Chapter 294 — Backing II

Ashley Blackheart and the other officers had just exited Damian’s interrogation room, standing in the hallway discussing their next moves.

Then they all froze mid-conversation.

Warren James found his hand locked halfway to his weapon, his face going white as understanding crashed down.

’I can’t move! Not even a twitch! This is... this is a Domain!’

Ashley’s mind was racing, her extensive combat experience letting her analyze the situation even while frozen.

’Physical Domain... spatial manipulation based on the nature of the restriction... incredible range and precision... S rank minimum and possibly higher...’

Her voice emerged with difficulty, forcing words through spatial pressure.

"It’s... a Domain..."

Her face showed grim realization.

"But... who would be bold enough... to put the entire SFD headquarters... inside their Domain?!"

Officer Sarah’s frozen face showed pure terror.

’We’re all going to die! Someone with this much power doesn’t need to negotiate! They can just kill everyone!’

Officer Hank was trying desperately to activate his Aura, to break free through raw power.

But it accomplished nothing except making him sweat harder.

Then footsteps echoed down the hallway.

Four figures walked toward them, passing frozen officers like they didn’t exist.

Ashley’s eyes widened with recognition as Alaric’s face came into view.

’It’s him! Damian Valcor’s father! But I never... I never realized...’

Alaric’s silver eyes met hers for a fraction of a second.

The look said everything without words.

’Go on... I dare you to resist. I dare you to try stopping me. See what happens next.’

Then they walked past without slowing, moving toward the interrogation rooms deeper in the building.

****

They reached Interrogation Room 7.

The door was closed with the observation window showing nothing from their angle.

Alaric pushed it open, and they all looked inside.

And what they saw made them freeze for reasons that had nothing to do with Domains.

Damian sat in the chair, his body curled up with his knees pulled to his chest, rocking back and forth with mechanical rhythm.

His crimson eyes stared at nothing, completely empty and seeing things that didn’t exist.

His lips moved constantly, muttering words too quiet to hear clearly.

Blood stained his combat uniform. Mud covered his hair. His face showed exhaustion that went beyond physical tiredness into something approaching broken.

He looked like a traumatized child rather than the dangerous teenager they’d raised.

Luna’s breath caught audibly, her hand covering her mouth as tears immediately began streaming down her face.

"Damian..."

The word came out as barely a whisper, carrying absolute heartbreak.

Sebastian’s scholarly composure cracked completely.

"Damy..."

He rushed forward immediately, his healer instincts overriding everything else, kneeling beside the chair to assess Damian’s condition with trembling hands.

Alaric and Lyandra stood in the doorway, not entering, just... looking.

Looking at their son in a state they’d never imagined possible.

The boy they’d raised, who’d nowadays been so controlled, so composed and so careful about showing weakness.

Reduced to this.

Their breathing became rough, the air around them literally beginning to crack as spatial distortions appeared, as reality itself started fracturing under the pressure of their barely controlled rage.

Neither of them spoke for several long seconds.

Then Lyandra broke the silence, her voice emerging quiet and calm.

"...Do you remember the day you brought Damy to me?"

Alaric’s grip tightened on his katana’s hilt, his knuckles going white.

"Yes."

His voice was equally quiet and equally dangerous.

Lyandra’s black eyes never left Damian’s rocking form.

"We tried for so many years to have children... So many failures and so much disappointment. The doctors said it might never happen because of what combat had done to our bodies."

Her voice became softer and more distant.

"Then you came home one day carrying a newborn baby with crimson eyes and hair... Told me we were going to be parents. That this child was ours now, and we would give him everything we never had."

A tear slid down her cheek.

"He was so small and so sooo fragile...We decided together, didn’t we? That we would give him the best life possible with safety and security and love. Far from the darkness we both carried and far from the war and the killing and the horror."

Alaric’s silver eyes were becoming red, bloodshot from emotion he usually kept buried.

"We gave up our positions, our reputations, our place at the frontlines... we retired completely so we could be proper parents. We promised our little crimson baby a normal life and promised ourselves we’d protect him from ever experiencing what we went through."

His voice cracked slightly.

"And now look at him... Look at what they’ve done to our son!"

Lyandra wiped the tear away, her expression becoming something cold and terrible.

"We gave him fifteen years of peace. Fifteen years of being just a normal boy with a family that loved him. And then... the world took that away."

Her hands clenched.

"First the bloody memories, then the Norrington attack, then the Demons, then the first portal, then the Kestrels... And now this..."

She turned slowly to look at her husband.

"How much is our son supposed to endure? How much pain is enough before we’re allowed to destroy everyone who keeps hurting our child?!"

Alaric’s face showed the same cold fury, the same parental rage that was beyond reason or law.

"They had him... They had our son locked in this room, and they were interrogating him instead of helping him."

His voice became harder.

"They probably wanted to find his backing, wanted to know who protects him and wanted to pressure him into giving up his art."

Lyandra’s mad smile became absolutely terrifying.

"Then let’s show them exactly who protects him."

Alaric waved his hand, and space folded.

Ashley, Warren, and the other four officers suddenly found themselves pulled through dimensions, reality twisting, depositing them directly in front of Alaric and Lyandra in the hallway outside Room 7.

They tried to resist, tried to fight the spatial manipulation.

But it accomplished nothing.

They materialized, still frozen, unable to move and facing two people whose expressions promised terrible things.