Chapter 298 — Not Guilty

Alaric looked at Ezra, his expression softening slightly.

"Don’t mind her. She’s not in a good mood."

Ezra opened his mouth to respond, perhaps to make a joke about understatement.

Click

The sound was soft and barely audible.

Then Warren James screamed.

His limbs separated from his body simultaneously – arms at the shoulders, legs at the hips – spatial cuts so precise they left clean edges rather than ragged tears.

He collapsed, his torso hitting the ground as his severed limbs fell around him.

Blood sprayed across the hallway, painting walls and ceiling.

And simultaneously–

BOOOOOOM!

A massive explosion of sound and force erupted from outside.

The entire SFD headquarters building shook violently, windows shattering across multiple floors and alarms blaring as structural damage sensors screamed warnings.

Everyone’s heads turned toward the windows.

A perfect spatial blade cut had appeared across the entire opposite wing of the headquarters – a line of destruction hundreds of meters long that cleaved straight through the building from top to bottom.

The cut was so clean it looked like someone had drawn a line with a ruler and erased everything along it.

For a single frozen moment, the building held together through inertia alone.

Then the severed section began sliding.

CRASH

The entire wing collapsed, tons of reinforced concrete and steel tumbling down in a controlled fall – controlled because Alaric had calculated the exact angle to make it fall away from occupied areas.

Dust and debris exploded outward, the sound of destruction echoing across the entire Capitol district.

But not a single person was injured in the collapse because Alaric had made certain of it.

This wasn’t random destruction...

This was a message.

’This is what I can do... This is the consequence of threatening my family.’

Alaric’s hand had never moved and his expression had never changed.

He just looked at Warren’s screaming form once, his silver eyes showing absolute indifference to the suffering he’d caused.

Then he turned and followed Lyandra toward Damian’s room, his footsteps echoing in the sudden silence that followed the building’s collapse.

****

The hallway stood frozen once more, but this time not through Domains.

Just pure shock.

Herman still held Sarah Doss’s severed head, his hands shaking so badly he nearly dropped it, his eyes wide as he stared at the missing section of building visible through the shattered windows.

Ezra stood with his arms crossed, his expression showing something between amusement and resignation.

Ashley lay broken against the wall, barely conscious, red tears still streaming.

Warren writhed on the floor, his Will reinforcement activating to keep him from screaming.

Ezra sighed, the sound carrying across the blood-soaked hallway.

’And you’re in a good mood, Alaric? If this is you in a good mood, I’d hate to see you angry...’

Herman finally found his voice, though it emerged broken and shaking.

"Who... who are they?"

Ezra lit a cigar casually, the action seeming obscene given the carnage around them.

"You just need to know they belong to the military. Other than that, you can ask your Director."

He took a long drag, his eyes finding Herman with sharp assessment.

"Come to think of it... based on Damian Valcor’s files, he’s a registered disciple of Headmaster Kaiser. One of the most powerful people in this Federation."

His voice became dangerously soft.

"So why the fuck were you even investigating him? Has your Director not warned you people?"

Herman’s face went even paler, realization crashing down.

"The Director... he did warn us... multiple times... told us to leave the Valcor boy alone..."

Ezra turned to Ashley, his expression showing genuine curiosity despite her broken state.

"So why did you detain Damian Valcor? Why interrogate him instead of providing medical attention? Why pursue charges when you were explicitly told to back off?"

Ashley’s swollen eyes tried to focus on him, her split lips moving with difficulty.

"The... Imperial families’ representative... He said they were going to pressure Headmaster Kaiser... I assumed... the Director wouldn’t mind if I..."

Her voice trailed off as understanding hit.

’I was played! They used me!’

Ezra started laughing.

The sound was genuine amusement, rich and full, completely inappropriate for the blood-soaked scene.

He laughed until tears formed in his eyes, until he had to lean against the wall for support.

"Oh how I missed the Federation~," he gasped between laughs. "You people are so entertaining! It’s like watching an old TV drama!"

His laughter gradually subsided, but his smile remained.

"You people of the Hundred Families are always used by Imperials as scapegoats, and you never realize it!"

He took another drag of his cigar, his eyes finding Ashley’s broken face.

"And you even dragged the entire SFD into your mess based on an assumption! An assumption!"

His laughter returned, shorter this time but no less genuine.

