Chương 79: Running

Another boom thundered in the distance, stronger than the last. Cracks slithered through solid walls and debris rained from the ceiling. One massive boulder plummeted down from directly overhead, several meters wide and poised to crush them. Liliya reacted immediately. Her sword blurred in a silver flash and a moment later, the boulder fell apart into a dozen pieces, clattering to the ground around them harmlessly. Andevar barely even noticed. An icy claw of fear had enclosed his pounding heart.

What was happening outside? For them to have heard the explosion so loudly this deep inside the mountain… Just how powerful of an attack must've caused it? Liliya's normally light bluish-violet eyes looked almost black in the darkness of the cavern.

"We must have just missed the monsters. But how did they get past us–? Right, the centipedes. They must've burrowed other paths to the city."

"We need to get back," Andevar said urgently. He turned around – only to curse. Up ahead, a pile of rocks was blocking the tunnel they'd entered from. What horrid, abysmal luck. He whirled back around and scanned the cavern, trying to locate the tunnels the monsters had taken. Nothing. Only several mounds of freshly overturned earth. The centipedes must've sealed it after themselves, albeit likely unintentionally.

"Liliya," Levi said, his voice low. This entire time, he'd oddly been examining the walls around them. Liliya turned to him. Levi gestured at the northern face of the cavern.

"It's nearly undetectable, but there are runic scripts there." Liliya drew in a sharp breath.

"Just like during our Ascension Trials." Levi nodded grimly." He must be involved." Runic scripts… Andevar frowned. Mana suppression? Was that why the guild surveyors hadn't detected the ambient mana of so many gathered goblins? No, it didn't matter.

"Who cares about that?" Andevar snapped.

"We're trapped. We're completely trapped. If there's another explosion, if the entire cavern collapses next time…" He was used to tanking attacks – it was his whole job as a Warrior – but how could he possibly withstand the very earth itself?

"We're going to die."

"We're not going to die," Liliya said.

"Things will be fine."

"How?!" Andevar fought to keep the rising hysteria from clouding his voice.

"Even if we don't get buried alive, we have no way to escape. I don't have a shovel in my [Inventory] — do you? None of us are mages. None of us have any earth elemental spells. We'll be sitting ducks in here until we either starve or the monsters return." Did his two teammates not understand the gravity of the situation? Did he really have to spell it out to them? Damn it, he couldn't afford to die here.

If it were only his life at stake then he wouldn't care as much but his mother's illness had gotten worse and the treatment costs had increased and he needed to live he needed to survive he needed to get back home no matter what—"Speak for yourself," Levi said, clapping him on the shoulder with one hand. Liliya took his other.

"Who said none of us were mages? Try not to throw up."

"What—?" The world twisted. Andevar's stomach leaped up to his throat as they inexplicably reappeared outside. He immediately doubled over and dry heaved violently, his vision swimming with the brown dirt underneath. Teleportation? What the hell? Andevar had long suspected that Levi was hiding something, ever since he'd fought Winthrop and solved the Subaru Paradox. Not for the first time, he considered whether or not it was possible that Levi was an imposter. But there was no way.

Back in the tower, Andevar had confirmed Levi's identity with [Institute Registry] multiple times; the direct System connection was infallible. His leading theory was that Levi had gotten his hands on some ultra high-tier magical artifacts. Moreover, said artifacts likely weren't combat-oriented.

It would both explain why Levi hadn't participated in any of the battles on the current mission and also why he had been on the defense the entire time he fought Winthrop— Andevar finally recovered enough to stop retching, straightened up, and froze. His legs gave out beneath him. He sank to his knees, unable to tear his eyes from the sight before him. Canum was burning. The massive fortified wall that ran around its perimeter was pierced with two large gaping holes. An ocean of green approached it.

Andevar almost didn't realize what he was seeing. Goblins. Tens of thousands of them, so tightly packed and so numerous that from the distance they looked like a single entity. Much more than the single cavern could fit. Even more were pouring out from holes in the ground that hadn't been there just an hour before. Had they just been in only one cavern of many? Had there been dozens of enclaves all hidden inside the mountain, each containing a veritable legion of goblins?

