Chapter 214: Surrounded by the Fog
The pink fog continued to spread across Twilight Sanctum, swallowing more of the city with every passing minute. Deep within the mist, two female silhouettes slowly emerged and walked side by side. They moved at a calm, steady pace through the central plaza, which now felt more like a city of the dead than a place where people lived.
"W-where is everyone? Shaan? Theo?" Chelsie paused for a moment, gripping her staff tightly. "Lira, do you see anyone else?"
"...No." Nalira glanced at Chelsie, her expression remaining as unreadable as ever. "I think the Resistance captured them all. But that’s only a guess. I don’t know if I’m right." She scanned the fog-covered surroundings. "We need to keep moving. This place isn’t safe. We need to find shelter before the Resistance finds us."
"Uhm... I-I agree." Chelsie lowered her head, and guilt crept into her voice. "This is all my fault. Maybe if I hadn’t chased after my father, none of this would have happened..." She paused and clenched her staff tighter. "I’m sorry. I keep causing trouble for everyone."
"Elsie, stop blaming yourself," Nalira spoke in a calm voice and continued walking. "Your actions make perfect sense. Family matters. I would do the same thing if I stood in your position."
"O-okay..." Chelsie nodded and followed behind Nalira. After a few moments of silence, she looked up again. "Uhm... Lira, what about your family? Don’t you miss them?"
Nalira stopped for a moment when she heard Chelsie’s question. "Very much," she replied quietly. "I miss them more than anything. But they all died when I was still a child."
"Oh my God... I’m sorry to hear that." Chelsie’s eyes widened instantly, and she quickly covered her mouth. "I-I didn’t mean to bring up your past."
"...We need to keep moving." Nalira turned her gaze back toward the fog-covered street. "If we stay here, the Resistance might find us."
"Uhm... okay."
However, as they were walking, a strange figure suddenly sprinted past them from the side. Chelsie, who had been staring at Nalira in front of her, didn’t notice the figure at all until they collided head-on. Chelsie fell hard, causing Nalira to immediately turn her head to see what had actually happened behind them.
"Auh!" Chelsie landed hard on the ground and rubbed her forehead in irritation. "Hey, watch where you’re—" Her voice suddenly stopped. "Theo? What happened to you?"
"Hopefully, those damned creatures stopped chasing me." Theo pushed himself back to his feet and rubbed his sore backside. "This is insane. Absolutely insane." He let out a long sigh and shook his head.
"I never expected that bull-headed monster to have company." He clicked his tongue in frustration. "To make things worse, I barely have any mana left." Theo glanced over his shoulder toward the fog. "So I made the very difficult decision to run for my life." He folded his arms and grimaced. "Trust me, I hate retreating, but staying there would’ve gotten me killed."
Nalira folded her arms and looked at Theo with her usual expressionless face. "Then where is Shaan?" she asked. "You were supposed to stay with him, weren’t you?"
"We got separated while fighting those two bull-headed monsters," Theo replied. "I have no idea where Shaan is right now."
He extended a hand toward Chelsie and helped her up. "Come on. Get up. We need to leave this place as quickly as possible."
"Uhm... okay." Chelsie picked up her staff from the ground, then quickly took Theo’s outstretched hand. "Thanks."
"Don’t thank me," Theo said gruffly. "It was my fault anyway."
Chelsie turned her gaze toward Nalira. "Lira, so... what should we do now?"
"We need to find a hiding place." Nalira slowly stroked her chin. "The creature chasing Theo might still be around here. We need to secure ourselves first, then figure out our next plan."
"Th-then what about Shaan?" Chelsie asked, panic creeping into her voice. "We have to look for him. He might be in danger. He could need our help right now."
"Jeez." Theo shook his head and let out an annoyed sigh. "What goes on inside your head?" A cynical smile appeared on his face. "Why should we worry about someone else’s situation when our own situation is already a complete mess?"
"Uhm... I... I want help," she said quietly. "Shaan helped me when nobody else did. I don’t want to abandon him if he needs us."
"Elsie, I agree with what Theo said." Nalira nodded without a moment’s hesitation. "We have to get ourselves to safety first. Once we’re in a safe place, then we’ll help Shaan," said Nalira, trying to calm Chelsie down. "I’m sure Shaan will be just fine."
Chelsie lowered her head and nodded. "I understand."
"Good." Theo cracked his knuckles. "Then what are we waiting for? We need to move before—"
"Theo?" Nalira furrowed her brow, noticing Theo’s face tense up. "What’s wrong?"
"Oh, crap. We’re too late." His voice turned grim. "They... they’re already here."
Slowly, a bull-headed silhouette emerged from behind a billowing mist ahead of them. Not only that, when Nalira looked around, she could see several pairs of glowing red eyes suddenly appear and surround the three of them. Damn. It seemed the creatures had managed to surround them, and now they had to figure out a way to escape this situation.
"O-oh no..." Chelsie’s entire body trembled. The color drained from her face as the creatures slowly advanced toward them. "W-what do we do now?"
"I have a plan." Slowly, a fireball began to grow larger in the palm of Nalira’s hand. "Follow me."
Nalira instantly fired several fireballs simultaneously straight at the group of dark creatures blocking her path. In an instant, all the creatures fell to the ground, groaning in pain, until a gap finally opened up for them to escape.
"This is our chance. We have to get out of here. Now."
Without wasting any time, they immediately ran as fast as they could out of the crowd. Nalira, who was at the very back, kept firing fireballs at every creature of darkness that tried to block their path.
’Boom! Boom! Boom!’
A series of explosions rang out, successfully incapacitating several dark creatures and continuing to drive them back. Good, at least this way they’ll definitely be able to escape this horde of bloodthirsty creatures.
"Good. It seems everything is going according to—"
Unfortunately, Nalira failed to notice a dark creature approaching from her blind side. The monster moved with terrifying speed. It lunged out of the fog and crashed directly into her.
"Ugh, d-damn it."
"Oh my God, Lira!" Chelsie screamed in panic upon seeing that Nalira was still trapped among the dark creatures. "Lira, hold on! I’ll come save you."
"Hey, what do you think you’re doing?" Theo grabbed Chelsie’s arm and stopped her before she could take another step. "Have you completely lost your mind?" he snapped. "You’ll get yourself killed if you charge into that swarm of monsters."
"B-but I can’t just leave Lira there!" Chelsie struggled against his grip, trying to pull her arm free. "Lira is my friend, and I have to save her no matter what."
"Ugh, you’re such a naive woman." Theo shook his head. "Alright, then wait here and don’t do anything stupid." Instantly, a thunderous burst of electricity exploded beneath his feet. "I’ll go and - "
"Aaargh!"
"oh,no. Lira!"
