Chapter 96 – Sneaky Escape.

Layla watched in horror as the chaos unfolded. The explosion from the high priest’s ascension had left the battlefield in disarray. Debris rained from the sky, mingling with the cries of the injured and the battle orders barked by the paladins. Her bow trembled in her hands, but she forced herself to focus. The man who had shielded her was flung away and crashed into a wall. She could see parts of his body from under the rubble and he was not moving at all.

She crouched behind the rubble, her heart pounding as the clash of divine and unholy forces intensified around her. Streaks of crimson and golden energy now illuminated the once-dim battlefield, the air vibrating with power. Every crackle and explosion felt like a hammer striking her chest, but she held tightly to her bow, refusing to let fear paralyze her completely.

The paladins were like an unyielding tide, their silver shields locked together as they steadily advanced on the high priest. They chanted prayers in unison, the words ringing with divine authority. The barrier they conjured shimmered and pulsed, straining to contain the high priest’s overwhelming energy. Yet, despite their coordination, the priest seemed unbothered, his laughter echoed over the carnage as he unleashed another blast of crimson light.

Her mind raced, ears ringing from the relentless explosions and the sound of rubble crashing down around her. Wounds were accumulating across her body, but she forced herself to stay calm. Despite being new to adventuring, she knew that giving up would spell the end. Her gaze locked onto a particular pile of debris. A metallic foot jutted out from beneath it. A friend of hers was laying there, someone who had already saved her life on numerous occasions.

Albert had appeared out of nowhere, rescuing her not just from these cultists but also during the adventurer’s test. She was certain now that these people had marked her as a target ever since the incident in the F-rank dungeon. Their bodies bore the same ominous symbol: a scythe crossed with a crescent moon. It seemed that once they set their sights on someone, escape was impossible.

The attacks hadn’t stopped after the adventurer test. She had been ambushed in her sleep, only to awaken in a cold, dark cell. From time to time, other prisoners were dragged out, bloodied, and battered, for strange rituals that demanded their blood. She hadn’t been spared either. It was a memory she desperately wished to forget. But now wasn’t the time to dwell on it. The person who had saved her needed help, and she couldn’t abandon him. She wouldn’t.

Layla steadied her breath, forcing herself to focus despite the chaos. Every instinct screamed at her to run, but she couldn’t leave Albert beneath the rubble. Her hand gripped her bow tightly as she moved forward, her body low to avoid drawing attention. Around her, the battle raged, divine and unholy energies clashing in an unrelenting storm.

At this point, all the cultists, save for their High Priest, had been eliminated. Their bodies had been reduced to bloody paste, swirling ominously around the occult mage in a grotesque display of power. The paladins, meanwhile, advanced in a disciplined formation, their barrier successfully trapping their lone enemy in the center of the battlefield. Above them, the High Priest hovered, whirlwinds of crimson energy crashing against the divine shield. Despite the violent assaults, the barrier held firm. The tide of battle shifted and the paladins began to advance in hopes of ending this madness.

“Come on, Mr. Albert. Don’t you dare give up now!”

Layla sprinted to the pile of rubble where she had seen the metallic foot poking out. Her heart pounded as she dropped to her knees and began digging frantically. She heaved away chunks of debris with all the strength she could muster, the rough edges cutting into her hands. She wasn’t sure if Albert was even alive under there, but the thought of leaving him buried and alone in the midst of this chaos was unbearable.

Around her, the battle raged on. The High Priest was no longer laughing; his crimson energy blasts were growing more erratic, more desperate. The paladins had managed to close their formation, their shields glowing faintly with holy runes as they steadily advanced. Their leader – a graceful figure wielding a shining longsword advanced, clearly aiming to end it all.

Layla paid them little attention, her focus entirely on the task at hand. She began by uncovering the lower portion first, as too much rubble was covering the rest. Her strength wasn’t great, but eventually, she managed to expose part of Albert’s chest. However, just as she was about to reach his head, the entire place trembled, and a strange burst of energy knocked her aside.

A deafening explosion rocked the battlefield. Layla instinctively ducked, covering her head as a shockwave sent debris flying in all directions. When she dared to look up, she saw that the High Priest had unleashed another wave of crimson energy. This time, however, it seemed to have been his last one as he found himself with a sword buried in his chest. The paladin leader had been victorious and the madman had been defeated. The High Priest snarled, his malevolent aura flickering out as his body crumbled into dust.

“T-the lord… will come for all non-believers…”

The battlefield began to collapse, the weakened structure of the building finally giving way. Layla cried out in terror as she saw more rubble falling onto her friend. Desperate, she charged forward in an attempt to shield him, but before she could reach him, one of the nearby paladins intercepted her. His firm grip stopped her in her tracks, preventing her from reaching Albert, who was quickly being buried under the falling debris.

“No, no, no! Let go of me, I have to…”

The paladin said nothing but swiftly grabbed her and carried her out of the collapsing building. The others followed suit, rushing to save as many of the remaining prisoners as they could before the structure crumbled entirely. She struggled against the man that was holding her but her cries fell on deaf ears as the group retreated to a safe distance. Behind them, the remains of the battlefield crumbled into a dense heap of dust, wood, and stone, burying everything beneath.

“No!”

Layla screamed, her voice hoarse from exhaustion.

“He’s still under there!”

The paladin set her down gently, his expression filled with strange calmness.

“Miss, please. If we stayed, you’d be dead. We’ll search for survivors when it’s stable but first, let us treat your wounds.”

Her fists clenched as she glared at the armored figure.

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“You don’t understand! He saved me. I owe him my life!”

“I understand, If someone remains beneath that rubble, we’ll find them. Please believe, we Paladins of Ghelene do not abandon anyone!”

Layla sat at the edge of the ruined battlefield, trembling with frustration and helplessness. The priests of Ghelene had healed her hands which had been bleeding from clawing at the rubble earlier but even when the pain was gone, she could not relax. The paladins had set up a perimeter around the collapsed site, their holy wards shimmering faintly as they worked to stabilize the area. She wanted to scream, to beg them to hurry, but she knew better than to antagonize those who might be her only hope of recovering Albert – or what remained of him.

Their leader turned out to be a graceful woman with long golden locks and a gaze filled with compassion. Even now, she was aiding the injured, using her magic and skills to heal them alongside some of the other priests. Eventually, they began combing through the rubble in search of any survivors – and potential cultists. They had witnessed all of the cultists being turned into monsters by their High Priest, and then into fuel for his dark magic, but the risk still remained. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the paladins uncovered the area where Layla had last seen Albert. She sprang to her feet, nearly stumbling from exhaustion.

“There! That’s where he was!”

The paladins nodded, and two of their strongest members stepped forward. Together, they lifted a massive slab of stone, revealing a space beneath. For a moment, hope surged in Layla’s chest. But as the dust settled, her heart sank. She saw the body of her savior, contorted at strange angles, his neck clearly broken. He had not shown his face to her previously, but it was clear that this was the suit of armor he had worn.

“This… is this really the person you were searching for?”

One of the paladins asked.

“Y-yes! He was the one who saved me and all the others. If it wasn’t for him…”

The two paladins exchanged confused glances. One of them knelt over the remains, his palm glowing with a pale silver light as he activated a skill. He eventually stood up, his expression even more puzzled.

“Are you certain? This person has been dead for many months. And you say he was the one who set you all free?”