Chapter 113: One Move, Countless Ripples
"Are you blind?" the Scorpion leader snapped. "Can’t you see she’s a girl?"
The Wyvern leader narrowed his eyes as he studied Cher.
"She’s wearing the same uniform as that crazy bastard. She’s from the same academy... Frontier Academy."
Uneasy whispers spread throughout the group. Although Cher stood well beyond their effective range, the strange white flames hovering above her radiated enough power to make many instinctively wary.
"Let me kill her," the Chimera leader said as he stepped forward. "That bastard escaped by dying. At least let me vent my anger on her."
As the fastest among the surviving Dark Hunters, no one doubted he could catch her even if she was a runner. Before he could move, however, Cher suddenly raised her hand and pointed toward them as though exposing a crime.
"The Dark Hunters are stealing the crystals!"
"They’re robbing the mine!"
Her voice echoed across the entire area, loud enough for the surrounding valleys to carry it even farther. In an instant, she stopped being a mere nuisance and became a genuine threat.
The shouting alone would not have frightened the Dark Hunters. What unsettled the Scorpion leader were the dazzling white fireballs floating above her head. They shone like beacons, visible from an enormous distance, and would inevitably draw attention to their location.
Realising this, he did not hesitate any longer.
"Kill her!"
"Drop everything and KILL HER!"
The urgency in his voice erased all hesitation. The Dark Hunters abandoned the crystals, turned toward Cher, and charged.
Seeing them take the bait, the corners of Cher’s lips curled into a faint smile. She dismissed the fireballs, spun around, and fled without looking back.
The Scorpion leader had barely begun to relax after the lights vanished when a distant commotion erupted from every direction. Countless shouts echoed through the mine, growing louder with each passing second, and his expression immediately darkened.
The mine’s forces were converging on their position. Ironically, they had not been drawn here by Cher’s dazzling ability, but by Cher herself.
The moment she revealed herself, unleashed her ability, and shouted across the valley, the scattered mine troops immediately recognised her. A report reached Chaz almost instantly, causing him to halt the search party and order every available Enhancer and soldier back to the surface.
"I knew it."
This time, Chaz Avaron did not remain behind.
He personally led the charge, leading the small force he left behind to contain the Dark Hunters.
He was so impatient, so he rushed towards them with the only one B-Enhancer left on the surface, while the rest of his small force hurried after them, desperate to catch up with their commander.
"I knew you’d appear eventually."
"And this time... you won’t escape me."
His standard plan had been to spread his forces across the entire region, sealing every possible escape route until not even a fly could slip away. However, with only a few at his side, such a strategy was impossible.
The only option left was to break through the Dark Hunters himself, alongside the B-Enhancer on his side, carve a path through their ranks, and find his daughter before anyone else did.
Instead, three B-Enhancers intercepted him.
Unlike Chaz and the exhausted mine forces, the three had reached the mine with few wounds. Not to mention, they had enough time to rest and heal.
Even when the small force joined, with the help of the B-Enhancer on his side, they managed to delay him for several precious minutes, enough for the rest of his army to arrive from the abyss.
The moment his forces caught up, Chaz immediately spread them across the battlefield, ordering them to tighten the encirclement until every inch of the area had been searched.
As for the Dark Hunters... They could only curse their misfortune, becoming the outlet for venting every ounce of rage Chaz had accumulated through one failure after another.
High above the battlefield, several shuttles hovered cautiously, circling the same stretch of land.
Inside one of them sat Leopard.
Everything he had built had collapsed before his eyes, and the last thread of hope he clung to had nearly snapped after the situation spiralled completely out of control.
He had never expected events to escalate so quickly, long before his clan’s special squad could arrive. Yet the moment he learned that Cher had appeared, he ordered his shuttle to head straight for the battlefield.
His goal was simple: he wanted to capture Cher.
Once she was in his hands, finding Silas would only be a matter of time. Leopard knew the two had been close to obtaining the dragon’s blood.
Originally, he had intended to seize it himself. After suffering setback after setback, however, his priorities had changed. Capturing Cher and forcing Silas to surrender the dragon blood had become his only remaining chance.
Unfortunately... The moment he saw Chaz Avaron personally tearing through the battlefield down below, he abandoned any thought of interfering.
"Screw it..."
Even so, he refused to leave; he refused to give up.
"If Chaz captures Cher, Silas will definitely come to rescue her. When that happens, I’ll kill him and take the backpack carrying the dragon blood."
It was an absurd plan. Yet to a man whose ship was already sinking, even a broken plank looked worth clinging to.
Another shuttle hovered nearby, where Rachel stood inside it.
The instant she received the report, she rushed over with her remaining forces, hoping to find Cher before her father did and finish her herself.
"What rotten luck..."
Her expression darkened as she watched Chaz Avaron slaughter the Dark Hunters at the front lines, displaying strength that left no room for doubt.
"Why did you have to come personally this time?"
She gritted her teeth. Cher had no chance of escaping Chaz now, and Rachel’s chance to kill her had vanished along with it.
"Then... plan B."
Her gaze shifted toward the abyss. For a moment there, she regretted celebrating Silas’ death. He could have served a better purpose now instead of wastefully dying like this.
Yet she didn’t lose hope. She settled her gaze on the map up front.
"I’ll find Darius, Lara, and Alfred, take them back to my clan, and present them as Cher’s teammates."
It was a far poorer prize than the one she had originally sought. But against the enraged Black Lightning Asura, there was nothing else she could do.
***
The situation escalated with astonishing speed.
For a long while, everyone’s attention remained fixed on Cher, causing the dragon to be forgotten amid the chaos.
Yet Cher was like a ghost.
She disappeared without a trace, leaving only a trapped force of Dark Hunters to face the fury of Chaz Avaron, his left alive B-Enhancers, and his remaining mine troops as a whole force.
The battle raged for another hour before the last Dark Hunter finally fell.
Even after the fighting ended and the entire area was searched, Cher was nowhere to be found.
Cher had vanished as though she had never existed.