Weakest Beast Tamer Gets All SSS Dragons novel Chapter 855

Chapter 855: Chapter 855 - Taming the Fifth Year - Hidden Depths - 2

The Qilin began moving through the tunnels with quick pace but allowing Zhao to follow without difficulty while guiding him toward depths where the discovery waited.

Despite not flying like Zhao, the beast’s movement was fast and elegant in the confined space. Each step placed precisely, never disturbing loose stones or creating unnecessary noise.

They moved for maybe 40 minutes at a pace that covered substantial distance.

They continued in silence broken only by the occasional drip of underground water.

And then Zhao saw light ahead. Not sunlight or torchlight but the distinctive glow of multiple high-rank tamers maintaining active techniques.

Julius was there, along with maybe 30 others from the exploration team. All focused on something Zhao couldn’t yet see.

"Zhao." Julius’s voice carried through the cavern without being particularly loud. "Thank you for coming."

"What did you find?"

Julius stepped aside, gesturing toward the huge door in the wall behind him.

And Zhao understood immediately why the messages had been marked urgent.

♢♢♢♢

While Zhao reunited in the depths with Julius and the search group that had been exploring Yino tunnels for years, Selphira found herself in a completely different environment.

She was in the castle, specifically in the private meeting room Arturo used for discussions requiring absolute discretion.

It was a space designed for conversations where walls had to be trustworthy not to transmit secrets to unwanted ears. Sound-dampening by dense mana enhancements woven into the stone itself.

The kind of room where you discussed things that could start wars if overheard.

And she was receiving news about Victor she simply couldn’t believe no matter how much the messages insisted on the written words’ veracity.

News so incredible her first reaction had been assuming a communication error or a massive misunderstanding about the real situation.

Because the noble faction that had been entrenched in the last piece of Goldcrest territory, that faction reduced to defending that small position instead of actively threatening... now alleged they held Victor hostage.

Victor.

Dragarion’s first son.

A tamer with power comparable to his father in raw terms even if not in his refined experience. User of complete fusion with 2 beasts of Gold 3 and Gold 2 rank converting him into an absolute combat force of the kingdom.

And supposedly idiotic rebel nobles had not only defeated but captured and were keeping him captive.

It was as ridiculous as it sounded when articulated aloud.

The math didn’t work. Victor at full power could probably fight 40-50 Gold 1 tamers simultaneously. Maybe 90-100 if they were poorly coordinated. His beasts had been cultivated using Ren’s methods for the past 3 years, making them significantly more powerful than typical high Gold-rank creatures.

How did you capture someone like that alive?

Selphira touched her forehead with a gesture communicating exasperation and genuine concern, sighing in a way expressing multiple feelings she couldn’t cleanly separate.

She was thinking about how the hell they could have trapped that hardhead when Victor had such great power now, capabilities dramatically improved thanks to methods Ren had shared over years.

Victor wasn’t a prodigy of his father’s caliber, that was true.

But he was an exceptional tamer by any reasonable standard, a combatant who could eliminate dozens of lower-rank opponents without serious difficulty. Top 1 or 2 in the kingdom, easily.

And yet the messages insisted he’d been successfully contained.

Not necessarily defeated in clean combat, but trapped in a manner preventing escape or using force to break captivity.

Which meant either he was dead and the messages were lies designed to lure them into making mistakes, or the rebels had something new. Something that changed the situation fundamentally to the point of being able to fight even Selphira.

Neither option was comforting.

"What specifically are they demanding?" Selphira asked after processing the initial information, voice controlled but carrying an underlying tension that Arturo recognized as a signal that she was considering response options including considerable violence.

Arturo knew that look. Had seen it before, usually shortly before something exploded.

"They’re demanding ’non-intervention’ in several specific zones to ’keep Victor alive,’" he explained with a tone communicating skepticism about the promise’s sincerity.

He gestured toward the map spread across the table, marking 3 territories with his finger. "These areas, specifically. They’re claiming them as sovereign territory that we must formally recognize and agree not to enter for a minimum of 5 years."

5 years. Long enough to solidify control, build defenses, establish infrastructure that would make dislodging them exponentially more difficult.

"They allege they’ll return him ’pardoning his trespass of sacred ruins’ at the end of the term that starts once their territorial demands are formally recognized."

Classic hostage pattern for political advantage. Except the hostage in this case wasn’t a defenseless civilian or minor functionary whose loss would be regrettable but manageable.

It was the kingdom’s most powerful military commander and tamer representing massive investment of resources and time in development.

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