Chapter 183:Leaving.
Silver lingered for only a moment at the top of the underground staircase. He looked back one final time into the darkness below. The laboratory had answered several questions while raising even more.
Silver let out a slow breath before turning away.
"...Let’s go."
No one objected. The atmosphere remained heavy as the group slowly made their way through the abandoned research station.
The broken hallways felt eerily quiet now. Without the tiger’s distant growls or the snake’s chilling hiss, only the sound of their boots echoed through the empty building.
Eventually, sunlight appeared ahead. The rusted entrance doors stood open where they had forced their way inside earlier that day.
As they stepped outside, everyone instinctively paused as they took in the fresh air, warm sunlight, and the gentle breeze rolling across the hills surrounding the station.
Only then did many of them realize how tense their bodies had remained underground. Ravenna closed her eyes briefly and inhaled deeply.
"I never thought ordinary air could feel this refreshing."
Silver smiled faintly.
"I was thinking the same thing."
The bright afternoon sun hung high overhead. Judging from its position, it was already well past noon. What had felt like only a few hours inside the station had consumed almost the entire morning. Time had slipped away without anyone noticing.
James’ body was carefully carried outside first. Another Association guard, who had been waiting by the door, helped lower him onto a clean tarp beside the vehicles.
A short distance away lay the body of Thomas, the one who had been killed during the battle against the mutated tiger.
His remains had already been respectfully wrapped before they entered the laboratory. Now both bodies rested side by side beneath the shade of a nearby tree.
Two contractors, people who had left the Sanctuary expecting another ordinary mission, neither would ever return alive.
Dillian slowly removed his cap. The others quietly followed his example. For nearly a full minute... No one spoke.
The wind drifted softly through the surrounding grass. Finally, Dillian lowered his head.
"...We’ll make sure they get home."
Silver nodded once.
"They deserve that much."
James had remained calm until the very end. The guard had died protecting someone else; even Silver couldn’t help respecting that. After the brief silence ended, everyone began preparing for the journey back.
Equipment was checked, weapons were cleaned, and the recovered beast cores were secured once more. Silver opened the trunk of his vehicle while Ravenna helped organize their supplies.
Since his storage space remained extremely limited, most of their equipment still had to be packed normally. Ravenna carefully placed their ammunition cases inside first before securing their backpacks.
Silver quietly checked that the venom fangs and preserved skin remained safely stored. Only then did he close the trunk.
A few minutes later, Dillian walked over.
"You two heading back to Delta Four?"
Silver nodded.
"That’s the plan. We’ve stayed here long enough, and it’s too late not to."
Dillian smiled.
"So have we; we were heading there anyway."
He looked toward the convoy of vehicles.
"We might as well travel together until the Sanctuary; no reason to separate."
Silver agreed immediately.
"Safer that way."
Even though the Green Zone posed relatively little threat to experienced contractors, today’s battles had reminded everyone that unusual beasts could appear almost anywhere. Traveling together simply made sense.
The vehicles were soon prepared. One car carried the body of the fallen guard. The second transported James with the care usually reserved for a respected veteran. The remaining contractors spread themselves between the vehicles.
Silver and Ravenna climbed into their own car. He started the engine, the familiar hum filling the quiet afternoon. The convoy slowly pulled away from the abandoned station.
This time, Silver deliberately drove behind Dillian’s group. The winding road stretched through rolling green hills dotted with scattered trees. If not for everything they had experienced underground... The scenery would have seemed almost peaceful.
For several minutes, neither Silver nor Ravenna spoke; both quietly watched the landscape pass by. Eventually, Ravenna broke the silence.
"...I really wanted to kill her."
Silver kept his eyes on the road.
"Cruella?"
Ravenna nodded.
"When she pushed me..." Her expression hardened. "I wasn’t imagining it; I felt her hand."
Silver’s grip tightened slightly on the steering wheel.
"I know, I saw it."
The memory still lingered vividly in his mind. Had he reacted even half a second later, the tiger’s claws would have reached Ravenna first. The thought alone made his chest tighten.
Ravenna looked out the window.
"I almost kept attacking."
Silver smiled slightly.
"I noticed."
She let out a small sigh.
"I stopped because I knew we’d lose."
Silver glanced at her briefly.
"Dillian and the others."
She nodded.
"They would’ve sided with their teammate even if they believed me."
Silver understood exactly what she meant. They had been badly outmatched at the time. He had only recently reached Rank Two, and everyone else remained Rank One.
If the entire opposing team had joined the fight, the outcome would’ve been unpredictable. Even if he believed he could protect Ravenna, there was no guarantee they could escape safely.
"You made the right decision," he said quietly.
Ravenna leaned back against her seat.
"I know...Doesn’t mean I liked it."
Silver chuckled softly.
"No, it doesn’t."
Silence returned briefly, then Ravenna looked toward him again.
"What about you? You looked like you wanted to draw your sword too."
Silver didn’t deny it.
"I did." He smiled bitterly. "But just like you... I knew it wasn’t the right place."
He had already decided on a different approach. Someone like Cruella valued appearances more than anything else. Destroying that image would hurt far more than striking her once in anger.
Ravenna seemed to understand his meaning without him saying it aloud.
She simply nodded.
The road curved gently around another hill. After a while, Silver changed the subject.
"Today’s snake..."
Ravenna laughed quietly.
"I knew you’d bring it up."
"It fascinated you."
"It did." Silver admitted it openly. "I’ve never seen a beast like that. It wasn’t actually strong."
She raised an eyebrow.
"It killed James."
Silver nodded.
"It was dangerous but not because of strength. If it had fought head-on... it would’ve died in seconds. What made it terrifying was its intelligence and that camouflage."
Ravenna smiled.
"It was lucky you ranked up."
Silver couldn’t argue.
"If I were still Rank One..." He shook his head slowly. "That fight would’ve been much harder."
Even using his spatial abilities repeatedly had strained him. At Rank One, the battle could easily have dragged on until someone else died. Fortunately, he had entered the station as a Rank Two contractor. That single difference had changed everything.
After a brief pause, he smiled faintly.
"We also got the better bargain. The Tier Four core, the snake core, the skin and the fangs."
Ravenna laughed.
"You sound very satisfied."
"I am, especially the skin."
She couldn’t help shaking her head.
"I had a feeling you’d keep that."
Silver shrugged innocently.
"It disappears, how could I not?"
Ravenna laughed again, the sound easing some of the heaviness that had followed them out of the laboratory.
After another stretch of quiet road, Silver spoke again.
"...I’m also glad we met Dillian."
Ravenna looked ahead at the lead vehicle.
"So am I."
Silver nodded.
"If we’d come here alone..."
He didn’t finish the sentence; he didn’t need to. Both of them understood. The tiger alone would’ve pushed them to their limits, and fighting the invisible snake afterward would have been almost impossible.
The expedition had succeeded because everyone had worked together. For all of Cruella’s actions... Dillian himself had proven reliable.
Ravenna rested her elbow against the window.
"I still don’t particularly like his choice in companions."
Silver laughed.
"I don’t either."
The convoy continued winding through the Green Zone.