Chapter 109: The Boy Who Outsmarted a Dragon
For the dragon, scanning an entire Mana mine was like plunging its mind into a storm of chaos, but it endured the backlash. Moments later, it found what it was looking for.
The flower rested in a human’s hand, surrounded by dozens of monsters. They stood quietly around her, neither hostile nor restless.
That alone confirmed Silas’s story.
’A Tamer...’
The dragon’s gaze darkened.
The threat was no longer limited to losing the flower. If the Tamer fed it to one of those monsters before it arrived, the situation could become dangerous even for itself.
For the first time, the dragon hesitated.
Countless possibilities flashed through its mind before every path led to the same conclusion.
’I can’t lose the flower.’
It was a forced exchange, carefully engineered by the cursed human before it. Yet there was no longer any room for hesitation. Even at full speed, it would take a few minutes to reach the flower.
Meanwhile, Silas continued dying and reviving with every passing second.
His entire trap depended on this moment. He was confident in his deductions, yet confidence alone could not silence the fear that the dragon might simply ignore logic and shatter every expectation.
Then the dragon fell into a longer silence.
’It’s considering it...’
Hope slowly pushed back the suffocating anxiety.
Silas remained perfectly still, not daring to utter another word. Pressuring the dragon now could only ruin everything.
’Come on.’
’Go after the flower.’
’I’m skinny anyway.’
The minute that followed felt endless. Finally, the dragon spoke.
"Well played, cursed Ashborne."
Silas’s heart sank.
’It’s rejecting the bait...’
He quietly clenched his fists and prepared himself for the inevitable.
Then the dragon slowly turned away.
"I’ll retrieve it first," it said coldly. "After that, I’ll return and kill you. Slowly."
The instant the dragon disappeared into the tunnel, Silas released a long, trembling breath.
Cold sweat soaked his back, and the strength drained from his legs, forcing him onto one knee as an uncontrollable tremor spread through his body.
"It’s not over yet."
He slapped his own face, forcing himself back to his senses, then immediately raised his wristwatch and sent three messages.
"It took the bait."
"It’s heading toward your location."
"RUN!"
The moment Silas sent the message, he forced himself back to his feet. He was no longer in any condition to repeat the frantic sprint that had brought him this far. Even so, another problem remained.
He had no idea where to go.
[I’ll lure it deeper into the tunnel marked here.]
Just as uncertainty crept into his mind, Lara came through once again, sending him another map.
It was no less crude than the childish sketch she had drawn before, but this one was far simpler. The central hall was marked, along with the tunnel the dragon had entered. Five passages to the left, another tunnel was circled.
"She really is dependable."
Without wasting another moment, Silas headed toward the marked passage.
Every tunnel looked nearly identical, each wide enough for a dragon to move comfortably in its true form. Only after reaching the correct one did he notice the line of torches fixed to the walls, their flames stretching into the darkness and illuminating the path ahead with a dancing myriad of lights.
As he stepped deeper into the tunnel, Silas knew their plan had finally entered its last stage. And a sudden thought crossed his mind.
"I wish I were just a little stronger. Then I wouldn’t have been satisfied with taking only the dragon’s blood."
The idea was absurd. Yet, for the first time, it no longer felt impossible.
"Next time, I’ll be strong enough to kill the dragon standing in my way."
***
Chaz stood atop the crystal mine, barely containing the fury burning beneath his collected expression.
When he arrived, he had expected good news. At the very least, someone should have located Cher or reported the direction of her escape.
Instead, there was nothing. There wasn’t a single trace of his daughter anywhere around the mine.
At first, Chaz had assumed Silas had sacrificed himself to buy Cher enough time to escape. Now, he no longer believed that.
’She isn’t trying to escape.’
’She’s hiding.’
The realisation changed everything.
His gaze drifted toward the vast abyss beneath the mine as another question surfaced.
’If you didn’t throw yourself down there to let her escape...’
’Then why did you jump?’
An uneasy feeling settled in his chest.
The more he thought about it, the more convinced he became that a hidden scheme had unfolded right before his eyes. And the key to that mystery was Silas.
Or more precisely, what happened to him atop the mine.
"Bring me every close-range recording of the moments before the dragon fell."
His voice remained calm despite the pressure with which he ground his teeth.
When it happened, he had been too far away to see clearly. Now, he was certain the answer lay within those final seconds.
When he waited for the recording, a different message suddenly arrived at his wristwatch.
[We found them.]
Chaz frowned in confusion. The message hadn’t come from any Enhancer stationed at the mine.
Then realisation struck him hard. He was overly absorbed at dealing with this messy situation to forget about another party. It was from the clan’s special squad he had dispatched earlier to intercept the reinforcements sent by the other clans.
"And?"
A few moments later, a detailed report arrived, ending with a single sentence.
[...We eliminated them all. No prisoners were taken, as ordered.]
[We’ll remain stationed along the territory’s edge and intercept the next force expected to arrive within a few hours.]
Rachel’s special squad had already been wiped out. Now they were waiting for Leopard’s forces.
Chaz considered recalling them, but quickly dismissed the idea.
The problem before him did not require greater strength. It required more people and enough time to search every corner of the mine.
For a brief moment, he even thought about calling back the workers he had evacuated earlier. His men were combing the area surrounding the mine, but almost none of them were searching its interior. The tunnels formed by mining the crystals created a labyrinth, and only the workers truly knew their layout.
In the end, he abandoned the thought.
If those ordinary workers died at the hands of the dragon or the Dark Hunters because of his orders, the backlash would be immense.
’Patience.’
He repeated the word to himself.
’At least she isn’t trying to flee.’
’Sooner or later, she’ll reveal herself.’
’And when she does... I’ll be waiting.’
Suppressing the urge to act recklessly, Chaz remained atop the mine, silently waiting for the opportunity to present itself.
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