Chương 110: The Impossible Report

The first report arrived without a messenger. It died in the room. Not the messenger. The report. A sheet of gray skin, marked in black ink, passed through the barrier of the High Chamber, crossed three circles of protection, went past twelve royal guards, then collapsed at the center of the table like an animal whose throat had just been cut. No one spoke. In the High Chamber of the human kingdom, silence was accustomed to bad news. But this one was still breathing. The sheet twisted.

The ink rose back to the surface. Then a sentence appeared. The elven coast has been reached by the tainted human. A noble dropped his cup. The glass shattered against the floor. No one looked at it. At the end of the table, Maelor remained motionless. His hands, resting on the black wood, did not tremble. Neither did his face. He had that particular stillness of men who are not surprised because they have already spent too many nights fearing precisely this answer.

Elias, standing near the left pillar, felt his stomach tighten. The tainted human. They did not even write his name anymore. It was more comfortable that way. A filthy title made it possible to forget that once, in a sealed chamber, there had been a boy named Zayn. Lena, beside him, lowered her eyes. Jonah, meanwhile, clenched his jaw. Mira did not move. She was watching the sheet as if she wanted to dissect it with her gaze. The human king finally spoke. « Continue. » The dead sheet obeyed.

The black ink flowed into new lines. Elven evidence used on the beastmen continent has been confirmed as authentic but diverted. Bodies sold. Spiritual signatures stolen. Demonic manipulation probable. A murmur broke out among the high councilors. « So the elves lied? » « Or they lost control of their dead. » « The beastmen will demand reparations. » « The beastmen barely have enough structure left to demand anything at all. » Maelor raised one finger. Silence returned at once. Not out of affectionate respect.

Out of instinct. When Maelor demanded silence, even the ambitious understood that noise risked making them stupid in front of a danger greater than themselves. The sheet continued. Royal incident in Aelvaris. The elven king is said to have been struck by a demonic artifact. Critical condition. Contradictory rumors: temporary madness, forced spiritual fusion, battle inside the royal palace. This time, even Maelor briefly closed his eyes. A religious councilor stood.

« A demonic artifact capable of reaching the elven king? That is impossible. » Mira murmured: « We should ban that word from this room. » The priest turned toward her. « Excuse me? » She raised her eyes. « Impossible. Every time someone has said it since our summoning, the world has taken it as a personal challenge. » Jonah let out a short laugh, without joy. Elias did not laugh. He was staring at the sheet. He was waiting for the rest. He feared it too. The ink moved again.

Presence of Zayn Veylor confirmed at the scene of the incident. Exact role unknown. Contradictory testimony: aggressor, witness, participant, stabilizing factor. The name finally dropped. Not "tainted human." Not "anomaly." Zayn Veylor. The temperature in the room changed. Lena raised a hand to her mouth. Jonah looked away. Elias remained standing straight. Because he had become very good at that. Standing straight. When the people shouted his name. When the priests asked him to raise his sword before children.

When soldiers looked at him like a living promise. When he heard, inside every cheer, the question he had never managed to bury: And him? The sheet gave its final sentence. Elvarin Soreth, the elven researcher involved in the sale of the bodies, is said to have been extracted to the demonic kingdom. Zayn Veylor is believed to be heading east. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Then it dried out. The ink turned to dust. The report died for good.

A military councilor swore under his breath. The human king remained seated, but his face had aged ten years. « Maelor. » The archmage opened his eyes. « Yes, Your Majesty. » « Tell us what this means. » Maelor looked at the dead sheet. He could have given a cautious answer. A diplomatic summary. A formulation vague enough for everyone to keep their dignity for a few more hours. He did not. « It means we have lost the right to consider Zayn a human problem. » The sentence cut through the room.

Elias felt Lena flinch beside him. Maelor continued: « Rhel-Fosse should have killed him. Demonic flesh should have killed him. The beastmen clans should have stopped him or absorbed him into their wars. The elves should have captured him the moment he arrived. None of those filters worked. » A noble exhaled: « You speak of a summoned human as if he were a natural disaster. » Maelor slowly turned his gaze toward him. « No. A natural disaster does not choose its targets. » The noble fell silent. « Zayn chooses.

