Chapter 65: Blanche’s Deception and the Battle at Val City Gates

The only thing I could do now was return to the mountaintop where Amos and I had first landed, and wait for them to rendezvous.

I still harbored some concern regarding Migadi, the God of Fire Bog had mentioned. According to him, she was a deity who had descended in physical form, residing within Val City itself, surprisingly close to my current location. This proximity naturally made me uneasy.

However, her power couldn’t be as exaggerated as he claimed. If she were truly that formidable, we wouldn’t have been able to hide in the city for so long. Moreover, she hadn’t personally appeared when I escaped, instead sending two rather foolish Bone Dragons to pursue me, which I ultimately evaded.

Had it not been for Bog’s words, I would have remained entirely oblivious to the existence of such a powerful deity hidden within the city.

‘Right! It was entirely possible he was lying to me.’ ‘Perhaps Migadi, the God of Fire, wasn’t actually in the city at all.’ ‘He might have simply been trying to scare me into releasing him.’

I found this possibility highly plausible.

Although I hadn’t yet inquired about the new teleportation location, my mood felt considerably lighter than before.

Bog’s words had, in fact, revealed a wealth of useful information. Among these insights was the fact that Val City was unaware of Alfred’s team’s presence. If Blanche hadn’t betrayed them, then everyone should be able to escape soon.

Those cave dwellers still believed that either I hadn’t killed them, or an opposing dark creature faction was responsible.

Five living individuals had slipped in unnoticed, yet they still had the audacity to claim their god personally oversaw the city. A scoff escaped me at the thought.

As I soared through the sky towards the rendezvous point Amos and I had agreed upon, I noticed a dark speck on the ground below, moving rapidly in my direction.

The speck moved with exceptional speed, employing a leaping motion that proved highly effective in the surrounding mountainous terrain.

‘Could that be…’

I focused my gaze, and as I descended slightly, I discerned what appeared to be a human figure. My composure immediately faltered; how could there be a human in such a place?

The only humans likely to be in this area were Alfred and his group. Could others have been caught in the previous exchange teleportation as well? However, judging by their impressive agility, this person was no ordinary individual. Perhaps it was one of Alfred’s team members who had managed to escape alone?

Further baseless speculation was pointless. When I descended directly from the sky to land in front of the person, I was astonished to clearly see their face.

“Blanche?” I exclaimed in surprise.

Why was it her? According to Amos’s and my deductions, she should either be trapped with Alfred in a cabin within the city, or she might have already betrayed everyone and defected to the monster side, awaiting their return transport. Of course, this was all predicated on the monsters keeping their word.

But what on earth was she doing alone on this desolate mountain outside the city? Yet, her apparent destination seemed to be the very volcano I had just left.

“Flora, it’s you!”

Blanche, startled to see me, immediately spoke.

“You need to hurry and help Captain Alfred and the others! The city gates just opened, and we were discovered trying to slip out. They’re in a fierce battle right now.”

The city gates? Why would they be open?

My initial thought was that the city gates should be tightly shut during the day. However, I instantly recalled Amos mentioning that if the two Bone Dragons, which had crashed onto the city wall, needed to be separated, the gates would have to be opened for manual dismantling. It clicked.

‘Right! Amos could use this opportunity to sneak in, and those inside could also seize the chance to escape.’ ‘While a large group would be a big target and easily exposed, it was still a method.’

Yet, this was far too risky. I wondered why Alfred, usually so cautious, would choose such a method.

“What about you? Why are you here, and not with the others?”

I asked, my voice laced with suspicion. Blanche appearing alone here was far too dubious, especially since Amos had already harbored doubts about her. I needed to get to the bottom of this.

“Captain Alfred told me to escape alone first to investigate the mountain you mentioned,” Blanche explained. “If everyone moved together, we’d be too slow. And if it turns out not to be the correct exchange point, it would be a huge waste of effort for everyone.”

Observing her anxious demeanor, I realized that if Amos hadn’t warned me beforehand, I might truly have been fooled by her acting.

Furthermore, her story was riddled with too many inconsistencies, practically insulting my intelligence.

Even if Alfred, a Rank 6, was formidable, he wouldn’t be so overconfident as to lead everyone in resisting all the monsters in Val City. Even if, as she claimed, they could temporarily escape and even reach the volcano, what if they were wrong? Where would everyone go then? Would they aimlessly search for the correct location while being pursued by enemies?

However, even though I saw through her lie, I dared not expose her immediately. While I was curious about how she had managed to escape alone, I also didn’t dare to ask.

I hadn’t forgotten that Blanche was a Rank 5. If she sensed anything amiss, I would undoubtedly lose in a fight, and might even be killed.

“I understand. Go ahead and investigate,” I replied, feigning belief. “They’re by the city gates, right?”

I pretended to believe her, nodding. The best course of action now was to let her be. If she wanted to go to that mountain, then let her; it was already empty anyway, and she likely wouldn’t discover that even after a day.

