Nick followed Amy and Jose's gaze up the stairs. Descending toward them were a charming woman with a sweet demeanor and a man in a police uniform.
"Where the hell did they come from? Is that guy actually a cop?"
The man, who appeared to be a police officer, had a strong, solid build, and his precise movements hinted at someone trained in swordsmanship. He looked like someone who could wield his strength with reliable confidence.
Whether it was their striking appearances or their calm demeanor amid the chaos, Nick couldn’t tell. To him, it seemed as though a halo of light surrounded them, making them look like divine warriors descending from the heavens.
But appearances could be deceiving. Trusting anyone in this situation, even a supposed police officer, was dangerous. Hadn’t Elliot’s charming exterior initially hidden his tyrannical nature?
"If they’re unfamiliar faces, they must be intruders."
Nick gripped his staff tightly, his wariness clear as he asked, "Who are you?"
"We’re people here to help in this chaos. Let’s deal with that first," the pink-haired woman replied, gesturing at the monsters wreaking havoc in the lobby.
The woman brushed past Nick, descending the stairs with an air of nonchalance. From behind her back, she pulled out an axe.
...Wait, an axe?
Before Nick could process this, the man in the police uniform unsheathed a sword from his belt. At the same time, a young girl drew a dagger, and a pink-haired man hefted a rifle.
Nick hesitated, clutching his staff defensively as he watched them. The pink-haired woman glanced back and gave him a disarmingly cute smile.
"Sir, could you handle organizing the survivors up here? Leave the monsters to us."
Her confident declaration left Nick bewildered. She spoke like a leader, even overshadowing the police officer beside her, which caught him off guard.
The pink-haired man chuckled, as if understanding Nick’s confusion. "She’s our leader."
Nick doubted his own eyes and ears. Surely, the man had misspoken. There was no way the petite pink-haired woman was in charge... right?
"Jose, cover us from the rear. While Ethan and I block the entrance, Amy will defend you," the woman ordered, her tone sharp and precise.
Her instructions immediately spurred the others into action. Jose climbed onto the counter in the first-floor lobby and positioned himself, while the small girl called Amy addressed Nick.
"Sir, please keep the people on the second floor from coming down, and rescue any survivors you find."
Her calm voice contrasted sharply with the agility she displayed, moving like a cat as she darted into position.
"Intruders, for sure..." Nick muttered to himself.
Whatever their purpose, they seemed to be aligned with his own goal for now: dealing with the monsters.
Still struggling to process what was happening, Nick complied with their instructions. After all, with all the guards stationed at the hotel entrance already dead, he had no one else to trust.
The hotel’s guards were typically stronger than the search party members, who rotated shifts to ensure fairness. Guards, on the other hand, were selected solely for their combat skills. Yet none of them were present in this chaotic scene.
"Could they all have fallen to the monsters already?"
A sense of foreboding crept into Nick’s expression as he worked with the mysterious group to manage the survivors.
****
Jose perched atop the counter, swiftly checking his carbine’s magazine. The weapon, typically used by cavalry, was better suited for covering fire than close combat. Normally, they’d avoid using firearms to maintain silence, but the situation had already devolved into utter chaos.
Having finished his check, Jose grabbed Ethan, who was about to follow Cherry.
"So, Officer, do you have a solid plan to get us out of this mess?"
"The plan from here on out is all Cherry’s," Ethan replied with a shrug.
Jose tilted his head. "From here on out? What was the plan before?"
There was no time for further questions. Ethan charged forward, cutting down the monsters spilling into the lobby.
Bang!
Jose fired his rifle, then repeated his question. "Officer, what’s the plan?"
"Cherry knows the layout of this building like the back of her hand. She’s planning to use that to our advantage. Our little star here is unstoppable," Ethan said, his eyes brimming with pride as he glanced at Cherry’s retreating figure.
Jose was taken aback by the genuine trust in Ethan’s gaze. He hadn’t expected such solid emotion from someone who seemed otherwise untouchable.
Ethan patted Jose on the shoulder. "Anyway, just cover us. Leave the entrance to me."
Cherry was already sprinting toward the hotel’s entrance. Ethan cut down the nearby monsters with swift precision and rushed after her.
Jose aimed his carbine again, shooting a monster heading toward Ethan and Cherry.
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As he continued his covering fire, Amy stood tensely beside him, clutching her dagger. She glanced at him, worry written on her face.
"There are more monsters than I expected. I don’t have many skills—am I even helping?" she asked, her voice trembling.
Jose sighed, his eye still on the sights. Amy’s self-esteem was far too low for someone in her position. Her usual confidence and rough speech were clearly just a facade to protect herself.
"You know you’re the only one I’ve got right now, right? That’s why I’m trusting you to cover my back."
"W-What?" Amy stammered, caught off guard.
Before she could respond, Jose pulled the trigger.
Bang!
A monster creeping up on Cherry collapsed with a headshot.
But the real threat wasn’t to Cherry—it was to Jose.
Hissing loudly, a massive cobra slithered across the marble floor toward him, its forked tongue flicking menacingly.
The creature bared its venomous fangs, preparing to strike.
"Damn it!" Jose cursed, gripping his rifle. But the snake was faster.
