novelraw Chapter 88: Siege of the Citadel 6
Chapter 88: Siege of the Citadel 6
As Damon dashed inside the grand hall, he was met with a surprisingly well-furnished and well-kept hall with towering marble pillars that lined either side, their surfaces etched with intricate carvings of battles long forgotten, and chandeliers of enchanted crystal casting a warm golden hue across the polished stone floor.
His gaze immediately moved toward the figure standing at the far end of the hall, and just as he was about to take another step forward, another notification cut through the air.
[Warning! You are not registered to this Citadel.]
[Debuff Activated: -50% All Stats.]
Immediately, Damon felt strength leave his body.
’What kind of debuff is that?!’ he cursed inwardly at how overwhelming the debuff was. His stomach lurched at the sudden loss of both strength and stamina, his mind swaying slightly as the person standing at the far end of the hall took notice of him.
"Damon!" Torren turned to him with a grin. "Did you come to pledge your allegiance to me?"
The man walked unhurriedly toward Damon, who straightened against the oppressive debuff, his gaze darkening as he looked at Torren.
From the four corners of the room, eight men stepped forward, all Torren’s men. They all circled around Damon as Torren approached him, still awaiting his reply.
Damon’s grip on his weapon tightened, but the second it did, he heard the sound of a gun cocking back.
"Eve."
His gaze turned to his right, where Eve suddenly appeared.
"That was an impressive show out there, Damon," she said, her red lips curving into a pleased smile.
Her gun was pointing right at him, but despite that, Damon wasn’t impressed.
In fact, if it wasn’t for the debuff and his already low health, the ten people around him didn’t seem impressive at all.
"This was your grand plan?" Damon suddenly asked, his tone flat, almost bored.
"It worked, didn’t it?" Torren boasted with a proud grin. "So, what’s your answer? Will you serve me or should I dispatch you and your people—"
BANG!
Before Torren could even finish the sentence, Eve’s gun moved, and she pulled the trigger, tearing a massive hole through the man’s head.
[Control of the Citadel *Dark Castle* has been captured.]
The eight men surrounding Damon paled at the sight of their dead leader, but before they could even snap back out of their dreadful gaze, Damon’s sword found its first victim.
Despite the fifty per cent debuff, he cut through six of them in a matter of seconds. One of the men standing closest to Eve turned to strike her, but with a couple of shots, she killed him all the same, just as Damon’s blade cut through the last of Torren’s men.
A moment of silence fell between Damon and Eve, who had already put her revolver back in its holster.
"I told you, didn’t I?" She began to move toward him, just as Damon felt the Dark Knight kill the last remaining Dark Elf inside the Citadel. "I’m not your enemy."
As she walked toward him, Damon could still feel the debuff of the citadel weighing against him.
His grip on his weapon tightened, but at the same moment, Eve’s hand landed softly on his chest, and when it did, a loud notification rang in his head.
[Control of the Citadel *Dark Castle* has been transferred to you.]
Immediately, Damon felt the debuff vanish, his stats returning to normal while Eve’s hand continued to rest against his chest.
"So... That was your plan?" he asked.
"What if it was?" Her smile widened. "Would I get a reward?—"
"You had no idea I was in the Central Station..." Damon cut her off. "You couldn’t have planned it then."
Eve tilted her head slightly, observing him for a moment before speaking. "You’re right. I was planning to let them kill everyone in your station..."
"Why the sudden change of mind?"
"Because of you—"
At that moment, a figure rushed inside the grand hall, followed by a couple of others.
Ivy stood at the forefront. Her face was bloodied, and so were her clothes, but despite that, she looked better than expected from the battle that had unfolded.
Nyla was right behind her, her eyes scanning the hall until they landed on Damon. "Boss!"
Behind the two of them, the Dark Knight walked fiercely through the entrance, its dark gaze searching for the next opponent to kill.
Damon’s eyes moved briefly to Eve’s hand, still pressed flat against his chest. She noticed, and withdrew it slowly, unhurried as though she’d done nothing unusual at all.
"Let’s finish this conversation another time," she said quietly, just loud enough for him to hear.
Damon didn’t respond.
He turned to face Ivy and Nyla, sheathing his sword in one clean motion as Nyla moved in front of Ivy, closing the distance between them.
"Are you okay, Boss?"
"I’m fine. How’s the situation out there?" He asked, his eyes moving between Nyla and Ivy, looking for answers.
"It’s..." Ivy’s eyes trailed off for a moment, as if replaying the deaths of every human out there. "It’s over. Less than thirty survived."
’More than half of us had died,’ Damon noted inwardly before Nyla cut his thoughts short.
"Elias’... Dead."
Damon’s breath caught for a second. Despite seeing his lifeless body hit the ground, it hadn’t really registered in his head until now. The middle-aged man whom he trusted as his second in command had fallen.
Suddenly, as he was lost in thought for a moment, staring emptily at Nyla, a notification rang through his head, followed by a sudden pop-up window.
[Would you like to register Human *Nyla* to your Citadel?]
[Y/N]
’So that’s how you do it...’ he thought before replying ’yes’ in his head.
Immedietally, he saw a reaction on Nyla’s face, surprised mixed with joy, before Damon’s gaze moved to Ivy, and finally he looked back at Eve, who was still standing beside him.
He lingered for a moment.
"Aren’t you going to ask me to let you join?"
Eve tilted her head, and before she could try to make her argument, Damon replied to the notification burning in his head. ’No.’
As the notification faded, Damon’s gaze remained on Eve, steady and almost unreadable.
"If you want in," he said calmly, "you’ll have to earn it."