Chapter 105: A Lucky Rescue

"I’m going to die! I’m going to die! I’m going to die!" Marc crouched on the ground, holding his head as he trembled. He kept repeating the same words over and over.

Sophie and Minerva looked at Marc in disgust. They were also frightened for their lives, but the sight of his current state greatly disgusted them. Even Ben, who was usually the most timid one in the group, was still standing. His legs might have been trembling, but at least he was still on his feet.

*ROOOAR!*

A terrifying roar echoed from a distance, making everyone turn toward its source.

Even the attacking lizards shivered slightly and momentarily stopped charging at the sound.

An enormous creature could be seen flying toward them in the distance, its wings covering the sky as it approached.

"W-w-what in the world is that thing?!" Sophie yelled in fright, almost falling to the ground.

The others weren’t any different from her, except for Marc, who was still trembling on the ground. He was so overwhelmed by fear that he didn’t even notice anything else around him.

"That..." One of the soldiers suddenly widened his eyes. "We’re saved!"

The others turned toward him, stunned by his words.

"That’s Sir Ashen Rain!" he exclaimed.

A younger soldier standing beside him looked at him awkwardly. "Have you lost your mind? How can Sir Ashen Rain be a beast?"

The soldier who had recognized the flying creature shook his head and looked at the younger soldier in annoyance. "You idiot! I’m not saying that beast is Sir Ashen Rain. That’s obviously his mount!"

"Oh!" The younger soldier widened his eyes as he looked back at the approaching beast. "Are you sure?"

"Yes." The man nodded. "I’ve seen that beast before when Sir Ashen Rain visited a noble’s house."

Sophie, Minerva, and Ben were already staring at the approaching beast with stars in their eyes. Like every other youngster of their generation, they had obviously heard of Ashen Rain recently.

The man had become a legend in the country and was famous for casually entering the homes of nobles and powerful merchants to kill traitors of the kingdom.

Even the Queen was said to be unable to do anything against him.

Naturally, the stories were heavily exaggerated, but how would they know?

*ROOOAR!*

As Azreon approached, he opened his mouth and released a stream of crimson fire down on the lizards.

*BOOOOM!*

The explosion sent dust and debris flying in all directions as the dragon circled around the group, continuously releasing fire down on the lizards.

When the dust settled a few moments later, the group could only see a deep pit in the ground surrounding them.

The lizards that hadn’t been caught in the attack trembled and slowly began retreating into the trees.

Chris, who was standing on Azreon’s back, smirked at the sight. How could the lizards even dream of escaping his Dragon Vision?

He raised both hands into the air, conjuring dozens of fireballs before tossing them down toward the trees.

*BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!* *BOOM!*

In an instant, dozens of trees were reduced to ashes, along with the lizards hiding among them.

The lizards in the remaining trees immediately started jumping down and running into the distance.

"Hahahahahaha... Run, run, run, stupid little lizards!" Chris’s smile widened as he conjured even more fireballs.

"H-His smile is scary!" Astra exclaimed as she hugged Stella.

Stella hugged her back, equally frightened. "Big bad man is scary sometimes!"

Aelia smiled gently before patting their shoulders. "Don’t worry, he’s not scary at all..." She glanced at the lizards before chuckling. "Well, maybe a bit scary for those lizards, but you don’t need to be afraid."

Explosions continued to echo through the surroundings for another minute before finally stopping.

Chris looked around once more, making sure there were no other lizards nearby before lowering his hands.

He turned around, and the first thing that caught his attention was the beautiful, bright smile on Aelia’s face as she looked at him. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen her smile like that.

He instantly understood. "Congratulations, Aelia."

"Thank you!" Aelia jumped toward him and hugged him tightly, kissing his cheek. "It’s all thanks to you!"

He shook his head with a smile. "That’s not true. Even without me, I’m sure you wouldn’t have had any problems."

"You and your sweet mouth." Aelia chuckled before finally separating from him.

"Huh? Congratulations on what?" Stella asked in confusion.

Astra looked equally confused.

Aelia smiled again. "I’ve reached Level 70."

The twins’ eyes widened as they realized what she meant. They both jumped toward her, hugging her from either side.

"Hehehehe! Big Sister Aelia is the best! Congratulations!" Astra said happily.

"Yes, yes! Big Sister is the best!" Stella added.

"Thank you, both of you." Aelia smiled gently and patted their heads.

Then, a thought suddenly appeared in the twins’ minds. They looked at Chris, then back at Aelia.

"Big Sister Aelia! You’re now stronger than that big bad man! You must teach him a lesson while you have the chance!" Stella suddenly yelled, holding Aelia’s hand.

"Yes, yes! Quickly beat him up, Sister Aelia! You won’t get the chance if you wait any longer!" Astra nodded repeatedly.

Aelia was stunned for a moment.

"Pffft..." Then she burst out laughing. "Aahahahahahahahahah!"

Chris smiled evilly from the side before approaching the twins.

*Slap!* *Slap!*

"AAAAAWWWW!"

"UGGH!"

They both held their buttocks as they looked angrily at Chris.

"That’s what you get for being naughty." He smiled widely.

They were just about to retort when he raised both hands into the air. "Or... do you want another one?"

They quickly closed their mouths and shook their heads.

"Good." He chuckled as he lowered his hands.

"Azreon, land down." He turned to the side.

