Chapter 100: Borrowing the Dragon’s Fury
Silas had to take countless detours before finally slipping past the scattered mine forces.
He still couldn’t understand why they were everywhere. Small squads of roughly twenty roamed the surrounding hills and valleys, sweeping the area as though searching for something.
After two exhausting hours, he had barely covered a distance that would normally take thirty minutes.
"You finally made it."
Cher emerged from behind a boulder where she had been waiting. Throughout the journey, the two had remained in constant contact, updating each other on their locations while making sure the other was still safe.
"It’s strange," Silas whispered, his gaze sweeping the surroundings. "They’re everywhere."
"They’re mostly soldiers, not Enhancers," Cher explained. "My father can’t spare enough Enhancers to seal off an area this large while a battle is still raging, so he assigned one or two Enhancers to lead each squad."
"Whistleblowers."
Silas nodded in understanding.
The purpose of those squads wasn’t to capture intruders but to spot them. Fighting one group wasn’t particularly dangerous, yet the moment they were seen, every nearby force would converge on their position.
"It’s still crazy what Rachel did," Cher muttered as they cautiously resumed moving. "Did she really think you’d die that easily?"
A faint smile crossed Silas’s face, though his eyes never stopped scanning the terrain ahead.
"You can’t really blame her." He paused to make sure the next hill concealed no patrols before continuing. "No one outside our team knows what I’m actually capable of."
Only then did Cher realise her mistake. She had grown so accustomed to Silas’s abilities that she had unconsciously assumed everyone else knew them as well.
"Halt!"
The sudden shout shattered the silence just as they stepped into the open stretch between two hills.
They had been spotted. Worse still, the squad that found them consisted entirely of Enhancers.
"You’re surrounded."
A broad-shouldered man with a grotesquely mutated left leg strode toward them with an uneven gait while more than twenty Enhancers spread out into a wide circle, sealing every possible escape route.
"Sorry, young lady. Those are your father’s orders."
He stopped several meters away, folding his arms across his sleeveless shirt with complete confidence.
"Come with us peacefully. Your father is quite anxious about you."
"I bet he is."
Cher glanced at Silas, silently asking whether there was any way out. Neither of them had expected to run into a full squad of Enhancers, and judging from their looks, most of them were around C-grade.
"How about this?" Silas said calmly as he removed his backpack and pulled something from inside. "If you don’t let us leave peacefully, I’ll have no choice but to invite the dragon."
The moment those words left his mouth, the surrounding Enhancers exchanged confused glances before bursting into laughter.
"You’re an interesting kid," the sleeveless man sneered. "Do you really think empty threats will scare us?"
Silas didn’t answer. Instead, he casually tossed a flower at the man’s feet. Then he turned toward the distant hills, cupped his hands around his mouth, and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Hey, dragon! Someone here is about to eat your flower!"
He looked back at the sleeveless Enhancer and shrugged.
"If you want it, come and get it."
Silence descended upon the area. None of the Enhancers believed a single word he said. Yet, for reasons none of them could explain, an uneasy feeling quietly settled over the group.
Cher cleared her throat before speaking.
"As your young lady, let me give you a piece of advice. If you don’t let us leave now, the dragon will come... and it’ll be furious. When that happens, even my father won’t be able to save you."
This time, the Enhancers exchanged uncertain glances. Even so, not one of them believed the warning.
"Enough with the act," the sleeveless man scoffed as he bent down and picked up the flower. "If eating this is supposed to make the dragon angry, then watch me while I..."
ROAR!
Before the man could continue, a faint yet terrifying roar echoed from the distance. Everyone instinctively turned toward its source. There was no mistaking it. It was the dragon.
A second roar followed only moments later, louder than the first.
"The dragon... It’s getting closer."
The sleeveless Enhancer paled. He stared at the flower for a heartbeat before throwing it away as though it were a cursed relic. Silas calmly bent down and picked it up.
"My father intends to provoke the dragon and face it head-on," Cher said, seizing the opportunity Silas, the flower, and the approaching dragon had created. "But I have no intention of gambling your lives just to enrage that monster. Let us pass, and we’ll carry this cursed flower as far away from you as possible."
ROAR!
As though the dragon understood her words, another thunderous roar rolled across the land. It was unmistakably closer this time, and the sheer pressure behind it rooted every Enhancer where they stood.
"Let’s go."
Cher spared them only a brief warning, telling them to stay clear of the dragon’s path and spread the warning to everyone they encountered. Then she and Silas rushed forward, passing through the encirclement without meeting the slightest resistance.
"Do you think they’ll listen to your advice?" Silas asked as he ran beside her.
The mine was less than two hours away on foot, and the dragon was now undoubtedly pursuing them after they had drawn its attention.
"I doubt it," Cher replied after a brief pause. "But they won’t dare stop us again. They’ll simply follow from a distance while reporting our movements to my father."
Silas nodded. That outcome was exactly what he had hoped for.
Sure enough, Cher’s prediction proved accurate. As they raced toward the mine, more groups of Enhancers appeared along the way. They kept pace beside them or observed from afar, yet none dared block their path.
Eventually, they passed the final major garrison castle before reaching the mine. There, Silas spotted dozens of young Enhancers wearing the academy’s uniform.
"There are many teams gathered here," Cher said, pointing toward the small fortress. "I recognise several of them. That’s the fourth-ranked student, the seventh-ranked as well... and that red-haired one is the sixth-ranked."
Comments