"Are you not going with them?" Alicia asked me teasingly. I turned to her quizzically.
"Go with who?"
"Them." Alicia gestured toward the military squad who was moving out, Bu Fan trailing them sourly. "I thought you would go help save someone."
"Do you think I'm some sort of hero or something? An ally of justice?" I rolled my eyes. "As much as I would like to, I can't save the whole world. I would only get in their way."
"That's true." Alicia nodded. "I would have stopped you if you did volunteer." She turned serious. "I was worried that you would try and use this chance to follow in your father's footsteps."
"You know my dad?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. Alicia pouted.
"Of course! Who wouldn't? Huang Shu Yin, the Angel of Fire, one of the greatest mercenaries in the Global Federation. And a hero too." She shrugged. "I thought you were aiming to become a hero like your father."
"I share the same values, but I know my limits." I sighed. "If I would only get in the way of a military operation, then lives would be saved if I don't go."
"Is that really true, though?" Craig scoffed from a distance, resting his spear on his shoulder. Even though we were safely inside the shelter, he had his weapon out for some reason. He probably couldn't relax, knowing that monsters were running rampant in the city beyond those fortified walls. "You're someone who has slain a rank A dragon. I daresay you're on par with those soldiers at the very least."
"I had help," I pointed out wearily. "Unfortunately, Troy and Kureha aren't around to help me in fighting a rank A monster this time."
Alicia gave me a look. "You and Kureha have gotten on pretty friendly terms, haven't you?"
"I guess? We were comrades who participated in a life-and-death battle together against a rank A dragon."
"That's not what I mean…never mind." Alicia took a deep breath as she wrung her hands wistfully. "But it's true…if Kureha had indeed been around right now, she would be able to help us out a lot."
"Yeah," I agreed, recalling her skill with the sword. She truly deserved her title as the Sword Saint.
"I hope Brother Fan is able to find his sister," Zhang Hou Zi lamented as he watched his boss depart. "It would be great if Xin Hua is all right."
That reminded me. I turned to the rest of my friends. "What about you guys? Are your families safe? Are you able to contact them?"
"My old man and mom reached the shelter near our house," Craig replied with a dismissive wave. "I just called them. They are all right."
"My family's safe!" Harvey informed me brightly. "What about you, Senior Richard?"
"My dad's not in the city," I explained. He had gone on a mission overseas and still had yet to return. Even if he was still around, I doubted a monster invasion would have faze him. Dad would be out there fighting alongside the military and exterminating the monsters. Hell, his first target would have been the Silver Wing Wolf King.
"My brothers are safe," Theodore said.
"Mine too," Sheila added.
"I don't have family here," Dong Fang Yue Chu admitted. Everyone turned to look at him sympathetically. I saw Lily squeeze his hand to comfort him.
"What about you, Alicia?" I asked. She shook her head.
"Father just told me he is all right. He was at a board meeting with the city council when the invasion happened. They are all safely seeking refuge in an emergency shelter under the town hall right now. They even have a large contingent of bodyguards to protect them. He will be fine. My mother is out of the city right now, but we've assured her that we're all right."
"That's good." Dad probably hadn't heard of the attack on Jing Tian City, or he would have called me. I hoped it stayed that way. He couldn't afford to get distracted, what with his deadly line of work and all that. Just in case, I had sent him a text message assuring him that I was safe and sound inside a shelter.
He would probably laugh and tell me not to be a hero.
"…"
As much as I wanted to be a hero, I knew my limits. I knew I didn't have the ability to go around saving people. I didn't have the training. Sure, I had some experience in slaying monsters, but rescuing people and escorting them to safety was a different matter. Moreover, those experiences had left me under no illusion that I couldn't afford to underestimate high-ranking monsters. I was almost beaten to death by a single rank B Crastrate, and I would have been incinerated or crushed by the Hellfire Drake if Troy and Kureha hadn't been on hand to offer their support. Draco might be able to fight on par with it, but I would have been slaughtered long before I could summon him, if it weren't for those two covering my back.
