92: Chapter 92 Persuasion

On the edge of the Meteor Forest outside the academy.

At this moment, inside the hidden underground cave where Elena and Colin were hiding, a series of footsteps suddenly sounded.

Although the footsteps were light, they were very clear in the silent cave.

This disturbance startled Elena and Colin, who were hiding inside.

After exchanging a glance and confirming they hadn't misheard, their expressions turned grave. The elemental particles constantly flowing in the air began to gather around them, becoming active.

As the footsteps drew closer, the atmosphere in the cave became incredibly tense, almost ready to snap. A single wrong move would cause an earth-shattering eruption!

"Alright, Loris, stop scaring them. If you really trigger them, we'll have to move again."

A deep, resonant voice suddenly rang out in the cave.

Immediately after, a carefree and cheerful voice followed.

"Hey, I just wanted to give Elena and the others a surprise."

As the voices spoke, two figures emerged from the darkness.

The newcomers were none other than Dylan, the president of the Fallen Sun Council, and Loris.

Looking at the vigilant Elena, Loris chuckled: "Elena, aren't you pleasantly surprised to see me?"

Seeing that it was Dylan and Loris, Elena and Colin relaxed.

Hearing Loris's words, Elena rolled her eyes in annoyance: "That's not a surprise, that's a fright."

"If I had known it was you, I wouldn't have held back; I would have attacked directly."

Upon hearing this, Loris wasn't angry in the slightest. Instead, she skipped over to Elena, pulled her into a hug, and said coquettishly.

"Hey, I was just worried you were too tense and wanted you to relax. Alright, don't be angry anymore."

Elena curled her lip at this but didn't say anything further.

Dylan and Colin, standing to the side, watched this scene with unchanged expressions, as if they were already accustomed to it.

After a while, the four of them sat facing each other.

Dylan said calmly: "Elena, you're right. No one knows who is friend or foe right now, so I didn't call anyone else over; I only called Loris."

At this point, Dylan paused slightly.

"However, while this is enough for self-preservation, if we want to counterattack, relying only on the four of us is insufficient."

Loris nodded in agreement: "Yes, Elena, I know what you're worried about, but Dylan makes sense."

"Are you really content with being forced by those bastards to keep hiding underground, unable to see the light of day?!"

As she said this, a flash of murderous intent flickered in Loris's eyes.

After all, she had been attacked by those people as soon as she landed and had suffered quite a bit.

If she hadn't reacted quickly and sacrificed a trump card, she might even have suffered a humiliating defeat.

How could she not hate them for that!

Hearing Loris and Dylan's words, Elena fell silent.

Seeing this, Dylan saw hope in persuading Elena and continued.

"Elena, you've been in the academy for so many years; you should understand the academy's nature by now."

"Logically speaking, the academy should have noticed by now that we haven't returned on time, but why are we still trapped here? Don't you have any guesses in your heart?"

"I'm certain the academy has already grasped the situation regarding this sudden accident."

"And the reason they haven't intervened is surely because they want to use this event as a trial to see what we're made of."

"I know them all too well!"

Once Dylan said this, none of the three's expressions changed.

After all, Mentor Isolde had already contacted them through the contract mark and informed them of the situation.

It was precisely because of this that Elena was so hesitant about whether to choose the path Dylan was suggesting.

But after thinking for a moment and exchanging glances with Colin and Loris, Elena suddenly looked up at Dylan.

"President, what you said does make sense. Alright, I'm with you!"

Colin also spoke up: "Count me in!"

Dylan was overjoyed. It wasn't that he hadn't tried to find other members of the Fallen Sun Council over the past few days.

But the results were somewhat disappointing.

They were either hesitant, flat-out refused, or, even worse, couldn't be contacted at all.

Up to now, not counting Elena and the others, he had only managed to get seven or eight people to join.

Ivan was even still running back and forth between the hideouts of the Fallen Sun Council members, trying to persuade them.

However, Dylan had anticipated this result. After all, wizards are all about interests; who would do something without any benefit?

This is the true nature of a wizard; the further one walks on the path of a wizard, the more pronounced this nature becomes.

He was the same. The reason he wanted to counterattack wasn't to vent his anger or indignation—emotions useless to a wizard.

He wanted to increase his weight in the eyes of the academy higher-ups watching this trial, to add a few chips to his future path as a wizard, and to make his future journey a bit smoother.

Just then, a look of embarrassment flashed across Dylan's face.

"Um, Elena, aren't you and Colin Byron's seniors? Do you know where Byron is now? I tried to contact Byron through the council's communicator, but I just can't reach him."

"If possible, I'd like to get Byron on board too. After all, as a Potion Master, his participation would definitely secure our logistics, and sometimes he might even play an unexpected role."

"Of course, I also know Byron only has the strength of a Second-Rank Wizard Apprentice, but I will definitely ensure his safety. You can rest assured about that."

After hearing Dylan's words, Elena and Colin exchanged a glance, their expressions becoming somewhat strange, hesitating to speak.

Even without Dylan, even Loris could see that something was off with the two of them.

Dylan was anxious: "Could it be that Byron has met with some accident?!"

Elena hurriedly waved her hand: "No, not that. Byron is doing just fine right now; he's even safer than we are."

Loris was puzzled: "Since Byron is fine, why were your expressions so strange just now?"

Looking at their puzzled expressions, Elena hesitated, then finally looked at Colin: "Colin, you tell them. I don't know how to explain it for the moment."

Hearing this, and seeing the eyes of Dylan and Loris fall upon him, Colin felt a burst of pressure and wore a wry smile.

But since it had come to this, even if he didn't want to say it, he had no choice.

Subsequently, Colin explained the matter of Mentor Isolde contacting them and clarified Byron's current situation.

"That's the situation. Byron wasn't teleported here with us."

After hearing Colin's words, Dylan and Loris had a strange expression appear on their faces.

They had thought of many possible scenarios, but they never expected that their plan would be thwarted by this one situation.

Thinking of this, Dylan waved his hand and sighed: "Forget it. Since that's the case, I can't force it. Let's leave it at that."