Shattered Sanity

(Meanwhile, Imperial Academy Detention Facility, Riven’s POV)

Drew was just about finished questioning Riven when Archimedes suddenly turned towards the entrance, his expression growing slightly more attentive as he sensed someone attempting to open the detention room door from the outside.

”Old friend, it seems someone’s trying to open the door without your permission.

I sense three people. All Flame ranks.”

Archimedes warned, as he glanced towards Drew, who merely smiled at the unexpected interruption before slowly clenching his left fist.

Almost immediately, bright orange flames erupted around the Duke’s knuckles, causing the temperature within the detention room to rise so rapidly that Riven instinctively took a step backwards.

”Well, well. Looks like someone’s about to learn a lesson about the consequences of not following my orders.”

Drew muttered, as he waited murderously for the individual on the other side to enter the room.

’What unbelievable power....’

Riven thought, as he covered his eyes and continued to step backwards, being physically unable to withstand the heat.

’Is this the same ability as Gary?’

He thought, as although the technique looked like ’Flame Fist’, the same standard technique that many fire affinity users learned within the academy, the difference in strength was like heaven and earth.

While Gary’s fists were barely as warm as a campfire, the Duke’s fists were hotter than a blacksmith’s forge, with the resulting flames being so intense and bright that Riven could not even look at them straight.

’Is father really going to kill whoever steps in?’

Riven wondered, however, before he could dwell upon the matter any further, the heavy iron door suddenly swung open, revealing an unfamiliar middle-aged man wearing the distinctive insignia of the Imperial Inquisition.

”My, my. What’s all this, Your Grace? Planning to punch an Imperial officer before he’s even had the chance to introduce himself?”

Jack Sullivan remarked, as he strolled through the doorway with an amused expression, seemingly unbothered by the blazing fist awaiting him on the other side.

Upon recognizing the newcomer, Drew’s expression changed almost immediately, as the flames surrounding his left hand gradually disappeared while a particularly unpleasant smile spread across his face.

”Well, I’ll be damned. I knew I smelled a filthy mutt somewhere around here, but I didn’t think the Emperor would send his favorite dog personally.”

Drew muttered, as he regarded the Chief Inquisitor with open contempt before shaking his head in disappointment.

”Jack Sullivan. What an unexpected displeasure. Had I known you were coming, I would’ve asked the guards to leave a bowl of water outside.”

Drew added, as Jack burst into laughter, apparently finding the insult considerably more entertaining than offensive.

Meanwhile, the two assistants accompanying the Chief Inquisitor entered the detention room behind him, immediately growing alert upon noticing the Duke’s threatening posture.

Both instinctively began circulating Aether through their Soul Vessels, preparing themselves for the possibility of an attack, although Jack appeared entirely unconcerned by their apprehension.

”HAH! Still the same miserable bastard, aren’t you, your grace? I see all those years sitting on your fancy throne haven’t done a damn thing to improve your manners.”

Jack replied, before turning his attention towards Riven, who had been silently observing the exchange from behind his father.

”Oh, so this must be the famous Dawnriver heir everyone’s been making such a fuss about. Well, I’ll be damned, he’s a handsome little fellow, isn’t he?”

Jack remarked, as he studied Riven’s face with exaggerated curiosity before glancing back towards the Duke.

”Are you sure you fathered this one, Your Grace? Because unless your wife had some rather interesting visitors, I can’t see where the boy got those looks from.”

The smile upon Drew’s face faded slightly, as his piercing blue eyes narrowed upon the Chief Inquisitor with an unmistakable warning.

”I’d watch that filthy tongue of yours if I were you, Sullivan. My patience is running unusually thin today, and you might just find yourself on the wrong end of it if you keep pushing.”

Drew warned, as Jack raised both hands in mock surrender before letting out another amused chuckle.

”Now, now, there’s no need to get your knickers in a twist. Just having a bit of fun, Your Grace. Didn’t realize the great Duke of the East had become so bloody sensitive.”

Jack replied, before turning towards Riven once again, his expression growing slightly more serious as he finally addressed the reason for his arrival.

”Anyway, enough of this nonsense. Young Lord Dawnriver, I’m Jack Sullivan, the Imperial Inquisitor assigned by His Majesty to investigate the murders that took place in the academy during Black Week.”

Jack introduced himself, as he gestured towards the two assistants standing behind him.

”Now, I’m afraid you’re going to have to come with me, lad. We’ve got quite a few questions to ask you, and I’d rather get this business over with before your father decides to bring the rest of his bloody army indoors.”

Jack declared, as Riven instinctively glanced towards Drew, uncertain whether he was expected to comply with the Imperial investigator’s instructions.

However, before he could even consider responding, the Duke released a short, contemptuous chuckle and stepped forward, placing himself directly between his son and the Chief Inquisitor.

