Chapter 461: Felix Onyx
Icarus stood alone in the observation area, looking down at the blood-soaked chamber below.
The Mind Tower had been designed to test mental limits, to push candidates to their breaking points and measure their capacity for growth.
But in all the years since its construction, nobody had ever stood under Level 25 pressure the way Damian Valcor just had.
Icarus pulled out his communicator, opening a secure channel.
"This is Senior General Icarus. I need to file an incident report directly to High Command."
He paused, choosing his next words carefully.
"Regarding Candidate Damian Valcor and the events that occurred during his Mind Tower assessment."
The response came immediately, authorization granted without question.
Icarus began typing, documenting everything that had transpired.
The mental pressure test, the Will stat that had climbed to heights that shouldn’t be possible for someone Damian’s age.
Marshal Lysander Eckhart’s personal visit and the Vice Director’s intervention.
Every detail went into the report, creating an official record that would reach all the high ranked figures of the Federation.
****
Damian sat in a chair, his blood-soaked body sinking into the cushions.
The room stretched out around him, large enough to feel imposing.
His crimson eyes tracked across the wall directly in front of him.
Photographs hung there in neat rows, framed in simple black wood.
His mother’s face stared back at him from multiple images.
Younger versions of Lyandra smiled in some, her black hair shorter. Others showed her in military uniform, standing rigid for official portraits.
’Am I in the Onyx family estate? Mother’s home?’
He didn’t know the other people in the photographs, couldn’t place their faces or guess their relationships to the woman who’d raised him.
Felix Onyx stood behind a large desk several feet away, his back turned, his hands clasped behind him as he stared at the same wall.
The Vice Director hadn’t said a word since they’d arrived or even acknowledged his presence.
’Why did he bring me here?’
Felix’s hand rose, making a casual gesture.
A barrier snapped into existence around them, invisible but tangible to Damian’s enhanced senses.
The air became heavier as whatever surveillance systems that might have been active were suddenly cut off.
Felix turned away from the wall and walked to the desk.
He pulled open a drawer and removed a bottle, the glass dark and ornate. Two crystal glasses appeared next, set down with soft clicks.
Felix poured both glasses with steady hands, the liquid catching the light in shades of amber and gold.
"This is a special elven alcohol, thousands of years old." His voice was flat and formal. "...Do you drink?"
From the start, when they were in the Mind-Tower chamber until even now, Felix had never looked at him.
His black eyes had remained fixed on the photographs, on the desk, on the bottle, on anything except the blood-soaked boy sitting in his family’s estate.
Damian nodded slowly.
And one of the glasses floated across the space between them as he caught it.
Felix drank his own glass in one smooth motion, his throat working as he swallowed the entire measure without pause.
Thud
Then he set the empty glass down and began speaking.
"Years ago, me and my brothers joined the military. Everyone was hot-headed back then and wanted to fight for humanity, to be heroes protecting the world from Monsters that came through portals."
He took another drink, slower this time.
"We thought we were invincible because we were together... Five brothers against the world."
His hand tightened on the glass.
"The youngest died first due to a portal break in the Northeastern region, Monsters overwhelming the defensive line. He held position while civilians evacuated."
Damian sipped his own drink, the alcohol burning its way down his throat.
"They found his body three days later when reinforcements finally retook the area... What was left of it."
Felix’s voice didn’t change, staying flat and controlled.
"The second brother died six months after that. Different portal, different region, but same result."
He paused, his shoulders rising and falling with a breath.
"Then the third... Then the fourth."
His glass clinked against the desk as he set it down with more force than necessary.
"I kept thinking I was weak. That the reason I couldn’t protect them was because I wasn’t strong enough, wasn’t fast enough, wasn’t smart enough."
His hand moved to refill again.
"So I chased power like it was the only thing that mattered and climbed the ranks of the military police, pushing harder than anyone else, taking every dangerous assignment that might make me stronger."
Damian’s crimson eyes tracked the older man’s movements.
"Along the way, I married and started my own family."
Felix’s voice became quieter.
"I had three sons... Strong boys who wanted to follow in their father’s footsteps, join the military and protect humanity just like their uncles had."
He drank again, the glass emptying faster each time.
"And one by one, they started to die as well."
The words came out with less control now, something cracking beneath the surface.
"Different years, different portals, different circumstances... But the result was always.... Always the same."
His hand shook slightly as he poured again.
"After the third son died, I stopped trying for children and focused all my energy on becoming strong, climbing higher and reaching a position where maybe, just maybe, I could actually protect the people I loved."
Damian took another sip from his glass subconsciously, his mind already focused completely on listening.
"I became the Vice Director... Second highest authority in the entire military police structure."
Felix’s laugh came out hollow and broken.
"All that power... All that strength I’d spent decades chasing..."
He stopped, his voice cutting off abruptly.
Then after some time, he continued, slower.
"My wife couldn’t endure the loneliness anymore. The empty house, the memories of children who’d never come home... She wanted to try again, and wanted something to fill the silence."
His hands clenched around the glass.
"We had twins... A boy and a girl."
Damian’s eyes drifted to the photos on the wall, finding one that showed two infants held by the exhausted-looking woman he’d seen in other frames.