Awakening The Only SSS-Rank Class! Now Even Dragons Obey Me Chapter 741: Jason Is Scared?

The atmosphere turned oppressively thick.

Scents of blood, scorched mana, and steaming earth filled the air around them, but to Lana... all sensations were dimming away. Distant echoes replaced nearby sounds, sights blurred into haze, and only her heart's faint pulses lingered, weakening with each tick of time.

Breathing eluded her—not from unwillingness, but sheer physical impossibility. No amount of effort made a difference.

Second by second, suffocation gripped tighter. Panic consumed her wholly. The precipice of death drew ever closer.

The blade remained thrust deep into her flesh.

Warm blood slicked her skin, yet pain had vanished... or perhaps overwhelmed senses to numbness.

Her eyes stayed half-lidded. The heavens filled her view... but not the present sky.

Years earlier.

Sunrays pierced treetops, speckling the ground below. A soft wind carried peals of laughter through the breeze.

Lana... younger, hair cropped short, beamed innocently in the courtyard.

Before her loomed a woman with serene eyes and tender warmth.

Her mother.

"Skipped practice again, haven't you?" the woman remarked, smiling softly.

"I did! I just... wasn't in the mood!" Lana scowled, brandishing her wooden sword.

The woman's laughter rang out—a melody forever etched in Lana's memory. She knelt down, resting a hand atop Lana's head.

"Strength counts, but the purpose driving it counts even more."

"Purpose?"

"Yes." The woman's gaze wandered to the horizon.

"One day, you'll grasp why you battle... and on that day, no force can halt you."

Lana fell silent. She simply stared at her.

A few days afterward.

Fiercer gales whipped about. Clouds darkened the sky. She lingered at the airport entrance, eyes locked on her mother departing for an overseas mission.

Back then, the mission's details escaped her, as did the reason for crossing borders. It made no sense to her young mind.

Lana positioned herself by the gate, fists clenched tight, lips sealed in a firm line.

"You'll come back, right?"

"Of course." Her mother stooped low and enveloped her in a hug.

"It'll only take a few days."

Just a simple scouting trip. How could anything go awry?

Lana nodded, though inner turmoil stirred restlessly. The woman drew back and retreated several steps.

Their gazes held for lingering seconds. Then she whirled and vanished.

And never came back.

Lana's eyes quivered briefly. Each breath clawed its way forth.

"...No..." A fragile thought crystallized in her mind... sharp and undeniable.

"Am I going to die... without avenging her?"

Her fingers jerked faintly.

Until this moment, she'd blamed terrorists for her mother's death, seeing it as senseless chaos without deeper intent.

But truth now pierced her. Father's seething hatred for the Goblin Guild... his sudden strike on the guild leader... all made sense.

All these years, it stemmed from her mother... vengeance sought for her sake.

Her eyes flared open a fraction more.

No.

Not yet.

Death couldn't claim her now. Her time hadn't arrived. Not before her hands spilled the blood of those scum.

Yet... that single thrust had dragged her to death's doorway. Barely clinging to life, her end loomed near if untouched.

Jason, however, craved no quick mercy. Severing her head was his next desire.

He wrenched the sword free and poised it once more at her neck.

But abruptly...

He froze.

A hand clamped onto the blade. Crimson streamed between the fingers, yet it held without yielding an inch.

For an instant, mana's torrent halted. Jason's eyes bulged as he thrust with greater force.

The sword refused to shift. Gradually, he lifted his gaze to find Daniel there, vise-gripping the edge.

Daniel's stare iced over, but shadows of something fiercer churned deep inside. Fury blazed evident.

"You've gone too far." His tone stayed even, yet it weighed down the air like lead.

Jason recoiled on instinct.

"...You?"

Daniel flicked his eyes briefly to Lana. She yet breathed— that sufficed.

His focus snapped back to Jason.

"Take Lana away."

In that instant, shadows stirred to life.

The Fallen Ones, array-trapped just before, now roamed unbound. The manner or moment escaped notice, but relevance had fled.

A few surged ahead, tenderly hoisting Lana's form, then withdrew without hesitation.

Jason tracked their flight but held position. His glare stayed riveted on Daniel.

"You were late." He forced steadiness into his words.

"She was already—"

"If she had died..." Daniel sliced in, shadows deepening in his eyes.

"You wouldn’t be alive right now." An immense pressure burst forth abruptly from his body.

The atmosphere shifted abruptly. The nearby awakened individuals and the freshly arrived goblin troops... all retreated on instinct.

Instincts yelled: peril. Jason sensed it too.

"You think you’re any different?"

Daniel stayed silent and unsheathed his blade.

The Heaven’s Honor.

In the faint glow of the surroundings, its blade shimmered softly, and right then, the sword aura ignited. The oppressive force intensified manifold in an instant.

Cracks spiderwebbed across the earth under Daniel’s boots as he advanced, narrowing the gap. A flicker of unease passed through Jason’s gaze.

An inner voice warned him this was wrong, yet it was far too late now.

A potent threat washed over him, his gut urging him to flee.

Fleeing, however, would tarnish the Goblin Guild’s standing completely. Such an act was unthinkable for him.

Daniel lifted his sword just a bit.

"You’ll pay the price for injuring that girl and me."

With that, he struck first.