Chapter 483: Divine Energy

Gill let out a slow breath, still rubbing his throat where Garrick’s grip had nearly crushed it. His voice came out hoarse, but steady.

"It was insurance. In case I got caught by you and Wincent’s plan fell apart."

Selena’s eyes narrowed.

"So you want to be declared innocent? You think those documents about other people’s crimes will prove your innocence?"

Gill shook his head slowly. He didn’t look at her, didn’t look at Garrick. He just stared at the cracked floor beneath his feet.

"No. I’m not asking for innocence." His voice was quiet, tired. "I’m just hoping my punishment gets lightened."

He paused, then lifted his head.

"I know sacrificing people is wrong. I know that better than anyone." He swallowed, his throat still raw. "But it was my life on the line too. So I did whatever it took to survive."

Selena noticed the tired curve of his shoulders, the way his fingers still trembled at his throat, the mark on his stomach that he kept trying to hide.

Then she turned away.

"Garrick."

The beastkin’s head snapped toward her. His jaw was still tight, his breathing still ragged, but the guards surrounding him hadn’t moved. Their spears were still leveled at his chest.

"I’m not letting him go," Selena said quietly. "But I’m not letting you kill him either."

Garrick’s voice came out low and rough.

"You expect me to just stand here and listen to him breathe? After what he admitted?"

"I expect you to remember that he’s the only one who knows what Wincent is planning." Selena turned back to face him. "You want revenge. I understand that. But revenge won’t bring your people back. And it won’t stop the next ritual."

Garrick’s chest heaved. For a moment, it looked like he might lunge again.

Then he let out a harsh breath through his nose and turned his head away.

"...Tsk alright alright."

Selena nodded once, then looked back at Gill.

"You said you chose people who deserved it." Her voice was calm, but there was a sharp edge beneath it. "Explain."

Gill pushed himself up slowly, one hand braced against the cracked wall. He adjusted his glasses, though the frame was bent now.

"I dug through records. Things most people forgot or wanted forgotten." He glanced at Garrick, then quickly away. "Criminals. Slavers. People who had blood on their hands and never paid for it. That’s who I picked."

Garrick’s lip curled.

"You still killed them. You still used them like livestock."

"I know." Gill didn’t argue. He didn’t defend himself. He just stood there, tired and hollow. "I’m not saying it was right. I’m saying it wasn’t random."

Selena folded her arms. Her remaining hand rested against her side, fingers tapping once against her ribs.

"You’re right. Everyone in those documents was a criminal. But that’s not surprising—this city has always been lawless. What I didn’t expect..." She glanced at Garrick. "Was that your people were once high-bounty fugitives."

Garrick’s jaw tightened. His fists clenched at his sides, but he didn’t lunge. He just stood there, breathing hard, his voice low and rough when he finally spoke.

"That’s because they had no choice."

He turned his head slightly, meeting Selena’s gaze.

"Beastkin have been treated like animals for generations. Spat on. Hunted. Driven out of every village and city that would have them. So when I found them—people who had been forced to steal, to kill, just to survive another day—I gave them a place to belong."

His voice rose, trembling with barely restrained fury.

"I gave them a home. I gave them a reason to change. And they did change. Every single one of them. They were trying to be better."

His eyes locked onto Gill.

"And then he killed them."

Gill didn’t flinch. He stood there, still rubbing his throat, his expression tired but unyielding.

"Even so," he said quietly, "a criminal is still a criminal."

Garrick’s growl rumbled low in his chest.

"You—"

Gill pressed on, his voice steady.

"You’re forgetting something important, Garrick. The reason beastkin are hated in the first place... is because your kind started it. You declared yourselves superior. You looked down on humans, on elves, on everyone who wasn’t like you. And when the humans finally took control of the continent..." He paused, letting the words hang. "You got exactly what you gave."

Garrick’s face twisted. His body trembled, the muscles in his arms bulging as he fought the urge to shift again.

"You bastard...!"

Selena stepped between them, raising a hand.

"Enough."

Both men fell silent. Garrick’s chest still heaved, and Gill’s eyes were still sharp, but neither spoke.

Selena turned to Gill.

"I understand what you’re doing now. And I understand why you did it." She paused, her gaze dropping to his stomach, where the mark still pulsed faintly beneath his shirt. "But that mark on your stomach—can it be removed?"

Gill was quiet for a moment. Then he let out a slow, tired breath and shook his head.

"No. It can’t."

He lifted his shirt just enough to reveal the mark fully. It was a dark, spiraling symbol, like a hand wrapped around his navel, its fingers curling inward toward his heart.

"This is called the Shadow Hand. It’s a curse. A hand that has wrapped itself around my heart through my navel." His voice was flat, empty. "The moment I leave Kaelthar, my heart will be crushed from the inside. That’s why I’ve been forced to help him."

He let his shirt fall back into place.

"I didn’t have a choice."

Selena closed her eyes for a brief moment, then opened them again.

"I understand." She paused, then looked at Gill directly. "Then how do we stop the ritual?"

"It’s already too late." Gill answered.

Garrick’s head snapped toward him. His eyes blazed, and his voice came out loud and sharp.

"What do you mean, too late?!"

"The ritual I performed... the energy I harvested from the sacrifices..." Gill paused, then lifted his head. "It’s already been absorbed by him. By Wincent."

Garrick’s fists clenched. His body trembled, fur already beginning to sprout along his forearms.

"Then we kill him before he can use it."

Gill shook his head.

"You don’t understand. It’s not something he needs to use. It’s already inside him. The moment the ritual was completed, the energy began to merge with his own. Mana and aura, fusing together, becoming something else entirely."

He looked at Selena, then at Garrick, his expression grim.

"My master called it Divine Energy."