Chapter 100: Father’s Rage

Neo’s unconscious body lay sprawled across the broken wreakage, and the villagers who had survived the long night of slaughter slowly began gathering around his fallen figure, their earlier confidence crumbling the moment they realized the one person who had turned this entire battle around was now lay before them, defeated.

"Is he—is he still breathing?" one of the hunters asked, his voice shaking as he crouched beside Neo, afraid to touch him, afraid that even the smallest movement might hurt him.

Diana pushed through the gathering crowd, her own body still bleeding from a dozens of shallow wounds, her chest heaving as she dropped to her knees beside him, pressing two fingers against the side of his throat the exact same way Varkos had done only moments earlier, and when she finally felt the weak, steady pulse still beating, she let out a shuddering breath that carried equal parts relief and also terror.

"He’s alive, but he isn’t waking up," her voice tight with worry as she search his face for any sign that he might regain consciousness.

Around her, the villagers exchanged frightened, uncertain glances, as they know, none of them have enough power to face the enemy commander.

Just as the battlefield fell into that uneasy, dreadful silence, only Varkos’s laughter continued to echo across the wreckage of the settlement, loud and mocking and utterly unbothered by the desperate, grieving faces turned toward him from every direction.

Then, just as he continued to laugh, he felt something.

His gaze snapped toward the distant edge of the wasteland, far beyond the broken outer wall, where the sound of pounding hooves had suddenly begun rolling steadily closer, the sound was continuous and relentless, growing louder with every passing second until it felt less like horses approaching and more like beating of the war-drum.

Varkos felt every hair along the back of his neck rise up, his primal instinct screaming at him that whatever was approaching carried a presence far beyond anything he had faced tonight.

Varkos straightened fully, his dark eyes narrowing toward the horizon.

A single figure emerged first, far ahead of the rest, cutting through the night at a speed that defied reason entirely, his navy-blue battlesuit sparkle in the night, his black hair whipping violently in the wind by his own impossible speed. Behind him, stretching back across the wasteland, came hundreds, perhaps thousands, of knights, their armor gleaming under the moonlight, their formation were perfect and merciless, moving like a single, unstoppable tide rolling steadily toward the territory.

Varkos’s throat went dry as he looked at the incoming armies.

’Who the hell are these people?’

The silver-eyed man reached the edge of the battlefield within seconds. Varkos feels every instinct telling him to run away from the place, he wanted to run, but his legs refused to move. His entire body trembled under an overwhelming pressure he couldn’t even begin to understand. The moment those silver eyes swept across the wreckage, Varkos felt as though something dangerous and merciless had set its gaze upon him, crushing his very instincts beneath its presence.

The horse came to a sudden, violent stop, and the man leapt down from the saddle without waiting for it to fully settle, striding forward across the broken earth with a calm, measured pace that somehow felt infinitely more terrifying than any charge could have been.

Varkos went stiff, cold sweat running down his face despite the chilly night air. He tried to look at the approaching man, but the moment their eyes nearly met, his gaze dropped on its own. He had fought countless battles and killed more enemies than he could remember, yet never once had he felt fear like this. For the first time in his life, he couldn’t even bring himself to stand tall in front of another person.

The man walked right past Varkos without sparing him a glance. His eyes were fixed on the boy lying motionless nearby.

Varkos remained rooted to the spot as the man knelt beside the boy and carefully lifted him into his arms. He pressed an ear against his son’s chest, listening for a heartbeat.

For a moment, the ruined battlefield fell silent. Nothing else seemed to matter to him—not the destruction, not the fallen soldiers, not even the enemy standing just a few steps away. All he cared about was whether his son was still alive.

The man finally let out a shaky breath when he felt his son’s heartbeat. Neo was still breathing. He was still alive, though battered and completely exhausted.

He carefully laid Neo back on the ground, making sure not to hurt him further. The relief on his face slowly faded, replaced by an anger he could barely keep under control.

Straightening up, he turned back toward the dark elf who hadn’t moved an inch since his entrance. His cold eyes met Varkos’s gaze. ℯ

"How dare you touch my son?!"

Lightning crackled around Cassian’s outstretched hand, blue sparks dancing between his fingers before spreading into the ground beneath his feet. The earth began to tremble as the lightning raced outward, branching in every direction like a network of roots, searching for every dark elf still lurking around the ruined settlement.

