I grow stronger by making my wife happy.

Chapter 285: 285:Leaving.

Antony remained in the driver’s seat long after the dust from the collapsed cave had settled. The engine was still off, and the silence around the vehicle felt almost unnatural after the noise of the battle.

A few insects chirped somewhere in the surrounding grass, while the distant sounds of beasts occasionally echoed through Death Row Valley, but Antony barely noticed any of it. His eyes remained fixed on the mountain of rubble where the cave entrance had been.

Silver is still inside.

That thought kept repeating in his mind.

Silver is still inside.

Antony rubbed his face with both hands before letting out a long breath. "You’d better be alive, God this is stressful."

He looked toward the back seat for the twentieth time. Ravenna hadn’t woken up.

She was lying across the seat with her head resting against the side, her white hair spread around her face. She looked peaceful now, almost as though she were simply sleeping after a long day.

The sight bothered Antony more than anything else. She didn’t know. She had no idea what had happened after he carried her through the tunnel.

Antony swallowed.

"How am I supposed to explain this?"

He imagined the moment Ravenna woke.

Antony winced.

"Yeah. Definitely getting punched."

He glanced toward the rubble again; maybe Silver had survived.

He had seen enough of Silver’s abilities to know that the man was ridiculously difficult to kill. He could teleport short distances, manipulate space, sense things through walls, and somehow survive situations that should have killed him.

But this time was different. Silver had already been exhausted.

Antony’s expression became grim. He had seen the damage Silver had taken before they separated and knew the man was already struggling.

"Come on, Silver."

Antony leaned forward and rested his arms against the steering wheel.

"You don’t get to die after making me carry your girlfriend out of a collapsing cave."

He stared at the rubble.

"You hear me?"

Nothing answered.

Antony looked at the rearview mirror. Ravenna’s face was still pale, he noticed her fingers move. He immediately turned around.

"Ravenna?"

Her eyebrows tightened, her lips moved. He sighed. It was again her calling out to Silver.

Antony’s expression softened.

"Yeah, I get you."

She didn’t wake. Her breathing became slightly faster. Antony didn’t know whether she was dreaming or somehow sensing what had happened.

He looked toward the cave again.

"He’s alive." He said it firmly, even though he didn’t know.

"He’s alive," he repeated it. "That guy is probably somewhere down there making the queen regret chasing him."

He tried to convince himself as much as he was trying to convince her.

Ravenna suddenly moved , then her eyes opened halfway.

Antony froze.

She stared blankly toward the roof of the vehicle.

"Where..."

Her voice was weak.

Antony turned fully around.

"Ravenna?"

Her eyes slowly focused.

"Antony?"

"Yeah."

She blinked several times, then her expression changed. She remembered. Her eyes immediately widened.

"Where is Silver?"

Antony didn’t answer quickly enough. Ravenna pushed herself upright.

"Where is he?"

"Ravenna, calm down."

"Where is Silver?!!"

She tried to stand but her body swayed. Antony reached out and caught her shoulder.

"You’re still dizzy."

She pushed his hand away.

"Where is he?"

Antony looked at her. For once, he couldn’t come up with a joke.

"He didn’t make it out."

Ravenna froze.

"What?"

"The tunnel collapsed after I got you outside." Her face became completely blank. Antony continued quickly. "I don’t know if he’s dead."

Ravenna stared at him.

"You don’t know?"

"No."

"Then why are you sitting here?!"

Antony’s expression tightened.

"Because the entrance is completely blocked."

Ravenna looked through the window. She saw the rubble and her face went pale.

"No... No."

She opened the door. Antony immediately stepped out after her. Ravenna stumbled toward the collapsed entrance.

"Silver!"

Her voice echoed through the valley. She ran faster.

"Silver!"

Antony followed. Ravenna reached the rubble and immediately began pulling at the stones with her bare hands.

"Ravenna! Wait up, don’t do something stupid. "

She ignored him and grabbed another rock. Her fingers scraped against the stone.

"Silver!"

Nothing.

She pushed another piece away. Antony grabbed her shoulders.

"Stop!"

"Let go!"

"You can’t move this! You’ll hurt yourself."

"I don’t care!"

She struggled against him.

"I have to get him out!"

"You’re not strong enough to move this!"

"I don’t care!"

Antony held her firmly.

"You’re going to injure yourself!"

Ravenna stopped. Her shoulders trembled, then she looked at the rubble again. Her breathing became shaky.

