still.

His crimson eyes stared at the wall across from him, unblinking and seeing something that wasn’t there.

Minutes passed.

Nobody came to question him yet – they were probably starting with the Imperial heirs, getting testimony from those with the most political weight first.

Damian didn’t move and didn’t blink.

Just... existed.

Then his head turned slightly, his eyes focusing on a point to his left where empty wall met floor.

His voice emerged broken, barely above a whisper, carrying shock and disbelief and desperate hope all mixed together.

"N-Nera?"

The name hung in the empty air.

And there she stood.

Exactly as he remembered her from that final memory – wearing that elegant long coat over a dark suit, her middle-aged features showing the kind of intelligence and warmth that had defined her.

Her dark eyes looked at him with the same assessing precision he remembered, the same calculating intelligence mixed with something approaching fondness.

She smiled.

That same smile she’d given when he’d finally spoken his name after weeks of silence.

Damian’s hands began trembling, his breathing becoming faster, chest rising and falling too quickly.

"You’re... you’re here... but how... I saw you... you were..."

The words broke apart, his mind unable to form complete sentences, reality fragmenting into pieces that refused to fit together properly.

His Will stat was at rock bottom.

The Devourer Art had burned through his mental attributes with devastating efficiency, degrading his consciousness to levels that made rational thought nearly impossible.

And the trauma of reliving Nera’s death while in that state...

His mind had shattered.

Completely and absolutely shattered.

****

Kuro materialized slowly, emerging from darkness like ink taking form, his small raven body appearing on the table.

His crimson eyes immediately found Damian’s face, and what he saw made his heart drop.

Something was fundamentally wrong.

Their connection, the mental link that allowed mental communication and emotional sharing, felt... weak.

Like Damian was slipping away into somewhere Kuro couldn’t follow.

’Stupid human!’

Kuro’s mental voice erupted with panic, his broken messages reflecting his distress.

’I sense... connection almost gone! Scared! Kuro was scared! Thought you die! Thought lose you forever!’

He pressed his face against Damian’s cheek, rubbing desperately, his small body trembling.

’Don’t go! Don’t leave Kuro alone! You promise! You promise never leave!’

But Damian didn’t respond to Kuro’s presence.

His eyes remained fixed on the wall, on Nera’s hallucination, a gentle smile spreading across his face despite the tears beginning to fall.

"Look, Kuro," Damian said softly, his voice carrying childlike wonder. "Let me introduce you to someone very important to me. This is Nera... she’s my Boss, the person who saved me."

Kuro’s head turned, following Damian’s gaze.

He saw the wall.

Just the empty white wall with nothing there.

He looked back at Damian, then at the wall again, confusion mixing with growing horror.

’Who? Where? Kuro see nothing! Only wall! What you looking at?!’