Dragon King's Harem Chapter 376. How Could We Survive The Night?
One of the soldiers, his voice hoarse from exhaustion, answered, "We lost most of them. The monsters… they dragged some of the bodies away. We couldn't even recover them."
Another wife, her voice barely above a whisper, added, "We ran. We didn't know what else to do. We just ran into the forest, hoping to find somewhere to hide. It was the only thing we could think of."
Viperax's eyes darkened with anger, though not at them. He was furious at the situation, at the monsters, and at himself for being lured away.
"You did what you had to," he said, trying to reassure them. "You survived, and that's what matters."
One of the wives, still trembling, looked at him with wide, fearful eyes. "What are we going to do now, Your Majesty?" she asked, her voice breaking. "How are we going to survive the night? They're still out there… waiting."
Viperax looked around him, his gaze sweeping over the dense forest that encircled the small clearing. The shadows seemed to shift and move, hiding untold dangers and those monsters might be still out there. 'She is right… How could we survive the night, or even make it to a nearby town or village?' he thought.
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Argod's PoV
"See?! I told you it was very dangerous! You almost died!" I snarled, my voice sharp and laced with frustration as I stood in front of Al.
He grinned awkwardly, trying to deflect the tension with that innocent face of his, but it wasn't working.
We were back at our camp, inside my main tent, but it was just the two of us here.
Al, instead of the cloak that had covered his body when he first went to lure the monsters to Viperax's camp, was now dressed in simple clothes.
A commoner's tunic and pants, stained with mud and dirt from the long chase. His shoes, also of commoner origin, were caked with filth, evidence of the harrowing pursuit he had led Viperax on.
The memory of that chase was still fresh in my mind—how I had used my Evil Eye skill to follow him, deciding to take the form of a low-level monster, a small bat, to remain undetected.
I had to admit, the chase was insane. Twice, I nearly lost sight of them, Viperax and his soldiers moving at a speed that was difficult to track. Hovering close to Al would have been too obvious, so I had kept my distance, watching from above, my eyes on the entire unfolding scene. It had been a calculated risk, but one that nearly cost us everything.
"Well," Al said with an innocent grin, shrugging as if we were discussing something trivial. "I'm still alive, am I?"
His tone was casual, almost carefree, and it grated on my nerves.
It was the stupidest reason I'd ever heard, and it almost made me blow up on the spot. My hands clenched into fists at my sides, and I had to take a deep breath to keep from losing my temper entirely. "You would be dead by now if I didn't use that alpha Ravager to take your place and open my portal for you to escape!" I snarled again, my voice rising with the intensity of my emotions.
Al's grin faltered for a moment, replaced by a dry smile. He knew I was right, but admitting it wasn't in his nature. He was always the one to take risks, to push the limits, and it drove me crazy. "I knew you were watching," he said after a moment, his tone softening slightly, as if that was supposed to make everything better. "I knew you wouldn't let me die."
"That's not the point!" I snapped, pacing back and forth in the tent, my frustration boiling over. The more I thought about the reckless way Al had handled the situation, the more my anger simmered, threatening to spill over.
I could feel my control slipping, and I struggled to rein it in.
"I told you to let him go when they were trapped in the swamp, but you still pushed your luck. You put yourself in unnecessary danger, Al! And for what? To prove a point? To show off?"
Al grinned again, that same infuriating, innocent smile that had gotten him out of trouble more times than I could count.
"Well, I knew the swamp wouldn't stop them so…" he started, flashing another grin that only deepened my irritation.
I stopped pacing and fixed him with a flat stare, my patience wearing thin.
The grin faltered slightly, and finally, Al raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.
"Fine, I admit I did push my luck," he said, his tone still casual but with a hint of defensiveness. "I mean, you know how long I've been holding my grudge against him. This is my first time to have fun," he added, as if that justified everything.
But I was unamused by it. His attempt to downplay the situation only fueled my frustration. "Fun?" I echoed, my voice laced with disbelief. "You call that fun? Al, you were one misstep away from getting yourself killed. Do you even realize how close you came to losing everything? And not just you—if you had been caught, do you think Viperax would've stopped there? He will kill you and there will be another war because of this!"
Al's expression sobered slightly, though he still tried to maintain his nonchalant demeanor.
"I knew what I was doing," he said, though there was less confidence in his voice now. "I knew you were watching, that you'd step in if things got too dangerous."
"That's not a strategy, Al, that's gambling," I retorted, my voice sharp. "And you were gambling with more than just your life. You know what's at stake here. I can't afford to lose you, not like this."
Al sighed, running a hand through his messy hair. "I get it, Your Majesty, I do. But you have to understand—I've been carrying this grudge for years. The Witch Tribe may have cast me out, but it was Viperax who put the final nail in the coffin. I couldn't just walk away from an opportunity like this."
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