Just as he braced himself for the pain, something darted through the air. It was Amy. She landed nimbly on the snake’s scales and drove her dagger into its head.
Bang!
The cobra convulsed briefly before collapsing, its head crushed. Amy, who had been atop the creature, tumbled to the ground with it.
Jose, abandoning his position, ran to her. "Amy!"
"I’m fine," she replied, staggering to her feet. Using the counter for support, she leaped back into action, stabbing another monster’s head.
"Am I helping now? To you? To Sugar Star?" Amy shouted as she fought, her determination blazing.
Amy, now drenched in green monster blood, turned to Jose and asked, "Am I helping now?"
Jose, startled by her rather grotesque appearance, nodded fervently.
"Y-Yeah, of course."
"Then get back to what you were doing. Our lady over there is in danger," Amy teased, tapping Jose’s carbine lightly before darting aside to engage another monster.
Moments ago, she had been riddled with self-doubt, but now she had regained her confidence as if it was second nature to her. That, too, was just like Amy.
Relieved by her transformation, Jose returned to his position on the counter and refocused on Cherry and Ethan.
Cherry had nearly reached the hotel entrance, where waves of monsters continued pouring in.
Jose squinted, sighting through the rifle at the creatures swarming around her.
"Damn it, just covering her isn’t going to be enough," he muttered.
The sheer number of monsters was overwhelming.
Amazingly, Cherry seemed unfazed, cutting down monsters as she advanced, her confidence unshaken.
But from Jose’s perspective, unaware of her exact plan, her actions looked reckless and dangerous. He couldn’t fathom why she was wading into that horde of monsters.
"She’s not going to get bitten to death; she’s going to get crushed," he thought anxiously.
*****
At the same time, on the fifth floor of the Sinclair Hotel, guards were fending off monsters climbing the balcony ladder.
The entrance was sealed tight, seemingly impenetrable, leaving the balcony as the only viable escape route—though it was also where the monsters were flooding in.
Hiding behind the guards, Elliot gritted his teeth, consumed by the hopelessness of the situation.
"Curse that Sinclair!"
He recalled Cherry’s composed departure, imagining her hand clasped with Ethan’s—a fabricated memory born of his delusion.
"Is that really her type?"
Elliot had been convinced that Cherry preferred men like him. Once, she had even mentioned at a baron’s party that she found his face agreeable.
"What’s so great about that pretty boy?"
Ethan, with his more muscular and solid frame, was objectively more imposing than Elliot, but that fact didn’t register to him. Frustrated, Elliot bit his lip hard.
One by one, the guards fell to the monsters. Some were even infected and transformed into monsters themselves.
Elliot, trembling, forced his legs to move and crawled under a nearby desk.
There were others downstairs. Surely someone would come to his rescue. He just needed to hide and hold out until then.
Of course, Elliot didn’t realize that no one in the camp intended to save him. Nor did he know that he was now the only survivor left in the room.
Oblivious to the shadow of death creeping closer, Elliot remained under the desk, his thoughts drifting back to Ethan.
"The Sinclair princess admitted she’s a spy for Kaelion. So, does that mean Ethan Duncan Lancaster is also a Kaelion spy?"
Four days ago, Elliot’s search team had been attacked near Kintner Station by people wearing uniforms of the Greydon Kingdom army.
Their leader, introducing himself as Kaelion, claimed to be a royal guard serving Crown Prince Theodore in Westmore.
Kaelion and his men had been searching for something in Kintner. It seemed they were also looking for missing persons.
When Kaelion suggested negotiating using the captured search team as leverage, Elliot had reluctantly gone to Kintner Station to deal with him.
He couldn’t just abandon the team and the valuable supplies they had worked so hard to gather.
Elliot recalled the unsettling conversation he’d had with Kaelion during their meeting.
"If you answer my questions truthfully, I’ll release your people unharmed. I heard there’s an herb shop in Kintner that dealt in Bardon. Have you heard of it? They say it sold Elpinos as well."
"Elpinos? What’s that? Another drug? Why are you looking for Bardon?"
"Ah, if you don’t know, then never mind."
Kaelion’s cryptic questions had left Elliot without answers.
Elliot knew Bardon was a drug, but he hadn’t known whether Elpinos was the same.
One thing was certain: if a high-ranking royal like Prince Theodore was searching for it, it had to be significant.
Determined to act first, Elliot had raided Jeremy’s herb shop, hoping to secure the goods before Kaelion could.
After all, Kaelion’s men were well-trained and heavily armed soldiers. Elliot had no chance against them directly. His best bet was to gain leverage by getting to the items first.
But unexpectedly, Kaelion had vanished without a trace after their initial encounter.
"Now that I think about it, maybe they just wanted me to find the Bardon so they could steal it from me later."
Elliot’s mind wandered to an even more suspicious question Kaelion had asked during their conversation.
"By the way, have you seen Count Roderick?"
Count Roderick was another name for Ethan Duncan Lancaster.
Before inheriting the Lancaster dukedom, Ethan held that honorary title, which came with no land and was granted at birth.
Since becoming a police officer, however, few people had addressed him by that title.
"Count Roderick? The Lancaster heir? Why are you looking for him?"