Badly. Cruelly. But he still chooses. That is precisely what makes him more dangerous. » The religious councilor tightened his sacred symbol. « You argued for him to remain alive at the beginning. » Lena closed her eyes. Elias felt something tighten inside him. Maelor did not look away. « Yes. » The priest pressed on: « You prevented a preventive elimination. » « Yes. » « Then you bear part of the— » « Of course. » The answer was so simple that the accusation shattered against it. Maelor straightened.

« I bear part of it. The Clergy bears part of it. The Crown bears part of it. The Circle of Ashes bears part of it. Every person who preferred to classify him instead of understand him bears part of it. » His gaze slid toward the heroes. Not harshly. Worse. With lucidity. « And every person who knew him bears a question. » Elias did not lower his eyes. Maelor went on: « But shares of guilt are not solutions. We are not gathered here to divide up shame.

We are gathered because the demonic kingdom has just recovered the only man capable of explaining how elven dead were turned into political weapons, and because Zayn is following him. » Mira finally spoke. « So the demonic kingdom is going to have Elvarin and Zayn on the same continent. » « Yes. » « And the Demon Generals? » Maelor fell silent for a second. The room did not like that silence. « They will see him. » Jonah asked: « And then?

» Maelor replied: « Then they will decide whether he should be killed, dissected, bought, used, broken, recognized... or crowned. » No one spoke for several seconds. Then Elias said: « The Throne. » All eyes turned toward him. He had not spoken loudly. He had not needed to. Maelor looked at him. « Yes. » Elias felt his throat tighten. « You think he can truly be recognized. » Maelor did not answer immediately. That, in itself, was an answer. The human king placed both hands on the arms of his seat.

« Then we will not wait for him to come back. » The military councilor nodded. « We mobilize? » Maelor said: « No. » The councilor bristled. « No? » « A human army crossing the demonic kingdom would not be an expedition. It would be a delivery of corpses. » « Then what? » The king answered in Maelor's place. « A raid. » The room understood. Not all at the same speed. But all with the same fear. A raid into the demonic kingdom. Not to conquer. Not to occupy.

To reach the heart before the heart began to beat too loudly. The king looked at the four heroes. « You were summoned to prevent the rise of the Demon King. » Lena went pale. Jonah straightened. Mira slowly closed her notebook. Elias felt the weight of the sentence fall onto his shoulders. At last. Not a ceremony. Not a statue. Not a demonstration before crowds. The true reason for their presence in this world had just laid a knife on the table.

The king continued: « If the demonic kingdom is in succession, we must strike before a king is officially seated upon the Throne. » Mira asked: « And if Zayn is not that king? » The religious councilor answered immediately: « Then we kill the real one. » Jonah said: « And if it's him? » Lena looked at him. « Jonah... » He did not back down. « No. It has to be said. If it's him? If we get there and it's Zayn? » No one answered. So Jonah continued: « Are we going to keep circling around his name?

Keep saying he's an error, a victim, a consequence, an anomaly? He massacred villages. He crossed a continent leaving bodies behind him. Maybe he was abandoned. Maybe the kingdom screwed up. Maybe we did too. But if we find him on the Throne, then what? Do we ask him whether he wants to come back and discuss it in a sealed chamber? » Lena murmured: « You speak as if he had never been with us. » Jonah answered: « No. I'm speaking like someone who remembers him too well. » Silence returned. Elias looked at his hands.

These hands had saved soldiers. Broken monsters. Carried banners. Received flowers from children who did not know that heroes sometimes had their nightmares in luxurious rooms. At last he said: « If Zayn has become the Demon King, we will have to stop him. » Lena closed her eyes. Elias added: « But I want to see him before we decide that stopping him must necessarily mean killing him. » Jonah gave a dry laugh. « That is exactly the hesitation that's going to get us killed. » « Maybe. » Elias raised his head.