Goblins individually were easy enough to defeat, but quantity had a quality of its own, and Canum — Canum was surrounded by a verdant green sea. Worse yet… The goblins were in formation. At the front were the biggest goblins covered in makeshift armor and carrying hardened wooden shields. The middle was filled with goblins wielding spears. They even had cavalry — goblins riding atop giant centipedes who rallied the foot soldiers around them. They carried slings and some of them even sported crudely crafted bows.

They were organized — hell, they were disciplined! Not a single one was pushing or out of order. They moved as a well-oiled machine. It was like watching an Alassian military parade, not — goblins! This shouldn't be possible. Never before in recorded history had something like this happened. The first of the goblins were less than a minute from reaching the gaps in the walls. Battle cries could be heard as the city garrison and stationed adventurers prepared to clash with the oncoming goblins…

Andevar's thoughts came to a halt. In front of them, half a dozen adventurers came into view. They were in their late thirties, wearing expensive gear and riding majestic horses — away from the city and directly toward them. Levi and Liliya, who had been observing the goblins in grim silence, turned to face the approaching adventurers as well, their expressions creasing into frowns. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Within a few seconds, the adventurers were before them.

They halted, the horses whinnying as they skidded to a stop. Liliya opened her mouth to speak, but Andevar beat her to it.

"What are you doing?" he asked blankly. He almost didn't recognize his own voice. The adventurer in the front, a Knight who wore a set of armor so well-crafted that it would've paid for an entire year of healer treatments, responded.

"What are you doing?" he snapped. His voice was cultured, tinged with an unmistakable aristocratic accent.

"Why the fuck aren't you guys running?"

"Running?" Andevar echoed.

"You have eyes, don't you?" The knight gestured behind them at the city.

"Look at what's happening! Everything's gone to shit! Canum is done for. It's a miracle we were even able to make it out. We detected the goblins early, praise the Goddess."

"So you just — you just left the civilians behind? You didn't even try to evacuate them?" The knight scoffed.

"Evacuate? To WHERE? Open your eyes!" He looked Andevar up and down, taking in his shabby clothing. It took him less than a second to clock Andevar as a commoner. He sneered.

"Ah. Then again, I suppose I can't blame you for being slow." He turned to Liliya and Levi.

"Hopefully, you two have more sense. Turn around, run away as fast as possible, and pray — pray — that those shit-for-brain fucks don't try to pursue." Neither Levi nor Liliya responded. They didn't need to. It was obvious what conclusion they'd come to. Liliya was a genius and Levi probably was too, if he'd solved a problem that not even Professor Heimler could solve. The city was most likely doomed. Trying to help would only lead to their deaths. Andevar didn't even look in their direction.

He didn't want to see the look in their eyes when they arrived at the foregone decision to abandon the village and flee with the adventurers. Really, what chance did they have? Sure, Liliya was strong, easily upper platinum if not low iridium tier by now — Andevar had no idea how she'd grown so strong in such little time. Perhaps due to the apprenticeship link? But she wasn't that strong. And Levi…

Andevar didn't know how strong he was, but even all the magical artifacts in the world couldn't allow someone to stand up to such an incredible number of enemies. Really, it made no sense. The goblins had no right being this well-organized. Goblin tribes tended to get strained at just a few hundred members; too much infighting, quarreling, dominance assertion, jealousy, pettiness, and so on. They collapsed under themselves. But that was beside the point.

Even the adventurers, most likely mithril or even orichalcum tier, were fleeing. Andevar should just flee with them. He had to survive no matter what, right? He had to stay alive so he could continue paying for his mother's treatments. He had to cling to life regardless of the cost, even if he had to abandon an entire city filled with thousands upon thousands of people. He couldn't die here. He refused to die here. … He didn't want to die. Another boom sounded. Another hole was blasted into the wall.

