Chapter 44: Darnell’s Power
Sollivan observed everything with extreme coldness, his heart heavy. He was no longer nervous or afraid - all he felt was hatred.
He turned his head and looked at Devlin hiding beside him, who had curled up and hugged his legs in fear. Seeing the state of his loyal servant pained his heart, and he swore to cut Sven’s body into pieces. He didn’t know what Devlin had endured, but the amount of bruises and wounds on his face showed the extent of the torture he had faced.
Earlier, when the mayor’s son and his followers entered, Sollivan took advantage of their distraction with the treasures. He directed Noctis to extinguish the enhanced torch, then turned off the lighting formation.
To remove any potential obstacles, he decided to take a risk and do something he had never done before - he transformed Noctis’ hand into a huge needle and stabbed the soldier guarding Devlin in the chest. Contrary to his low expectations, his attack succeeded with surprising ease. Then he quickly pulled Devlin away and hid him before they could light the fire and illuminate their surroundings.
Everything happened so quickly that even Sollivan himself was amazed, while Devlin was terrified and doubted the reality of what had happened. Due to the darkness, he couldn’t see who had saved him and only felt a cold hand pulling him by the arm.
He was afraid and in pain, yes, but his fear turned into resentment toward his master who had been the direct cause of what happened to him. His resentment turned into questions and doubts, and what had happened earlier increased the confusion in his thoughts and childish curiosity. He began to think that his master was capable of walking, and that sitting in the wheelchair was just a lie and disguise.
He raised his head slightly and glanced at Sollivan who was intently spying on the fighting people, sighing in contradiction to his appearance. ’How is this possible? He’s crippled. I’ve accompanied him for several years and seen his body full of scars, so how can this be? Or is everything a lie? What’s the truth? Does he care about me? Or is he using me for something? Yes, maybe I’m just a toy and a pawn he wants for some purpose. He’s not kind.’
Devlin’s feelings turned into chaos, and he deeply grieved over what was happening. More tears streamed from his eyes - not tears from physical pain but from his inner pain. He wanted to go home, he wanted to ask about the truth of what was happening, but he knew it was useless. As usual, he remained silent in his place and waited for orders from his dear master, who might have been an executioner disguised as a saint.
Unaware of all of Devlin’s feelings, Sollivan watched everything with great anger and gritted teeth. He looked at the soldiers guarding the lighting lever and observed the battle that was happening on a slightly wider scale, thinking. ’This is chaos. I can’t turn off the lights, nor can I blow them all up because they’re scattered.’
He silently scanned his surroundings and tried to find a solution to his dilemma but couldn’t, which made him sigh in surrender. He redirected his attention to the battle, specifically to Darnell who had killed one of his enemies with unbelievable speed, and sighed. ’I knew he was lying about his strength, but in the end he had to reveal his identity as Commander Andrei and remove the mask of the coward Darnell.’
...
In the middle of the wide hall where dozens of exploded corpses lay in pieces along with accumulated debris and scattered loot, Darnell engaged with his enemies, swinging his spear with complete smoothness and repelling a joint attack from two of his enemies.