“Yes. You should hurry and help too. Where’s Amos?”

“Amos also went to investigate that mountain. You might run into him, so if you do, tell him to come back and help quickly.”

It seemed she hadn’t met Amos yet. After spouting that fabrication, I quickly flew away.

I had initially assumed Blanche’s entire story was a lie. My plan was merely to make a show of flying towards the city gates, then circle back to secretly monitor her.

However, as I approached Val City, I noticed a significant number of monsters gathered near the city gates. Upon flying closer, I was stunned to see Alfred and his companions genuinely battling fiercely amidst the horde.

No way! What on earth was going on?

Amos was among them too, which completely dumbfounded me. Hadn’t we agreed to sneak into the city? Why were they fighting their way *out* of the city gates?

In reality, despite the numerous monsters surrounding them outside, with Alfred, a Rank 6 expert, leading and aided by several other Rank 4 companions, they were surprisingly holding their ground.

They had even fought their way from inside the city gates to outside.

However, this was likely only a temporary reprieve. The monsters currently surrounding them were mostly low-tier fodder, and higher-ranked monsters would soon arrive, making the situation far more difficult.

Meanwhile, Sally and Erica, the comparatively weaker members of their group, were already struggling to cope. Mages were inherently ill-suited for close combat, and being besieged by so many monsters, it was already remarkable that they had held out long enough to make it out of the city.

Upon witnessing this, I knew I should immediately descend to help. Yet, seeing such a massive congregation of monsters below, all ganging up on them, filled my heart with deep unease. I hovered in mid-air, hesitant to move.

After all, I had never experienced such a scene before. Going down there would almost certainly mean facing a near-death situation. I clenched my fists, my mind wrestling with an intense internal conflict.

These were the companions I had lived with for the past few days. If I truly stood by and watched from above, paralyzed by fear, how would that be any different from the betrayal I so despised?

‘But I was only Rank 3, weaker even than Sally, the least powerful among them.’ ‘What help could I possibly offer by going down there?’ ‘I might only become a burden, perhaps even earning their ridicule.’

‘No! Amos had told me that I wasn’t weak anymore, that I had reached Rank 4.’ ‘He had said it, to be confident, to believe in myself…’

I looked at my hands, then at the struggling group below.

“To hell with it!”

I roared, drawing the longsword from my waist, and plunged into the horde of monsters below, bringing my blade down on the head of a wolf-headed creature that was attacking Sally.

This wolf-headed creature was likely only Rank 2 or 3. Struck by my powerful, miraculous sword blow from above, its head instantly burst open, splattering blood across my face.

“Ugh, bleh, bleh! That stinks!”

I wiped the blood from my face, spitting several times, nearly retching.

Suppressing my nausea, I yanked the longsword from the creature’s head. That sword had indeed plunged deep; had my wings not been extended, I surely wouldn’t have been able to pull it out.

“Flora? Why are you here?”

Seeing this, Sally quickly stepped in front of me, using her staff to block a lizardman’s machete that was attempting to attack me.

“Didn’t Amos say you went to investigate the volcano? What’s the situation?”

“Done investigating! It’s been empty for ages; they’ve moved on!”

I shouted back, then moved to support Erica on the other side. Though she appeared delicate, she was utterly ruthless when slaying enemies, vigorously striking a hellhound with her staff.

Curiously, despite her staff clearly being a blunt weapon, every strike drew blood. I noticed a faint blue glow emanating from its tip, suggesting a combat style that enchanted weapons with magic.

‘So, this was what a “melee mage” looked like?’

However, Erica was so engrossed in her assault that she failed to react when a cave dweller on her other side thrust a spear towards her, not even attempting to defend herself.

“Watch out!”

I shrieked, rushing forward to parry the spear with my sword. Yet, a flash of a blade suddenly appeared at the edge of my vision, and at that moment, I had no time to defend.

With a clang, the blade was intercepted by a weapon that had swiftly darted in from the side.

It was Amos! His usual bow was ill-suited for this situation, so like me, he wielded a longsword.

At that moment, he was forcefully cutting down the enemy who had tried to attack me, appearing quite at ease, even having enough breath to question me.

“What are you doing here?”

Leaping to my side, he stood back-to-back with me, his voice sharp.

“This is no place for you!”

His tone sounded furious. I instinctively recoiled, having just been rescued by him again. ‘Was he going to blame me for being a burden?’

“I’m sorry!”

I swung my sword fiercely at a monster in front of us, quickly apologizing and explaining.

“Because you said I was Rank 4, so I thought I could…”

“Huh…”

Amos, behind me, seemed to pause at my words.

“You misunderstood. I wasn’t saying you weren’t strong enough. I told you that even if the volcano wasn’t the correct location, you should have returned to the previous mountaintop to wait for me. Why did you come here?”