A Psychiatrist's Bizarre Game Journey / Dream of the Mist

Upon hearing this, Lannister immediately replied, "Miss Memoride, you...you're so badly injured, don't speak. We'll definitely get you out of here safely!"

"Clang!"

Just as he was speaking, the sound of a sword rang out not far from him. It was Isaac who was using his sword to cut down a monster that was charging up the stairs. Without turning his head, he said, "My foolish brother, when you spout nonsense without any regard for your surroundings, can't you at least consider your surroundings? Even if you just picked up that stick and swung it around a few times, it would be more useful than you squatting there saying some useless words of concern."

"At this rate, more and more monsters will rush in, and the stairs in this shelter are so narrow... If we don't break out soon, we'll be trapped here."

Nosa nodded, then turned to remind the others while pulling off the gem pendant around her neck. The gem emitted a faint light, and as Nosa chanted rapidly, small fireballs, ice spikes, and lightning strikes—low-level spells—conjured up to hinder the monsters that were trying to rush forward.

Despite this, no one present was capable of breaking through the blockade. Izmir, Isaac, and Nosha, while possessing some strength, were far from sufficient, let alone the Lannisters. Edwards should have been able to do it, but his injuries were too severe, making it extremely difficult. As for Elon... although he was strong enough and uninjured, given his current mental state, he probably wouldn't be able to perform at seven or eight tenths of his full potential.

The others quickly realized the problem as well... Isaac hurriedly continued to ask, "Besides this one passage leading outside, shouldn't this shelter have other exits? Logically speaking, shouldn't it?"

As an upper-class nobleman, Isaac had never been to such a refuge before, so he naturally assumed that the refuge should be as interconnected as the private escape routes under the Timius Palace.

But the truth is...

Edwards shook his head: "There is only one passage, which is both the entrance and the exit. Originally, when it was planned to be built, there were three exits, but for some reason, it turned out like this when it was completed. But since no one took the initiative to ask about it, it was left unresolved."

"What?! This is too dangerous!"

Lannister clutched his head, his eyes wide with disbelief. "Which bastard was in charge of building this shelter?! He must have embezzled the entire construction budget and then ran out of money!"

"The person in charge is Duke Timius."

Edwards glanced at Lannister.

"Oh, that's all."

Lannister was taken aback by this, and couldn't help but twitch his lips. He immediately changed the subject, "But if that's the case, then...we have no way to break through, right?"

"Ahem... Let... let me do it."

Just then, Zhou Ke'er struggled to sit up, revealing a stubborn expression. "I'm sorry for deceiving you before... I'm not a distant relative of Duke Timius. Actually... I'm just a refugee from the Duchy of Dragon."

The unsuspecting group was taken aback, not understanding why Zhou Ke'er would suddenly bring this up at this time.

But Zhou Ke'er continued, "Not long ago, the capital of the Duchy of Dragon also experienced an event that was basically the same as what is happening now... Having escaped from there, I was also infected by the evil energy that caused this situation."

As she spoke, Zhou Ke'er stood up unsteadily and, under everyone's gaze, slowly walked towards the stairwell: "However, because of this, I gained the power to fight against these monsters..."

Isaac and his two companions had witnessed Zhou Ke'er's actions at the banquet and knew she possessed considerable strength. However, seeing Zhou Ke'er now severely injured, and...

Lannister immediately asked, "But...but didn't you say before that if this power continues to be used like this, your infection level will worsen...and then..."

Zhou Ke'er pursed her lips and gave everyone a fragile yet strong smile, her tightly pursed lips devoid of color.

The frail girl, covered in blood, wore a resolute smile, and the hideous monster behind her created a poignant and beautiful scene that was forever etched in everyone's hearts.

A black mist suddenly shot into the sky, spreading out from Zhou Ke'er's body and sweeping away the monsters rushing towards her from behind.

"It's alright, you guys... stick close to me."

After saying that, Zhou Ke'er turned around, leaving them with only her slender back view.

------------

667. I will lead the charge.

"Chong"

Just then, a soft sound came from behind. Edwards, leaning on his sword, slowly walked to Zhou Ke'er's side. As if in a final burst of energy, a radiant aura suddenly surged from his body. He said in a deep voice, "There are only knights who sacrifice themselves to protect others, not knights who hide behind others and live a life of ignominy."

