"Tsk, tsk."

The sound cut through the silence like a blade, casual and disappointed, like someone observing a mildly interesting but ultimately predictable outcome.

"So... these Nobles have regrets and guilt as well."

Damian’s voice carried clearly despite his sitting position, his eyes still closed in meditation, his breathing exercises never pausing.

"I thought they never even considered commoners the same species as them. Interesting to learn they’re capable of remorse."

Everyone’s heads snapped toward him simultaneously, realization dawning like cold water.

This was his doing! His Mental Domain!

The impossible deaths.

The simultaneous blank expressions.

The self-destruction.

All of it orchestrated by the boy sitting calmly in blood-soaked mud.

A Noble girl – maybe nineteen, her face pale with terror – found her voice somehow.

"Y-you... you did this, didn’t you?"

Her words trembled, carrying accusation mixed with fear mixed with the dawning understanding that Damian was far more dangerous than any of them had realized.

WHOOSH!

Damian vanished from his sitting position.

One moment there.

Next moment gone.

Reappearing directly in front of the Noble girl with speed that shouldn’t be possible for someone who’d just emptied his Aura reserves.

His hand came up, fingers stroking her face with delicate gentleness, the touch almost tender despite the context.

She froze completely, every muscle locked, unable to move or speak or even breathe properly.

"You know," Damian’s voice was quiet, conversational, his crimson eyes finally opening to meet hers. "I saved you so many times during that battle. Including others as well."

His fingers traced along her jawline, the gesture both intimate and terrifying.

"You were a good girl. You kept fighting alongside the others. Didn’t betray your own allies. Didn’t use anyone as a shield. You acted with honor even when terrified."

The girl’s face flushed slightly despite her fear, his proximity and touch creating conflicting reactions.

But then Damian’s expression became colder, his voice dropping lower.

"But tell me something."

His fingers stopped moving, resting against her cheek.

"All of us here are humans. The same species. The same flesh and blood and bone. Our enemy is killing us without discrimination, seeing us all as nothing but meat."

His crimson eyes bored into hers, demanding honesty.

"And still, if someone betrays their own kind... if someone sacrifices their fellow humans to save themselves... shouldn’t they be punished?"

She couldn’t look away, trapped by his gaze.

"Shouldn’t they die a horrible death? Shouldn’t they suffer for what they did?"

The girl nodded dumbly, unable to form words, her body moving on instinct in response to his question.

Damian released her face and stepped back, his attention shifting to Cassius and the other Imperial heirs.

The girl stumbled backward, nearly falling, her legs barely supporting her weight.

"In my previous portal experience," Damian began, his voice becoming harder, carrying weight that demanded attention. "The people alongside whom I was pulled into that dimension were all mature men. Adults who had lived for many years."

He started walking slowly through the crowd, students parting before him like water around a rock.

"They knew that inside a hostile portal, every human life counted. They understood that survival depended on cooperation, on trust and on fighting together rather than against each other."

His eyes scanned the assembled students – Nobles and commoners alike.

"They didn’t behave like you all. But that’s understandable. You’re all still younger. Still learning and developing the wisdom that comes from actually facing death rather than just training for it."

He stopped, turning to face the crowd fully.

"Those men I fought with? They didn’t have the talents you all possess. They didn’t have awakened abilities or Imperial bloodlines or SS rank weapon arts."

His voice became colder.

"They were weak. Anyone here could crush them all in direct combat. They were just normal people with basic equipment and limited Aura reserves."

Damian’s crimson eyes blazed brighter. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"But they all had something that you lot lack."

"THEY HAD GUTS!"

His roar echoed across the area, making everyone flinch, the sudden explosion of volume shocking after his conversational tone.

"When they were dying, they didn’t just die scared and begging! They loved their lives too! They wanted to survive, to go home and to see their families again!"

His fists clenched, knuckles white.

"But when faced with absolute certainty of death, when they knew they couldn’t win, when escape was impossible..."

His voice dropped to something approaching respect.

"They blew their Aura cores and took D rank GIANTS with them."

"..."

Students went rigid at the word.

Giants.

The nightmare creatures that had nearly ended humanity in the initial invasions.

They had combat units specifically trained for portal occupation and human extermination.

"These mindless creatures you just fought?" Damian’s voice was contemptuous now. "They’re nothing compared to Giants. Absolutely nothing. Giants are intelligent, trained, equipped, and dangerous in ways you can’t imagine."

His crimson eyes scanned the crowd.

"But those weak, untalented E rank and D rank men – people you would dismiss as worthless – they took Giants down with everything they had. Sacrificed themselves to create openings. Destroyed their own cores to generate explosions that killed enemies far stronger than them."

His voice became a challenge.

"Did any of the students here have the guts to do so?"

Silence!

Absolute silence as the question hung in the air.

Did anyone here have the courage to self-destruct rather than be eaten alive?

Did anyone have the conviction to take enemies with them rather than dying for nothing?

Damian’s expression became darker, his voice carrying anger.

"In the history of human portal exploration, we rarely survive newly opened dimensions. The survival rate for first expeditions is almost zero. Most people who enter never come home."

His jaw clenched.

"I led the charge in my previous portal with around twenty men. Almost all of them were slaughtered in the first battle. Torn apart by Giants, consumed and destroyed."

A crimson flame began manifesting, but it wasn’t normal Aura.

It was Slaughter Intent.

Dark crimson flames that felt like concentrated killing intent given physical form, flames that carried madness and rage and bloodlust in equal measure.

"So I lost it. Completely fucking lost my mind!"