Chapter 66: Blanche’s Betrayal and a Looming Threat

“That’s a long story…”

Hearing that he wasn’t blaming me, I immediately breathed a sigh of relief. However, explaining my encounter with Blanche under these circumstances would be incredibly difficult.

Fortunately, we were surrounded by nothing but fodder, mostly low-tier creatures below Rank 3. Many lacked even basic intelligence, charging forward mindlessly, which allowed me to barely keep them at bay.

“Focus your attention!”

Alfred’s voice suddenly cut through the air, followed by a sharp command to everyone.

“Now, follow me out…”

With a sweeping arc of his longsword, a large group of monsters collapsed before him, instantly clearing a path.

“Charge!”

Under his leadership, we all broke through the encirclement and sprinted towards the wilderness west of the city. Behind us, the horde of monsters surged forward, hot on our heels.

“Let’s get further away first! It’s too dangerous near the city.”

Amos shouted, fending off the faster pursuers from behind. Seeing that he was overwhelmed, I immediately moved to assist him.

“Didn’t we agree to sneak back into the city? You call this sneaking in?”

Seizing the brief lull, I grumbled at him.

In truth, I didn’t need to run with them; I only had to fly behind. This made my situation the easiest, simply swinging my sword at the small fry from mid-air.

“I was just about to blend into the city according to the plan!”

He replied, looking wronged.

“How was I to know Alfred and the others would choose to collectively sneak *out* through the city gate? When they were discovered, I had no choice but to show myself and help them.”

Just about to enter the city? I paused, surprised, but then quickly realized. Unlike me, Amos couldn’t fly; he had walked all that distance to get here.

Furthermore, he couldn’t simply enter the city upon arrival. He would need to observe the surroundings for a while to find an opportune moment.

So, by the time I had already interrogated the prisoner at the volcano, he was still lingering outside the city gates.

‘Then who came up with the terrible idea of escaping through the city gate?’

I already had an answer in mind; it was most likely Blanche. Yet, I felt that Alfred wouldn’t easily trust her suggestions.

“It was me!”

My goodness! I never expected Alfred to be the one to step forward and confess. Today was truly a day of “continuous surprises,” had Amos and I both guessed wrong?

Everyone else was frantically running ahead, leaving only Amos and me to cover the rear. The distance wasn’t too great, however, so we could still hear each other by speaking loudly.

“What were you thinking?!”

Amos looked utterly bewildered, unable to fathom how their usually cautious captain could have made such a blunder.

“The Captain had no choice!”

Erica, who had been silent while following Alfred, clarified.

“Our safe house was somehow compromised. Blanche, who was scouting outside, returned early to warn us, so the Captain had to quickly evacuate everyone. For some unknown reason, the city suddenly began conducting house-to-house searches everywhere. Since we couldn’t find another hiding place, and the city gate happened to be open, the Captain decided to lead us there to see if there was a chance to escape.”

Amos and I exchanged a look, instantly understanding what had truly transpired.

“Where’s Blanche?” Amos gritted out, panting as he ran.

“I don’t know. She might have gotten lost in the chaos at the city gate.” Erica and the others still looked utterly clueless.

“How were you discovered?”

I pierced the body of a monster pursuing us from behind with a single sword thrust. Since we had fallen a bit far back, I scooped up Amos, who was beside me, and flew back to the fleeing group.

“It was truly strange! Near the city gate, the inspection was… very strict. Only some labor-like… monsters were allowed in and out. We felt it was hopeless and were about to retreat back into the city, when suddenly… when suddenly…”

Sally answered, breathless. Her stamina was likely the worst, and after running for so long, she quickly became winded.

Ultimately, Erica finished the latter part of her explanation.

“Then, for some unknown reason, a monster suddenly shrieked, ‘Humans are trying to leave the city!’ The gate guards immediately demanded everyone present reveal their identities. There was no other choice but to fight our way out.”

“That Blanche! She sold you all out!”

Amos roared, catching up to us.

“She deliberately created the chaos, then slipped away alone in the confusion!”

“No way? Why would Blanche do something like that?”

Erica said, disbelievingly.

“But I really didn’t see her leave through the city gate! I was afraid monsters from outside would also come in and block our exit, so I kept my eyes on the gate. If Blanche had left through there, I definitely would have noticed.”

Alfred wasn’t entirely convinced either, but his eyes wouldn’t deceive him.

“She actually did get out. I encountered her outside just now, and she’s currently heading towards that volcano.”

Without concealment, I directly recounted my earlier accidental meeting with Blanche. Noticing the pursuing monsters were falling further and further behind, I simply grabbed Sally, who was exhausted and lagging severely, and flew her above the group.

“She even lied to me, claiming you sent her to scout that mountain. Though, I never told her the mountain was already empty.”

“You’ve suspected her all along?”

Alfred finally realized this.

