CHAPTER 290: CHAPTER 290- FREEDOM

The blindfolded man, whose name was Westin, let out a shuddering breath. "We’ve been playing his game from the start... how shameful." His Aura Perception had been completely fooled, unable to pierce the unique barrier of Dori’s Concealment skill.

Gab, the earth manipulator, roared in frustration, the ground trembling beneath his feet. "You think you’re so clever?! I’ll bury you all!"

"Stand down,Gab!" Rei commanded, her voice sharp with panic and authority. She looked at Julian’s utterly merciless eyes. "He is not bluffing. He will kill Heikal. He is not a man who shows mercy to his enemies."

The wiry beast-man, Rork, snarled, his claws extending. "Then what does he want?!"

"I want—" Julian began, but his words were cut off by the chamber’s doors sliding open once more.

Two new figures entered, seemingly oblivious to the tension.

The first was a young boy, no older than twelve, with messy black hair and wearing rumpled pajamas. He rubbed his eyes with a yawn. "Hey, is the boring meeting over? I’m sleepy, I just wanna go back to—" His sentence died as he finally took in the scene, his leader in a chokehold, enemies loose in the chamber, his comrades frozen. "...bed. Uh. What’s all this?"

Beside him stood a tall, stern-looking woman with her dark hair pulled into a severe bun. She wore practical, form-fitting combat gear and had a calculating sharpness in her eyes that rivaled Celestia’s.

Her name was Lyra. Her gaze swept the room in an instant, analyzing the threat matrix, the positions, and the nullifier cuff on Heikal’s arm. Her expression, already serious, hardened into granite.

"This is a complication," Lyra stated, her voice crisp and devoid of any panic. Her eyes locked onto Julian. "A significant one. Explain this situation. Now."

A cold smile touched Julian’s lips as he surveyed the new arrivals. "I didn’t expect all the high-ranking members to gather here so conveniently. This makes things much more efficient."

Heikal, feeling the unyielding pressure of Julian’s arm and the chilling intent behind it, quickly shifted tactics. "Wait! Let’s negotiate! There’s no need for this to end in bloodshed!"

"I’m not interested in your negotiations," Julian replied, his voice flat and final.

"Killing us here would be a mistake you’ll regret!" Heikal insisted, a desperate edge in his voice. "Only Rei can safely remove the Mark of Scales! If I die, the feedback could kill every single person bearing my mark! Do you want Beatrix to die?!"

Julian’s response was immediate and utterly dismissive. "Unnecessary. I can break it myself. Your control is an illusion I’ve already shattered."

A wave of panic went through the New Order members. Their ultimate tool of control, their insurance policy, was being declared useless by their captor.

It was then that Celestia took a step forward, her voice cutting through the panic like shards of ice. "You are all truly pitiable." Her gaze swept over them, full of contempt. "You speak of justice while you brand people like cattle, using this ’Mark’ to force obedience. It is a hollow, false justice, built on chains and fear."

She stopped directly in front of the wiry beast-man, Rork, who had punched Julian. Her silver threads glinted in the light.

"And you," she said, her tone dangerously soft. "You struck my partner."

Before Rork could react, her fist, reinforced by her precise control over her own body, snapped forward in a brutal, short-range blow that cracked into the same spot on his ribs where he had hit Julian. He grunted in pain, stumbling back.

"Consider that returned in full," Celestia stated, her expression unmoved.

The metallic woman, Valeria, cried out, her voice echoing with concern. "Rork!"

The chamber was now a powder keg of tension, pain, and shattered assumptions. Julian held their leader, Celestia had just retaliated with cold precision, and their entire system of control was being publicly dismantled.

Lyra, the severe woman, watched it all, her mind racing for a solution, her stance shifting from observer to active participant as she saw her comrade struck.

"Enough," Lyra said, her voice cutting through the chaos. She took a step forward, her eyes locked on Celestia. "The next one who touches my team will find out exactly what my skill does." The threat hung in the air, a promise of escalating violence.

"Go ahead," Julian dared, his voice a low, dangerous challenge aimed directly at Lyra. He adjusted his grip on Heikal, making the man gasp. "Make your move. But the moment you do, his neck snaps. Your leader dies because of your actions."

Lyra’s body was coiled like a spring, her skill begging to be unleashed. But she saw the absolute certainty in Julian’s eyes. He was not a man who made empty threats. With a frustrated "Tch," she forced herself to relax her stance, her fists clenching at her sides. The risk was too great.

Seeing their most combat-ready member stand down, a fresh wave of despair washed over the New Order. Rei, her voice strained with a mixture of fury and helplessness, finally asked the question they all needed the answer to.

"What do you want?!"

Julian’s gaze, cold and unwavering, locked onto her. "You will release every single person you have ever branded with that Mark. You will sever your connection to them, completely and permanently. Now."

Rei’s eyes widened. The demand was absolute. It wasn’t for treasure, for territory, or for power. It was for the very foundation of their control, the source of their army’s unshakeable loyalty. To do this would be to dismantle the New Order from the inside out in an instant.

"I... I can’t just..." Rei stammered, her mind racing through the catastrophic implications. The sheer number of marks, the loss of control... it was unthinkable.

The silence in the chamber was deafening, broken only by Heikal’s ragged breathing.

A chorus of protests erupted from Heikal’s subordinates.

"Rei, you can’t!" Gab boomed, the ground vibrating with his anger. "That mark is the foundation of our order! Without it, we are nothing!"

"Their loyalty is tied to the mark! You’ll unleash chaos!" Valeria, the metallic woman, insisted, her voice ringing with panic.

"Silence," Celestia’s voice cut through the noise, sharper than her silver threads. "Your ’order’ is a disease. Your ’loyalty’ is a chain. You speak of chaos as if the peaceful, mindless slavery you’ve created is somehow superior."

Julian’s sarcasm was a colder, more brutal weapon. "Yes, by all means, let’s preserve this beautiful system where you play god with people’s free will. It’s a truly noble endeavor."

But the most devastating blow came from Heikal himself. Straining against Julian’s grip, his voice was a mix of disbelief and wounded pride. "This... this cannot be... To be treated like this... my authority... you are trampling on everything I’ve built!"

It was then that the young boy in pajamas, who had been quietly observing the chaos with wide, tired eyes, spoke up. His voice, though young, carried a surprising clarity.

"He’s right, you know," the boy said, pointing a small finger at Julian and Celestia. He looked at Rei, his expression serious. "The marks are icky, Rei. It’s not real if they have to be forced. Let them go."

The simple, childish honesty, coming from one of their own, was more powerful than any argument. Rei looked from the boy’s earnest face to Heikal’s humiliated one, to the cold, unwavering resolve in Julian’s eyes.

The fight drained out of her. The weight of the moral compromise, buried under layers of ideology, finally cracked open.

With a shuddering breath that seemed to carry the soul of the New Order out of her body, Rei nodded, her shoulders slumping in defeat.

"Alright," she whispered, her voice thick with emotion. "I’ll... I’ll release them."