The idea sounded absurd at first glance. Yet when he remembered the fear and frustration Cher always showed whenever her father was mentioned, the possibility no longer seemed impossible.

The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Without hesitation, Silas sent a message to Darius.

"Do not let them see you."

"Do not allow anyone to get close to where you are."

"And under no circumstances let yourself get surrounded."

He paused briefly before sending another order.

"Warn the others."

"Tell them the mine forces aren’t friendly."

Far away, Darius stared at the stream of messages appearing before him. For a moment, a faint smile appeared on his face.

"It seems I completely misunderstood the situation."

Somehow, Silas had connected the scattered clues faster than he had. The smile vanished as Darius glanced around.

"But that doesn’t mean I’m safe."

Dark silhouettes were already moving through the distance. They advanced carefully, spreading out as they attempted to circle around his position. The moment he noticed them, Darius began moving.

At the same time, he forwarded Silas’s warning to the others.

"Now that events are finally returning to the path we expected..."

A thoughtful expression appeared on his face.

"...it’s time to prepare Alfred for the next surprise move."

Without slowing down, Darius opened another message and began sending a long list of instructions, carefully explaining every detail Alfred would need to know.

***

Far from the chaos unfolding elsewhere, Lara and Cissel arrived at the mine alongside Alfred.

The mine before them was enormous, resembling a mountain that had been split open and hollowed out from within. Two centuries of excavation had transformed it into a colossal terraced pit, its structure carefully arranged to maximise the extraction of crystals buried deep underground.

Their shuttle landed near the bottom of the excavation, forcing them to climb a long distance before reaching a vantage point high enough to overlook the entire mining complex.

From there, the scale of the operation became truly apparent.

The excavated pit consisted of countless circular paths carved into the mountain’s interior, spiralling downward around a vast abyss that stretched hundreds of meters below. At its deepest point, faint glimmers of different lights shimmered among the crystal veins embedded in the rock, appearing no larger than distant stars.

The walls of the abyss displayed layers of differently colored stone, each indicating a different grade of crystal hidden within. Thin veins spread across the surface and continued deeper into the mountain, branching endlessly through the rock before disappearing into the darkness below.

Along the circular paths, massive mining machines of various shapes crawled across the terraces. They were operated by an army of workers, ordinary people who had failed their Enhancement Tests at the age of fifteen and had lost the opportunity to walk the path of an Enhancer.

Had Silas witnessed this scene, he would probably have sighed. If fate had been slightly less kind, this might have been his life as well.

"So this is the mine," Alfred muttered while surveying the enormous excavation. "It’s not as majestic as I imagined."

"Look."

Lara suddenly pointed toward one of the upper terraces.

"The workers are leaving."

Alfred narrowed his eyes and quickly noticed the same thing. Streams of workers were steadily abandoning their stations and moving toward the exits. Cher, however, had noticed it the moment they arrived.

"They’re preparing for the battle," she said after a brief pause, her expression turning serious. "The dragon is coming here eventually, so they’re evacuating the workers and clearing the mine for a large-scale engagement."

Cher knew her father well enough to understand that he would never abandon productivity at the mine unless circumstances left him no choice. Considering the strength of the forces stationed here, the decision itself spoke volumes.

’It seems what Silas did has completely overturned your plans, Father.’

The thought lingered in her mind for a moment before the corners of her lips rose slightly.

’I can already imagine how furious you must be right now.’

"Should we wait until they’ve finished evacuating?" Alfred asked. "After all, this wasn’t part of Silas’s plan."

"He isn’t omniscient," Cher replied as another face briefly surfaced in her thoughts. ’At least not compared to Darius.’

Then she started walking toward the nearest circular path.

"Come on. We need to use this confusion to slip inside unnoticed."

The three descended onto one of the terraces and merged with the flow of departing workers. Seeing three Enhancers moving through the crowd immediately calmed many of the frightened labourers. Some even began shouting that the lord of the mine had sent reinforcements to ensure their safe evacuation.

Alfred and Lara glanced at Cher, but she merely shrugged.

’If our presence helps calm them down, there’s no harm in it.’

Nearly an hour passed before they finally found a suitable location several levels deeper within the mine. Numerous tunnels had been carved into the walls there, evidence of years of relentless excavation. Thick crystal veins ran through the surrounding rocks, their surfaces dotted with exposed crystals that gleamed beneath the artificial lights.

"This place should work perfectly."

Lara moved around the area, carefully inspecting the veins, the surrounding tunnels, and the wide mining shafts that extended deeper into the mountain.

"I’ll bring the shuttle down then."

As soon as Lara turned toward Cher and raised a thumb in confirmation, Cher immediately sent the order for the shuttle to descend.

The sight of a shuttle entering the mine did not attract much attention from the workers, who were too focused on leaving. For those responsible for monitoring the area, however, its arrival raised more than a few alarm bells.

Cher paid little attention to the commotion. Silas had anticipated this possibility from the very beginning and had already accounted for it in his plan.

"Time to do my part."

As soon as she handed Lara’s babies over, she boarded the shuttle and turned back one last time.

"Keep me updated on everything."

Lara and Alfred waved farewell. Cissel, meanwhile, took her time. She stood outside the half-closed shuttle doors, striking exaggerated poses for nearly a minute while the craft slowly rose above the mine.

"I hope you memorised my face."

Only then did she slide the doors shut and throw herself onto a couch inside the cabin.