Before he could finish speaking and before anyone could react, Edwards followed Zhou Ke'er's footsteps, stomped his foot hard, and instantly launched a charge up the stairs.

Zhou Ke'er didn't say anything more. She simply used the black mist spreading around her body as cover to secretly and frantically absorb the evil energy from the mad crowd in front of her. On the surface, she was constantly condensing the black mist into various shapes, clearing away obstacles in front of her at an extremely fast speed.

Isaac and the others quickly realized what was happening and immediately followed Zhou Ke'er and Edwards at a distance that was neither too close nor too far behind them, so as not to be affected by the danger ahead. This was not because they were afraid of death or anything, but they were all quite clear-headed and knew that with their strength, it would be good enough if they didn't cause trouble if they went up, and they might even have to trouble others to rescue them, which would increase the difficulty for them.

Fortunately, not many monsters were coming towards the shelter. There wasn't the overwhelming crowd that Zhou Ke'er had anticipated. After all, the capital city itself wasn't that big, and it was only just beginning to erupt. Although the shouts of the civilians had attracted many monsters from the vicinity, once those crowding on the stairs and blocking the exit were dealt with, escaping outside would be relatively easy.

The monsters crammed into the stairwell were already enough to give them a hard time, but fortunately, they had Zhou Ke'er, who possessed an anti-evil treasure that could both deal damage and apply debuffs (referring to the absorption of evil). After being weakened by Zhou Ke'er, the monsters naturally couldn't stop Edwards and Zhou Ke'er from breaking through together.

However, Edwards' current situation seems far from optimistic. He had already suffered a serious injury and was now barely clinging to life, so he might just collapse as soon as he went outside.

Sure enough, just as Edwards was about to see the light of the shelter's exit, he seemed to be about to collapse from exhaustion and stumbled. Although the monsters in front of him had lost their minds, they instinctively wouldn't let this opportunity pass, and several sharp spikes stabbed at Edwards, who had made a mistake, without hesitation.

Edwards had long anticipated this outcome, but he was somewhat disappointed that he hadn't been able to clear the obstacles ahead... He was truly an incompetent commander of the knights.

"Pfft"

The sound of a sharp blade piercing flesh rang out, but Edwards' vision was not filled with blood. He saw Zhou Ke'er appear in front of him, trying her best (pretending) to break several spikes, but a few still slipped through and were blocked by her body.

"You can't die here... or it'll be a real problem..."

Without turning her head, Zhou Ke'er, as if enduring immense pain (which she was feigning), said in a slightly trembling voice, "Your corpse will be corrupted by evil spirits, turning into something even more troublesome than these monsters. So you can't die here. If you want to protect those you should protect, then take responsibility properly and don't treat death as a release!"

Edwards was momentarily dazed, but managed to force a smile, struggled to regain his balance, and gripped his sword tightly with trembling hands: "Ah, I didn't... intend to shirk my responsibilities this way. But thank you anyway."

Soon, with a burst of energy, Zhou Ke'er and Edwards finally cleared the blockade ahead, carving out a breakthrough and breaking out of the refuge that was originally meant to protect everyone but had now become a prison.

The people following behind also sped up and quickly caught up.

“Miss Memoride! Knight Commander Edwards, you are now…”

As soon as Lannister rushed out, before he could even get a good look at his surroundings, he blurted out.

Before he could finish speaking, Edwards interrupted him, slashing down a monster with his sword while shaking his head and saying with difficulty, "It's not time to relax yet. This place is far from safe, and there are still a lot of monsters gathered around... We must inform His Majesty of the situation here as soon as possible! We need to get to the palace while I can still walk."

"But...the civilians down there haven't been..."

Seeing that no one seemed to have any intention of rescuing the civilians still trapped under the shelter, Izumi couldn't help but widen his eyes—although he had been shocked by Zhou Ke'er's injury and Edwards's sudden burst of energy and had involuntarily followed the crowd, he had now realized that they seemed to be planning to abandon the civilians.

"Izumi!"