*ROAR!*

Azreon quickly dived down and landed next to the group. Amara and Aelia quickly pulled their hoods over their heads and adjusted the veils covering their faces. They looked quite similar standing next to each other, except that Amara was dressed entirely in black while Aelia was dressed in white.

Jumping down from Azreon’s back, Chris slowly approached the stunned group in front of him. The others followed behind him.

"S-Sir Ashen Rain, it’s good to see you again!" One of the soldiers quickly stepped forward and saluted.

Hearing his words, the other soldiers finally came out of their stupor and also stepped forward to salute.

"Fine, fine. At ease." Chris waved his hand. "Have we met before?" He raised an eyebrow at the soldier who had first recognized him.

"Y-Yes. I once saw Sir Ashen Rain when you visited a noble family in the capital. But we never spoke to each other, so I’m sure Sir wouldn’t remember me."

Chris nodded before looking around. "What happened here? How did you manage to attract so many beasts?"

He was genuinely interested. Even he hadn’t managed to attract so many beasts at once, despite constantly trying to do so. If there was a special method to achieve it, he had to learn it.

All the soldiers quickly turned toward one of them who had saluted alongside them. He was the protector of the group.

Chris followed their gazes and looked at the man.

"What’s your name?" he asked.

"Sir! I’m Donald, Sir!" He saluted again and stood as straight as an arrow.

"Just relax. Don’t salute me anymore." Chris waved his hand. "Just tell me, how did you manage to do this?"

"This... Sir Ashen Rain, it was this boy who angered the group of lizards." Donald pointed at Marc, who was still trembling while crouched on the ground. He was so lost in his fear that he didn’t even seem to realize how much the situation had changed.

Chris raised an eyebrow before approaching the crouching young man. He looked at him strangely. "What’s wrong with him?"

"Um... I think he’s just too frightened, Sir." Donald replied with an awkward expression.

Chris squinted his eyes. "Frightened?" He looked at the other youngsters standing nearby. There were two girls and another boy who appeared to be timid.

For some reason, they were all looking at him strangely. He could see literal stars in their eyes, which made him feel slightly uncomfortable, but he decided not to pay attention to it.

He pointed at them. "They seem to be fine." Then he pointed at Ben. "Even this one seems to be fine, despite his... appearance."

"I don’t know, Sir." Donald shook his head carefully.

Chris turned toward Marc again and swung his leg.

"UGH!" Marc yelled as his body was kicked. He finally seemed to come out of his stupor and frantically looked around.

Seeing that there were no beasts nearby, he was pleasantly surprised.

"Haha... Hahahaha... Hahahahahahaha!" He started laughing loudly.

Chris raised an eyebrow. "Is his brain damaged?"

"I... I don’t think so, Sir. He didn’t receive any injuries to the head." Donald replied as he looked at Marc strangely.

"Hey, you." Chris grabbed Marc’s shoulder and pulled him to his feet. "Have you lost your mind?" He raised two fingers. "How many fingers do you see?"

Marc stopped laughing as he was grabbed and looked at Chris’s hand in confusion. "Two?"

Chris nodded. "So your brain is okay? Probably? Whatever..." He shook his head. "Now tell me. How did you manage to anger so many beasts?"

Marc was confused for a moment before looking at Chris in annoyance. "And who the fuck do you think you are to question me?"

*Slap!*

Donald suddenly appeared beside Marc and slapped him, sending him flying several meters before he hit the ground.

"How dare you speak like that to Sir? Have you lost your mind?"

Marc was stunned for a moment before his face twisted in anger. "You dare to hit me!? You, a tiny soldier, dare to hit a noble like me!?"

"Sir, I think this fool has completely lost his mind." Donald looked at Chris.

"That stupid guy is just a coward, S-Sir!" Sophie suddenly replied, stammering as she pointed at Marc.

"Huh? What the hell are you—" Marc was about to retort, but he suddenly felt his body stiffen and found himself unable to utter another word. He couldn’t even move a finger.

"You had your chance to speak." Chris waved his hand, and Marc fell to his knees, still unable to move.

"Be silent, stupid girl!" One of the soldiers suddenly yelled at Sophie. "How dare you address Sir without permission?"

Sophie trembled. "I-I-I’m sorry, Sir!"

Chris took a step forward and, to everyone’s shock, patted the girl’s head.

’This one has great courage. Quite good. Even after being attacked by so many beasts, she seems almost completely fine.’ He thought to himself.

"It’s fine, don’t be afraid. Just tell me what happened."

The girl blushed heavily until her whole face turned red. "I-I-I..." She kept stammering.

Chris lowered his hand and raised an eyebrow. ’Hmm? What’s wrong with her all of a sudden? Am I that scary?’

"You don’t need to speak if you don’t want to." He added.

"N-NO! I will speak!" Sophie yelled more loudly than she intended. "I-I’m sorry for yelling!"

Chris chuckled before shaking his head. He found people these days quite funny.

On the side, Astra and Stella had annoyed expressions as they watched the exchange. They had the urge to rush over and stop it, but Aelia was holding them back.

"Shh, just be quiet for now." She whispered to them.

"So? What happened?" Chris tilted his head.

Sophie took a deep breath, gathered her courage, and pointed at Marc. "That guy found a strange treasure in a cave. It was surrounded by these lizards, and they were sleeping. We all advised him not to touch it, but he had to take it! The next moment, the lizards started waking up and coming from everywhere, and we had to run for our lives!"

"Hm? A treasure in a beast’s lair? It was indeed stupid to take it." He nodded. "And where is this treasure?"