The Gamer's POV-Chapter 189: Home of the Hollow Ones [5]

Alicia activated her bonded ability, and a ripple bled out from her like a slow-moving wave. It continued to spread, shimmering across the landscape until it completely engulfed the city below.

Her eyes suddenly snapped back to normal, and a thin line of blood trickled from her nose. She took a few ragged breaths, then gave a sharp nod to the group.

Without wasting a second, Aurora stood up and called out with urgency, "Move, move!"

In response, all the cadets scrambled to their feet and began a dead sprint down the hill. Before Leon took off, he tapped Alicia on the shoulder and gave her a supportive nod. Then he vanished into the dark alongside the other members of Cedric’s party. Aurora tapped Alicia on the back while shaking her head as if to clear the tension. "Come on!"

Both girls took off after the others.

Alicia’s bonded ability could affect reality in any way she wanted. Currently, the Hollow Ones were still visible to them, but the cadets were invisible to the monsters because they were now existing in a separate layer of reality.

Because of this, they didn’t have to worry about stealth. Instead, they just ran as fast as they could, desperate to reach a hiding spot inside the city before their ten minutes ran out.

"Over there!" Uriel yelled, pointing to an opening in the wall. That part of the wall had collapsed, leaving a jagged gap filled with piles of stone and twisted metal.

All the cadets ran as fast as their lungs would allow, and their boots kicked up clouds of grey soot. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

A cadet fell because of the steepness of the hill and tumbled head over heels toward the base, only to be caught by Audrey, who grabbed their arm and yanked them upright before they could slide any further. Then she lunged even higher into the air.

Because of her flight speed, she was the first to reach the wall, so she took it upon herself to find a good spot for the others from above. But she was not doing this alone. She had taken out Cedric’s feather and after speaking to it, it changed to Kuro, who then flew beside her.

Soon, all the cadets were close to the wall, their momentum carrying them dangerously quick down the incline. When they reached the opening, they began to climb over the rubble as fast as they could, until they scrambled into the city’s interior.

It was then that Audrey descended closer to the group, then called out hurriedly, "I think I found a spot."

Aurora quickly looked up at her and nodded. She then turned to the others who were behind her and waved her hand. "Come on, hurry!"

Following Audrey’s lead, they began to hurry through the narrow, soot-stained alleyways, their footsteps muffled by the layer of ash that covered the ground.

The homes around them were crumbling and blackened with soot as well. At first glance, one might think that they were empty and abandoned.

However, for someone like Cedric who had his map hovering in front of him, he could tell that many of the homes had monsters inside them. So he had guided Kuro to lead Audrey to the spot everyone was heading at the moment. That spot didn’t have any monsters in the buildings around it.

Soon, Audrey dropped behind a massive, crumbling building that stretched on for a few hundred meters, resembling an ancient basilica. Kuro then dropped on her shoulder and ruffled its feathers.

Shortly after, the first of the cadets began to reach the building. They leaned heavily against the cold stone walls to catch their breath, their chests heaving in the thin, soot-clogged air as they waited for the rest of the group to emerge from the alleyways.

Aurora and Alicia reached the building and also leaned against it. Then, Alicia coughed and wiped her nose again, before muttering in a strained voice. "How many people are left? They should hurry, Aurora."

Aurora turned impatiently to look down the street as more and more cadets came out from the alleyways to lean against the building.

For a few tense seconds, her eyes darted between the alleyway and Alicia.

"Almost everyone," she muttered. "Just hold on for a few more."

Not long after the ten-minute mark passed, the last of the cadets ran out of the shadows of the alley.

Suddenly, Alicia’s eyes rolled back for a brief second again and the air shimmered before snapping back to normal. That signaled that she had deactivated her ability, and so, everyone needed to remain as quiet as they could if they did not want to draw the attention of the Hollow Ones.

It was now Uriel’s turn to lead.

She quickly tied a blindfold over one eye, then began walking as quietly as she could. Aurora followed directly behind her, then Alicia, Leon, and the rest of the cadets.

After the basilica, there were rows and rows of buildings that looked like apartment blocks, ranging from three to six stories tall. Uriel leaned over the corner of the basilica, then quickly signaled for them to move.

The others followed one by one, staying low as they moved into the shadows of the tall buildings.

Then all of a sudden, a loud boom echoed from far away to the east. The noises of people yelling and fighting could be heard, and the surges of mana vibrated through the air.

’Hm?’

Cedric cast a quick glance in that direction, then at his map. His map displayed several dozen blue dots, and about a hundred red dots. Among the red dots, one shone brighter than the rest.

’It looks like a party has already found a red bridge monster,’ he thought, before slowly shifting his gaze from the map back to the path ahead.

The cadets, who had reflexively halted to look east, also turned away and continued on. After a few minutes, Uriel raised a hand signaling everyone to stop.

In response, everyone halted.

The reason was because they were near the temple that had the red bridge monster. They only needed to move out from the shadows of the apartment blocks, cross the open plaza, and they would get to the entrance of the temple.

The problem was, Uriel could see ten of the Hollow Ones in the way. Five were chatting amongst themselves, three were patrolling the perimeter, while the last two stood at the entrance to the temple. They were all holding a torch of flames, and those talking were doing so in a foreign language.

Suddenly, one of them stopped talking and sniffed the air a few times.

Then, slowly, it began to turn its head toward the building where the cadets were hiding.