Chapter 64: The Noble Squad (Part 2)

Blood zombies, fearless of pain and driven by an insatiable bloodlust, were so formidable that even silver-rank warriors struggled to deal with them, only able to whittle them down bit by bit.
But after the five Nosen city guards joined the fray, the noble squad in front of me could finally focus most of their attention on the blood clan before them.

“…”

Nosen and his men charged forward, while I stayed back, observing the situation.
My mental energy was too precious to waste. The fireball spell I’d cast earlier had already drained much of my limited reserves.
If the battle was still under control, it was better for me to conserve my strength.

That said, I couldn’t help but want to do something.
I scanned the situation ahead and began searching the street for a certain figure—where was Captain Chriss, who’d been dragged off by the blood clan earlier?

I poked my head out, surveying the battlefield, and soon spotted the unfortunate heavily armored captain.
At that moment, the woman with dazzling golden hair was slumped by the roadside, seemingly forgotten for the time being.

It wasn’t surprising, though. Blood zombies were relentlessly obstructing everyone, and the silver-rank nobles were busy dealing with the golden blood clan in front of them.
No one had the chance to break away and tend to Chriss.

…Guess that task falls to me, then!

With that thought, I took a deep breath and began creeping along the street toward Captain Chriss’s position.
The blood zombies were fully distracted by Nosen’s five heavily armored soldiers and the other noble squad members.
They were relentlessly attacking the six of them, completely unaware of me sneaking along the side.

Though bloodthirsty and bursting with power, blood zombies had pitifully low intelligence.
As long as I didn’t draw their attention, those crazed creatures, lost in their relentless assaults, wouldn’t notice me.

And that’s exactly why I dared to make my way toward Chriss in a situation like this.
After spending a fair amount of time, I finally managed to quietly reach Chriss’s side along the edge of the street.

“You okay!?”

I knelt beside Chriss, quickly checking the heavily armored captain’s condition.
In response, Chriss let out a faint sound, her eyelids trembling as if trying to open, but she lacked the strength to do so.

“…Here, drink this.”

I looked at the woman lying on the ground, thought for a moment, and checked her body to ensure there were no bite marks.
Then, with a pang of reluctance, I pulled out a low-grade recovery potion, popped the cork, and poured it into Chriss’s mouth.
She was surprisingly cooperative, opening her mouth and quickly downing the entire bottle.

“…Phew, it’s not safe here. We need to get to the side.”

I let out a breath, eyeing the battle raging close by, and decided to drag Chriss to a safer spot to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.
But… Chriss, in her heavy armor, was just too heavy! I could barely move her!

“Where’d this little thief come from, daring to steal my prize!?”

Just as I started dragging Chriss away, a sudden roar rang out.
I looked up and saw a surge of blood-red energy slashing toward my position!