The Damned Demon

Chapter 769: A Necessary Sacrifice



Ceti's eyes widened, her expression trembling as the weight of his words sank in, "Your son?" she asked, her voice almost breaking. "You're telling me... Silvan is behind all this?"

Seron didn't answer immediately, but his silence spoke volumes. Finally, in a voice that carried both resignation and desperation, he said, "Please, Ceti. I trust no one else to stop him before it's too late."

Ceti's grip on the Whisper Stone tightened, her knuckles pale as her heart thundered in her chest. Her voice was low but resolute, edged with a flicker of dread. "What did he exactly do...?"

On the other end, Seron spoke quickly, his voice filled with an urgency that carried the weight of a grave truth. As he revealed everything Silvan had done-Ceti's face drained of color.

Her mind spun as she struggled to process what she had just heard. Silvan, the honorable and noble man she trusted, a friend she had trusted and fought alongside, was capable of such treachery?

Her fingers dug into the stone as her dark blue eyes shimmered with determination. "I...I will find him!" she said firmly, her voice cracking slightly. She lowered the Whisper Stone and clenched her jaw, her mind set. Whatever Silvan had done, she needed to confront him and uncover the truth herself.

A destroyed town towards the east was hauntingly silent, save for the occasional whisper of the wind weaving through the ruins.

Carnage lay all around-corpses scattered across the blood-streaked ground, their lifeless eyes staring at nothing. The air was thick with the stench of decay and smoke, a grim reminder of the horrors that had unfolded here.

Silvan walked among the devastation, his boots crunching over broken debris and charred remains. His expression was unreadable, his gaze sharp as he scanned the ruins, almost as if searching for something-or someone.

He paused, his brows furrowing slightly as he heard the sound of footsteps approaching. Turning around, his crimson eyes locked onto Ceti, who was walking toward him with a mixture of confusion and purpose etched across her face.

"Silvan, you are here?" she called out, her voice calm despite the storm of emotions roiling beneath her composed exterior.

"Ceti?" Silvan blinked, his brows raising in mild surprise. "I wasn't expecting you to be here as well. Did something happen?"

Ceti shook her head, her steps slow and measured as she closed the distance between them. "I heard that this town was going down, and I wanted to try and save as many people as I could. But it seems I was too late," she said in a tone of regret and pain, her gaze sweeping briefly over the carnage before settling back on him, "What about you and the legion you were commanding?"

Silvan sighed, his shoulders rising and falling in a way that almost seemed weary, "I also came here to try and salvage what I could of this town and its people. But like you, I was too late. I entrusted one of my men to command my legion until I returned. You should go back, Ceti. The castle and the queen need you now more than ever. I'll head back and resume my duties."

Ceti's steps became soft, her hand slipping behind her back to grip the small dagger hidden there. Its tip shimmered faintly with a dark purple liquid-the potent poison meant to incapacitate him. Her voice softened as she said while walking towards him, "There's something else I needed your help with."

Silvan blinked, tilting his head slightly. "Oh, sure."

Ceti hesitated for only a moment before surging forward, aiming to stab his arm with the poisoned dagger.

But her eyes widened in shock as Silvan moved faster than she could react, his hand clamping down on her wrist. His other hand shot forward, gripping her neck with unsettling precision. His expression darkened, his calm demeanor replaced with a cold, cutting edge.

"So my father told you?" Silvan said in a low, dangerous tone, "I am not surprised, but I can't say I'm not disappointed."

Ceti grimaced, struggling against his unexpectedly strong grip as the dagger slipped from her fingers and clattered to the ground.

Before she could react further, Silvan flung her aside with startling force. Her body collided with a crumbling wall, sending up a cloud of dust and debris as she crashed to the ground.

Grimacing, Ceti pushed herself up, her body aching from the impact. She glared at Silvan, her dark blue eyes burning with anger and hurt, "I can't believe it... You truly betrayed us? How could you?!"

Silvan sighed, his expression softening with faint sorrow, "I am sure my father told you why, and I thought you would understand why I am doing this. Didn't you suffer as well, not for just being 'inferior' but also for being someone of a different race? Even your own race looks at you with disgust. Haven't you ever been angry at how this world is so easy to judge those who don't have status and power and treat them like trash? Just because I couldn't tame a dragon, I was ridiculed for most of my life, while my so-called brother was lauded by the people just because he fooled them all. But I stopped caring about that. I just can't forget how the rules of this world caused my mother to die. So even if I have to start small and from scratch, I will try to shatter these rules for the better."

