Novel Full Chapter 404: Discussion With The General
Chapter 404: Discussion With The General
The interior of Delwig’s command fortress was as cold and austere as its exterior suggested.
Blackstone walls stretched upward into vaulted ceilings, lined with runes that pulsed faintly like veins of molten silver. Torches burned with steady blue flame, illuminating the chamber without smoke or flicker.
At the far end of the hall, behind a table layered with maps and reports, sat the man who commanded it all.
General Ivaan was not tall, but his presence filled the chamber with more weight than any towering figure could.
Broad-shouldered, gray at the temples, his armor was plain steel without ornament—but there was no mistaking the aura that rolled from him in waves, the pressure of a man whose will had cut through decades of war. His eyes, sharp and dark, flicked from Apnoch to Damien and his companions.
“Report,” Ivaan said, his voice low, carrying like the strike of a hammer.
Apnoch bowed and stepped aside, gesturing to Damien. “General, this one carries knowledge we deem important. His words may alter our current understanding of the demon threat.”
Ivaan’s gaze settled on Damien. For a long moment, he said nothing, simply measuring. Finally, he gestured to the chairs across from him.
“Speak.”
Damien took the seat without hesitation, Arielle and Lyone behind him. He rested his arms lightly on the table, golden eyes steady.
“I’ll give you what I know. Some, not all.”
One of Ivaan’s brows lifted. “Not all?”
“I’m not here to empty my soul for Delwig,” Damien replied calmly. “But the part I will tell you may save your kingdom.”
Apnoch’s jaw tightened at the bluntness, but Ivaan only leaned back in his chair, studying Damien with a glimmer of intrigue.
“Continue.”
Damien exhaled slowly. “You’ve noticed it already. Demons and mana beasts behaving in ways they shouldn’t. Variants that have no place in this world. Beasts tainted with demonic essence, demons mutating into unnatural forms. It’s not natural. It’s not random. It’s deliberate.”
The general’s fingers tapped the table once. “You’re saying they’re being made.”
“Yes. Someone—or something—is experimenting with them. Forcing change. Perhaps refining them into weapons. The Forest of Twin Disasters first gave me reason to suspect this. Then Greshan confirmed it.”
Apnoch shot Damien a sharp glance. “Confirmed?”
Damien nodded. “In Greshan, we fought demons unlike anything in the records. Their cores were… twisted. Their essence unstable, like someone forced it into them. And just outside Greshan’s walls days ago, we faced a mana beast infused with demonic essence. That was no accident. Someone wanted that outcome.”
Ivaan’s eyes narrowed slightly. His silence was heavier than words, the kind that tested truth not with arguments but with the weight of presence alone.
Damien met that weight without flinching.
Arielle added softly, “We saw villages burned along the road here. The corpses of demons and beasts among the dead. Whatever is behind this, it is moving east, in the direction of Delwig.”
The general finally leaned forward. His voice was still quiet, but every word felt like it carried the kingdom’s weight.
“And what is it you intend to do with this knowledge, boy?”
Damien’s expression did not change. “We’re following the trail. Investigating the truth of what’s happening. That’s all you need to know.”
Apnoch frowned. “That’s all? You withhold details when the lives of thousands—”
Ivaan raised a hand, silencing his captain. His eyes remained locked on Damien’s. “You don’t trust us fully.”
“I trust no one fully,” Damien said evenly. “But our goals align. You want your kingdom safe. I want to know what’s behind these experiments. If the two overlap, then we stand together—for now.”
The chamber grew still. Then, to the surprise of both Arielle and Apnoch, the general’s lips curved into the faintest of smiles.
“You speak like a mercenary,” Ivaan said, “but your eyes see like a commander. Few your age would dare tell me so little and so much at once.”
He rose, his armor groaning softly with the motion, and extended his hand.
“Then allow me to say this: welcome to Delwig, the abandoned fortress kingdom.”
Damien stood, clasping the general’s hand firmly. For a moment, the two men simply regarded one another—one young, untested by years but hardened by fire; the other old, seasoned, and weighing whether the boy before him was ally or storm.
“Captain Apnoch,” Ivaan said without looking away from Damien, “see to it that our guests are made comfortable. Food. Shelter. Security. Whatever they require.”
Apnoch bowed deeply. “Yes, General.”
With that, the audience ended. Damien turned and left with his companions, his thoughts sharper than before. The words abandoned fortress kingdom lingered. It was a phrase heavy with history he didn’t yet understand, but one that he knew mattered.
Outside, the courtyard bustled with soldiers training, recruits sparring under barking sergeants. But Damien moved past it all toward a quieter alley, his mind still replaying the general’s words.
Once he was sure they were alone, he whistled low. A ripple of light shimmered, and Fenrir materialized, the monstrous wolf lowering its head with quiet obedience. Behind it, the faint glow of another summoning pulse shimmered, and the crimson blob of essence—Luton—oozed into existence.
The slime quivered with excitement, tendrils lashing toward the carriage.
“Store it,” Damien commanded.
Luton swallowed the carriage in a blink, absorbing the structure into its (Universal Space) as if it had never existed. A moment later, the ground was bare, only faint moisture left where the wheels had been.
“Good.” Damien patted the slime’s surface before waving it away. In a flash of light, Luton vanished. Fenrir followed suit, fading into nothing.
When he turned, Arielle was watching, arms crossed, an unreadable look in her eyes.
“You never miss a step, do you?” she asked.
Damien smirked faintly. “Better safe than sorry. No need for eyes in this city to count our every asset.”
Lyone, trailing behind, still marveled. “I’ll never get used to that… making entire carriages vanish.”
Damien chuckled, ruffling the boy’s hair. “You’ll see stranger before this journey ends.”
Together, they returned to Apnoch, who stood waiting with a small escort.
“This way,” the captain said, gesturing toward the inner district. “Your quarters are ready. Food and supplies await. And should you require anything else… you need only ask.”
Damien nodded. “Appreciated.”
The four of them followed, the sounds of Delwig’s fortress-city echoing around them, each step carrying them deeper into the kingdom that was both shield and secret.