Chapter 540 Siege 7
As that possibility formed, the way Addison looked at him changed. Her gaze sharpened as she began carefully scrutinizing the man in front of her.
What made him different from the others?
Aside from his explosive strength... could he truly help them hold the line? Or would he simply take advantage of the chaos and escape the moment he was released?
"Can you help fight on the front line?" Addison asked.
Her voice was steady, but inside, she knew she didn’t have many options left. She needed someone powerful enough to hold the line while she searched for whatever was attracting the monsters to the camp.
The man slowly lifted his head.
"Why should I?" he replied with a taunting smirk.
But the moment his eyes met Addison’s face, something in his expression changed.
A memory surfaced in his mind, the underground dungeon, the moment he had seen her there, and that growing shadow surrounding her, he felt like the woman standing before him had felt less like a person... and more like a nightmare staring back at him.
Even now, the thought made his skin crawl.
For a second, he wondered if he had imagined it back then.
But that image had burned itself into his memory like a shadow he couldn’t shake.
The smirk on his lips faltered.
His confidence cracked.
"W-Why should I?!" he repeated, but this time his voice sounded far less bold, almost defensive, as if he were suddenly unsure of himself.
Addison pursed her lips for a moment, thinking.
Then a thought crossed her mind.
"How about this," she said calmly. "Help us hold the line this time, and I’ll deal with the charges against you."
Her gaze sharpened slightly. "Or do you actually enjoy staying here as someone else’s prisoner... hmm?"
Her tone was serious, not teasing.
When the man looked up at her again, he searched her face carefully. But he couldn’t find even the slightest hint that she was lying.
If anything, she looked like someone who fully intended to keep her word.
"W-Why should I believe you?" he asked, his brows knitting together.
"Because you don’t really have any other choice," Addison replied, tilting her head slightly.
The gesture made her words sound almost matter-of-fact.
After all, the situation was simple.
If he refused to help and the camp’s defenses were breached, then not only would her people die, but he would die with them, locked inside this temporary prison.
So why not fight?
If he helped them repel the monsters on the front line, Addison would give him a chance to walk away from the Golden Hue Pack’s imprisonment in return for his contribution.
To her, it was nothing more than a straightforward exchange.
A fair give and take.
"Can you really help me get out of this imprisonment?" the Warbear asked.
There was suspicion in his voice.
He wasn’t really innocent.
When the Golden Hue Pack had first encountered him, both sides had attacked each other without hesitation. In the chaos that followed, he had killed several of their warriors before they finally managed to capture and imprison him.
Because of that, he knew the pack had every reason to hunt him down. Even if they were inexperienced fighters, they would likely pursue him to the ends of the earth to avenge their fallen.
But he also knew one thing.
He couldn’t stay here.
This wasn’t his territory, and every moment he remained trapped was another moment his own kin were left waiting for his return.
So despite his pride, he asked the question.
Addison didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, she simply looked at him.
Her expression was calm, steady, and filled with a seriousness that spoke louder than words.
The meaning was clear.
Yes.
All he had to do... was agree.
"Alright... I’ll do it," he muttered.
The warbear slowly pushed himself up from the ground where he had been sitting and waited for Addison to open the door.
Addison glanced over her shoulder at the warrior standing behind her, the one assigned to guard this temporary prison. The warrior immediately went pale. He swallowed hard, clearly unsure of what to do.
Instinctively, he wanted to call Alpha Hue and ask for orders. After all, prisoners weren’t supposed to be released, especially not enemies with such deep grudges against their pack. But the person standing in front of him was their princess, and her word was law within the shelter.
That left him completely cornered.
If he ignored her command and contacted Alpha Hue first, it would be a direct sign of disrespect toward her authority. Yet releasing the prisoner without permission from the Alpha also felt dangerously wrong.
The warrior hesitated for a moment, tension tightening his jaw.
In the end, the decision was simple.
The princess’s order outranked everything.
Letting out a quiet breath, he stepped forward and pulled the key from his waist. The temporary prison’s gate, forged from silver, rattled softly as he unlocked it. He made sure to keep his gloves on, careful that the metal wouldn’t touch his skin. Silver was the only material capable of restraining shifters like these prisoners and preventing them from using their shifting abilities to escape.
With the gate open, he moved inside and removed the silver cuffs binding the warbear’s wrists.
As soon as the silver cuff was removed, the heavy restraint dropped to the ground with a dull thud.
The warbear immediately grabbed his freed wrist. The skin around it was mangled and blistered, badly burned from prolonged contact with the silver. But now that the cuff was gone, the constant pain finally stopped. The stinging pain that had been gnawing at his flesh faded, and the sickening smell of burnt skin no longer lingered in the air.
For the first time since his capture, he felt a little freer.
"Please lead the way," the warbear said to Addison, preparing to follow her.
But Addison was far too cautious to let someone she barely knew walk behind her. A stranger at her back could easily attack when she least expected it. Instead, she gestured forward, silently ordering him to walk ahead while she directed him where to go.
Seeing how vigilant she was, the warbear merely shrugged in a nonchalant manner and began walking toward the wall Addison had come from.
Just as they reached it, a thunderous roar echoed through the area.
The monstrous bear roared again.
Moments later, the sound of several werewolves groaning in pain followed from the other side of the wall.
"Princess! You’ve arrived!" the warrior standing on top of the wall shouted the moment he saw Addison approaching.
Relief instantly flooded his face, as if he had just seen their savior.
The battle on the other side of the wall had been growing increasingly dire. Their warriors, and even the Alpha, were slowly falling into a disadvantage. Injuries were piling up one after another, and the morale of their people was beginning to waver.
The battlefield itself was working against them.
A monstrous bear rampaged through their lines, while waves of monsters and wild animals continued attacking from the flanks. Their warriors barely had enough space to maneuver, constantly forced onto the defensive as they struggled to decide which threat to deal with first.