”You’re taking my son nowhere, mutt. The boy has already been questioned under a Truth Orb, and he’s made it perfectly clear that he doesn’t remember harming any of his classmates.”

Drew replied, as he folded his arms across his chest and regarded Jack with an expression of growing hostility.

”And as far as I’m concerned, the only thing these Academy bastards have against him is some conveniently discovered evidence involving his weapon.

A weapon, mind you, that my son willingly surrendered to the Academy after returning from the battlefield.

For all we know, those cut marks could’ve been made after the weapon was taken from him, just so someone could point a finger at House Dawnriver and accuse my boy of murder.”

Drew continued, as he glanced briefly towards the door, seemingly directing part of his accusation towards the Academy authorities waiting outside.

Jack listened without interrupting, although the amused expression upon his face gradually gave way to something considerably more attentive as the Duke finished speaking.

”Well, that’s certainly one way of looking at it, Your Grace. Maybe someone’s trying to frame your boy, or maybe he really did butcher those poor bastards and doesn’t remember a damn thing about it.”

Jack replied, as he ran his tongue across his upper lip before giving a casual shrug.

”That’s the thing about an active investigation.... Your grace.

You don’t get to decide what happened just because you don’t like the evidence.

Now, I’ve been assigned to this case, and I can promise you I’ll get to the bottom of it, even if I have to drag every last professor in this Academy into an interrogation room.

But until I’ve figured out what actually happened, the boy stays in Imperial custody. That’s how this works, whether you like it or not.”

Jack declared, as he looked directly into Drew’s eyes, making it clear that he had no intention of allowing the Duke’s objections to interfere with his investigation.

However, rather than accepting the Chief Inquisitor’s explanation, Drew merely shook his head before slowly raising his right index finger and wagging it in front of Jack’s face.

”You’re out of your depth here, Sullivan. You might be able to bully those spineless nobles who shit themselves whenever the Emperor sends you knocking, but don’t make the mistake of thinking you can pull the same stunt with me.”

Drew warned, as his expression grew increasingly dangerous while he took another step towards the Chief Inquisitor.

”This boy is all I have left of the Dawnriver bloodline, and I’ll be damned if I let another Imperial bastard lay his hands on him.

You people have already humiliated my household enough for one day, and if you think I’m going to stand here and politely hand over my son because the Emperor sent his favorite mongrel to fetch him, then you’ve lost your bloody mind.

I’ll turn this entire Empire upside down before I let any of you bastards take him away from me.”

Drew declared, as flames once again erupted around his left fist, causing the temperature within the detention room to surge with such intensity that Riven instinctively retreated towards Archimedes.

For the first time since entering the room, Jack’s expression registered genuine surprise, although the shock quickly gave way to an almost disbelieving smile as he stared at the blazing fist before him.

”Hold on a bloody second. Are you seriously telling me you’re going to attack an Imperial officer and drag your son out of here by force?”

Jack asked, as he glanced towards Drew’s hand before looking back into the Duke’s eyes.

”Because if that’s what you’re planning, then you’ve finally gone completely mad, you old bastard.

I’ve got direct orders from the Emperor, and I’m not letting that boy walk out of here until this investigation is finished. So unless you’re planning on stepping over my unconscious body, you’d better put that flaming fist away and start using whatever little sense you’ve got left.”

Jack warned, as his two assistants immediately shifted into defensive stances, clearly recognizing that the confrontation was rapidly approaching a point from which neither side could easily retreat.

Drew, however, merely chuckled at the Chief Inquisitor’s warning, his expression gradually relaxing into a smile that appeared almost disturbingly sincere.

”You know something, Sullivan? I wish I could tell you this isn’t personal, but the truth is, I’ve been wanting to punch that filthy mouth of yours for more than a decade.”

Drew confessed, as Jack’s eyes narrowed slightly upon noticing the sudden change in the Duke’s posture.

However, before the Chief Inquisitor could react, Drew’s figure abruptly blurred as he lunged forward with terrifying speed, his blazing left fist striking Jack squarely across the face with enough force to send the man flying backwards through the open doorway.

BOOOOM!

The impact produced a deafening explosion as Jack’s body slammed into the opposite corridor wall, shattering the reinforced stone before continuing through into the adjoining room, where he finally crashed against the floor amid a shower of broken masonry.

For several seconds, the two assistants stood frozen in disbelief, having barely managed to register the Duke’s movement before their own bodies spontaneously combusted, as Drew cast the spell [Undying Flames] on them.

”ARGHHHHHHHH!”

They howled in pain, however, Drew did not care, as he simply signalled towards Riven to follow him, and walked out of the detention center with killing intent leaking from every square inch of his body.