NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1490
“Keep moving! Everyone keep going!” A guard shouted out.
It was a mass evacuation. This was the only thing I could do for the people of Chalm. If I failed, then everything was over. King Roth would move into Chalm, and there was no saying what he would do. He would likely enslave everyone, pick out the prettiest for his harem, and then expel everyone else. In that respect, it was better to send them all away now. As to where I was sending them, that was Deeksville.
It was behind the official border of Aberis. Roth was only interested in the fountain, but if he did decide to head farther east, Prince Edward would have no choice but to react. That would be a full-out war, and I wouldn’t be alive to see it. That was only the chance of some catastrophic failure though. More likely, in the event of failure, the city and dungeon would cease to exist, as would King Roth. In that case, everyone in the city would be dead.
“Mayor, you need to leave.” Ruby declared.
“I will be staying.” The mayor declared with a snort. “Why don’t the pair of you leave?”
The Guild Master and Ruby looked away slightly embarrassed, and Ruby spoke with less energy this time. “Deek has never lead us wrong. We plan to stay.”
“Then, I will plan to stay also. However, I can’t fight. If you’re giving your lives, why don’t you help Deek fight?”
The guild master shook his head. “According to Deek, I won’t be able to fight. He said Ruby might be allowed, but he wasn’t sure.”
Ruby’s face turned red. “I… don’t think I’m ready to fight yet. I want to, but I don’t think my heart is ready.”
The mayor had no clue what she was talking about, but he didn’t understand most of what was going on. In the end, he helped evacuate as many citizens like the rest. Not everyone was willing to leave. In particular, many of the people who came from Chalm Crossing to reclaim Chalm decided to stay here in solidarity, even if it meant giving their lives.
This included many adventurers who had fought alongside Deek and were saved by him during the Mina’s Dungeon appearance in what felt like forever ago. They hadn’t been able to fight to protect Chalm, but that didn’t sit well with many of them. Even if they couldn’t fight to protect the place they loved, they definitely wouldn’t flee.
Of course, the journey wasn’t too bad. I had depended on Siti and the traveling guild to open up portals and facilitate their escape. Chalm Crossing was similarly being emptied in a hurry. In two days, the results would be settled, and they could either come back, or there would be nothing else to come back to.
In the meantime, I gathered the girls and we made our plans. I told them all of it, and they inevitably agreed that it was the only way. Of course, there was the chance that King Roth wasn’t as powerful as I had thought, and that we completely overturned him in the dungeon battle, but I wasn’t going to bet everything on it. One way or another, it would end that night.
In the end, the dungeon produced as many mobs that would be good as slowing down the enemies. Our tactic was to buy as much time as possible. Using what we learned from the previous battle, we selected our available lore carefully. This played to our strength, as the dungeon was filled with ghosts. To the superstitious animalkin girls, this would truly be a hellish place. I still remembered when Lydia first encountered ghosts and she flew into a panic. That inevitably led us to pick up Miki.
Thinking about it caused a pang of hurt in my heart. The Lydia I knew and loved was gone, never to return. I didn’t have time to dwell on it though. I didn’t have time for any of it. We had to keep going. I wiped the tears from my cheek and continued.