Unlike Troy and Kureha, I had never worked with these soldiers before, nor had I received any military training. They had their own methods and operandi modus, and my tagging along and trying to be a hero would only slow them down. I was sure of that.
Our group moved over to help Pearl and Teacher Cure with first aid, but there was a lull right now, with less soldiers being brought in. it seemed that the city was virtually entirely evacuated. The reinforcements had yet to arrive, so the soldiers from the northern fortress were taking care to avoid unnecessary fights with the monsters infesting the streets. Their numbers were slowly depleted as more of them became casualties during escort or reconnaissance missions. There were about a hundred injured by now, and the dead had risen to almost a third of that number. Less soldiers were moving and patrolling around the shelter, with many more squads dispatched to other areas for rescue operations, much like the squad Bu Fan tagged along with.
With their numbers steadily dwindling, the soldiers of the northern fortress were being more careful with their engagements and trying their best to avoid combat as much as possible. We would eventually lose if this became a battle of attrition, and what few soldiers who were left were exercising increasing caution.
They were also awaiting the result of the battle between General Jiang, his command staff and the Silver Wing Wolf King. If the venerable officers succeeded in slaying the rank A monster, the hordes rampaging through the city would lose cohesion and coordination. We could begin to isolate them and destroy them small packs by small packs.
The rank A Silver Wing Wolf King was living up to its name, though. Without nuking it with a Strategic-scale spell, it would be difficult to obliterate it immediately. Thus General Jiang and his men were having a tough fight.
"Go rest, Pearl."
Exhausted, Teacher Cure issued a command. The healer team had finally finished their duties and were taking a short break. Pearl nodded and ventured over to our group.
"Over here!"
Alicia had prepared a mat for Pearl to lie on. Too tired to argue, the blue-haired senior nodded before crawling onto the mat and immediately falling asleep.
"Senior Pearl has been working really hard," Alicia remarked as she reached out and stroked her long, silky hair.
"Let her rest," Lily suggested as she plopped down nearby, looking just as tired. All of us were. We only caught a couple hours of sleep here and there, not enough to fully recover from our trek through the three kilometer route between our school and the shelter. Unlike the other groups, our vanguard squad had experienced the most combat, surviving not just against a rank B Silver Skeletal Wolf but also a team of highly trained assassins.
It was no wonder we were so exhausted. Only Bu Fan's incredible desire to save his sister kept him going. As much as I disliked him for his arrogance and hypocrisy, I had to admire his tenacity and love for his family.
I pitied any enemy who dared lay a hand on his family, human or monster.
We must have drifted off, for I couldn't remember anything after that. My intense weariness had caused me to doze off into a dark, dreamless sleep, and the next thing I knew, there was panicked shouting.
"Eh?"
I snapped to full wakefulness at the commotion, springing to my feet. Did the monsters attack the shelter? What was going on?
"What's the matter?" Dong Fang Yue Chu asked sleepily, rubbing his eyes. Beside him, Lily stifled a yawn. Craig and Sheila, on the other hand, were already up on their feet, their weapons drawn. No, they never sheathed their weapons to begin with. At that moment, I thought that their paranoia was well placed and wished I was holding onto Gan Jiang and Mo Ye. But knowing me, I would cut myself on them while sleeping.
"It's nothing." Theodore was the calmest out of us all, and he raised a hand. "Something happened at one of the other shelters. Not here, so don't worry."
"Phew…" Harvey let out a sigh of relief.
"Do we know which shelter?" Jin Hao asked, concerned. His parents had also sought refuge in a shelter quite some distance away from ours, so I understood his worry.
"I'm not sure." Theodore frowned and paused to listen.
"The shelter at town hall is under attack!"
"What's the strength of enemy forces?"
"Unknown! But they are not monsters! They are humans!"
"What?!"