Within a few seconds, it found them. One after another, the dark elves convulsed as lightning erupted around their bodies. The blue flashes pierced through armor and flesh, filling the night with the stench of burning skin. Screams broke out across the battlefield, but none lasted long. One by one, the dark elves collapsed, their cries cut short as Cassian’s lightning tore through their body.

Cassian didn’t so much as glance toward any of them. He continued walking, slowly and steadily, his cold eyes locked entirely on the frozen figure standing before him, and with every step he took, more sparks tore through the ground, finding new targets among the scattered remnants of the dark elf forces, leaving nothing behind but smoking, twitching bodies collapsing one after another.

Varkos remained frozen in place, unable to move as he watched the dark elves, his colleagues fall around him.

He wanted to run. Every instinct screamed at him to flee, to disappear into the shadows as he had done countless times before. But his legs wouldn’t move. He had survived countless battles and climbed his way through the dangerous situations, yet nothing had ever made him feel this helpless. For the first time in his life, Varkos was too terrified to even take a step.

Before Varkos could even raise his blades, Cassian moved with blinding speed.

Varkos barely had enough time to register what was happening. One moment, Cassian was standing several paces away. The next, his hand was wrapped around Varkos’s skull, gripping it like a steel vice.

He lifted the dark elf off the ground with one hand, as if his strength meant absolutely nothing compare to himself. Varkos’s feet dangled helplessly in the air, and no matter how hard he struggled, he couldn’t be able to break free.

"P-please—"

Cassian didn’t say a word. He simply tightened his grip more.

"AHH-!!!!"

Varkos let out a bloodcurdling scream as the pressure crushed his skull. The sound of cracking bone followed, and his desperate cries rang through the ruined settlement, drawing the attention of every surviving villager and the Draven knights rushing through the gate.

Nobody dared to step in. Nobody wanted to be next.

Cassian tightened his grip, and lightning surged through his hand into Varkos’s body. The dark elf’s entire body jerked violently as lightning tore through him. He tried to scream, but the pain was too much to bear. It felt as if every nerve in his body was being ripped apart at once.

He had endured countless battles over the centuries. He had tortured others without a second thought, watching them beg and scream while he stood there enjoying their suffering. Now, he finally understood what it felt like to be on the other side.

His screams echoed across the battlefield until his voice gave out. Even then, the lightning didn’t stop. All that escaped his throat were broken, painful gasps.

Cassian watched him with a blank expression. The anger that had been burning in his eyes earlier was gone, leaving behind something far worse. He showed no hatred, no satisfaction, not even the slightest hint of emotion.

He had already decided Varkos’s fate. And nothing the dark elf did would change it.

Cassian finally turned his attention to the ruined settlement. His knights were already moving through Veldra in tight formations, clearing the remaining areas with practiced efficiency. Any dark elf still alive was quickly subdued and dragged out of hiding. One after another, they were bound with chains and restraining spells before being forced to their knees.

A handful of elven villagers, Diana included, stood frozen near the edge of the square, watching the sheer, overwhelming display of power that had just torn through the remnants of the dark elf army in the span of mere minutes, their expressions caught somewhere between awe and genuine terror.

Cassian looked over the surviving elves. Their pointed ears were clearly visible in the moonlight, and many could barely keep their weapons in their trembling hands.

His silver eyes narrowed as he considered what had happened here and how his son had ended up in a place so far from home. He needed answers, and these elves might know something.

He didn’t order his knights to kill them. Not yet. Not until he understood exactly why Neo, heir to the Draven Dukedom, had been found lying unconscious in the middle of a half-destroyed elven settlement buried deep within the Desolate Land, surrounded by people who had no business crossing paths with his son in the first place.

His gaze lingered a moment longer on Diana, taking in the protective, almost desperate way she still stood near the spot where Neo lay, before he finally turned and made his way back toward his fallen son, lowering himself carefully to the ground beside him once more, gathering the boy gently into his arms as though he weighed nothing at all.

"You’re safe now... I’ve got you."

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[A/N: With this Chapter, We have finally reached the 100 Chapters, thank you for your support everyone. I hope you brought some gift for our Little Dragon??!]