Frozen Flame of Dawn - Chapter 101

Chapter 101: Chapter 49: Blaming One Another_2

His gaze flickered back to Yenna, studying her closely. “And I’m certain she has told you more than what you have revealed so far.”

His voice took on a sharper edge. “So care to explain that to us? Or are you still planning to withhold crucial information?”

Yenna remained unfazed by the accusation. She had expected this question. Sooner or later, they would have learned the truth. It was time to unveil it—at least, part of it.

She straightened, her icy gaze sweeping across the room, before finally speaking. “The detention center where you imprisoned Amira—where you threw her after branding her a traitor—was not a simple detention center.”

She let the words sink in, watching as confusion flickered across their faces. “It was, in fact, a secret research facility—fully operated and controlled by the Rienfeld family.”

The room erupted into murmurs, some of shock, others of anger, and a few of realization.

“You’re lying,” one of the elder councilmen muttered, shaking his head. “The detention center was established under Federation orders.”

“That’s what they wanted you to believe.” Yenna’s tone was razor-sharp, her lips pressed into a firm line. “The facility was a front but behind the official reports, the Rienfeld family was running experiments—inhuman experiments—on prisoners. On awakened individuals. They were studying mutation, attempting to harness it. They ran trials to force awakenings, to measure abilities, and to determine how these powers could be controlled.”

A chill spread through the room while the former Dragon Unit captain’s face was dark with fury. “You’re telling me they were experimenting on people we send their just for detention as threat not prisoners?”

“Not just experimenting.” Yenna’s voice dropped lower, her next words sending a shiver through the air. “They were implanting control chips into those they deemed useful and they sought to create an army of enhanced soldiers, ones who would obey them without question.”

Heavy silence suffocating was felft by everyone, Helen felt her stomach churn previously she had known the Rienfeld were ambitious, but this?

Yenna continued, her voice unwavering. “Amira was lucky. She awakened a strong ice affinity but kept it hidden from them. She played along, learning what she could. But there was another prisoner—one who awakened an ability far more dangerous.”

She paused, letting the weight of her next words settle before she spoke them. “He could see glimpses of the future.”

A collective gasp rippled through the room. “Not a fixed future, but possibilities. Different branches of fate. And in those visions, he saw… this.”

Yenna gestured vaguely, as if pointing to the very world outside their walls. “This surge and the awakened people with these mutated beasts creating chaos.”

She closed her eyes briefly, recalling Amira’s recounting of his final moments. “But his power came at a cost. The more he looked ahead, the more his life force was drained. And by the time he realized it… it was already too late.”

She exhaled softly. “On his deathbed, he told Amira everything he had seen, every terrible possibility and the very looming catastrophe after which she made her choice.”

Helen’s voice was barely above a whisper. “To escape from their right.”

“Yes.” Yenna’s next words froze the air.

“And you expect me to believe that? That this entire event was foreseen?” Another elder in the room said not believing in such thing.

“Believe what you want, but that is not the most important part.”

The old man, who had remained silent through most of the discussion, now spoke. “Then tell us.”

His voice carried an edge of something deeper—a foreboding sense of realization. “Did this man also reveal the cause of the surge?”

A beat of silence. Yenna’s expression darkened. “Yes.”

The room grew impossibly still. “It’s not natural.”

“What do you mean?” The old man asked.

“This surge—it was artificially triggered.” Yenna told everyone which created shock a complete, unfiltered shock.

“You’re saying someone caused this?” Helen’s voice wavered slightly.

Yenna nodded slowly. “The meteor that crashed three months ago? That wasn’t an asteroid.”

She let the weight of her words sink in. “It was a scouting ship.”

“A ship” The former Dragon Unit captain looked like she had just spoken madness. “…like from outer space.”

Gasps filled the air.

“And that entity released this energy—the very force responsible for awakening humans and mutating animals.” Yenna’s cold expression confirmed it. “The energy isn’t just awakening us. It’s terraforming our planet, changing it so their kind can survive here and invade they are just a scouting party.”

A heavy silence blanketed the room as no one moved. No one even breathed.

“You mean…” Helen struggled to form the words. “…this was an invasion?”

The former Chancellor looked visibly shaken even the the old man, his normally composed face, now carried a rare trace of unease.

Yenna wasn’t finished yet. “And if you think this is just about a few mutated beasts, you’re wrong.”

She scanned the room, her next words carrying a warning. “These creatures—they are evolving faster than we are. And if we do not act, if we do not prepare—they will overrun us.”

Yenna’s stare was cold, absolute. “Then… we will no longer be at the top of the food chain.”

The statement landed like a hammer an absolute but irrevocably terrifying.

Yenna knew she had given them a lot to process, so she finally leaned back in her chair, allowing them the space to digest the gravity of the situation.

The old man, who had been silent for most of the discussion, finally spoke again. “You already know this much… and Amira told you all of this herself.”

His voice held a note of hope, a rare sight in the hardened elder’s demeanor. “That must mean she still trusts you to some extent, Yenna. Is there truly no chance of getting her back?”

The hope in his tone was subtle, but it just only that as his expression shifted to serious look. There was no desperate need for to him as its his nature to not place everything on bet for one thing.

But Yenna remained silent and that silence spoke volumes.

Helen’s chest tightened as she studied Yenna’s face. No anger, no regret—just cold resignation. The answer was clear, but still Yenna spoke. “No.”