MTM 112

Damien instantly recognized Zed’s face beneath the fake beard and mage disguise.

“Damien…”

Zed couldn’t hide his shock at the sight of Damien. The state Damien was in before him was so pitiful it was almost unbearable to look at. A body reduced to skin and bones, sunken eye sockets, and the deep scars of torture etched across his entire body….

Zed’s heart sank, unable even to imagine the brutal time Damien must have endured here.

Yet, on Damien’s own face, there was no trace of emotion. No, he even appeared eerily calm. His expressionless face, frozen like a doll’s, was so devoid of life that if he hadn’t spoken, one might have mistaken him for a corpse.

“The poison accumulated in my body over a long time… has dulled all my emotions.”

“Dark magic…”

Leon murmured with a despondent expression at Damien’s hoarse voice. The hearts of the entire party grew heavy.

A magic that blocked even the sensation of pain, killing the very self. It was clearly a forbidden, cruel sorcery.

In this state, ordinary healing potions were nothing but water. A body eroded by the curse of dark magic could never be restored without purification by a high-level mage. Even that was merely a temporary measure to slow the poison’s progression.

“Leon, please.”

“Understood.”

Zed’s request was made without hesitation. Leon nodded and cast his healing magic. A blue light blossomed from his fingertips, slipping through the iron bars and slowly seeping into the prince’s parched body.

“Damien… I have a mountain of things I want to say, but there’s no time now.”

While Damien received healing from Leon’s magic, Zed spoke to him.

“I understand, Brother Ares. What did you come to ask me?”

Damien already knew Zed hadn’t come to rescue him, but had risked infiltration to gather information.

“Where within the imperial palace is the strongest concentration of power right now? Someplace inaccessible to commoners, where magic flows abnormally strong.”

“The flow of magic… As you know, unlike you, I wasn’t born with either holy power or mana, so I can’t pinpoint the exact location. However…”

Damien swallowed dryly and continued.

“Since you vanished three years ago, I do know that Magnus frequently visited the tower in the northern part of the palace.”

“The northern tower?”

Zed narrowed his eyes at Damien’s words. They conflicted with the answer he’d just heard from the mage in the interrogation room.

‘Why are all the corpses missing their heads?’

To that question, the mage had mumbled in terror.

‘I, I don’t know the reason! I was only incinerating the bodies in the underground sanctuary to the west, following His Highness’s orders…. Ah! P-please, pretend you didn’t hear me…!’

Realizing his slip, his face turned deathly pale as he repeatedly begged not to report it to His Highness.

Damien had pointed to the ‘the northern tower,’ while the mage had mentioned the ‘underground sanctuary to the west.’ He couldn’t be certain which of the two was Magnus’s true core, or if both were sites of a grand conspiracy.

‘If only I could properly wield holy power, I wouldn’t have to agonize over this…’

He desperately needed the holy power that once let him sense mana and pierced through truth. Zed berated his own helplessness, inhaling the cold, stagnant air of the prison cell.

“Brother.”

Damien, who had been quietly observing Zed’s torment, spoke.

“Do you remember? There used to be an observatory for stargazing on the top floor of the northern tower.”

“Yes… there was. When I was very young… back when I was obsessed with constellations, I used to go there often. Damien, you loved the stars too, so we met quite frequently.”

Zed smiled faintly, recalling his childhood.

“I went there more to see you than for the stars. Inside the crowded palace, I couldn’t even dare to meet your eyes… But the truth is, I wanted to become friends with you.”

“I know. But it was me who asked them not to let you in. I didn’t want you to be in danger because of me.”

“I knew that too.”

Damien spoke in a flat tone, as if recounting someone else’s story, yet beneath that emotionless reply lay a sorrow too profound to express.

“As my feelings grow numb, my memories fade too. The only silver lining is… they couldn’t stop the tears. I consider it a blessing that I can still cry.”

“Damien…”

“At first, I feared I would crumble into dust and vanish. Now, I don’t even feel that fear. The reason I endured this hellish time, clinging to life … was in case Brother Ares came looking for me. I wanted to pass on even the smallest clue.”

