The guild hadn’t even recovered from Daniel’s return and the news of the enemy approaching when everything suddenly entered a new phase.
Elira’s voice echoed in the war room, but this time her tone was different. It wasn’t calm, it wasn’t analytical...
"The signals are getting closer... high speed... direct path toward the center."
A heavy silence fell over the room.
The floating map in the middle of the room filled with glowing points, but this time, the lights were different. Larger than any signals that had appeared before.
And that meant only one thing.
Extremely powerful Awakened from the enemy side were approaching the guild’s core.
And with Jason here... it wasn’t hard to guess their target.
"Multiple High Rank signals... at least three A+... four Half Step S Rank..." Elira continued, her eyes fixed on the data.
"And... two S ranks." She paused.
For a moment, everyone held their breath.
Sending this many powerful Awakened was practically a signal that the war was moving to the highest levels.
Until now, the battles had been between lower-tier forces. Both guild territories had taken heavy damage, but in the end, that wasn’t enough to decide the final victor.
As long as the leaders of both sides were alive, there would be no true victory.
And now... the war was slowly moving toward the commanders.
"Bastards... this isn’t a joke anymore," Daruis muttered.
"This isn’t a normal attack..." Serah said quietly.
"This is a retrieval team... not a standard assault," Elira finished without lifting her gaze.
Everyone knew what that meant.
The target... was only one thing.
Jason.
Jason held a very high position in the Goblin Guild. The leader’s brother, and someone who knew many critical secrets.
They had expected the Goblin Guild wouldn’t abandon him.
But they didn’t expect them to act this fast.
Were they really this afraid of him being taken hostage?
Varnus stood silently, his eyes fixed on the map.
But unlike the others, there was no shock on his face.
Only focus.
"Their goal isn’t to destroy the guild."
A few seconds passed, then he exhaled slowly.
"If that was their goal... they wouldn’t come with this number. This is a fast, targeted strike."
All eyes turned toward him.
He raised his hand and marked several points on the map.
"They’ll come... strike... and leave." His eyes turned cold.
"But if they succeed..."
His gaze briefly shifted to Jason, who was sitting on the ground in the corner.
"We lose everything."
His analysis wasn’t wrong.
If the enemy succeeded in rescuing Jason, it would be a massive blow to Everlight Moon’s reputation.
A blow so big that even if they won the war, they might not recover from it for a long time.
A few moments of silence passed.
Then the discussion began.
"We have to face them head-on. We can’t let them enter," Daruis stepped forward.
"If the defensive line breaks again, we’ll have nothing left," Aron nodded.
Their defensive line had already taken heavy damage, but with proper structure, they had managed to hold it.
If the enemy tried to both rescue Jason and destroy their defenses in this operation... they would be finished.
No matter what, they had to stop them.
"Or... we can let them in," Serah said quietly, her words brought silence again.
This time, everyone looked at her.
It wasn’t a suggestion anyone expected, it was dangerous, extremely risky.
"A trap?" Daruis raised an eyebrow.
"We pretend we’re weak. Let them think the path is open... then—" Serah continued.
"No." Daniel’s voice cut in.
Everyone fell silent and turned toward him, he was standing near the wall.
"Let them come inside. No trap or anything like that."
An even heavier silence filled the room.
"That’s not a trap. That’s suicide," Daruis frowned.
But Daniel continued without caring.
"They think we’re weakened. The arrays are damaged. Our forces are cut in half."
"So they’ll head straight for the center."
He stepped forward.
"Exactly where we want them."
He explained simply.
No complexity. No exaggeration.
"We let them enter."
"We block their way back."
"And we kill all of them right there."
No one spoke.
The weight of his words was clear.
If they succeeded, the blow to the Goblin Guild would be irreversible.
However... there was a problem.
The legion approaching the guild was extremely powerful. In fact, aside from the Goblin Guild itself, no other guild in the entire country could send such a force for a rescue mission.
Killing them would be very difficult.
Killing S-rank Awakened was extremely hard and now there were two of them.
How were they supposed to do this?
But now that this man had spoken... no one could reject his words.
Especially after seeing his strength with their own eyes.
"This time... we won’t let them leave," Daniel said with a faint smile.
Varnus looked at him for a few seconds.
Then... he nodded.
"Do it."
The decision was made.
Everyone immediately moved.
Aron reorganized the internal defensive lines, paths that needed to be closed, points that needed to stay open.
Serah established communication between units. Every group in position. Every movement coordinated.
Daruis placed offensive forces within the shadows and hidden routes, ready to strike.
Elira tracked the enemy’s movement moment by moment.
Even though there was no need for an actual trap, overall preparations were still necessary to ensure success.
"Ten seconds until contact with the outer layer..."
Amid all these preparations, Daniel slowly walked toward Jason.
He was still on the ground, his limbs bound by energy, his gaze shifting between fear and anger.
Daniel stopped in front of him.
He slowly raised The Heaven’s Honor and placed its edge against Jason’s neck.
"One wrong move..." His voice was calm, but cold.
"You lose your head."
Jason said nothing and he just swallowed.
Then Daniel grabbed him, exited the private dimension, and moved to the guild’s central area, deliberately standing there.
He didn’t hide.
He didn’t step back.
He made himself... visible.
"If they want to come..."
His gaze shifted toward the entrances.
"They’ll come straight to me."
Then Explosion.
The outer wall of the guild shattered under a wave of mana. The sound was like the sky breaking apart.
The pressure of mana suddenly rose, heavy and suffocating.
Even space itself felt compressed, as if it could barely endure it.
Several shadows entered through the smoke and light.
Their presence... made it hard to breathe, these were not ordinary forces, they walked forward calmly
Only confidence in every step and one of them stepped forward.
His gaze first fell on Jason for a moment and then... on Daniel.
No one attacked and ni one moved, everyone knew that one mistake would be enough to make everything explode.
"What do you want... to return him?"
The man stood at the front and spoke without introduction, without hesitation.
Daniel didn’t take his eyes off him.
At that moment, Varnus’s voice echoed in his mind.
"Buy time."
The preparations weren’t complete yet. To kill two S-rank opponents, they needed to bring out their strongest items and weapons from the treasury.
"In exchange for this trash..." Daniel pressed the sword slightly against Jason’s neck and said:
"What are you willing to pay?"