Ceti's eyes were quivering with disbelief, her fists clenched in fury, "You can't be serious...Like you said, I have felt great anger and resentment towards those who treated me and my family like trash. But I never forgot my place, especially the fact that I got to stay alive due to the generosity of the late king and his daughter, who treated me like a sister. You...You were born in such a powerful and noble House. You could have achieved a lot and did so many good things with your power and yet you used them to betray us? I am sorry for what happened to your mother, but we have to live and make the right choices no matter the circumstances we were forced into. You betraying our kingdom won't bring back your mother."

"You are right," he said softly, nodding slowly as if he was convincing himself as much as her, "But I can try to make sure that it won't happen again... not in the kingdom I will build."

Ceti's dark blue eyes narrowed, her lips pressing into a hard line, "So to achieve that... you're willing to let tens of thousands of people like your mother die?" Her voice trembled, a mix of disbelief and restrained fury.

Silvan's jaw tightened, but he didn't waver. "My father asked me the same thing," he said, his tone steady but tinged with an edge of regret. "But like I told him, it's a necessary sacrifice that has to be made. There is no other way-or there could have been one had you joined

hands with me."

His dark red eyes darkened with a flicker of emotion as he added, "I truly loved you, Ceti. But you somehow let yourself stray away."

Ceti's breath caught in her throat, her shock evident as she stared at him.

"Joined hands?" she echoed, her voice barely above a whisper. Her eyes widened as realization dawned on her, her body stiffening, "You were planning to use me to betray this kingdom?"

Silvan's expression remained calm, but there was a trace of bitterness in his gaze, "I wouldn't put it like that," he said evenly, "You are the right hand of the queen. You could have easily helped me replace her, and then I could have made Oberon disappear. I would have taken the throne and reformed this kingdom for the better. If only you had helped me, then this day wouldn't have come. So many people wouldn't have to die. But..." He shook his head, his voice dropping to a resigned murmur. "There's no point in talking about this now." Ceti clenched her fists, her body trembling with anger. "I... I can't believe I trusted and considered someone like you a friend," she said through gritted teeth, her voice breaking with a mixture of rage and pain. Her knuckles burned with a dark blue glow as she took a step forward, her expression hardening, "I'm going to take you in and make you pay for what

you've done today."

Silvan sighed, shaking his head slightly, "I'm afraid that's not possible," he said, his tone calm yet firm. "I know you're angry at me now, but I still don't want to hurt you. Your mind is clouded by useless sentiments toward this kingdom."

"Enough!" Ceti roared, her anger exploding as she surged forward. The spiked knuckles on her fists crackled with mana, a deadly glow radiating from them as she swung a powerful punch at

him.

Over the past year, she had risked her life so many times and persevered hard to finally break the barrier and become a low-level Soul Devourer to help protect this kingdom during the

war.

And since Silvan was also a low-level Soul Devourer, she had confidence that she could take

him down.

However, Silvan's movement was almost casual, his hand darting up to deflect her attack with unnerving ease. His expression darkened as he countered with a devastating punch to her

stomach.

"Urkk!" The force of the blow was like thunder, driving the air from her lungs as her eyes bulged and blood spurted from her lips.

Her body shot backward like a projectile, crashing through a crumbling building that collapsed in a cloud of dust and debris.

"Ungh..." Ceti groaned, her hands trembling as she pressed them against the ground to push herself up. Pain radiated through her body, her breath coming in shallow gasps.

She lifted her gaze toward Silvan, her dark blue eyes wide with disbelief, "Y-You... You were hiding your strength?" she rasped, the realization striking her harder than his punch. Based on the power behind his blow despite holding back, she was able to guess that his strength was on par with a peak-level Soul Devourer!n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Silvan's dark red eyes softened, though his tone remained distant, "Another ironic thing

about our world is that the trees that stand out the most get cut down," he said simply, "So I had to hide some things until this day. I really wished things wouldn't have turned out like this between us. But it is what it is."

Ceti gritted her teeth, her bloodied hands curling into fists as anger and pain churned within her. But before she could respond, Silvan turned his back on her, his silhouette growing smaller as he walked away into the distance.

"Goodbye, Ceti," he said without looking back, his voice carrying a faint edge of sorrow.

Ceti's fingers dug into the dirt as she wiped the blood trickling from her lips, her body trembling. Her dark blue eyes shimmered with unshed tears as she blamed herself for being unable to see this coming.