At a glance, it looked like a conductor’s baton. That was why Noance’s nickname had become the Silent Conductor.
But of course, it was not meant for conducting. At the tip of the rod was a poison needle so thin it was invisible to the human eye.
The image of the corpses in the warehouse—collapsed without a single wound—flashed through my mind. I swallowed hard and instinctively clutched Varen’s collar.
“Funny. I could say the same about you. I have no idea what you’re plotting.”
Noance, who looked no older than a boy, appeared even smaller when compared to Margon’s build. Yet he stared straight into the dragon’s sharpened blue eyes.
Even so, I felt not the slightest hint of fear from him. If anything, his killing intent burned just as fiercely as a dragon’s, and he even leaned his face closer to Varen’s.
“If you assumed I would automatically side with a dragon, that’s a mistake.”
The moment he spoke, my body moved on instinct. I yanked Varen’s clothes with all my strength, and his heavy body staggered backward.
At the exact spot where Varen’s face had been a split second earlier, Noance’s baton sliced past.
That razor-thin moment etched itself into my mind as if in slow motion.
“What the...?”
Having regained his balance, Varen muttered as he stared down at his own palm in shock.
He had been gripping a human’s thin wrist with enough force to crush bone—yet not only had Noance slipped free like smoke, he had counterattacked.
Varen had no real combat experience while in human form. Noance, on the other hand, was an assassin specialized in close combat. Of course Varen was shaken.
Barely managing to pull Varen out of the attack, I clenched my trembling hands into fists. I always tried to stay calm no matter the situation, but right now my body refused to listen.
Noance had realized that Varen was a dragon.
Since when? No—how?
There was no time to think about that. I hurriedly stepped in front of Varen and waved my hands at Noance.
“W-wait. Just a second. Let’s talk. O-okay?”
“I don’t feel like doing that.”
The murderous tone sent chills rippling across my skin. I desperately wanted to run, but my legs had gone stiff, making even that impossible.
“Ceryl, move aside. I will kill that human.”
It seemed Varen had fully come to his senses. From behind me, he released the same lethal intent.
With his keen hearing, Noance caught it all. He curled his lips into a crooked smile and repeated my name.
“Ceryl? Is that your name?”
Damn it. Somehow, I was the only one about to die after getting caught between two monsters.
I had hoped that meeting Noance the moment we found the Rebels would be good fortune. I never imagined he would be this impossible to communicate with.
Even so, I could not let Varen and Noance fight. There was no reason to start a war of mutual destruction before negotiations with our strongest potential ally had even begun.
I pushed Varen back with my whole body, stumbling backward as I did, while desperately trying to placate Noance.
“J-just... p-please put that down first. Okay? Let’s talk....”
“You planned to deceive me from the start. Talk about what?”
“I-I’m sorry... I just... there were circumstances....”
“Not interested.”
No matter how I looked at him, he was clearly human—yet nothing about him felt human. My words kept catching in my throat.
When I read the novel, Noance’s merciless nature had seemed cool. But now that that same bloodless man was bearing down on me, it felt like my lungs were being crushed.
I should have just listened to Morpha and stayed quietly on the sidelines. Too late for regrets now—I could practically see the sky collapsing with nowhere left to run.
“...Aaaah! The dragon is dying! The dragon is dying!!”
I screamed at the top of my lungs, loud enough to shake the crowded hall.
Humans who were not affected by the drug flinched and froze at my voice.
It was only an instant—but it was enough.
The ones who hesitated were Noance, the masked Rebels nearby, and one middle-aged man who was pretending to be drugged despite not wearing a mask.
I had pinpointed Morpha’s position precisely. Locking eyes with him, I shouted an SOS.
“Help me!!!”
The unfamiliar middle-aged face twisted into an all-too-familiar expression. He stared at me and Varen as if he could not believe what he was seeing.
Then a dragon’s furious roar exploded inside my head at skull-splitting volume.
“I distinctly told you... to stay put, didn’t I?!”
Just how badly were we about to get scolded this time?
Varen and I both squeezed our eyes shut and froze. Sensing something off, Noance immediately turned around.
