The sword The Heavens Honor was still resting on Jason’s neck.
The edge of the blade lightly touched his skin, and a drop of blood slowly slid down from it. Jason held his breath, his eyes full of fear, but at the same time... ready.
Ready for death.
But the strike never came.
In truth, Daniel wasn’t sure what he should do with this idiot. Killing him wasn’t difficult, but even though it would deal a blow to the enemy, it wasn’t valuable enough to be worth it.
On top of that, he felt that taking the brother of the Goblin Guild’s leader hostage while alive would be far more valuable. Aside from being a major achievement for them, it would also be a huge humiliation for the Goblin Guild.
This would bring many advantages to Everlight Moon.
A few seconds passed, and he made his decision.
"Killing you is easy... but keeping you alive is more valuable," Daniel said slowly.
Jason’s eyes widened for a moment. It was as if his brain couldn’t process the sentence. Hope... something he thought no longer existed... flickered briefly in his gaze.
But along with it, a deeper fear also formed.
He could live?
He thought his time of death had come, but Daniel’s words brought hope back to him.
As long as he could stay alive, nothing else mattered. Humiliation? Shame? After some time, everyone would forget his defeat. With a few achievements, he could even rebuild his reputation.
"Half Step S Rank... someone like you knows a lot," Daniel continued, his gaze turning colder.
"Your guild’s structure... the arrays... the mana centers... the commanders..."
He pressed the sword slightly deeper.
"And I need all of it."
Jason said nothing. His breathing only grew heavier.
All his hope disappeared again.
He had completely forgotten that he wouldn’t be kept alive for no reason.
Now that he was captured, if he didn’t tell them what they wanted, they would either kill him or torture him.
And if he did tell them... later, his brother would both torture and kill him.
The result would be the same.
Now that he thought about it, dying here at Daniel’s hands might actually be the better option.
"...."
At that moment, a shadow moved behind him.
One of the Fallen silently emerged from the darkness.
In an instant, shadows wrapped around Jason’s body. His hands, his legs, even his mana flow, were all restrained within a dark cage.
"If you make a wrong move..." Daniel said without looking at him,
"you lose your head."
He leaned closer and whispered softly in his ear.
Jason’s body trembled. He didn’t resist.
He didn’t dare to.
He knew this monster wasn’t joking, and that he might change his mind and kill him at any moment.
The Goblin Guild’s territory was still collapsing.
The arrays were shutting down one after another. Mana in the air was unstable, and waves of energy occasionally surged through space without warning.
The ground was cracked, and the remnants of battle were scattered everywhere.
But within this chaos... a shadow was moving.
Daniel.
With Jason being dragged along in the grip of shadows, and the Fallen moving silently around him.
He moved through the shadows.
Every step silent.
Every movement precise.
In one moment he disappeared, and in the next, he appeared several meters ahead, as if distance meant nothing to him.
Several groups of the Goblin Guild’s Awakened tried to stop him.
But they didn’t even get the chance.
One of them only managed to lift his head and in the next moment, his body was split in half.
Another didn’t even understand what happened.
A shadow passed by him...
And then his head separated from his body.
Daniel didn’t even look at them.
But at several points... he deliberately stopped.
His gaze fell on certain structures.
Small support centers.
Supply routes.
Points that might not seem important at first glance...
But in a war, they were vital.
His sword rose and fell.
Explosion.
More buildings collapsed. More routes were destroyed.
He wasn’t just leaving, he was leaving wounds behind.
He could have returned to Everlight Moon much faster, instantly, using Fallen Step.
But since he had come this far, it was better to deal more damage before leaving.
Because of their battle, the Goblin Guild’s territory had already suffered heavy damage and had practically turned into ruins.
However, there were still hidden centers and deeper structures and those were his targets.
At the same time, deep within the Goblin Guild’s territory, the commanders realized what had happened.
Jason... was alive.
But captured.
A wave of anger, shock, and concern spread among them.
The situation was more dangerous than they had imagined.
Not just because they had lost one of their strongest forces...
But because of what might happen next.
Information.
Secrets.
Structures.
Everything was at risk.
A quick decision was made.
Attacks were temporarily halted.
The focus changed.
They had to find a way.
Rescue... or eliminate.
Either way Jason could not remain in enemy hands.
They had watched the entire battle and believed Jason would win.
But what happened at the end shocked all of them.
And by that time, it was already too late to intervene.
The guild territory had taken heavy damage, and they had to stay there to support the remaining forces and structures.
More importantly...
They didn’t have the courage to face Daniel.
Even though they were S rank, their power was equal to Jason when he had borrowed the power of the arrays.
Time passed quickly.
At the borders of Everlight Moon, the atmosphere... was heavy.
The smell of blood still lingered in the air.
The ground was still scarred from the previous battle.
Many Awakened were exhausted, wounded but still standing.
Then a ripple formed within the shadows.
Several people raised their heads.
In the next moment, Daniel appeared.
Silence.
It took a few seconds for everyone to understand what they were seeing.
And behind him...
Someone was being dragged.
Eyes widened.
"...That..."
"Is that... Jason?!" whispers spread.
Shock moved through the forces like a wave.
But Daniel didn’t even look at them.
A faint smirk appeared on his face.
He had deliberately decided not to go directly to the war room.
He wanted both his allies and his enemies to see this scene.
The enemy’s morale would be heavily damaged, while their own forces’ morale would rise.
They would gain motivation.
They would fight with more strength.
They had achieved major victories, victories the enemy likely never even imagined they could achieve.
Especially in such a short time.
He moved directly toward the main building.
Toward the war room.
He entered the private dimension.
Everyone was already there.
Varnus, standing calmly.
Elira, analyzing data.
Darius, with a serious expression.
Sarah and Aron, each in their positions.
All eyes turned toward the door.
Daniel entered without saying a word, he walked forward a few steps and then pulled Jason out of the shadows
And threw him into the middle of the room.
The sound of his body hitting the ground echoed in the silence.
"Brought a guest," Daniel said.
For a few seconds no one spoke, they had also watched the battle.
They knew what had happened, but they were still in shock.
Darius was the first to react, a smile formed on his face, his eyes gleaming.
"This is a treasure trove of information!"
"He needs to be interrogated immediately. Before—" Elira stepped forward at once.
"—before the enemy reacts."
Varnus, however, said nothing. He only watched, a deep, heavy, thoughtful gaze.
He understood exactly what this meant, this was a turning point.
An opportunity.
With this... they could strike a blow that might change the course of the war.
And more than that they might get closer to the truth.
Maybe even find a way to destroy the poison in his body... and Daniel’s.
And perhaps uncover the identity of the ones pulling the strings behind the scenes.
Capturing Jason could be the key to many of their problems.
And in the end...
Maybe he could even learn the truth behind his wife’s death.
The reason those bastards from the Goblin Guild killed her...
His gaze stayed on Daniel for a moment.
Then... he slowly nodded.
Suddenly, Jason laughed.
A dry laugh.
He lifted his head and his eyes were still filled with fear
But there was something else too, something like mockery.
"You think you’ve won...?" his voice was weak, but clear.
"This war... has just begun."
At that moment, Elira suddenly raised her head, her eyes widened.
"...No."
Everyone turned toward her.
"Several strong auras... are approaching the guild," she said quickly.
"Very fast."
No one spoke.
But everyone understood.
The enemy had come to take Jason back.