"Why do you think no Imperial has made any direct action against Damian Valcor so far? Do you think they’re as clueless as you?"

He leaned forward, his voice becoming almost conspiratorial.

"They just used you to test the waters, to see what kind of backing he had, to force Alaric and Lyandra to show their current strength... And you fell for it completely!"

Ashley’s red eyes closed, fresh tears of humiliation mixing with blood.

Then Ezra’s laughter stopped completely.

His expression shifted, becoming absolutely serious, all amusement vanishing like it had never existed.

His voice emerged cold and hard, carrying authority that made Herman flinch.

"And since when did the SFD have any right to investigate and punish matters related to portals? Portal incidents fall under military jurisdiction exclusively."

His Aura began leaking, S rank pressure filling the hallway with suffocating force.

"You overstepped your authority! Detained a hero without cause and interrogated someone who should have been in medical care... All while operating outside your legal jurisdiction."

He reached down and picked up the testimony files that had fallen during the chaos, scanning them quickly.

A mad smile began forming on his face as he read.

And the smile grew wider with each page.

Then he straightened, his voice carrying across the entire building with formal authority.

"I, Arch-Inquisitor Ezra Thorne of the Military Police, representing the Military Tribunal, hereby give final verdict on this matter."

Complete silence fell.

"Damian Valcor is NOT GUILTY of any crimes committed within the portal. His actions are classified as justified combat decisions made under extreme duress in life-or-death situations. He is hereby recognized as a Hero of Humanity for his leadership in preserving forty lives against overwhelming odds."

He paused, letting that sink in.

"All surviving students from the portal incident are similarly recognized as Heroes of Humanity. Official rewards and honors will be determined by the Federation at a later date."

Herman, Ashley, and Warren listened with grim faces, understanding where this was going.

"However," Ezra’s voice became harder, "the investigation reveals serious misconduct by SFD personnel."

His smile became absolutely terrifying.

"All officers involved in the detention and interrogation of Damian Valcor, instead of providing immediate medical attention as required by law, are hereby temporarily suspended from their respective departments pending full investigation."

He gestured casually toward the four dead officers.

"Officers Hank Webb, David Park, Jennifer Liu, and Sarah Doss have been identified as Monster spies. I personally executed them for attempting to harm humanity’s genius. Their families will be investigated for potential collaboration."

Herman’s mouth fell open.

"You... you can’t just–"

"Deputy Commissioner Warren James," Ezra continued, ignoring the interruption, "is hereby transferred to active military service on the front lines. His desk posting is terminated effective immediately. He will serve at the most dangerous portal zones until such time as his conduct is deemed satisfactory."

Warren’s broken body twitched, his mind processing through the pain.

’The front lines... that’s a death sentence... They’re sending me to die...’

"As for SFD Officer Ashley Blackheart..."

Ezra’s eyes found her broken form.

"Her punishment will be decided by the Director of SFD. However, she is stripped of all investigative authority and placed on administrative duty pending review."

He turned to Herman.

"That should satisfy the political requirements. The Imperials get their scapegoats and the military gets its heroes. Everyone wins!"

His smile became sardonic.

"Except the people who actually did the investigating, of course."

Herman’s face was pale, his hands still holding Sarah’s severed head.

"This is... you’re making things up! Those officers weren’t spies! You can’t just–"

Ezra’s eyes found Herman, and the senior officer’s words died.

"Can’t I?"

His voice was soft and dangerous.

"Your SFD and the police, alongside the Federation Council, have many S rank and above powerhouses. People who know exactly what happened here today."

He gestured around them.

"So tell me, Senior Officer Herman... why do you think none of them are here right now? Why did they send someone of your rank instead?"

Understanding dawned on Herman’s face.

Ezra took a final drag of his cigar.

"So... when you report back to your Director, make sure you mention that Arch-Inquisitor Ezra Thorne sends his regards... And that the military will be watching SFD activities much more closely from now on."

He dropped the cigar and crushed it under his boot.

"Any questions?"

Silence.

"Good. Now clean up this mess before the media arrives. And someone get medical attention for Deputy Commissioner James before he bleeds out completely. The front lines need fresh bodies."

Ezra turned and walked away, his black uniform and red armband disappearing down the hallway toward the exit.

Leaving Herman standing alone with a severed head in his hands, surrounded by bodies and blood, the weight of political machinations crushing down on shoulders never meant to bear them.