Damien finished, his long lashes trembling.

“If I, useless as I am, have been of even the slightest help to you, that is enough.”

Zed felt a crushing sorrow as he listened to Damien’s mechanically delivered words, devoid of emotion. While this young prince was being broken, he himself had fled beyond the empire’s borders, dreaming of a peaceful life…

An uncontrollable wave of guilt engulfed Zed.

“It’s over.”

At that moment, Leon withdrew his healing magic and rose from his seat. Despite channeling all his power into the healing, Damien’s condition had not significantly changed. Further healing would be like pouring water into a bottomless pit, Leon felt heavyhearted as well.

“Thank you.”

Zed said briefly to Leon, then looked down at Damien for a moment. Then, as if resolved, he spoke in a low but firm tone.

“Let’s take Damien.”

“What…!”

The first to react was Allen. Unable to hide his flustered expression, he whispered urgently.

“Hey, Zed. That wasn’t part of our plan…”

“We have to take him.”

Faced with Zed’s unwavering stance, Allen rubbed his eyes, pointing out the practical obstacles.

“I understand that you care about your kin… but how exactly? Just look inside there.”

The cell Damien was locked in wasn’t a simple prison. The floor, walls, and ceiling were all meticulously crafted from magic crystals. The thick iron bars couldn’t be bent or cut by force. They were that sturdy. Naturally, magic wouldn’t work either.

Moreover, Harto, hanging from Zed’s ear, seemed to sense the immense pressure of the magic crystals, trembling slightly since earlier.

Zed knew better than anyone that rescuing Damien immediately was impossible. Yet, he had a foreboding feeling that if he left him behind now, he might never see Damien again.

Thud, thud, thud, thud!

Then it happened. The silence was broken by urgent footsteps echoing from the end of the corridor. The old man appeared, gasping for breath in the darkness.

“Guards! They’re coming! You must leave immediately!”

The moment had arrived when they had to turn away from Damien, right before their eyes. Allen and Leon ran after the old man without hesitation. But Zed was rooted to the spot before the prison door.

“Zed!”

Leon shouted toward Zed. The latter bit his lip and nodded. Then he took the necklace hanging around his neck. He removed one elixir stored inside the ruby pendant and held it out to Damien.

“Damien… I’m sorry, this is all I can do for you now. I swear, I’ll come back for you.”

“Brother…”

Damien painfully stretched out his creaking, withered arm and grasped the elixir. Zed looked into Damien’s eyes one last time before disappearing into the darkness with the others.

“……”

As the receding footsteps faded completely, Damien stared silently at the elixir in his palm. Just as he was about to slowly bring it to his mouth…

“Caw!”

A crow’s cry echoed from somewhere, and black feathers, mingled with crimson light, fluttered into the prison. The black feathers swiftly transformed before Damien’s eyes into Bernak, wearing a silver-plated mask shaped like a bird’s beak.

“You mustn’t consume just anything, Your Highness.”

Bernak snatched the elixir from Damien’s hand without mercy. Despite the sudden attack, Damien showed no surprise. As if he had foreseen this entire situation, he simply stared at Bernak with empty eyes.

“You’ve received a precious item. I sense noble holy power within it. It bears an aura similar to ‘that someone’ we know.”

Damien remained silent even as Bernak sneered at the elixir. Bernak soon seemed to lose interest, dropping the elixir to the floor and crushing it underfoot. The hope Zed had left behind, like a gift, scattered futilely across the cold stone floor.

Ploc, ploc…

Tears streamed down Damien’s face like rain. Bernak tilted his head at Damien and asked.

“But Your Highness. Why did you lie?”

The moment the question fell, Damien opened his trembling lips and spoke.

“Someone like me… it doesn’t matter what happens to me. But my brother, my brother must live.”

As if it wasn’t the answer he wanted, Bernak turned his head and slowly walked back into the darkness.

“Truly, it is a pity. Your Highness…”

No sooner had he murmured this than even the red light vanished into the darkness, and a deathly silence settled over the prison.