"Assassins from the assassin guild! They're targeting the city council! They plan to decapitate Jing Tian City's leadership! The bodyguards are holding off for now, but they are urgently requesting for reinforcements!"
"Then send them!"
"Trying to! But we don't have many soldiers left…"
"Ugh…"
While the soliders argued and exchanged shouts, Allison paled visibly.
"Did they say…the shelter at town hall?"
"That's what I heard too," Craig said bluntly. Everyone turned to her. Fortunately, I was there to help her as she faltered.
"Father…"
"How many men do we have?"
"I can only spare five men."
"That's not enough! They're saying there's over twenty…thirty assassins!"
"Really? I'm getting conflicting reports. They say there's only five assassins. But…they're also being assaulted by monsters at the same time."
"Someone get me actual facts! Not rumors!"
"That's what we're getting over the com, sir!"
"Fuck! All right, get your five men to move out immediately. I'll send more reinforcements when I can. Hopefully bravo squad will be returning. They're supposed to be en route with stragglers, and should be back in fifteen minutes. Thirty, tops."
Alicia hugged herself tightly, tears welling in her eyes.
"Father…"
I patted her and then stood up.
"Senior Richard? Where are you going?" Harvey asked when he noticed my sudden movement. I smiled tiredly.
"To take a walk."
"Really? Let me join in."
Craig realized my intention, for he leisurely strolled toward me. Theodore also followed with a grim expression, his hammer slung on his back.
"The more the merrier, right?" Dong Fang Yue Chu remarked cheerfully as he joined us. Sheila and Lily also followed.
"You guys…you can't mean to…" Alicia was staring at us, her expression horrified.
"Yes, we mean to." Harrison was cracking his knuckles and cocking his head from side to side, probably to relax his stiffened neck muscles after having fallen asleep, propped against the wall. "He's our principal, after all. I would be ashamed if I let my own principal die at the hands of nameless killers."
"Then I'll be coming too! He's my father!" Alicia rose to her feet determinedly, all trace of crying gone.
"Uh…I…" Harvey stammered, but I shook my head.
"You stay put, Harvey. Take care of Senior Pearl. You too, Jin Hao and Aoi. Watch over the shelter while we're gone."
"Don't be too reckless," Aoi told us, her expression scrunched in worry.
"Reckless?" Craig scoffed. "No, we're being suicidal!"
"Then…" Jin Hao protested.
"We have a score to settle with those assassin bastards," Harrison declared, his handsome features more ominous than I had ever seen him. "Letting them escape last time still rankles me. If we can, I would like to capture one of them for interrogation."
"If they're really from the assassins' guild, then I doubt you'll be able to force any answers out of them, even if we are somehow able to capture one alive." Theodore was as pragmatic as ever.
"That doesn't mean we shouldn't try." Sheila smirked as she twirled her spear and strapped it to her shoulder.
"That's right. They will pay for doing this to our city!" Lily agreed fiercely. "And we're going to force the Dark Church's location out of them if we have to!"
"The priority is to save Alicia's father," I reminded them. "Not to settle our grudges."
Everyone merely chuckled, as if I had stated the obvious. Of course they knew that. Taking revenge on the assassins was just a small bonus.
Unlike the high-ranked monsters, we were confident of fighting against fellow humans. Yes, these assassins might be highly trained and professional, but in the end they were still humans.
We had faced monsters and survived. Prevailed, even. What were mere humans compared to that? Of course, we couldn't afford to underestimate our foes. Humans could be more dangerous and much more cunning than monsters, after all.
But they bleed, and they were comparatively fragile. All it took was one clean hit in the right place, and they would die instantly. That was why we were more confident when it came to fighting assassins over monsters. Or perhaps our rage…our hatred against the human enemy responsible for this calamity had overridden our fear and caution and made us reckless.
In the end, it didn't matter.
The eight elite students of Jing Tian Magic Academy began marching toward the five-man military squad that was preparing to move out, ready to offer our services.