MTLNOVEL Chapter 438: A Monster
Warlock Ch 438. A Monster
Damian's voice rang clear through the cracked ruins of Haven City. His body stood still, but the weight behind those words made the air shift.
For a moment, there was only silence—thick, suffocating silence that pressed on every chest in the plaza.
Then the oldest senator, a sharp-eyed woman wrapped in pristine azure robes, scoffed. "A hero?" she spat like the word tasted foul. "You sealed a god-tier creature with forbidden magic. Your soul is tainted. Corrupted."
Another senator stepped forward, younger, but with just as much arrogance gleaming in his eyes. "You think that makes you noble? You've bound that monster's power to your core. You're a time bomb, nothing more."
"If you truly care about the world," a third chimed in, voice low and cold, "you'll come willingly. Let the Tribunal decide your fate."
"The Tribunal already failed him once!" Evelyn shouted, stepping forward. "And now you want to do it again? After all he's done?"
Victoria growled. "He nearly died saving you cowards. And the first thing you do when you crawl out from your clean towers is try to chain him?"
But they weren't listening.
The lead senator raised his staff. "Damian Blackthorn, or Kaelan—whatever name you now hide behind—you are hereby ordered to surrender your mana and stand trial for your crimes against the Tribes and the Grand Tribunal."
And then—
A voice rang out from the crowd.
"No," it said. Low, firm, unshakable.
Everyone turned.
It was an older woman, her apron still stained from ash and soot, her face lined with exhaustion but glowing with resolve.
"If you want to take him," she said, stepping forward, "you'll have to go through me."
Then another voice. A younger man—robes torn, one arm in a makeshift sling, a spellbook strapped across his chest.
"He saved my brother. Held back the beast when we couldn't. If he's guilty, then so are we."
Dozens of murmurs turned into dozens of voices.
"I saw him fight."
"He didn't hesitate when others ran."
"He's the reason we're still alive."
And then—
A crowd began to gather. Civilians, students from the Arcane Academy, battle magi, healers, guild members. The same people who had watched Damian rise again. Who had seen the impossible.
They came.
Tattered, bleeding, dirt-smeared—but they came. Standing in front of the soldiers, the senators. Forming a living wall of defiance.
"You call him a monster?" a grizzled combat mage, clutching a broken sword. "Then you weren't down here in the dirt when the sky was falling."
"You weren't here!" a beastkin woman growled, her fangs bared.
"You want to take him?" a young girl whispered from the front, her tiny hand in her mother's. "You'll have to kill us all."
The crowd swelled. Their mana flared, wild and untrained, but real.
The senators shifted uneasily.
"This is treason," the elder senator hissed. "You would oppose the will of the Tribunal?"
"You want the Tribunal?" the old woman in the apron said. "Then fine. But we'll all testify."
The man with the broken arm lifted his spellbook. "Record runes are still active. I got five hours' worth of battlefield footage. You think the Tribunal won't want to see how this 'monster' held the line better than any highborn magus?"
"You think we'll stay silent again?" a guildmaster added. "No. Not this time. You want to drag him away? Then know the city will follow him."
The senators looked like they'd swallowed poison.
"You're all compromised," the younger one growled.
Evelyn took a step forward, her violet eyes glowing. "Then maybe we are the Tribunal now."
Damian didn't move.
He just stood there.
Watching them.
All of them.
The people who once whispered behind his back. The people who once looked away when he entered a room. The people who once feared him.
And now?
They stood between him and the very people who called for his execution.
He blinked.
The world swam.
He didn't even notice the tear sliding down his cheek until it hit his lips.
Aria was at his side, silent. She looked over at him.
"They see you now," she whispered.
"I…" he choked softly, a raw sound breaking from his throat. "I didn't think they would."
Victoria's arm slung around his shoulder like a sister's.
"Get used to it," she said gruffly. "You're kind of a big deal now."
Selena stood to his left, blades still drawn, but her expression soft. "You're not alone anymore."
Even Lysandra, arms crossed, looked down at him with that same proud glint she once reserved only for battlefield victories. "Took you long enough to notice."
He laughed. It was broken, hoarse—but real.
"Is this what redemption feels like?" he asked.
"No," Aria said, reaching for his hand. "This is what truth feels like."
The lead senator looked at the civilians, then at the warriors, and finally back to Damian.
"You expect us to ignore protocol?" he snapped. "To let a man with a demon king sealed in his chest walk free? With the soul of a god-tier beast trapped inside him?"
"I expect you to shut up," Cassius finally said, stepping into view with a fresh bandage around his ribs. "You showed up late, nearly got us killed, and now you're here trying to play judge after we saved the damn city?"
He narrowed his eyes. "And I don't see you sealing any world-ending monsters today. So maybe shut up and sit down."
The senators hesitated.
The crowd wasn't backing down.
Aria turned her gaze on them, one final time.
"We're not enemies," she said, softly. "But if you make him your enemy… then yes. This city will fight."
The senators looked between each other.
And slowly, stiffly—perhaps sensing the winds had shifted—they stepped back.
One by one.
No apology. No thanks.
Just silence.
But it was enough.
They didn't reach for chains.
They didn't raise accusations.
They simply turned, gathering their soldiers.
Retreating, for now.
The moment they were gone, the entire crowd let out a breath. Some collapsed to their knees. Others started to cry. A few even laughed in disbelief.
But Damian?
He stood there, breathing, watching the sun break through the ash-filled sky for the first time in what felt like forever.
Warm.
Golden.
Real.
And finally—finally—he let himself believe…
He wasn't the villain anymore.