Awakening The Only SSS-Rank Class! Now Even Dragons Obey Me Chapter 748: Trickes And Traps

Time itself remained locked in that frozen instant.

Daniel confronted the Goblin Guild envoys head-on. His blade hovered gently over Jason’s throat, while the mana pressure enveloping them intensified to the point where inhaling felt nearly impossible.

No one rushed into action.

For all present understood... a single misstep might ignite total catastrophe.

"To start... halt every assault on Everlight Moon immediately," Daniel declared, eyes locked on their expressions, voice steady yet elongated.

"Go on," responded one—a man whose gaze was icy and devoid of feeling—as he cocked his head just a bit.

"Full details on your arrays... mana hubs... and chain of command," Daniel pressed on leisurely.

"And should you truly desire retrieving this worthless scum alive..." He halted. The barest hint of a smirk curved his mouth.

His sword's edge pressed down slightly harder, thickening the atmosphere further.

"Then we’ll conduct a proper trade." Yet beneath his composed facade, Daniel’s thoughts raced elsewhere.

He was fully aware his requests were absurd, irrational, and utterly unattainable, yet this wasn’t meant to be genuine bargaining anyway.

He felt certain these scoundrels harbored no intent to negotiate. The Goblin Guild he remembered bulldozed ahead with brute strength alone.

They’d long resolved to annihilate the Everlight Moon Guild, and backing off was inconceivable. Heaven alone knew their sudden motive for feigning talks.

Was Jason so vital? Or were they stalling too?

"Preparations underway... keep it up," Varenos’s voice resonated in his head right then.

Daniel revealed no sign, merely stalling himself. Yet he warned Varenos the Goblin Guild could be doing the same.

Meanwhile, buried deep within Goblin Guild lands, the commanders remained statue-still.

Haste and anxiety were absent.

"He’s stalling," one observed with composure.

"Irrelevant," countered another.

"We’re stalling right back." A holographic mana display of the battlefield hovered before them.

Bright spots ignited across the projection.

Not amid the clash, but within Everlight Moon’s domain.

"Infiltration teams in position."

"Activation begun."

Amid shadows, squads of top-tier Awakened quietly assembled an intricate formation.

Mana circuits etched into the earth, glyphs igniting sequentially.

Not a standard array—this was an Offensive Array, crafted for one deadly intent.

Amplifying might, empowering leaders, gearing up for warfare beyond mere troops.

The commanders showed no grins; to them, this was merely routine.

Inside the war chamber, Eliera’s words shattered the quiet abruptly.

"Anomaly detected..."

Daniel’s transmission prompted her to sweep the whole Guild zone for threats, and shockingly, issues emerged.

Numerous concealed spots had evaded her detection, dismissed as they hid in isolated zones—until his alert drew her focus, unveiling the danger.

Every gaze fixed on her. Fingers flew over data streams, brows furrowed tight.

Silence stretched seconds, then she pressed on.

"Multiple covert signals within the Guild... they’re erecting an array!"

The chamber plunged into hush, soon crushed by mounting dread.

"What—?!" Darius lunged ahead.

"Scattered across spots... multiple sites... synchronizing efforts..." Eliera rushed, tone accelerating.

How had this slipped past? The Goblin Guild negotiating was never plausible from the outset.

It was a ploy all along—to delay while planting this array—and regrettably, they’d overlooked it entirely.

Without Daniel’s timely heads-up, detection would’ve eluded them completely.

Varenos’s brow creased briefly before his thoughts sharpened into calculation.

"...Their aim wasn’t solely Jason." Shadows deepened in his stare.

"This signals a multi-pronged strike."

"More incoming—" Eliera interjected once more.

"Potent auras... beyond Guild borders... cloaked." Attention snapped back to the display.

Massive, weighty markers materialized. They blinked erratically, battling distortions meant to mask those presences.

Only by bolstering her arrays did they show, yet disruptions persisted, dimming them repeatedly.

"...Understood." Varenos exhaled sharply.

His assumption proved correct. The Goblin Guild was unleashing a massive assault on them. The war barreled toward its climactic end.

"Full evacuation." He issued the command right away.

Silence gripped everyone.

"All forces withdraw immediately." His voice carried unyielding resolve, free of any doubt.

"This battle... isn’t meant for them." He refused to gamble with the lives of his surviving troops.

The clash looming ahead lay beyond their reach to join, and they couldn't even serve as mere shields. Pointless to throw away lives without cause.

Besides, even if the Everlight Moon Guild claimed victory, losing these Awakened afterward would render triumph hollow, like defeat.

Precisely then, the message reached Daniel. Amid negotiations, his eyes sharpened for an instant.

One fleeting moment sufficed. He comprehended it all. His suspicion had hit the mark.

Each passing second perfected the array further, dragging them deeper into the snare. Under those circumstances, wasting more time was impossible.

He needed to shatter these villains' scheme without delay.

Voices rang out successively in Daniel’s mind.

"Daniel, pull back!"

"There are two S-ranks!"

"This direct fight is dangerous!"

Guild commanders urged instant withdrawal. Clashing with two S-ranks posed deadly peril, tantamount to suicide.

No reply came. Obviously, retreat held no appeal for him.

Suddenly, space shattered.

A pitch-black, profound, bottomless rift tore open behind Jason, hauling his body inside before he could react.

It engulfed him completely, and he vanished.

A brief hush fell with no one stirring, then mana pressure surged and space quivered.

Goblin Guild envoys scowled, their gazes turning icy.

"...What are you doing?"

Daniel offered a steady smile.

He dropped his sword from the vacant space while fluidly readying for combat.

His sword’s aura began to stir.

Daniel merely hoisted his sword. Its aura burst forth explosively, splintering the ground under his boots.

"You thought I was an idiot?" His voice shed its lazy drawl and composure.

Two stepped up. Their aura weighed down like mountains, twisting the mana nearby.

Their pressure... seized breaths in every throat.

S-rank.

No introductions required.

"Just because you beat Jason..." one sneered.

"You thought you had a chance?" the other followed up.