Silas couldn’t help but look at his friend again, looking for any hidden wound or burnt skin. Yet he couldn’t find anything, and when he recalled how normal Darius looked all this time, he threw the worry aside.

Even so, there was an obvious flaw in Darius’ plan.

"You know they’ll throw the flower away the moment I toss it to them."

Silas looked him in the eye, but Darius only smiled.

"That’s why we’re using a different trick this time."

Turning around, he started running down the hill.

"We’re going to use you. Come on. I’ll explain on the way."

Silas didn’t know why, but lately Darius had begun to sound like a leader, something he had never shown before. There was no time to dwell on it, however. So far, everything the man had done had been aimed at salvaging the plan, and this was no different.

As the two hurried toward the Dark Hunters, the enemy formation began to shift. The point they had chosen to break through lay between two garrison posts. Initially advancing in a wedge formation, they gradually spread outward as they moved, transforming into a wide inverted wing.

The movement was immediately mirrored by the thousands of troops under Cher’s father. As both sides fanned out, it became obvious that a clash was inevitable.

Since the mine forces were approaching from a single direction, Silas quickly understood the Dark Hunters’ intention. The Enhancers spreading out to intercept them were sacrifices. Their purpose was to delay the pursuing troops long enough for the main force to slip through the gap and disappear into the inner territory of the mine.

’I can’t allow that to happen.’

There was no time to waste.

Silas pulled out a crystal and burned it. A surge of power rushed through his body, sending his speed soaring. In only a few explosive bursts, he closed the distance.

Fortunately, the Dark Hunters were too focused on the approaching army to pay attention to their rear. Not a single glance was spared behind them, allowing Silas to draw dangerously close before the battle even began.

Once he was near enough, he veered to the right and advanced carefully, avoiding unnecessary attention while searching for an opening.

’There.’

His eyes brightened. The moment he spotted a gap in their formation, he seized it. Silas pulled out the flower, raised it high above his head, and began waving it frantically.

"Leader! Leader! I’ve got the flower!"

"Let me through! I need to give it to you!"

The instant his voice rang out, nearly every Dark Hunter turned toward him. Many recognised him immediately, and the three leaders certainly did, as their expressions darkened with rage.

"Isn’t that him?"

"Seriously, what did we ever do to deserve that kid?"

"Can we just kill him already?"

Voices erupted from every direction. Silas answered with a wicked grin and kept running. The moment he appeared with the flower, the Dark Hunters nearly came to a halt, as though a bomb had exploded in their midst.

"If you don’t take it, I’ll eat it right here and now!"

Then he raised his voice even louder.

"Do you hear me, you worthless little lizard?"

This time, however, he wasn’t speaking to the Dark Hunters. He glanced over his shoulder and shouted at the empty sky. For a brief moment, nothing happened. Then a terrifying roar echoed across the distance.

ROAR!

The dragon was coming.

"Dammit! He’s bringing the dragon to us again!"

"Kill him!"

The panicked shouts came from the Dark Hunters, particularly from the ones gathered near the front. The moment those words spread through the ranks, reason vanished. They knew exactly what it meant to be hunted by the dragon. They knew exactly what it meant to have that cursed flower anywhere near them.

Panic spread like wildfire. Yet amid the chaos, no one noticed something important. The shout that had pushed them over the edge had not come from one of their own.

It had come from Darius.

Darius left Silas’s side as soon as the plan was explained.

While Silas ran directly toward the Dark Hunters, Darius took a longer route, veering far to the side before circling around their formation. Under normal circumstances, such a manoeuvre would never have gone unnoticed. However, by the time he drew close enough to be spotted, Silas had already begun shouting from the opposite direction, drawing every eye toward himself. Then came the dragon’s roar.

That was the signal Darius had been waiting for.

His sudden shout sounded as though it had come from one of the Dark Hunters themselves. The survivors had already been traumatised by the dragon, by Silas, and by the cursed flower. When all three fears were stirred at once, they needed only the slightest push to react without thinking.

The moment panic took hold, Darius did not linger to test his luck. He turned and fled immediately.

At the same time, Silas watched the Dark Hunters charge toward him in a frenzy. He crushed a crystal in his hand and burst forward with explosive speed, slipping through the disorganised crowd before they could react.

Without slowing down, he burned several more crystals, rapidly widening the distance between himself and the maddened Dark Hunters. He did not follow Darius’s path, either. Instead, he ran in a different direction, ensuring the two groups would separate.

As chaos spread across the battlefield, the mine troops quickly adapted and pushed deeper into the area, intending to intercept the Dark Hunters and wipe them out.

Then the dragon arrived.

ROAR!

"The dragon!"

"Watch out!"

"Attack it!"

"Mages! Use everything you’ve got!"

The second roar left no room for doubt. The beast had drawn close enough for everyone to feel its presence.

For a brief moment, both sides forgot their conflict and united against the greater threat. Magic attacks, projectiles, and different abilities rained toward the sky.

It changed nothing, as a dragon stood beyond the reach of those Enhancers.

The dragon ignored most of the attacks and answered with several devastating streams of fire. It seemed especially agitated after hearing Silas’s voice. Unable to find its true target, it vented its fury upon everyone below.