Ethan cursed himself for choosing to follow Connor. He thought that by staying near him, he would be safe. But he had no idea he was siding with a madman of a risk-taker.
"Please, Connor, there has to be another way, right? You're asking me to die here," he pleaded.
"If it were just me breaking in, I'd fly straight ahead on my sword. But carrying each of you while dodging projectiles is too risky. So, we have no choice but to do it the hard way," Connor said, getting up on his dull blade.
"I'll survey the area and find the weak spot to break in," he said one last time before leaving to scout the hospital perimeter.
"This is it... I'm going to die," Ethan murmured in frustration to himself while the three girls discussed their surroundings.
"There are so many fallen humans here. It looks like most of the city's population rushed to that hospital. It seems nearly impossible to get in. How are the people inside even holding up?" Alya wondered, contemplating the upcoming rush.
"Yeah, the situation must be a lot more troublesome for them than for us," Silvia responded. "The people inside must have limited food supplies. Once those run out, they'll be forced to come out or die of hunger inside."
"Let's hope he has something figured out," Elena sighed, looking at Connor, who was returning from his patrol.
"Alright, I found that the entrance on the south side is where we need to charge through," Connor said as he landed and looked around.
"Ethan, you'll have to reduce their numbers to at least a third before we charge in," he commanded.
"And what will happen to me then? How will I enter the hospital, or where would I even go from there?" Ethan asked.
"You'll use your skills to summon the golems once you've drawn them far enough away. After you lose them, hide in the Oasis Supermarket. Once we're inside, I'll come back for you by flying out on my sword," Connor explained and turned to Alya.
"You're the weakest here, so your role is to stay at the center of the group and provide support with your bow," he said, then turned to Silvie and Elena.
"Silvie will cover the left end, and Elena will cover the right, while I'll take both the front and back."
"Wait, how will you cover two sides at once?" Elena asked, but Connor only grinned in response.
"Emerge," he said as a large circle formed on the ground. From the circle came a huge gorilla.
"You... Did you kill that beast, or did you tame it?" Ethan, who knew the gorilla and the horror it brought, was surprised to see it appear.
"I killed it and used my subclass skill to bring it back as an undead," Connor said nonchalantly, but the shock on everyone's face was palpable.
"You already have a subclass?" Silvia asked in mild shock.
"Yeah, I got it after killing the second-floor boss in that 4th order dungeon," Connor replied. He ignored the shocked looks the others gave him, turned to the beast, and commanded,
"Block all the enemies that approach us from the back and stay in the back formation of the circle as we move forward."
The beast looked down with a slight nod. The party moved to the south side where there were fewer fallen humans.
"Alright, Ethan, you're up." Connor gave Ethan the go-ahead signal. Ethan approached the swarm and threw a few stones to attract their attention while the others hid in a nearby building.
"If I die because of this, I will haunt you forever as a ghost, Connor," Ethan shouted as he ran, attracting more fallen humans to chase him.
"Stupid guy, he wants to scare me, a necromancer, as a ghost," Connor smirked, taunting Ethan. Silvia and Elena chuckled, finding it funny.
After the frontline fallen had left, Connor signaled everyone to stay in formation as they moved forward.
As they neared the fallen, the group was surrounded from all sides, causing panic.
They felt like they were diving into a sea of monsters, but before fear could take hold, Connor charged his mana sword and launched it ahead with all his strength.
The sword broke the sound barrier, piercing through countless heads, stopping after 200 meters before returning with less velocity.
[ You have slain ...]
[ You have ...]
[ ..... ] [ ..... ] [ ..... ] [ ..... ]
He received multiple notifications but shut them off with a mental command, a method he learned from his discussion with Silvia.
The group was baffled by his display of strength, but Connor screamed at them as the fallen neared them. "Don't let your guard down and keep moving forward!"
Connor charged ahead. The gorilla covered and protected Alya, who was covering for Silvia and Elena. Connor had instructed her not to worry about his summon, as it was an undead and unaffected by the corruption of the fallen.
Alya struggled to keep up, her inexperience in archery making most of her shots miss the target. She heard Connor's voice cutting through the chaos.
"Don't focus on needlessly attacking them. Shoot only when you see a teammate in trouble with a nearby fallen."
Connor fought on the frontlines, swinging his sword non-stop. Each swing was packed with tremendous strength and mana, shaking the winds and surroundings. A single swing killed at least seven to eight fallen.
Elena and Silvia were holding their own. They moved their swords only when an enemy was near, relying mostly on their skills. Silvie used her [Frost Piercing] and Elena her [Thunder Arrow].
Both were projectile skills, and the girls had much better control over the flow of mana than Connor due to their high MP stat, a quality or the only field that Connor lacked.
This allowed both Silvia and Elena to match Connor's pace. With a single projectile, they could each kill more than five enemies at a time. However, their advantage only lasted for the first few minutes, as they soon ran out of mana.
They switched to their swords, waiting for their mana to recover as they continued forward steadily.
The undead gorilla also played a crucial role, its large arms effortlessly killing any fallen that threatened the group. A single swing from the gorilla could throw away and kill more fallen than Connor or the others combined.
Connor smiled, knowing that all the SP would come to him in the end. The undead was tied to his core, ensuring that its kills benefited him directly.
After 30 minutes of nonstop fighting and constant struggle, they finally reached the entrance, which was barricaded with cars and furniture to protect the people inside.
"Cover for all of us, Monkey," Connor ordered his summon. The gorilla went wild, smashing its massive arms down with such force that it destabilized the fallen army, scattering them and creating the space needed for them to cross the barricade.
Connor then used his hands to lift and throw the girls into the first-floor window one by one.
They all, especially Alya screamed and showed reluctance as he grabbed and tossed them like basketballs.
With his newfound strength, he easily lifted and threw them, them being lightweight helping them fly higher.
After throwing them all inside, Connor jumped on his sword and followed, calling back his summon once he was safe.
"Whew, that was exhilarating," Connor said, wiping the sweat from his brow. He could finally relax, knowing they had safely reached the hospital.
But when he looked around, he found the girls glaring at him.
"What?" he asked, only to be refuted by Alya.
"You brute! Is that how you handle a lady? You grabbed our napes and lower backs and threw us into the sky like it was a shot put game!"
"It was a life or death situation. If you have the audacity to complain like that, then you're far from being a mature and understanding lady. Right now, you're just a spoiled girl," Connor retorted with a mocking smile.
"Why you..."
"At least you could have been gentle. It was my first time being touched by a man like that," Silvia said with a blush.
"Silvie, even you..." Connor didn't know what to say about these two as he turned to Elena.
"Do you also have any complaints like it was your first time too?"
Elena looked like she wanted to say something, but she just sighed and said, "Let's move. It's surprising that no one was here to greet us despite the commotion we cau—"
She was interrupted when the doors opened, and armed men with equipment and weapons from the dungeon charged in. As they kept coming, a familiar figure approached them.
"Furina!"
"You're alright!"
Alya and Elena rushed to hug her but were stopped by a guard.
"It's alright. They are my friends... my best friends," Furina told the guard, smiling warmly as they embraced.
Furina and Alya got a bit emotional, their eyes teary.
After they let go of the hug, Elena asked Furina her most important concern, "Is my mother alright? Is she here? Please tell me."
"She is alright, Elena dear," another voice answered instead of Furina. A new figure stepped forward, flanked by three beauties.
"Julian Derek," Connor said, frowning with animosity.
"Connor Lennox," Julian responded, his eyes narrowing as they stared each other down.