Chapter 1053

Ariel was dumbfounded. He finally realized he was not prepared to fight Adrian. He thought his plan to use Thiago to distract Adrian while he and his men retreated from Serpent's Haven was flawless. All of this was so that he could blow up the entire island. Yet, before he could even prepare to retreat, Adrian managed to swoop in and storm his base before he even saw it coming. At that moment, Ariel was starting to break down. Meanwhile, Adrian had no intention of stopping after removing one of Ariel's arms. He moved in to take Ariel's head. Ariel suddenly screamed, "Stop and listen to me, Draco! You won't live if you kill me!" Adrian's dagger rested against Ariel's neck before he pulled the latter toward him. "Ask your men to stand down or I'll kill you." "Fine, fine! I'll do it!" Ariel said through the communicator, "Everyone, stop! Stop this instant!" His men, who were in the midst of an intense battle, did not dare move another inch upon hearing his orders. Adrian commanded, "All of you, step out of the base and throw away your weapons." "Do as he says!" Ariel screamed. One by one, the people inside the base did as they were told. They raised their hands in the air after throwing their weapons to the ground. Steel, Blaze, and Gloria surrounded the men when they saw this. More than two thousand men were gathered outside the base, getting down on their knees with their hands behind their heads upon Adrian's instruction. Seeing his men doing as they were told, Ariel said, "Can you let me go now, Draco? I've already done as you asked." Adrian gave Steel a signal, who understood what he was being asked to do as he walked over to pick up a few oil barrels. He doused the entire base with oil before lighting the place on fire. Ariel screwed his eyes shut when he saw his base going up in flames. Never once did it cross his mind that his entire plan would fall to ruins. 'My base… It's destroyed… My entire plan is ruined.' Adrian's dagger was still resting against Ariel's neck. "Where's the manual detonators that will blow this island apart? Answer me!" Ariel was instantly shocked. "How did you know?! Impossible… You can't possibly know all this!" He was dumbfounded that Adrian had managed to uncover the plan he and the rest of the Eight Hollows had so intricately come up with. 'How could he possibly have figured it all out?' "Answer me!" Adrian said. Clearly shocked by the turn of events, Ariel's breathing became labored as he replied, "The detonators aren't inside the base. I know you’ll kill me if I tell you where they are. But I may survive if I don't tell you. My men will immediately flip the switch and blow this entire place to smithereens if I'm dead!" "Are you threatening me?" Adrian asked, only to be met with Ariel's chuckles. After all, this was Ariel's only remaining leverage. "I'm not threatening you, but it's a fact you can't kill me. I can't figure out for the life of me how you managed to discover the plan we so intricately designed… Is there a snitch in our ranks perhaps?" Steel walked over. "Do you people think that the war legate of Wyvern Peak is a weakling? Well, newsflash for you, it's impossible for you guys to replace Wyvern Peak, so I suggest you start answering our questions if you value your life." "This entire island is done for if I'm dead!" Ariel yelled. "What if nobody's around to tell the others you're dead?" Adrian asked. "What?!" Ariel felt his body tremble. Adrian held his hand up and gestured…