Just before his gaze could land on him, Morpha put on a dazed expression again and vanished back into the crowd.
Using the brief distraction Morpha had created, I grabbed Varen’s hand and bolted. My heart pounded wildly, half-expecting Noance to chase us like a ghost.
Varen clearly did not like retreating, but he still followed where I led, grumbling in irritation.
“Ceryl, why are we running? I can kill—”
“Do you want to make an enemy of the Rebels right now? Run. Morpha will figure out the negotiations somehow.”
I ground my teeth and hurried forward, desperately thinking through escape routes.
Blending in with the drugged crowd would not work—Margon’s tall frame stood out far too much. We would be spotted by Noance in no time.
I quickly scanned the interior, searching for another evacuation route the Rebels might not know about.
That was when my attention was drawn beyond one of the arched entrances. From a place that had been filled with raucous noise earlier, not a single sound came through.
They say the darkest place is right under the lamp. We should hide in the circus area first, then look for an opening.
I tightened my grip on Varen’s hand and pulled him toward the archway.
“This way!”
“Ceryl, wait. We can’t just leave.”
Varen stood his ground, staring toward the distant warehouse.
Only then did the mermaid trapped inside come back to me. I had promised I would return—only minutes ago. Without meaning to, I had made a promise I could not keep.
I steeled my heart and spoke firmly, even as guilt twisted inside me.
“There’s no choice right now. The Rebels will save the mermaid. Let’s get out first.”
“That’s not it....”
Just earlier he had glared at her like a mortal enemy, yet now Varen hesitated, trailing off.
There was clearly history between the dragon and the mermaid, but I had no time to hear it. I bit my lip hard and ran through every possible option.
Do we drag Varen out now and come back later?
Or do we grab the entire tank and run?
Before I could decide, multiple signals rang out at once, demanding an answer.
Crash!!
“Aaah! Why, why again?! What is it this time?!”
It was the sound of every window on the outer walls shattering simultaneously. The basement itself had no windows, but I still ducked and covered my head on reflex.
Before I could even breathe in relief, vibrations began to surge up from beneath our feet. A dreadful sense of déjà vu crept over me.
It overlapped perfectly with the moment the Belzena war had begun—when the cave collapsed and Varen had been buried under falling rock.
Panicking, I grabbed Varen’s hand. But he looked back at me with steady, unshaken eyes, as if he had something to rely on.
“I’ll buy time. Put on the Night Veil and get out!”
Morpha’s dependable voice rang directly inside my head.
As if he had been waiting for it, Varen pulled a cloak from his pocket. The item his mother had given him folded down small enough to fit between handkerchiefs, making it easy to carry.
With one hand, Varen spread it open and draped it over my shoulders first. While I pulled up the hood, he slipped beneath the cloak as well.
“Hurry and start!”
“Not ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) all the humans are out yet!”
“Doesn’t matter! We can’t miss this! Move!”
Amid the laughter of drugged patrons, the chaotic footsteps, and explosions echoing throughout the building, I caught fragments of conversation between Noance and another man.
Holding my breath, I erased my presence completely. Beside me, Varen glared in that direction with blazing eyes.
“Tch. It would have been simpler to just kill him....”
He still seemed irritated that he had not been able to kill Noance. I shook my head and reached beneath the cloak to grab his hand.
With our bodies hidden, my thoughts drifted back to the mermaid. Using Varen’s telekinesis, we could move the entire tank—but there was no way to conceal something that large.
Her desperate voice, begging me not to leave her behind, echoed in my ears again and again. Breaking a promise to a monster weighed heavily on me.
Even so, no matter how I thought about it, escaping safely with Varen came first.
For now, I focused only on the warmth in my hand.
Once we reached somewhere safe...
“Huh?”
“What is that.”
Varen and I felt it at the same time. The building had been shaking for a while now, but this was different.
It was not the ground trembling.
It felt more like... space and time themselves were staggering.
“Damn it—shit! It’s too late already!”
Morpha’s furious voice exploded in my head.
Not knowing why, Varen and I tightened our grip on each other’s hands.
“I’ll come to where Varen is this time, so stay put. Please!!”
