Interstellar: Return of the Villain
Chapter 222: Yes, It Was Me

Chapter 222: Yes, It Was Me

"I made my biggest mistake when I showed you too much mercy back then. I should’ve just killed you instead of fearing the Calvin family." Ansel’s eyes glinted with disdain, a cold echo of the judgmental stare he’d given her years ago when she had fled for life.

Lyra’s voice rang out sharply, cutting through the ten meters between them. "I don’t understand. You betrayed your own son—and even your granddaughter?"

"I haven’t done anything wrong," Ansel replied, his voice dripping with icy detachment.

No one in the Shedd family’s generation could match Lyra’s talent or hard work. Even when Lyra had uncovered the truth about her parents’ deaths, she had never suspected him. That was, until Ansel handed her the glass of Dispersal Agents, and Erin had chillingly mentioned "rooting out the problem."

Despite her keen instincts, she couldn’t fathom why Ansel had turned against her.

Ansel’s silver hair whipped in the wind, and the half-closed eyes he wore carried a complexity that felt like an unsolvable riddle.

"You did nothing wrong, but your very existence is a mistake," he spat, loathing pouring from his words. "I once hoped you would lead the Shedd family to greatness, but I never anticipated your father’s audacity!" His breath hitched. "In the end, you all deserve to die!"

Fueled by a surge of adrenaline, Lyra lunged forward, determination propelling her every movement.

She leaped high to evade the spatial distortions that rippled around her and summoned a glowing shield to block an incoming thunderous strike.

With a swift motion, she aimed her blade at Ansel.

Reacting with practiced speed, Ansel stepped back, summoning a spatial blade to counter her. But she bent low, narrowly avoiding his attack.

As he unleashed another strike, she slipped away, her agility defying all expectations.

In an instant, Lyra closed the gap, slashing from the side with deadly precision.

Ansel stumbled, but not before she left a deep gash across his chest, flesh exposed and bleeding.

She paused, eyes narrowing as she confronted him. "Who gave you the right to make decision for my life?"

Lyra understood the worth of her life; she had fought tooth and nail to survive, and no one—especially not Ansel—had the authority to dictate whether she should live or die.

Ansel wiped the blood from his face, a twisted smile forming. "Life and death are rarely in our hands, Lyra, and you should know that better than anyone."

His cryptic words unsettled her, forcing her to regain her composure. "What are you hiding from me? How did my parents really die?"

"Maybe you should ask Benedict. He knows more than I do," Ansel retorted, his derision evident. "Or do you think it was easy for you to stumble upon that lab? You gathered evidence against me far too easily."

"I want to hear it from you!" Lyra insisted, stepping closer, her weapon poised.

Suddenly, an overwhelming force wrenched the blade from her grasp.

"Stop!" A voice called from above as Leandro and two unfamiliar figures descended on floating boards. They cast astonished glances at Lyra before turning their focus to Ansel.

"Ansel, this is a parliamentary arrest warrant. You need to come with us!" one of them declared, producing the document.

Following the exposure of lab on the satellite, an immediate investigation had been launched.

The result confirmed Ansel’s involvement in supporting the Empire’s spies and conducting illegal human experiments on death row inmates.

Admiral Dale, who had long despised the Shedd family’s criminal activities, was particularly eager to see justice served, especially after Ansel’s shocking betrayals.

The three Vice Admirals moved as a seamless unit.

Ansel made no move to resist as they fitted him with superpower suppression cuffs and escorted him toward the Lev.

Leandro then turned to Lyra. "Thank you, Ensign. You’ll need to come with us too."

It was a cruel twist of fate that anyone connected to the Shedd family had to face scrutiny due to the monumental scandal surrounding them.

Aboard the ship heading back to Elden Prime, Lyra found herself among distant relatives of the Shedd family.

Their suspicious glances felt like daggers, as if they were viewing her as a traitor.

Before their disdain could take form, she unleashed her formidable psychokinesis, making them avert their gazes in silence.

The investigation itself was straightforward. After a series of questions, she was released.

As she exited the military court, she spotted Leandro deep in conversation with his colleagues. Their expressions were mixed, but when she saluted, Leandro smiled and said, "You weren’t implicated; rewards are in store for you."

She nodded. "I’ll take my leave now."

As she turned to walk away, his smile faded.

One man muttered, "What is the Shedd family up to? Not a decent person among them, and the one who was cast out proves to be the most capable."

Nearby, a woman rolled her eyes. "Capable? I think that young woman is the most dangerous one."

"Why do you say that?" he asked, puzzled.

She tossed her hair back defiantly. "Just a gut feeling."

The man scoffed, but Leandro nodded thoughtfully. "That makes sense."

Having been cast aside by the Shedd family and sold to Voidstar, Lyra had endured years of humiliation, only to rise through her own efforts and finally secure evidence against them.

The resolve and cunning it took to achieve this were extraordinary.

On the day of Ansel’s formal trial, his confession about another crime sent shockwaves through the courtroom.

Lyra, a witness alongside the Special Forces, stood ready as evidence of illegal experiments was presented.

Ansel and his accomplices offered no resistance, readily admitting their crimes.

"Now—"

"Wait," Ansel interrupted, his voice slicing through the air. He glanced at Benedict on the witness stand, then fixed his gaze on Lyra, making a shocking declaration. "I need to confess to another crime."

Lyra’s heart raced, her hand tightening around the table.

"I once inflicted punishment on my granddaughter, Lyra. I implanted five Soul Spikes in her body."

A chilling silence enveloped the courtroom. Faces turned ashen, disbelief etched into every expression, as if they were questioning whether he was joking.

’Five Soul Spikes? Is such unspeakable torture even possible?’

Murmurs began to swell, and the chief justice pounded his gavel for silence. "Is this true?"

"There’s video evidence, stored in the deceased Erin’s opticomputer."

Tension mounted in the courtroom. Erin’s opticomputer, crucial for proving his guilt, lay safely in the military court archives.

After consulting with Leandro and others, the chief justice decided to retrieve the evidence immediately.

Lyra stepped from the witness stand to confront the judge directly.

"Lyra, is what he stated true?"

"Yes," she replied, her voice steady, but inside, a tempest raged.

At that moment, everyone in the courtroom looked at Lyra as if she were a monster.

The upper-level military officials, including Leandro, stared at her in sheer shock.

"Five Soul Spikes! How had she survived this?"

Lyra couldn’t comprehend why Ansel had chosen to disclose such a horrific truth.

When the video was retrieved and projected in three-dimensional detail, the mood in the court room grew heavy with dread.

The horrifying screams of the young woman echoed through the room. Erin had only recorded the first half of the ordeal, failing to capture the moments of superpower extraction, but even that was enough to leave a bloody and brutal impression on everyone present.