"Shit!" Erend cursed in a hard whisper. He couldn't let the people outside know he was awake.

Erend hastily woke Billy and Lt. Boartusk. As soon as they opened their eyes, Erend immediately put his index finger in front of his lips. Helped by his facial expressions, Billy and Lt. Boartusk also knew that the situation was not good.

"What's wrong?" Billy asked in a low voice.

Erend explained to them what happened. Their faces were both deathly pale and filled with anxiety.

Outside, black shadows could be seen passing swiftly through the curtains that were still closed

"What should we do now?" Billy asked, half panicked.

Lt. Boartusk is trying to rack his brain quickly. "Let's grab a weapon."

"Are we going to fight? Wouldn't that make us look even more guilty?" Billy asked.

"Most likely they have determined that we are guilty. If they set us up, they must have prepared everything to make us the culprits," Lt. Boartusk said. "There's no point in defending ourselves by talking, at least for now."

"Lt. Boartusk was right," Erend said. "The ones who framed us were high-ranking military officers. They won't hesitate."

Billy immediately nodded at the two of them. "Okay. Then let's go grab a weapon."

The three of them moved cautiously out of the bedroom and into the room where the weapons and other equipment were stored. They picked up some weapons quickly.

"After this what are we going to do?" Billy asked. "We can't possibly win against them in this house."

Billy's right. This house will keep them trapped inside and outside, the army is already surrounded.

"I'll try to contact Aurdis," Erend replied.

"Are you sure you can do it?" Lt. Boartusk asked.

"Not really, Lieutenant." Erend looked at Lt. Boartusk. "But do we have any other choice?"

Lt. Boartusk took a deep breath. "You're right. You do it."

"If that doesn't work, it looks like we can only give up," Billy said.

"Well, you're right." Lt. Boartusk justifies it because in reality that is just the way it is.

There was the sound of the door being knocked open. Troops rushed in and scanned the rooms with rifles raised ready to fire.

"Clear!"

"This room is clear!"

"Clear!"

They checked several rooms on the first floor and found them empty. But when they checked the room where Erend, Billy, and Lt. Bortusk were sleeping, they could see that this room had just been used. The occupants left this room in a hurry.

"They know we're here."

After examining the room, they came to the same conclusion. Their leader gave orders for them to be more careful because their targets this time were trained people.

After that, they searched again. One of the squad members heard a voice from the suspicious-looking room on the second floor. He immediately informed their leader.

Not long after, his colleagues went up to the second floor.

"I heard something from in there, sir," the soldier informed.

Their leader nodded and waved his hand. From behind him a member of the squad holding a shield stepped forward and took the point. They advanced carefully towards the door of the room.

Suddenly...

'BANG!'

A shot from a shotgun through the door. The shot took them by surprise. All the troops seemed to be holding their breath.

'DDRDRDRDRDRDRD!!!'

Then a barrage of gunfire came from the assault rifle. Fortunately, the shield that the troop members were holding at the front protected them.

The special forces immediately retreated to the right and left of the door.

"You're surrounded! There's no use fighting back!" said the leader. No answer from within.

What came was a barrage of guns that barely stopped.

"How?" Lt. Boartusk asked Erend. But Erend still closed his eyes and frowned as if he was having a hard time.

Lt. Boartusk just clicked his tongue because it seemed that Erend couldn't hear him.

The three of them were now hiding behind the iron table hoping that the iron table could protect them a little longer.

Lt. Boartusk continued shooting with Billy. But because they don't know when all this will end, their feelings are restless and afraid.

The troops outside would also definitely do something to break through their defenses as soon as possible. Erend was still concentrating on contacting Aurdis.

Unfortunately, he had no fixed way of contacting her through thought. At that time, Aurdis contacted him first but Erend wasn't sure if he could do it himself.

Erend could no longer hear the noise around him because he was concentrating so hard on trying to reach Aurdis. Suddenly, Erend could feel Aurdis' presence on the other side.

'Hey, what's wrong?' Aurdis asked.

'Please open the portal right now!' Erend said in a panicked voice.

'Now?' Aurdis sounded uncertain. 'What is going on?'

'I can't explain it now. But we are in danger. Open the portal now!'

'A-Alright. But I need about a minute,' Aurdis said.

'It's so long! we can't last a minute!' Erend cried.

'What do you mean? you are a dragon.'

Hearing Aurdis' words. Erend suddenly came to realize.

'Wait, you're right.' Because he was too panicked, Erend didn't even remember that he had that power. Erend cursed his stupidity.

'Yes. Are you alone?' Aurdis asked.

'I'm with Billy and Lt. Boartusk,' Erend replied.

'Okay. You buy some time and I'll open the portal.'

'Okay!'

Erend opened his eyes and saw Billy and Lt. Boartusk were still shooting at the door. Realizing Erend had opened his eyes, Lt. Boartusk asked amid the chaos.

"How?!"

"I can contact Aurdis. But we have to wait a minute," Erend replied.

"We don't have a minute!" Billy replied frantically.

"We do. I'll buy some time." Erend looked towards the door. "If the portal opens. You two go right in!"

[ Skill activated: Dragon Scale (Lv.1) ]

Erend jumped up from the table. Every bullet that hit his body bounced like hitting hard steel.

Erend's skin was covered in red and black scales. The soldiers widened their eyes at the Erend approaching.

Their breath seemed to be stopped by the sight of a monster figure charging toward them.

~~~