Free Web NovelChapter 13: The Bait
"Lisan Al-Gaias truly are monsters, hahaha!"
At this point, Vaelous no longer bothered hiding his true intentions. Once Silas laid out his reasoning and connected the pieces, the man’s carefully crafted mask had shattered. There was no point in maintaining the act any longer.
Silas had expected this reaction. Everyone else, including Darius, was caught completely off guard. Then Vaelous spoke again, deepening their shock.
"What gave me away?"
His attitude remained carefree, as though none of the youngsters before him were worth taking seriously.
"The second ability you never used."
Silas smirked faintly and met Vaelous’s gaze without hesitation. If the C-Enhancer felt no fear toward them, then he saw no reason to fear the man either.
"Sharp eyes you’ve got there, hahaha!"
Vaelous appeared increasingly amused. He raised his right arm and ran a hand over the rugged black-and-yellow crest covering it as though caressing a treasured possession.
"This ability of mine is rather special."
"Why Lyra?"
Silas still had unanswered questions. He wanted to know what ability the man possessed and what had motivated all of this, but Lyra’s death remained the most puzzling piece in his mind. In response to his inquiry, Vaelous’s expression twisted slightly.
"She had an annoying ability. It’s useless in a real fight, perhaps, but extremely troublesome when used against me. Lyra was simply too inconvenient to live."
Any lingering uncertainty vanished. Even if Vaelous didn’t reveal what his second ability was, he just dropped a bomb. Vaelous had just admitted to killing Lyra and framing Silas for it.
The youngsters exchanged silent glances filled with shock, anger, and disbelief. Darius was taken aback; even if he knew Silas was innocent, the killer’s confession was still shocking. But the most shocked was Selene, or rather, quite enraged.
Her rage reached unprecedented heights thanks to the realisation that sank in... She got outplayed like a naïve girl in Vaelous’ scheme. As for Leon and Cassian, they exchanged gazes filled with tons of unspoken words. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
More importantly, they understood something else. If Vaelous could confess so casually, it meant he had never intended to let any of them leave alive.
Darius suddenly remembered the warning Silas had given him several days ago. And a cold shiver ran down his spine. Before he could recover from his shock and warn the others, Vaelous moved first.
His right arm rose, the black-and-yellow skin glowing faintly.
"Speaking of annoying pests, you two should be dealt with first."
"Watch out! Run!"
Darius finally snapped out of it and shouted toward Selene and Leon. Yet, he was half a second too late.
The moment Vaelous spoke, two translucent webs shot from his arm. Each streaked toward a mage, wrapping tightly around them before sinking directly into their bodies. The threads glimmered briefly before disappearing beneath their skin.
The entire attack was frighteningly smooth. Vaelous launched both webs in the span of a heartbeat before calmly advancing, intending to eliminate the mages first and deal with the others afterwards.
"Not so easily." fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
Before Vaelous could take another step, Silas moved. Three daggers flashed through the air. They were fast, but Vaelous was faster.
Years of life-and-death battles had sharpened his instincts. Lightning crackled around him, intercepting the incoming daggers and knocking them aside.
The attack failed to injure him, but it accomplished something more important; it interrupted his ability and freed the two mages.
"I had a feeling you wouldn’t abandon them, even after everything they’ve done to you. What a disappointment."
Vaelous’s voice dripped with venom as he turned toward Silas.
"I went through all this trouble to sever your ties to them. Still, it doesn’t matter. I’ll kill you first..."
"Cassian, now!"
Silas’s shout cut him off. Unlike what Vealous thought, the failed attack didn’t startle him. A failure was a reasonable price to pay to pave the way for a far-fetched plan. And his plan started with Cassian.
The Tamer had already positioned his controlled Stone Frog nearby. The controlled monster was aimed at Darius earlier, but now it was directed towards Vaelous. The moment the command rang out, the creature leapt forward and landed between Silas and Vaelous, its massive body blocking the C-Enhancer’s path.
Then the two pests Vaelous wanted to eliminate roared back to life. Leon unleashed a barrage of icy attacks towards Vaelous’ legs, pinning him in place. While Selene unleashed all the rage swelling inside her heart towards Lyra’s true killer. Her fiery attacks landed fiercely at Vaelous’ torso and chest, aiming to cause as much damage as possible.
"Good!"
Seeing this, Darius misunderstood Silas’s intentions.
"We actually have a chance to kill that bastard and avenge Lyra... What are you doing?!"
As Darius prepared to join the battle instead of watching Cassian’s controlled monster, Selene and Leon unleash their attacks, Silas grabbed his arm and pulled him away.
"There isn’t time."
The seriousness on Silas’s face left no room for argument.
"Run now. Then I’ll explain later."
Without waiting for a response, he turned and sprinted toward the southeast.
"Why are we running? We should be fighting with them!"
Darius followed despite his confusion, bombarding Silas with questions as they fled the area.
"This was always the plan."
Silas scanned their surroundings while running, as if searching for something.
"They’ll serve quite well as bait. They’ll delay what’s coming long enough for us to get away."
"Bait? For what? What’s coming?"
Darius was more confused than ever. And yet, Silas offered no explanation. Silas knew there was no need to explain anything. Soon enough, Darius would understand, once they arrived.
Vaelous had misunderstood one crucial thing; Silas felt no warmth toward the other youngsters. They had hated him without reason, falsely accused him of murder, and treated him like an outcast from the very beginning. As far as he was concerned, they deserved punishment. But punishment was most useful when delivered at the right moment and for the right purpose.
He wasn’t abandoning them out of spite alone. They would buy him something far more valuable: time.
Their farewell gift and dying apology was by giving enough time for him and Darius to reach the place Silas had spent the last several days preparing for this exact moment.
