MasukThe moment he declared that Bella must be executed, the squad leader was the first to open fire.Bella did not even have time to react before a bullet slammed into her chest. One burst of agony followed another as rounds tore through her body in rapid succession."Stop!""Stop!"The two shouts rang out at the same time. One came from Natalie, who had rushed up from behind. The instant she saw the Citadel Forces open fire, fury blazed in her eyes.Fortunately, every shot had been aimed at Bella. Bullets whizzed past Natalie, but none struck her. The other voice belonged to Christopher, who had just arrived.The moment Christopher saw the Citadel Forces firing on a member of the Everflame Order, his heart sank. This was about to become a serious problem."Mr. Quintus, this person is—"Before the squad leader could finish his report, Christopher slapped him across the face. "You idiot! Who told you to open fire like that? Quick! Call an ambulance!""Bella!"The sisters panicked
"You can leave, of course. But she stays!" Natalie said, pointing at Rebecca. "She is Mr. Stone's sister. With Mr. Stone gone, I will see to her safety!"At that moment, the sisters caught sight of Bella.Hilda's sharp eyes spotted her first. "Is that... Bella?""Bella!" She waved both arms and shouted to get Bella's attention while calling out to the others."Hilda? Diana, Elara, Giana!"Bella had been lost in grief when the familiar voices suddenly reached her ears. She looked up, saw the sisters, and a surge of surprise and joy swept through her. She immediately ran toward them.But just as she was about to reach them, the Silverton Citadel Forces noticed the sisters as well."The Chamberlain sisters are fugitives from the Draconox Order too! Seize them!"To the sisters' horror, the Citadel Forces quickly surrounded them."Stop!" In that desperate moment, Bella drew a pistol and fired a shot into the air. "Let them go!"The gunshot instantly drew the soldiers' attention to
"What is going on?"The satellite footage showed a plane crashing at the site of Oscar's execution. But Natalie and Bella, who had been aboard, had already parachuted to safety and landed moments before the impact.At the Citadel Forces command center, the staff member lowered his head in shame. "We failed to stop the Everflame Order's plane. It was a state-of-the-art fighter jet disguised as a civilian aircraft!""Useless!" Christopher snapped. "Come with me to the site!"A deep sense of unease settled over him. Everyone knew how powerful Everflame was, and with the Draconox Order's leadership in such a fragile state, he dared not provoke them lightly.His order to intercept the plane had been little more than a display of resolve. Now the enemy aircraft had broken through their defenses.*Useless!*Still, there was a chance to salvage the situation. Oscar was dead, and he had been executed on charges of colluding with the dragon race. No matter how much trouble Everflame cause
But the price? What did Freya even have left to offer?If the request and the price were not equal, she would lose this chance immediately. Oscar would simply vanish before her eyes.At that moment, she could only gamble with the one thing she still had left that mattered.'I am willing to give my own body in exchange for Oscar's escape from this.'Her body was the only thing she had left to wager. And it was the very thing the dragon had wanted all along.'As you wish.'The instant the pact was sealed, Freya felt her consciousness lurch violently. She became nothing more than a spectator as the little dragon perched on Oscar's body suddenly sprang to life.It flicked its tail. Although its body was tiny, the little dragon that moved now was nothing like the one Freya had inhabited moments earlier.A sharp crack rang out. Freya watched helplessly as the little dragon's tail lashed forward, shattering Oscar's entire body like porcelain.In the distance, the artillery shells had
"Oscar!"Amid Freya's despairing scream, the smoke swallowed Oscar whole.Freya tried to block the shells. She tried to shield him from the bombardment. But despite her incredible durability, her body was simply too small. She could only watch in helpless despair as Oscar's body was torn apart.When the smoke cleared, everyone watching from the helicopters saw what had become of him. His entire body was drenched in blood.The fearsome scales covering him had been blasted into fragments. Wounds covered every inch of his body, and his head had taken the worst of the punishment. His horns had been blown clean off, and his skull looked as though it had been torn open, with something red and white faintly visible beneath the shattered bone.The bombardment had finally stopped his advance. He had collapsed to his knees, his limbs trembling violently, yet he still struggled to stand. He still tried to drag himself toward Rebecca.Rebecca's car came to a stop."Is he dead?" Lucius glanc
But now, Bella finally realized she had been wrong.Pity offered to someone weak was kindness. Pity offered to someone strong was an insult.What made it even crueler was that he had already known his own death was coming, yet people had still treated him that way."No. I have to go save him. He can't just die like this!" Bella's words tumbled out in a frantic rush, barely coherent.A large part of the reason she had survived countless battles and endured the Everflame Order's trials came down to Oscar.He had told her that everything she had came from him. She had refused to believe him. She had wanted to confront him and demand an explanation.But now the helicopters' machine guns were already firing. Oscar had been lured out of the city, and the operation to eliminate him had begun.Bella's voice echoed through the aircraft as she completely lost her composure. "No! There has to be a way to save him!"Natalie issued a rapid series of commands. "As the Everflame envoy, I am i
"Victor, we really have no money left!" George dropped to his knees. "We already repaid the 60,000 dollars we borrowed from you. Over the years, it was 6,000 here, 6,000 there. Now it's somehow 600,000? How are we supposed to come up with that?"He pressed his forehead to the floor. "Please. Leave
Rain streamed down Oscar's face and soaked through his clothes, but he felt none of it.For years, he had given the Chamberlain family everything.Amara's Chamberlain Group would never have risen to the top of Silverton without him supplying her with intelligence day after day, placing winning str
"Mr. Chamberlain, I'm sorry." The doctor slid the lab report across the desk. "Brain cancer. Late stage."Oscar Chamberlain stared at the doctor for several seconds, then lowered his gaze to the two words on the page. The paper was still warm from the printer. The sharp, chemical smell of ink hit h
"Shouldn't you be showing Amara some respect?" Clara said.Oscar smiled.Clara couldn't tell what the smile meant."Miss Amara, do you feel the same way?" he asked.Amara swept her gaze over the people standing behind Oscar. She recognized several faces among them. They weren't people she could







