Chapter 81: Breakout

The dark elves behind me were momentarily stunned by my attack, while those in front were sent flying by Carter’s unstoppable trio, tearing a gap in their deadly encirclement.
“Let’s go!”

Carter roared, shoving the dark elf warriors aside and pressing forward.
The ambushing dark elf team had only two silver-rank warriors, clearly no match for the noble squad and a caster like me.
Their reckless ambush backfired, costing them heavily, but we had no intention of wiping them out completely.
Carter’s intent was clear.

After blunting their momentum, we needed to escape!
Without a word, I rushed after Carter, Katherine, and Emil.

“Don’t stop unless the captain says so! And don’t look back!”
“I know!”

Nico, running beside me, shouted a warning, clearly worried I’d slow down by glancing around.
I understood, nodding quickly in response.

In a life-or-death moment like this, unnecessary actions would only sap my speed and stamina, so I wasn’t about to do anything stupid.
…Thank goodness I’d trained my endurance before!
Otherwise, with my original pitiful stamina, I’d be dead out here!

That said, if I hadn’t trained, maybe I wouldn’t have even tried leaving the city and would’ve stayed home, hugging my egg babies.
“Phew… phew… phew…”

With my backpack on, I sprinted desperately to keep up with Carter and the others.
Nico and Daniel, after warning me, vanished behind me—likely to cover our rear.

After a frantic ten-minute dash, Carter finally stopped.
He held a defensive stance, while Katherine and Emil gripped their weapons, wary of any sudden attacks.
I seized the chance to catch my ragged breath.

Moments later, the agile Nico and Daniel emerged from a patch of bushes.
“What’s the situation?”

Carter looked at them and asked.
“Those dark elves aren’t pursuing. They must’ve realized they can’t take us.”

Nico blinked, answering directly.
“Dmn it, the suburbs must be crawling with dark elf infiltrators. What the hll—this attack’s a joint effort by the blood clan and dark elves?”

Katherine clicked her tongue, clearly uneasy about the situation.
“Calm down. There are still three defensive lines ahead. They won’t break through easily, and the number of aliens here is likely limited.”

Emil, after a pause, offered his take.
“There are probably plenty of dark elves operating in the suburbs, targeting small, isolated groups. It looks like they’re trying to cut off Blackshine City from the train station, preventing small-scale reinforcements from reaching the city or the frontlines.”

“So, we can’t keep taking the main road.”

Emil analyzed calmly, while the others chimed in with their thoughts.
As for me? I leaned against a tree, resting quietly.

I could tell this noble squad had seen plenty of battles and had built strong teamwork and trust.
They were a hard-hitting team.
Carter, the shield warrior and captain, was the most mature and steady.
Emil was cool-headed, the best at analyzing.
Nico and Katherine brought energy to the group, while Daniel, quieter and a bit shy, was a balanced agile warrior who worked well with Nico as a scout.

For now, the situation was theirs to analyze and decide.
I didn’t need to butt in or point fingers—my priority was recovering my stamina.