“Why didn’t you say something sooner? And how did she get out?”

“She got out via the Bone Dragon!”

Amos glanced back at the city gate behind them and the Bone Dragon, stuck motionlessly on the city wall nearby, and immediately deduced the answer.

“That’s right!”

Seeing the empty skeletal frame, I also understood.

“The monsters near the Bone Dragon were likely drawn away by the commotion at the city gate. Blanche then seized the opportunity to climb the skeleton, scale the city wall, and naturally, escape.”

Amos and I had underestimated Blanche; she was truly cunning. While she had resorted to betrayal, she hadn’t actually made a deal with the monsters as we had initially assumed.

First, she anonymously tipped off the monsters without revealing herself, forcing Alfred to abandon their base and scout the city gates. Of course, her machinations likely played a significant role in this.

Then, she immediately betrayed everyone by telling the monsters near the gate that humans were trying to escape. While everyone was under attack and distracting the surrounding monsters, she detoured via the Bone Dragon to flee, heading straight for her destination.

Blanche had not only exploited everyone in the team but also the monsters. She avoided the risks of dealing with them directly, successfully achieving her goal of approaching the volcano.

Had the meeting place not been relocated prematurely, Blanche might truly have outwitted everyone, escaping to freedom and returning to the Asante Kingdom.

In reality, she didn’t need to go to such lengths; everyone could have escaped the city together without her betrayal. Based on my intelligence, Val City had no idea other humans existed apart from Sally and me. The previous lockdown was primarily to guard against *me*, the angel. Once I had left with Amos, a human, right under the enemy’s noses, the lockdown should have been lifted swiftly.

‘This was truly a self-defeating act, harming others without benefiting herself.’

After watching Amos briefly explain the situation to the others, I offered him a wry smile.

The low-tier monsters, being too weak, either lacked sufficient speed or stamina. They were quickly outdistanced and finally gave up the chase.

However, Val City had not given up. Several Ghost-Mask Dragonflies had already risen from within the city, flying towards us. It was the first time I had seen their forms clearly in broad daylight.

True to their name, their heads bore a mask-like human face, but their bodies were otherwise identical to common dragonflies, albeit much larger in size.

‘How hideous!’ That was my only thought regarding these Ghost-Mask Dragonflies. As defeated foes I had once battled, they held no power to intimidate me.

Seeing them about to unleash their lightning attacks, I swiftly cast several Purification Spells. Moments later, every Ghost-Mask Dragonfly, without exception, lay writhing on the ground, six legs twitching skyward.

“Well done!” Amos, running ahead, turned to praise me.

“It was nothing…”

In truth, casting so many Purification Spells in such a short time was quite draining. I was about to modestly brush off his compliment when a massive shadow suddenly swept over us. Then, in the sky ahead, a Bone Dragon appeared.

Everyone immediately halted. Alfred, at the front, raised his longsword to his chest in a defensive stance, while Amos put away his sword, retrieving his preferred bow.

“We’ve been caught, after all…”

I sighed, having hoped we might escape successfully. But reality, as always, was cruel.

Despite losing two Bone Dragons earlier, it seemed our adversaries still had reserves. Moreover, it wasn’t just a single Bone Dragon blocking our path; another monster stood upon its head. Though distant, the immense pressure emanating from it was palpable, clearly indicating a high-tier entity.

“That’s a Vampire!”

Amos told me gravely, his hand resting on his bow as he drew a glowing white arrow from a ring.

“This is bad. He’s at least Rank 5, possibly even Rank 6…”

‘How are we supposed to fight that?’

My heart tightened. The enemy had two Rank 6 entities. If Blanche hadn’t run off, we might have stood a slim chance…

No! It still wouldn’t be enough. The gap between Rank 5 and Rank 6 was immense; even all the other Rank 4 individuals combined couldn’t bridge that chasm.

Besides, she wasn’t even here.

Realizing the disparity in strength, everyone present, except Alfred, instinctively began to retreat.

“You almost got away!”

The Vampire leaped from the Bone Dragon’s head, landing gracefully before the group. He wore a trench coat, and frankly, combined with his posture, I found him a bit flashy.

“I never imagined so many humans were hidden in the city, besides an angel. Disrupting things while I was resting is one thing, but if you’ve alerted Lady Migadi, the consequences will be dire.”

Migadi? Hearing that name again, the “Flame God” mentioned by Bog the cave dweller—could she truly be within Val City?

The others, however, hadn’t heard the name before and exchanged perplexed glances.

“Migadi?”

Alfred was the first to ask the Vampire.

“Hmph! She is the god of all dark creatures. You humans are unworthy of knowing!”

The Vampire seemed disdainful of elaborating on Migadi. He suddenly waved a hand, and the Bone Dragon above him immediately swooped down towards us, snapping its jaws at Alfred, who stood at the very front.