Read Novel Full Chapter 512 512: Questioning [1]
Chapter 512 512: Questioning [1]
Several answers came to mind, and none of them satisfied him. Maybe the king simply did not care enough to kill him. Maybe he was curious. Maybe it was mercy. That last thought irritated Gabriel the most.
He disliked the feeling of weakness. He despised it.
Inside that room, in front of that silent man, all the power he had gained up to now had felt useless. No trick mattered. No confidence mattered. Strength above five hundred had still left him unable to move properly.
"That will not happen again," he said quietly, his eyes burning with determination.
He kept holding the key while those thoughts ran through his head. After a while, the anger dulled into a colder kind of resolve. He still did not know why the king spared him. None of the guesses felt solid enough.
In the end, he settled on the simplest answer for now.
The king had granted him mercy.
It was an answer Gabriel hated, but until he found something better, it was the only one he had. With that, he closed his fingers fully around the Soul Key and set it aside near the pillow before finally letting his eyes rest.
Some time passed, and when he opened them again, Scarlet was already back in the room.
She stood near the table with her arms crossed, looking at him the same way she usually looked at people. Her face revealed little, but her eyes moved briefly over his body before returning to his face.
"You healed faster than I expected," she said.
Gabriel pushed himself up slightly. "How long was I out?"
"Long enough."
She stepped closer and looked at the bandages once more.
"All your external injuries are mostly healed. Your internal injuries will take longer. You should spend some time resting instead of pretending you can leave immediately."
Gabriel gave a small nod.
He understood that part well enough. Potions and healing methods in this world were useful, but not even magical medicine could fix everything at once. Surface wounds could close. Flesh could recover. But damage deeper inside the body took more time, especially after the kind of pressure and impact he had gone through.
"I understand," he said.
Scarlet turned slightly toward the door. "I have work to attend to. I will be gone for a while."
Before she left, her gaze returned to him.
"Do not step outside."
Gabriel looked at her for a second and said nothing.
Scarlet seemed to take that silence as enough. She left the room again, and the door clicked shut behind her.
A few minutes passed in silence.
Gabriel remained where he was until the room felt completely still again. He listened carefully and waited a little longer before finally raising one hand.
"Grizzlenaught."
The floor near the bed rippled.
The massive spectral bear rose up soundlessly, its glowing blue eyes dim in the warm room. Clutched in one paw was a man.
The blindfolded Black Star summoner.
He looked very different from before.
His calm was gone.
His clothes were dirty, his breathing uneven, and his body trembled in a way that had nothing to do with injury alone. Whatever Grizzlenaught had shown him underground had clearly left its mark. The man's blindfold was still on, but his face had lost all that earlier control.
Gabriel studied him from the bed and said nothing at first.
Even without words, the sight was telling enough. A man who had stood calmly before four dead summons and one dead partner now looked like someone pulled back from a personal nightmare.
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Outside the room, Scarlet stepped into a long polished corridor. The place was part of the Adventurer Guild building, not the castle as Gabriel had first thought.
Her footsteps echoed softly.
Not long after, another set of footsteps hurried toward her.
Lilly appeared from the far end of the hallway. Her breathing was slightly quicker than usual, and the moment she saw Scarlet, she straightened.
"Vice Leader," Lilly said.
Scarlet stopped.
Lilly stepped closer, lowering her voice. "There is a problem. Darius Aston has gone missing."
Lilly continued, "A body was found outside the castle grounds not long ago. It was badly damaged, but the timing is suspicious. I believe it is connected to his disappearance."
Her eyes searched Scarlet's face, but as usual, there was nothing to read.
"General Aston is furious," Lilly added. "He is already pressuring people to move faster."
Scarlet remained silent for a few moments.
On the outside, she looked the same as always. Calm. Cold. Unbothered.
Inside her head, however, the situation was already expanding.
If this matter spread in the wrong direction, Broken Dawn would not be the only group affected. The Adventurer Guild could suffer as well. They were allied with the Valerian Kingdom. If it became known that the guild had hidden someone connected to Darius Aston's disappearance, even temporarily, the consequences would be severe.
Scarlet resumed walking.
Lilly followed one step behind.
After a few moments, Scarlet spoke.
"Do not allow anyone into my room," she said. "Not even Alice."
Lilly looked surprised for a brief second, but she quickly recovered and nodded.
"Yes, Vice Leader."
She stood still for a moment after Scarlet walked past her, her brows pulling together slightly.
Something felt wrong.
Scarlet had always been strict. Everyone in the guild knew that. Her room was not a place people entered freely, and she had never liked unnecessary interruptions. But she had never completely blocked access like this before, not even for close allies.
"Not even Alice…" Lilly muttered under her breath, clearly confused.
She hesitated, then turned her head slightly toward the direction of Scarlet's room.
"What exactly are you hiding?" she asked quietly, though there was no one to answer her.
Still, she did not disobey. Lilly exhaled once, straightened her posture, and walked away to handle the situation surrounding Darius's disappearance.
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