NOVGO.NET Chapter 407: Hindsight Activated
Chapter 407: Hindsight Activated
The walk to the military grounds was a quiet one. Damien, Arielle, and Lyone followed Captain Apnoch past the rising streets of Delwig, where smiths were already hammering at forges and market stalls were being opened under the early morning sun.
Yet despite the ordinary bustle, the closer they came to the fortress’s inner yard, the heavier the air felt.
Soldiers lined the path, their armor polished, their spears upright, but their eyes betrayed unease.
Damien noticed it immediately. He kept his stride steady, though inwardly he grew more curious. What sort of thing shakes hardened soldiers like this?
When they arrived at the central yard, he had his answer.
At the center of a runed cage stood a beast that once might have been majestic. A Grade Six ironback stag, its horns gleaming silver with etched veins of essence, now twisted with veins of pitch-black corruption. Its once-proud eyes burned red, drool steaming as it dripped onto the stone floor.
The runes around its cage pulsed with light, straining to contain it as the stag slammed itself against the bars, releasing guttural roars that reverberated in their bones.
Lyone instinctively stepped back. Arielle stiffened, her staff already half-raised. Damien, however, walked closer until he stood just beyond the rune line. He studied the creature carefully, his eyes narrowing.
So it’s true. A mana beast, its core tainted with demonic essence.
The soldiers around them murmured uneasily, but Apnoch’s voice cut through the tension. “This is what remains of the western patrol’s find. We managed to capture it alive only because it fought to exhaustion after slaughtering its pack.”
“A beast this strong shouldn’t have turned feral like this. At first, we thought it had been injured, but then…” He gestured at the black-veined horns. “We realized its core was corrupted.”
Damien remained silent, his gaze fixed on the creature. But then he spoke, calmly: “Open the cage. I want in.”
The words dropped like a stone in a still pond. Soldiers immediately erupted with protests.
“Impossible!”
“He’ll be killed in an instant!”
“Even standing this close is dangerous—”
Arielle cut in sharply. “Damien, don’t be reckless. That’s a Grade Six beast twisted by demonic essence. You can’t just—”
“I can,” Damien interrupted, his voice level, though his eyes never left the stag. “And I must. There’s something inside it I need to see for myself. If push comes to shove, I’ll end it’s life.”
Apnoch frowned, torn between duty and instinct. His soldiers looked to him for the final word, and Arielle’s expression hardened as though she might drag Damien back herself. For a moment, the standoff seemed unbreakable.
But Apnoch remembered the night before.
After escorting Damien and his companions to the guesthouse, Apnoch had gone straight to the General.
General Ivaan stood by the war table, maps and essence stones scattered across it, his presence like a mountain even in the quiet of his chambers.
“Report,” Ivaan had said, not looking up.
Apnoch gave it, but the General raised his hand before he finished. His eyes, clouded yet sharp, stared into nothingness for a long moment. Then he smiled faintly, shaking his head.
“That boy,” he said softly. “He’s not ordinary.”
Apnoch frowned. “You mean Damien? His skill was obvious, but—”
“No,” Ivaan interrupted, “you don’t understand. When I shook his hand, I saw fragments. Not of his past, nor even his present. His future. And what I saw…”
General Ivaan trailed off, his voice growing heavy. “I saw him standing against things no man should face. Entities that blot out the sky, armies without end, demons whose essence twists reality itself. And still, he stood. Wounded, weary—but unbroken.”
Apnoch shivered.
General Ivaan fixed him with a stern gaze. “For now, we cannot know what paths will lead him there. But one thing is certain: Damien is a force no empire, no kingdom, no foe can afford to ignore. He is not yet at that height, but he will be. Mark my words, Apnoch: that boy will be feared not for what he is, but for what he is destined to become.”
He leaned closer, his eyes hard as steel. “Aid him. Whatever he asks of you within reason, grant it. If he falters, support him. Do not oppose him. Until the day comes when he no longer walks among us, he is to be considered an ally of Delwig.”
Remembering those words, Apnoch exhaled slowly, then raised his hand. The protests of the soldiers faltered. “Stand down,” he ordered.
The soldiers exchanged uneasy glances, but obeyed.
One of the soldiers closer to Apnoch eyes widened. “General Apnoch, you can’t be serious!”
But Apnoch only met Damien’s gaze and gave a single, deliberate nod. “We’ll open it.”
The runes shimmered and parted, leaving an opening just wide enough for one man. The stag immediately roared, slamming its weight against the barrier, its corrupted eyes locked on Damien as prey.
Damien stepped forward without hesitation. He passed through the threshold, the rune light closing behind him, sealing him inside with the beast.
The soldiers held their breath. Arielle gripped her staff white-knuckled. Lyone pressed to the bars, his voice trembling. “Damien—!”
But Damien only raised his hand slightly. “Stay.”
Inside the cage, the corrupted stag pawed the ground, black essence rippling off its horns like smoke. It charged, hooves pounding the stone, horns lowered to skewer him.
Damien closed his eyes.
Earlier that morning, before Apnoch had arrived, he had finally checked the reward the system had granted him after Greshan. The notification had hovered in his mind for days, ignored during battle and travel. Now, he’d finally examined it.
[System Reward Acquired: Subskill – Hindsight]
[Description: Grants the ability to peer into the past of a target. Condition: the target must consent to allow its past to be viewed. Drawback: Higher-grade entities may resist or deny access.]
At the time, Damien had wondered who or what would ever consent to such a skill. But now, standing in front of this stag, he felt an opening—an instinctive tug.
He invoked the subskill.
A thread of essence extended from him, brushing against the corrupted beast’s core. For an instant, the stag’s madness bucked against it—but then, almost surprisingly, it yielded. Whether from exhaustion, or some deeper will buried beneath the corruption, it allowed him in.
The stag’s charge slowed, then faltered. Inches before impact, it staggered, eyes flashing confusion. Its horns trembled as Damien placed a hand on its snout.
Black essence flared, wrapping around his arm like fire. The soldiers gasped. Arielle cried out. But Damien remained calm, his voice low. “Show me. Show me what was done to you.”
Hindsight activated.