One of the elder centipedes in the rear had some sort of lightning attack that pierced forth from its deadly mandibles. One of the goblins must've also noticed the fleeing adventurers and sounded the alarms, because a platoon of goblins detached from the main army and began rushing toward them. The knight noticed instantly. He cursed, panic rippling through the adventurers.

They probably hadn't even wanted to stop for Andevar, Levi, and Liliya in the first place — perhaps they felt guilty for abandoning their posts and wanted to warn at least some people. But now it was too late.

"We're out of time," the knight said. He hesitated before his face darkened.

"We can't risk them catching up. Those centipedes — we don't know how fast they are. We need all the speed we can get. No extra weight. I'm sure you understand. You should still be able to get away, but... Good luck." Andevar stared at them, a hollow feeling growing heavier and heavier in his chest as the adventurers kicked their horses and rode away, leaving them behind. None of them looked back. Perhaps they were ashamed. Probably not. Andevar knew nobles. He had suffered them for a decade.

He knew how they thought, he knew how selfish they were, he knew how utterly and despicably greedy and cowardly and depraved and arrogant they were. Those adventurers had refused to let the three onto their horses because of the mere chance that one of the centipedes might be fast enough to catch up to them. Which was stupid. If the centipedes were fast enough to chase, they would've already done so. They were clearly too heavy, more a strength build than a dexterity build.

That was why only the goblins pursued them. Though, fortunately, that meant Andevar's party could still escape as well. They could easily outrun the goblins, especially since Levi had teleportation. For one long moment, Andevar watched the adventurers run away. Then, he ran as well. He gritted his teeth so hard they creaked and groaned. He gripped his axe so tightly his hands turned white. His eyes prickled with hot angry tears. At the adventurers, at the monsters, at himself, he didn't know.

The landscape blurred around him and adrenaline flooded his veins as he sprinted faster than he'd ever sprinted before. Right toward the goblins. The only thing Andevar did know was that if he ran away here, he'd never forgive himself. If he could save even one civilian, if he could help even one person escape, then it'd be worth it. They were his people, after all. He was a commoner just like them. He knew how they thought. He knew how weak they were.

He knew how they would be praying, begging, hoping for someone to save them. He knew that his mother would want him to try and be a better person than the nobles who fled. He knew that he wanted to be someone worth being called her son. Even if he died, he had to at least try. And so he ran, pushing himself harder than ever before, the wind streaking through his hair and dashing the tears away—"Hold it." Andevar came to an abrupt stop, choking as someone grabbed him by the collar.

He turned around to see Liliya standing there, an unreadable expression on her face.

"What are you doing?" Liliya asked. Her focus was entirely on him — she didn't seem to register the rapidly approaching swarm of goblins.

"I need to help," Andevar said. His face twisted.

"Go ahead and run. There's no need to pretend like you care about what happens to me or the city. Run, run away, join the other adventurers, but don't you dare try to stop me—""What the fuck are you talking about?" Andevar was so shocked he almost forgot to be angry. Did Liliya Volkov, dignified calm poised Liliya Volkov, just swear at him?

"We're not running away," she said, sounding like the very idea disgusted her.

"I just stopped you so you don't get in the way."

"Get in the way of what…?" Andevar trailed to a stop as he realized something. He turned around. Levi hadn't moved. This entire time, he had been completely still behind them. Not blinking, not even breathing. Just standing there. But why…? Liliya's expression softened.

"In fairness, you technically weren't wrong earlier." Andevar stared at her without a shred of comprehension.

"What?"

"None of us are mages." Andevar's eyes went impossibly wide as magic exploded from Levi, so dense and potent and powerful that he nearly blacked out, some primal part of his brain instinctively shutting down in terror. The entire landscape became silent. The goblins and centipedes, all of them, froze as Levi steadily rose into the air, a magnificent cloak materializing around him and billowing in the wind.

"[Archmage], on the other hand…" Liliya smiled.

"Well. Let's just say that we have firepower in spades."