Chapter 291 — Chaos I

Ashley stood up abruptly, her chair scraping backward, breaking the confrontation before it could escalate into actual physical violence.

"You’ll 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.

Damian’s 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 Ashley’s 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... you’re worthless... and now they’ll kill you too... just like you let me die..."

Nera’s 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 don’t expect me to protect you from the consequences."

Warren’s anger faltered, confusion replacing fury.

"What are you talking about? He’s just a first-year Academy student with a powerful master... We have legal authority to–"

"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. He’s trained half the current S rank awakeners in active service. If he decides you’re a threat to his disciple, your career ends... Possibly your life. Don’t 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 wasn’t in his current mental state, completely exhausted and barely functional, he wouldn’t have openly threatened everyone like that. The fact that he did means he’s confident. Absolutely certain that we can’t touch him without consequences we’re not prepared to face."

Officer Sarah spoke up from behind them.

"What backing could he possibly have beyond his master? He’s just a commoner student who built a criminal organization. That shouldn’t be enough to–"

Ashley stopped walking and turned to face her.

"Is just anyone protected so fiercely by GIA? The Federation’s 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 aren’t 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 Kaiser’s work," Ashley continued. "Revenge for them attempting to harm his disciple. But the Director told me personally that Kaiser wasn’t involved at all."

Silence as that information processed.

"And everyone knows it’s linked to Damian Valcor somehow. The timing, the targets and the complete destruction... it has his fingerprints all over it even if he didn’t 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... we’ll know soon enough."

Warren James stared at her, understanding dawning slowly.

"So you’re 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 headquarters’ 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 who’d been assigned press duty, cleared his throat and began reading from prepared notes with a tired voice.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I’ll 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 now–"

"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 who’d asked, then swung back to Morales with predatory focus.

Morales’s jaw clenched, his prepared statement not including anything about individual students.

"I... that information is classified pending ongoing investigation–"

"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?!"

Morales’s 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 who’d 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 children’s lives.

"They said forty survived!"

A Noble mother clutched her husband’s arm, her voice shaking.

"Our son is strong! He has to be among them! He has to be!"

"They won’t 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 he’s 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 crowd’s tension continued building, fear and uncertainty creating volatile atmosphere.

Then someone’s communication device chimed with a news alert.

Then another.

Then dozens simultaneously as a breaking news update spread across the Federation’s 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 Eleanor’s attack just hours ago, suddenly fractured again into chaos.