"He’s still in there."

Antony didn’t say anything.

"He’s still in there." Her voice broke. "He told me he’d catch up."

Antony lowered his eyes.

"I know."

"He promised."

"I know."

Ravenna turned toward him.

"Then why isn’t he here?"

Antony couldn’t answer. Ravenna’s eyes filled with tears. She looked back at the cave.

"I should have stayed."

Antony’s expression changed.

"He wouldn’t have wanted that."

"I don’t care."

"He knocked you unconscious because you wouldn’t leave."

"You were the one who knocked me unconscious, he didn’t. You could have just waited... I... hic... I should have fought."

"You would have died."

"Then we would have died together."

Antony stared at her. Ravenna’s voice cracked.

"I don’t want him to die alone."

That sentence silenced him. Antony looked toward the cave. For all his eccentricity, for all his strange behavior, he understood that feeling.

Silver had stayed behind because he wanted them to survive. He had knowingly walked toward the queen while they escaped and sacrificed himself.

Antony clenched his fists.

"He’s not dead."

Ravenna looked at him. Antony pointed toward the rubble.

"That bastard is too stubborn to die."

Ravenna stared at him.

"You’re sure?"

"No." He admitted it. "But I’m choosing to believe it."

Ravenna lowered her gaze. Her tears finally fell.

Antony looked away. He didn’t know how to comfort her. He wasn’t good at this, he preferred jokes, teasing people and turning serious situations into something ridiculous.

But there was nothing funny about this.

The woman standing beside him was crying because the man who had become her entire world might be buried alive beneath hundreds of meters of stone.

Antony looked at the rubble again.

"We need help."

Ravenna immediately looked up.

"The others."

Antony nodded.

"At the observation center."

"Then we go back."

Ravenna turned toward the vehicle.

Antony followed.

But before they could reach it, Ravenna stopped. She looked at the cave again.

"We’re coming back."

Antony nodded.

"Of course."

"Even if the others refuse, we’ll come back."

Ravenna wiped her tears.

Her expression changed. The sadness remained, but something harder appeared beneath it.

Determination.

"He’s alive."

Antony nodded.

"He’s alive."

They returned to the vehicle. Ravenna sat in the passenger seat and Antony entered the driver’s side. He started the engine.

The vehicle roared to life.

Before driving away, Antony looked through the windshield toward the collapsed cave.

"Hang on, Silver."

He pressed his foot against the accelerator. The vehicle began moving. Neither of them spoke for several minutes.

The road was rough, and beasts occasionally moved through the distant grass, but Antony drove without slowing.

Ravenna sat silently beside him.

Her hands were clenched tightly around the edge of her seat, then she whispered.

"He can’t die."

Antony glanced at her.

"He won’t."

"You don’t know that."

"No." Antony looked back toward the road. "But neither of us knows that he died."

Ravenna looked down.

"That’s not enough."

"It has to be."

She closed her eyes. For a moment, neither spoke, then Ravenna felt something strange. A faint warmth moved through her chest.

She opened her eyes.

"Something..."

Antony glanced toward her.

"What?"

Ravenna pressed a hand against her chest.

"I don’t know."

She closed her eyes again.

There was a strange sensation, just a feeling; a tiny thread of reassurance. As though something deep inside her refused to accept the possibility that Silver was gone.

Her breathing slowly steadied.

Antony noticed.

"You okay?"

Ravenna nodded.

"I think..." she looked toward the valley behind them. "I think he’s alive."

Antony smiled faintly.

"See?"

"You said that without knowing."

"So did you."

Ravenna almost smiled, then her expression became serious again.

"We’re going back."

"Definitely."

"And we’re not leaving until we find him."

Antony nodded.

"Agreed."

The vehicle continued toward the observation center.

Silver’s consciousness drifted in and out, he could hear something; a low vibration and the movement of the queen.

He couldn’t move or fight, but somewhere inside his mind, one thought remained.

Ravenna is safe.

That was enough.

His lips moved faintly.

"Good..."

Then darkness swallowed him again. The queen moved closer, its enormous body filled the cavern. Silver remained motionless against the stone.

But beneath the darkness, the System continued working.

[Life force stabilized.]

[Guardian’s Last Breath remains active.]

[Recovery initiated.]

[Host remains alive.]

For the first time since the battle began, the System gave him a notification that wasn’t a warning.

[Survival confirmed.]

And deep beneath Death Row Valley, the fight for Silver’s life had only just begun.

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