Chapter 115: Let There Be Fear
If even Lara, a descendant of a Generational Enhancer Lineage, felt this frightened, then an orphan like Silas should have been under even greater pressure.
Instead, his reply was the same calm answer he had given back then.
[Just stick to the plan.]
[Your role is to extract the blood.]
[Be ready when I give the signal.]
Despite the fear tightening around her heart and the countless doubts she still harboured about the trap, Lara couldn’t help smiling as she shook her head.
"At least he’s confident enough to face a dragon."
"My Cher really found herself a good man this time."
With that thought, she fixed her eyes on the path ahead and silently reviewed every step she would take once she led the dragon to the place where fate awaited it.
***
Silas knew the fall would not end without injury, but he hadn’t expected his leg to take the worst of it.
Every step sent a sharp pain through the wound, forcing him to move far slower than he had planned. Blood soaked his pants, and after struggling forward for several minutes, he finally stopped, tore off part of his shirt, and wrapped it tightly around the injury to slow the bleeding.
"I’m here at last."
What should have been a simple walk turned into an exhausting ordeal. Each step demanded effort, yet he forced himself to keep moving as quickly as he could.
Otherwise, Lara would die.
"I know I drew the sketch, but this... It’s far beyond anything I imagined."
The pain faded from his mind the moment he emerged from the tunnel onto a small cliff overlooking the trap site.
A vast underground hall stretched before him, at least a mile long and wide, with a ceiling nearly fifty meters high. Countless stone pillars rose from the ground to support the immense cavern, while torches mounted along the walls cast flickering light across exposed veins of crystal, scattering countless shimmering reflections throughout the chamber.
It was magnificent. More importantly, it was the perfect battlefield fit for a dragon’s last roar.
After taking a minute to absorb all this, a smile appeared on Silas’s face.
"Lara did an incredible job."
He pulled out the map she had sent and carefully compared it with the terrain below. Every trap she had prepared was marked with meticulous precision. After matching each location to the landmarks inside the cavern, he committed them all to memory.
"Now let’s see whether this works."
Closing his eyes, he took a slow breath and waited.
Several minutes later, Lara finally arrived.
She burst from a tunnel on the side of the cavern, riding atop one of her largest Mana Squirrel Eaters. One after another, the remaining beasts leapt into the hall behind her, making her entrance even more imposing.
The moment she spotted Silas, she hurled a backpack toward him. And it contained the flower.
"Good luck."
"I’ll hide inside one of the tunnels."
There was no time for anything else. She had barely escaped the dragon’s pursuit, and both of them understood that every unnecessary word only increased the risk of failure.
Her mount landed gracefully on a lower ledge before immediately racing into another tunnel along the wall. The remaining Mana Squirrel Eaters followed without hesitation, disappearing into the darkness behind her.
Then the dragon appeared.
ROAR!
The dragon burst into the cavern, its furious roar shaking the entire hall.
"You bastards! Come out! Give me back my flower, you bunch of useless ants!"
The dragon’s furious roars echoed from behind as Silas watched several unfortunate monsters fall beneath its claws, their bodies torn apart in an instant. The sight filled him with a trace of guilt. Because of his injured leg, Lara had been forced to take the long detour, risking both herself and her companions. Fortunately, she had escaped with most of her babies, though not all of them had been as fortunate.
Unlike Lara, who had landed safely on the lower ledge, the dragon crashed onto the ground below. It remained motionless for a brief moment, glancing around in confusion before its gaze locked onto Silas.
"You..."
Its golden eyes widened, as a realisation floated atop its mind for a few moments.
"You have the flower... so you’ve finally given up."
Excitement surged through the dragon. The prey that had toyed with it for days had appeared carrying the one treasure it desired above all else.
Its confidence only grew as it noticed Silas’s poorly bandaged leg. Blood had soaked through the crude wrapping, staining his clothes and covering much of his body. To the dragon, the sight could only mean one thing: the human had reached his limit.
Yet instead of trembling in fear, fleeing, or begging for mercy, Silas smiled.
He immediately activated the ability he had kept hidden until this very moment.
"Dreastare Ability."
He had never used it before. Even during his previous encounters with the dragon, despite countless opportunities, he had resisted the temptation.
He refused to reveal his trump card too early. If the dragon became aware of the ability, it might grow wary of it or even devise a way to counter its effects.
Silas understood that every hardship, every sacrifice, and every risk he and his friends had endured had led to this single moment.
Everything depended on this ability. Everything depended on whether it could shake a dragon.
Separated by dozens of meters, Silas had no idea of its exact range, duration, or true strength. He had never tested it outside the Time Mind World.
Still, he remembered one thing with absolute certainty.
Within that endless simulation, the ability had terrified Shadowheart so completely that the creature fled without hesitation. Every version of the plan he had tested against the dragon shadow had ended the same way. Regardless of where the dragon stood, it had always fallen under its influence.
There was, however, one terrible drawback.
That was why Silas had never considered using it against anyone else. In his eyes, Dreadstare was a one-time ability. Either the dragon would fall after he unleashed it, or he would be left drained, powerless, and incapable of defending himself before dying without putting up a fight against the dragon.
The instant the ability was activated, Silas’s eyes turned crimson.
Within his vision, countless black daggers forged from shadow burst forward and pierced the dragon’s body. They passed through its flesh without resistance, sinking deep into its form before vanishing without leaving behind a single wound or even the faintest scar.
’Fear wounds what strength cannot.’
His lips slowly curled up.
’Let there be fear.’