Drip, drip—
The crisp sound of water droplets splashing echoed in the underground bunker, stirring echoes.
Lucite lowered his head as he followed the battered team, feeling a hint of doubt and confusion in his heart.
"How did we get to this point?"
Just two hours ago, they had been ard to the teeth, bursting with pride as they walked out of school with Magic Guidebooks and Forbidden Spells, effortlessly sweeping through the Growth-armored Vanguards.
Yet, within a re ten minutes, they were all running for their lives.
The Growth-armored Vanguards surged like endless waves, falling from the sky, crawling out of cracks, coming from pipes and underground, their figures sprawling over the land, swimming in lakes and ditches.
They were everywhere.
The first to fall were the students of the Tanas Clan—although the Patrol mbers repeatedly emphasized that they would ensure everyone’s safety, the students of the Tanas Clan never had their turn in the safest core areas when it ca to positioning.
Since the students of the Tanas Clan were mostly enrolled in the Applied Magic program, they would be conscripted to fill in the gaps in combat when manpower was short. Then the Growth-armored Vanguards would swarm in like a tide, tearing apart the students who were assisting with loading.
Literally tearing them apart.
In front of everyone, flesh and fat were squeezed out at a visible rate, intestines shattered, hearts and lungs dug out, as they watched the Vanguards’ tendrils pierce their nostrils and delve into their brains to extract mories and information.
They fled in a most wretched manner, firing their weapons and casting all sorts of Spells to clear the field. Their self-assured firepower reserve was like fragile cardboard against the relentless monster waves, shattering upon contact.
Confident, collected, overwheld, embarrassed, exhausted, defeated.
Until now, they had retreated to the underground air-raid shelter, fleeing like dogs that had lost their hos.
Lucite looked at the team.
When they set out, they had been a formidable group of 54 people.
Now, including the Patrol mbers, only 7 remained.
A senior Patrol mber that had gotten along well with Hobbs had his head severed by the Growth-armored Vanguard, and Lucite didn’t even know his na.
The survivors included three Patrol mbers: team captain Modote, executive officer Sylia, and the second-year Delta Rank student Kurt.
Then there were he and Hobbs, along with two royals of lofty status: Solis Jam the Second of the Zuzhan Royal Court, and Maria Xuan Yin, the President’s daughter from the Vellia Republic.
The status of these two individuals was extrely high, both heirs to the throne of their respective nations. To save them, the Patrol mbers paid with the lives of seven comrades, ensuring their well-being unhard and their deanor undiminished.
Why, he wondered, had it co to this?
Lucite recalled the battles they had fought along the way. They had been careful to avoid various lines, but for so reason, the Growth-armored Vanguards would appear just at the right ti, catching them off-guard during their rests and blocking them not long after they had broken through an ambush.
Wave after wave of attacks rapidly depleted their Magic Power, and their supply of Magic Scrolls quickly dwindled.
"Old Lu..."
Hobbs wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, the ring on his finger seemingly fading further. He placed his hand on Lucite’s shoulder, pretending to have twisted his ankle but actually whispering in his ear:
"Don’t you find it strange?"
"There is sothing..."
Lucite nodded.
"Those Growth-armored Vanguards, their timing is too coincidental, as if they’ve completely figured out our route."
Hobbs closed one eye, his voice was very low, but it was still heard by the person nearby.
"You guys must be thinking the sa thing!"
Duke Jas II of the Zuzhan Royal Court suddenly spoke loudly:
"We’ve been attacked all along, with such obvious intent—it’s clear our information has been leaked!"
’Tch! Is this guy brain-dead?’
Hobbs silently cursed.
Shouldn’t he know to keep this to himself? Why would he say it out loud?
Plop.
The marching team suddenly halted.
Clearly, Jas II’s abrupt outburst had caught everyone’s attention.
"Jas, what do you an by that?" Sylia frowned: "The Growth-armored Vanguards are as plentiful as the tides, and nobody knows how many forces Canyue deployed. It’s not as if the current situation is within our control."
"Is it? Sohow, I feel that our route has been wrong from the start," Jas II scoffed:
"The fifty-kiloter journey, if we had taken the subway all the way, would have faced enemies only from the front and rear, yet you insisted on taking the surface. Isn’t that deliberately exposing our movents?"
"What nonsense are you talking about?"
Another Patrol mber, Kurt, said irritably:
"If we don’t travel on the surface, are you suggesting we gnaw on railroad tracks and drink motor oil to stave off hunger? Our team started with over fifty people, do you really think that little food would have been enough for all of us to hold out? We had to face the exhaustion from battles, and if there were injuries, we would need dicine. In every way, traveling on the surface seed like the right choice, didn’t it?"
"Going hungry for two days won’t kill you, and if we had taken the underground path from the start, we wouldn’t have suffered such severe losses."
"Easy for you to say, do you know how great the exhaustion from battles is? You’re just an hereditary bureaucrat, a second-generation heir, who is too delicate to partake in sunlight or fighting. Of course, you can just babble from the back!"
"Stop fighting!" Sylia felt a headache coming on: "We’re already in this situation, do we really need to turn on each other now?"
Kurt felt it was unfair and imdiately pointed at Jas II:
"It’s the second-generation official who wants to stir up strife, questioning our plan based on his one-sided view."
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