Chapter 121: Breakout

Now, Ephnel could only choose to trade injury for a chance to escape.

Her spear blocked an attack aimed at her heart.

At the same time, Ephnel tilted the shaft of her spear, deflecting the force while using the momentum to spring up.

She kicked down an Erosion Organism attacking from her right, sealing off the route from that side.

The right side was Ephnel’s weakest point; she had to keep the situation under her control.

But more Erosion Organisms followed.

Rip—

Unable to dodge in time, a long spike pierced through Ephnel’s hair and embedded itself deep in her shoulder.

Blood instantly stained half of her face.

Ephnel thrust her spear with one hand while simultaneously pushing herself up and kicking the Erosion Organism, sending it flying.

But another gash, deep enough to see bone, appeared on the outside of Ephnel’s thigh.

Her breaths gradually took on the taste of blood.

Her nose could hardly keep up with her rapid breathing.

The intense pain felt like needles stabbing into her brain.

Ephnel clenched her teeth, let out a great roar, and whipped her spear back from her waist, swinging it over her head and slamming it down.

She sent the Erosion Organism in front of her flying, knocking over several others that were charging up behind it.

She had been consciously weakening the Erosion Organisms on one side to create an opportunity for her breakthrough.

Just then, the sound of gunfire suddenly came from a distance.

At the same time, a silver flash appeared in the corner of Ephnel’s eye.

A clear, girlish voice emerged from the outer edge of the encircling Erosion Organisms.

“Senior Ephnel!!”

From outside the Erosion Organisms’ encirclement came the sound of gunfire as dense as falling rain, and—

“Senior Ephnel!!”

The girl’s voice was like a gentle breeze ringing a bell.

A crisp chime sounded from outside the circle of Erosion Organisms.

A silver light flashed and was gone.

Ephnel saw the tip of a silver blade appear at the chest of an Erosion Organism.

Then, the blade twisted and flicked sharply upwards.

Under this single slash, the giant-like body of the Erosion Organism was split in two, then scattered into countless motes of starlight, revealing the slender figure of the girl behind it.

“Senior Ephnel!”

The girl, holding a straight sword, shouted loudly as she ran towards Ephnel’s position.

The countless gunshots and the girl’s appearance also drew the attention of the Erosion Organisms.

Roars erupted from all sides as they surged towards the girl and the distant sound.

At that moment, another person appeared at the girl’s side.

She held a straight sword in one hand and a shield in the other, defending against an attack to the girl’s flank.

She parried the Erosion Organism’s sharp claws and launched a fierce counterattack.

The gunfire drew the attention of the Erosion Organisms.

A barrage of cannon fire and bullets rained down on Seiran.

Although it didn’t cause any substantial damage to Seiran, it did capture her attention.

Seiran raised her hand, and her beam of light shot towards the distance instead.

Seizing this opportunity, the two girls coordinated with each other and quickly broke through towards Ephnel’s position.

The loud gunshots had drawn away many of the Erosion Organisms.

Under the two girls’ forceful assault, they quickly broke into the encirclement and landed in front of Ephnel, panting.

“Ayse… Erincia?”

Ephnel recognized her rescuers, but her voice was strained due to the intense pain and ragged breathing.

“What are you two doing here…”

“Senior, you…”

Ayse looked at the shocking wounds covering Ephnel’s small body, bit her lip, and the words caught in her throat.

Erincia didn’t speak, but she gripped her weapons tightly, her face also looking extremely grim.

The ground was covered in bright red bloodstains, and the air was thick with the smell of blood.

It was hard to imagine that all of this had come from Ephnel alone.

“We can talk later. Let’s get out of here first!”

Ayse grit her teeth and knelt down beside Ephnel.

“Pardon the intrusion!”

“Wait… ah!?”

With a cry of pain from Ephnel, Ayse’s hands went under Ephnel’s legs and back, and she scooped Ephnel up in a princess carry.

Pressure was put on her wounds, and the pain made Ephnel throw her head back.

Fresh blood stained Ayse’s sleeves.

“P-put me down… I can still fight!”

Ephnel shouted through the pain, but Ayse didn’t loosen her grip in the slightest.

“I’m sorry, senior… please bear with it…”

Holding Ephnel securely, Ayse looked up at Seiran, who was attacking the distant soldiers, and shouted to Erincia:

“Erincia! Let’s go!!”

“Right!”

Carrying Ephnel and holding her straight sword in one hand, Ayse followed behind Erincia, and they quickly ran back the way they came.

Erincia acted as the vanguard, holding her shield in front of her.

A silver light flashed under her feet, and she charged forward to meet an oncoming Erosion Organism.

Clang—

The Erosion Organism’s claws slid off the slightly angled shield.

As its arm was deflected, Erincia’s sharp straight sword appeared at its exposed chest.

With a deadpan expression, Erincia thrust her sword, piercing straight through the Erosion Organism’s chest.

Her immense strength drove the blade completely into its body.

Then, with a loud cry, she ripped the blade sideways, tearing a long gash out of the Erosion Organism’s side.

Starlight rose, and without breaking stride, Erincia charged forward with her shield held in front.

But a massive figure blocked her path.

The Erosion Organism that appeared before Erincia was as tall as a two-story building.

Its giant claw came crashing down, blotting out the sky.

In the nick of time, Erincia rolled to the side to dodge, then spun around and slashed with her sword, cutting into the back of the Erosion Organism’s hand.

But the wound was shallow and didn’t cause much damage.

“This one… don’t fight it head-on. There are too many enemies here. If we get surrounded again, it’ll be very dangerous…”

Ephnel’s voice was weak, her teeth clenched.

This giant Erosion Organism was the one that had evolved right before Ephnel’s eyes.

For Erincia and Ayse, they could take it down if they worked together, but with so many other Erosion Organisms around, the chances of victory were clearly much slimmer if they fought it here.

“Let’s go that way! Don’t get entangled!”

Ayse shouted, carrying Ephnel and running in another direction.

Erincia followed closely behind.

An Agent’s running speed was far faster than that of a professional athlete.

The massive Erosion Organism’s body was clumsy, and it wasn’t long before it couldn’t keep up.

Boom—

A deafening sound echoed through the air.

Erincia sent an Erosion Organism in front of her tumbling to the ground with her shield.

At the same time, she rolled to evade an attack from the side.

Her arm rose high, sword in one hand, shield in the other.

She severed the Erosion Organism’s legs with one slash, then brought down the hard edge of her shield, violently crushing the head of the downed Erosion Organism, turning it into starlight.

The dim lights of the garrison gradually became clearer.

The figures of special forces and garrison soldiers appeared in Ayse’s and Erincia’s vision.

Masaki Hinaki stood at their forefront, her arms crossed, her cold gaze fixed in the direction of the Angel.

These soldiers were constantly firing in the Angel’s direction.

It was their gunfire that had drawn the Erosion Organisms away, reducing the pressure on Ayse and Erincia.

At this moment, under the bombardment of the light beams, some of these men had also been injured.

There were even bodies lying on the ground not far away.

Being carried by Ayse, Ephnel also saw this scene and bit her lower lip hard.

Masaki Hinaki saw Ayse and Erincia, and then she saw Ephnel in Ayse’s arms.

She raised her hand high and shouted.

“Retreat!!!”