« But if I become capable of killing someone I abandoned without even looking him in the face, then the kingdom will have summoned a very useful hero. Not necessarily a better man. » Mira stared at him. Then she said softly: « That is a sentence that is going to make the official report much more complicated. » Despite everything, Lena let out a small breath that was almost a laugh. Not happy. But alive. Maelor watched Elias with an unreadable expression. Then he said: « You will not go alone. » The king nodded.

« You will need a team. Not merely pure. Capable. » The religious councilor stiffened. « Your Majesty, the heroes must be surrounded by worthy people. » Maelor replied: « Worthy people die as quickly as the others in the demonic kingdom. Sometimes faster, because they take too long to dirty their boots. » The priest glared at him. Maelor ignored it. « We will need specialists. A killer capable of striking without a banner. A ritualist who knows the forbidden texts on the black cycles. A guide from the Marches.

A mercenary who understands the value of his own survival. Perhaps even a demonic prisoner, if we find one who prefers betraying his masters to dying usefully for them. » Lena breathed out: « That's not a team of heroes. » Maelor answered: « No. It's a team meant to prevent the end before the heroes can still deserve their name. » The king stood. This time, everyone bowed. Even those who were trembling. « Open the black cells. The forbidden archives. The contracts of pardon. The military debts.

I want a list before dawn. » The religious councilor turned pale. « The black cells? Your Majesty, some of those individuals are imprisoned because executing them would have been simpler than watching them. » The king replied: « Then they are exactly the kind of people our enemies will not expect to see walking beside heroes. » Then he looked at Elias. « You will choose. » Elias felt the trap immediately. « Me? » « You will lead the raid. » Jonah tensed. Mira watched Elias in silence.

Lena seemed torn between pride and fear. The king continued: « Which means you will also bear the shame of those you allow into your shadow. » Elias understood. This was not a reward. It was a first moral sacrifice. The kingdom was not merely asking him to fight. It was asking him to choose how far light could surround itself with darkness before it ceased to deserve its name. He nodded. « I will choose. » Then Maelor said: « Not yet. » The king turned toward him. « Why?

» The archmage was looking at the dead sheet at the center of the table. Or rather, what remained of it. Gray dust. « Because before choosing who will enter the demonic kingdom, there is something the heroes need to see. » Elias felt his stomach knot. « What? » Maelor did not look at him immediately. He looked first at the king. Then the councilors. Then the priests. As if he were deciding which of them deserved to be hated for what was about to follow. « Zayn's first records. » Lena became motionless.

Jonah frowned. Mira opened her notebook again, but wrote nothing. Maelor went on: « Not the cleaned reports. Not the Clergy's summaries. Not the political copies. The real records. Those from the sealed chamber. Those from the Circle of Ashes. The ones where we see what we chose not to see. » The priest cried out: « Those records are classified. » Maelor slowly turned his gaze toward him. « Not anymore. » « You do not have that authority. » The king spoke. « I do. » The priest fell silent.

Maelor finally looked at the heroes. « If you are to enter the demonic kingdom and face what Zayn has become, then first you must understand what he was when we began to lose him. » Elias wanted to refuse. It was so violent that he almost felt ashamed of it. He wanted to fight monsters. Cross borders. Carry a sword. Choose dangerous companions. Risk his life. All of that was simpler than looking at a door they had let close on someone. Lena murmured: « Did he know? » Maelor asked: « What?

» « That they were talking about him like that. That they were writing about him. That they were deciding around him. » Maelor remained silent. Too long. Then: « Not at first. » Lena turned her face away. Jonah clenched his fists. Even he found nothing to say. Mira finally wrote a single sentence in her notebook. Elias, close enough to see it, read: Before killing a monster, know who wrote the first page. The High Chamber seemed colder. The king gave the order. The doors of the room opened.

Far beneath the palace, in the forbidden archives, locks that had not turned for months began to move. And for the first time since the summoning, the heroes were not led toward a training hall, a crowd, a blessing, or a battle. They were led toward the proof. Not of what Zayn had done. But of what they had all allowed to begin.