When Draen arrived ahead of everyone else, moving faster than sound itself while the knights struggled to keep pace behind him, the sight that greeted him was enough to make the air grow heavy with danger.
The carriage that had once carried Lewis now lay overturned at the side of the road with its wheels broken and its wooden frame splintered from the violent attack.
Nearby, several knights were sprawled across the ground in miserable condition.
Thir bodies were bruised and bloodied as they struggled to rise despite their injuries.
The scent of blood and shattered earth lingered everywhere, mixing with the faint remains of Lewis’ presence that had not yet completely faded.
On the other hand, Edrik stood among them with his sword still drawn along with his heavy breathing from the nervousness.
Even without needing to ask, Draen already understood what had happened the moment his gaze landed on the ruined carriage.
Lewis was gone.
For a brief moment, silence consumed the entire area.
Then the atmosphere changed.
A terrifying pressure exploded from Draen’s body without warning, so overwhelming that the ground beneath their feet cracked apart under the sheer force of it.
The surrounding air became suffocatingly thick while pressing against everyone’s bodies like an invisible mountain.
Even the wounded knights immediately dropped to one knee with their pale faces as cold sweat poured down their skin.
Some could barely breathe while others trembled uncontrollably with their instinct screaming at them to flee despite knowing escape was impossible.
And Edrik himself stiffened the moment the energy struck him.
Though he managed to remain standing, his entire body had gone rigid as if every nerve was being crushed beneath Draen’s fury.
He had served Draen long enough to understand exactly what this silence meant.
Their master was enraged.
Not the calm, controlled anger he usually concealed beneath indifference but the kind capable of reducing an entire battlefield into ashes.
Draen slowly stepped toward the overturned carriage with his molten gold eyes fixed upon it with terrifying intensity.
The closer he got, the darker his expression became.
The faint traces of Lewis’ scent that lingered in the wreckage only worsened the violent storm brewing inside him.
He had left Lewis under their protection for only a short while yet they still failed.
The realization alone was enough to make the surrounding mana spiral wildly around him like a raging tempest.
Yet none of the knights dared to speak their minds because every single one of them knew that at any given second, Draen could decide to take their heads for failing to protect the person he treasured most.
“Y-Your Grace… my apologies…”
Edrik forced himself to step forward despite the crushing pressure weighing down on everyone’s bodies, hoping to at least buy the others enough time to breathe.
His armor felt unbearably heavy beneath Draen’s overwhelming mana yet he endured and lowered his head before his master.
For a brief moment, the violent energy surrounding Draen lessened ever so slightly.
Not enough to ease the suffocating tension entirely but enough for the knights to finally gasp for air without feeling as though their lungs would collapse.
Then Draen slowly turned toward Edrik.
His molten gold eyes burned with fury so intense that even Edrik felt his spine go cold under that gaze alone.
“What exactly does your apology accomplish?” Draen’s voice came out gentle at first, dangerously calm before it suddenly rose into a furious roar.
“My bride is gone!”
The moment the words left his mouth, another terrifying wave of mana exploded outward from him.
The ground cracked violently beneath their feet while nearby trees bent from the sheer force of the pressure.
Several already injured knights even collapsed completely onto the dirt while coughing as the overwhelming energy pressed mercilessly against their bodies.
Fear spread across their faces instantly because they all knew Draen was barely restraining himself from slaughtering them where they knelt.
Even so, Edrik remained in place.
Cold sweat slid down the side of his face as he lowered himself into a deeper bow.
“I shall accept any punishment Your Grace deems fit for my failure,” he said through clenched teeth.
“But if possible… please allow me to continue the search for His Grace. Allow me to bring back Your Grace’s bride.”
After that, silence followed.
The surrounding atmosphere only grew heavier then, one after another, the other battered knights forced themselves onto their knees despite their injuries, lowering their heads until they nearly touched the ground.
“Your Grace, we beg for mercy!” they pleaded in unison even when their voices are trembling.
The sight only further emphasized the terrifying difference between them and the man standing before them.
Draen looked less like a human noble and more like a calamity barely contained in mortal skin.
Before the situation could worsen further, another group finally arrived at the scene.
Leo and the remaining knights rushed toward them, immediately freezing the moment they felt the overwhelming pressure saturating the area. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
Even the air itself felt unstable, vibrating violently from Draen’s mana.
Seeing the cracks spreading farther through the ground and the nearby trees beginning to splinter apart, Leo’s expression changed instantly.
“Your Grace, please calm yourself!” he shouted at once.
Only then did Draen finally restrain his mana little by little.
The violent pressure gradually eased, allowing the knights to breathe properly again as the surrounding environment stopped trembling under his fury yet despite the calmer atmosphere, nobody dared relax.
Because the murderous rage in Draen’s eyes had not disappeared in the slightest.
“Ha… this is…”
Draen let out a hollow laugh before dragging a hand roughly through his hair while tilting his head back to stare at the darkening sky above him.
“Fuck… really…” he muttered under his breath.
In truth, deep within his mind, Draen already knew exactly who had taken Lewis away from him.
The faint traces of mana lingering around the ruined carriage were more than enough for him to recognize the culprit.
There were very few beings in existence capable of hiding their presence so thoroughly while still leaving behind such distinct energy.
And unfortunately, Draen knew one of them far too well.
The only reason he had failed to notice it sooner was because the bastard had used concealment from the very beginning, masking his existence until it was already too late.
By the time Draen sensed something wrong, Lewis had already been taken beyond his reach.
The realization alone made him grit his teeth in frustration.
Still, despite the fury threatening to rise again inside him, Draen forced himself to remain calm for one important reason.
Lewis was alive.
He could still feel it through the dragon mark etched onto the back of his hand, the mark that connected the two of them far more deeply than ordinary humans could ever understand.
Though their bond felt disturbingly distant now, almost as if something was deliberately blocking their connection, the mark itself remained completely intact.
That alone was enough to keep Draen maintain his sanity.
Slowly lowering his gaze from the sky, Draen’s molten gold eyes darkened with dangerous certainty.
“…Drakar, that annoying old lizard.”