Warlock Ch 327. Desperate Bloodlust
Cedric's expression darkened. "You're sure?"
Damian scoffed. "100%."
Aria's lips parted slightly, a flicker of sothing sharp in her gaze. "The waiting rooms are supposed to be secured. The food and drink should never be tampered with."
Damian let out a dry laugh. "Well, soone had other plans." He tilted his head, watching their reactions carefully. "I figured it was part of the test, y'know? Like an extra layer of survival. But if that wasn't supposed to happen, then that ans soone was deliberately ssing with the contestants outside the combat zones."
Aria exchanged a look with Cedric, sothing unspoken passing between them.
Damian tapped his fingers against the table. "I guess that ans soone wanted Selena dead and made sure of it."
A heavy, unspoken weight settled in the room. Cedric inhaled slowly. "That… is not sothing we can ignore."
Aria's voice was quieter now, but no less intense. "How often did this happen?"
Damian tilted his head slightly, thinking. "Not every ti. I'd say it was random, maybe every other waiting room, maybe more. But it was consistent enough that it wasn't an accident." His fingers curled slightly. "At first, I thought it was targeting all the contestants, just making things harder. But now?" He exhaled. "It makes sense if soone had a specific target."
Aria's voice was even colder. "That is a direct attack on fae royalty."
Damian leaned back, stretching his arms. "Yep. Which ans whoever planned this wasn't just after an S-rank bloodbath. They had other pieces in play."
Aria nodded slightly, but her expression remained unreadable. "And the third segnt?"
Damian let out a short breath. "That part was really ssed up."
The scribes didn't pause, the sound of quills scratching against parchnt filling the heavy silence.
Damian continued. "When I finished my fight in segnt three, I should've been teleported to the last waiting room imdiately." He paused. "But there was a delay."
Cedric frowned. "A delay?"
"Yeah." Damian's voice was sharp now, serious. "I don't know how long it was, but for a mont, nothing happened. The fight ended, and Selena and I were just standing there, waiting for the teleportation to activate." His fingers drumd against the table. "Then, we got another ambush."
Aria's expression sharpened. "By who?"
Damian shrugged. "So desperate bastards. The remaining contestants. Don't know their na, didn't stick around long enough to ask. But here's the thing—if we had been teleported on ti? They wouldn't have even gotten close. That delay gave them the opening to almost kill us both before we were transferred out."
The mory was still fresh. The remaining contestants—those who had survived the brutal earlier segnts—had turned on them imdiately.
It hadn't been a strategy.
It had been pure, desperate bloodlust.
A fight that should never have happened.
Cedric was watching him closely now. "And you're telling you survived that without using anything abnormal?"
Damian grinned tiredly. "Define abnormal."
Cedric didn't react, but Aria's gaze didn't leave him, as if she were peeling apart his words, searching for sothing unsaid.
Damian sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Look. I didn't cheat. I didn't break any rules. I fought my way through, sa as everyone else." He gestured vaguely. "But let's not pretend the exam was normal in the first place."
Aria's voice was sharp. "It wasn't."
Cedric pinched the bridge of his nose. "This ans two things. First, there was outside interference in the exam itself. And second—" His eyes burned as they turned to Aria. "I bet Senator Ralvek knew."
Damian pressed his lips together, glancing at Aria. 'Here we go…'
He knew that was probably true. Hell, he'd put money on it. But saying it out loud? That was a whole different issue.
Because they had no proof.
None.
Just logic, suspicion, and the fact that Ralvek had conveniently vanished before this entire shitstorm hit its peak. But suspicion wasn't enough to take down soone like him.
And Aria…
Damian wasn't sure she'd accept an accusation like that so easily. Not when it involved the senators' good na.
And yeah. He was right.
Aria didn't hesitate. "It's too early to assu Senator Ralvek was involved." Her voice was cold, firm. "You have no evidence."
Cedric exhaled sharply. "He left before this even started—"
"That does not make him guilty." Aria's eyes t Cedric's without a single flicker of doubt. "If you accuse him now, without proof, all you'll do is give him more leverage."
Damian hated that she had a point.
He couldn't say anything.
And neither could the battle mage.
Even a damn SSS-rank like Cassius couldn't just throw around accusations at a senator without consequences. That was how they disappeared. That was how accidents happened. The only ones who could speak this freely—without it imdiately becoming a cri—were fellow senators and the royalty.
And even then, it wasn't that simple.
Because getting rid of Senator Ralvek?
Yeah. That wasn't going to be easy.
Cedric's jaw clenched. He knew this. But that didn't an he had to like it. "So what, we just wait? Let him walk around untouched while we clean up his ss?"
Aria's voice was steady. "You have to gather more proof."
Cedric's eyes darkened. "And what if he's already destroying it?"
Damian finally spoke. "Then we need to move fast."
Cedric's gaze flickered to him, unreadable. "You're suggesting a direct approach?"
Damian shrugged. "I an, yeah. I'm not a politician. I don't give a damn about 'procedure' or 'diplomacy' or whatever bullshit you guys have to deal with. But I do know that if we don't start pulling at the right threads now, we'll be too late."
Cedric looked between them, then exhaled sharply, shaking his head. "I hate when you are actually right."
Damian smirked. "Thanks. It's terrifying, isn't it?"
Cedric rolled his eyes, exhaling as if he was regretting every choice that led him to this mont. Before he could snap back, Aria's voice cut through the air, sharp and unforgiving.
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