Chapter 1061: Chapter 1063: Warning Shot
Soft moans escaped from a young girl curled up on the corner of the bed, her tiny body covered in strange scars Damon had never seen before. Some of the marks looked burned into her flesh while others resembled twisting veins beneath the skin. She could no longer scream, her throat too damaged and weak for that, so only pitiful little moans escaped her lips. She was just a child and still she had been subjected to such horrifying suffering.
The room itself was cramped and heavy with the smell of herbs, blood, and sickness. Shelves lined the walls, filled with all sorts of potions and crude medicines clearly brewed by Bel, the woman Lilith now inhabited. From the memories of the body Lilith understood enough to mix another brew. Her fingers trembled slightly as she poured the dark liquid into a wooden cup before carefully helping the girl drink it.
Moments later the child drifted into uneasy sleep.
Even then her body still twitched in pain.
"Ahh... ahh... ughhh..."
Her pained breaths echoed faintly through the room.
That was not the end of it.
By her side another child suffered. A young boy was slowly melting as though his skin had become wax left beneath a furnace. Flesh sagged from his arms in soft strips while exposed veins pulsed wetly beneath ruined skin. Muscles and tissue slid apart little by little, thick pus dripping from open sores and filling the room with a foul stench strong enough to make Damon’s stomach churn.
Tears streamed from the boy’s malformed face.
Just yesterday he had apparently been laughing and running around the streets.
Now he was dying.
Slowly.
Painfully.
And there was absolutely nothing any of them could do.
Lysithara had free medical care. The city boasted about it proudly. Yet these children would never make it there. Even if they somehow did, the Institute would never help them. Someone influential was deliberately making sure of that, and that was assuming they were even allowed through the gates.
They would not be.
Damon did not even realize when a single tear slid down his cheek.
He had never felt so helpless before.
No... that was a lie.
This feeling was painfully familiar, only worse.
Years ago he had felt this same despair while carrying his little sister from healer to healer after she developed magic circuit cancer. Back then he had wandered endlessly through dirty streets, desperately begging anyone who would listen to save her because she had been all he had left.
At least back then there had been hope.
Money.
All he had needed was enough money and someone would eventually help her.
But this...
This was worse.
Far worse.
Even with money nobody here would help these children.
Lysithara was perfect.
Beautiful.
Advanced.
A shining jewel of civilization.
And yet its perfect system had failed to notice this small forgotten group of people rotting away in the shadows. Worse, people had noticed and simply chosen not to care.
Dang!
Damon slammed his fist against the table hard enough to crack the wood slightly. Bottles rattled loudly from the impact.
Frustration boiled inside him like lava.
"I think you’re wasting your energy."
Ashcroft’s cold voice came from below.
The little black dog sat at Damon’s feet, his tail swaying lazily while his sharp eyes observed the suffering children without sympathy.
"The whole point of this is to show us how helpless we are without our gifts or talents," Ashcroft continued calmly. "And more importantly without the accident of our births. Unknown wants to show us that no matter how bad we think our lives are, it can always become worse."
He slowly lifted his snout toward Damon.
"These children aren’t important. We have greater goals to accomplish."
His tone was decisive and cruelly logical.
Damon remained quiet for a long moment.
Ashcroft was right.
Objectively speaking, helping these children achieved nothing. They were still going to die. Damon of all people should have understood that better than anyone. Their true purpose here was likely connected to Lysithara’s fall, the outsiders, and Mugu.
Not dying children in a hidden slum.
Lilith bit her lips, her shoulders trembling faintly as she stared at the sleeping girl.
"I..." she began softly before inhaling shakily. "I... I want to help them."
Ashcroft scoffed immediately.
"Some things cannot be avoided. Their deaths are already written in stone."
His words carried certainty.
And deep down all three of them knew he might be right.
Damon exhaled slowly before tilting his head toward the window. In the distance he could see the massive crystal tower nearing completion, its shining structure rising above the city like a divine monument.
"Let’s go to the tower."
Lilith glanced at him in surprise but eventually nodded.
They gathered what little supplies they could before leaving the small room behind. Damon cast one final glance at the suffering children before stepping outside. Something twisted painfully inside his chest as he closed the door.
Soon they made their way toward the main roads.
People looked at them with open disgust.
Others simply moved aside as though afraid to even brush shoulders with them. Mothers pulled children away. Merchants frowned the moment they passed nearby.
Lilith suggested they take a longer route toward the tower to avoid attention.
Damon agreed.
Eventually they reached an area close enough to see the tower properly.
Massive magical constructs hovered through the air carrying giant crystal fragments while workers and mages directed streams of glowing mana into the structure. The entire thing radiated overwhelming magical pressure.
Damon stared upward in awe.
The scale of it was absurd.
Barricades surrounded the construction zone while heavily armed knights guarded every entrance.
He was about to step closer when—
Whoosh!
A beam of light slammed into the ground directly in front of him.
The street instantly melted into bubbling liquid stone while smoke curled upward from the scorched hole.
A warning shot.
In the distance a knight lowered his glowing weapon slightly while several others behind him raised theirs in unison.
It was a clear message.
He was not welcome.
Damon bit his lip hard enough to draw blood.
The killing intent radiating from the guards made it obvious. If he moved any closer they would kill him without hesitation.
He grabbed Lilith’s wrist and turned away.
Then he froze.
Two women were approaching the site.
The first possessed beautiful golden hair that shimmered beneath the sunlight. A long elegant dress swayed around her legs while a small sword rested at her waist.
Beside her walked another woman with dark hair and sharp crimson eyes.
Damon recognized them instantly.
The blonde woman was Valerie Sunwarden.
His teacher.
The second was Valcara, Mugu’s own mentor though by this point Mugu was already studying beneath all the sages.
Hope suddenly surged inside Damon.
If he could reach them—
Whoosh!
Another warning shot blasted across the street, interrupting his thoughts.
