"This fight will be a battle of attrition," Arezu said, his tone serious and free from his usual laid-back demeanor.

"We won't know how long we need to fight until help arrives, so conserve your strength and mana as much as you can."

To finish his advice, Arezu handed the rest of his baseball bats to Leo, Cliff, Senna, and Casey, leaving only one reserve for himself in case the one he was currently using broke.

—Swish!—

A sharp sound cut through the air as Lynn swung her baseball bat, demonstrating how to use it to Leo, Cliff, Senna, Casey, and the additional four mage students who had received her extra bats.

"Aim for the head or the legs. That should be enough to knock down the Visages of the locals," she said, followed by another swing that clearly had the power to break someone's face or legs.

—Swish!—

Did I just give her another weapon to use during her tantrums? Arezu thought anxiously, watching Lynn's skill with the bat improve with every swing and realizing that she was someone who wouldn't hesitate to hit a person in the face with an ice block.

Regardless of his worries that Lynn might one day hit him in the face with the very same bat he had made, Arezu had plenty of other concerns at the moment.

"Are you sure you're okay now, Lynn?" he asked with concern. "I think we still have an hour before the ice barricades and walls break."

"I'm fine, Mr. Arezu. I already rested enough and recovered my strength," she replied cheerfully. "Besides, I know you'd be there to catch and carry me if I ever collapsed again."

It had been three hours since the clocktower bell rang six in the evening—or rather, an hour and a half since their group had escaped from the Mages Guild and hidden on the third floor of a building near the boundary between the commercial and residential areas.

During their time in hiding, everyone had at least rested enough to recover physically, though not mentally. Even Lynn, who had nearly collapsed from mana exhaustion, and Cliff, who had survived the brink of death, now had enough strength for another round of run and chase with the Visages.

Not only had they rested and recovered, but they had also decided on their next move.

Between the plans of making a run toward the northern gate or taking shelter at the Crafters Guild, the group decided to pursue both.

A small elite team of five mage students and one instructor would head to the northern gate, hoping that was where the Dungeon Gate lay, leading them outside the town to call for help from the cavalry camped beyond the walls.

The rest of the group—including two dozen mage students, two remaining instructors, along with Lynn and Arezu—would head to the Crafters Guild, hoping there were crafters from the Annual Caravan, like Beatrix, who might have taken shelter there as well, while they waited for help to arrive.

"Are you ready, everyone?" Lynn called, getting the attention of the group.

"Just stay calm and don't panic. Focus on our backs and keep running forward," Arezu said. "If you follow our commands, we can make it to the Crafters Guild."

His words gave a flicker of hope to the worried mage students who trembled as they clenched their enchanted staves, listening to the pounding of the Visages outside the building.

"You're spoiling them too much, Mr. Arezu. They're not kids anymore."

They are kids—and so are you, Arezu thought, suspecting Lynn was probably just a year or two older than the students, barely sixteen.

Putting aside the mystery of Lynn's actual age, Arezu gave the signal to begin their escape before the ice barricades and building walls collapsed.

"Please open our exit, Lynn."

"Ready or not, here we go!"

Lynn raised her left hand forward, facing the ice-sealed opening in the wall they had once used as an entrance. The moment she dispelled the ice, turning it into snow with her mystic spell Glacier, the Visages waiting outside—standing on the same ice bridge they would use to escape—rushed toward them. But before they could get inside—

"Blast them off!"

At Lynn's command, a dozen mage students who could cast wind-based mystic spells launched their attacks.

—"Gust"—

The rushing Visages were knocked off the ice bridge by a powerful blast of wind.

With the path cleared, the first group—the five elite mage students and one instructor—ran across the bridge, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, lanterns in hand, not to illuminate their path but to draw the attention of the Visages.

Their goal wasn't just to reach the northern gate as quickly as possible with a small group, but also to lure away the Visages swarming the building so the second, larger group would have a higher chance of survival.

"Their noble sacrifice won't be forgotten—"

"Oi... Don't jinx them like that."

Maybe she had only meant it as a joke to ease everyone's tension, but hearing Lynn casually mention their companions dying didn't sit well with Arezu—

"Hmph... I didn't say anything about them dying," Lynn grunted, pouting as she led the charge outside, annoyed at Arezu.

"Don't run ahead by yourself, Lynn."

Running across rooftops, crossing ice bridges that Lynn conjured, and leaping from building to building, the second group pressed forward with Lynn and Arezu in front, two dozen mage students in the middle, and the two remaining instructors at the rear.

The fact that they hadn't encountered any Visages so far meant the first group had succeeded in drawing their attention. However, as they passed near the Mages Guild—

"Glacier"

—BOOM!—

Lynn recast her spell, conjuring a massive ice spike that erupted from the rooftop to intercept a fireball aimed at their group, shielding the students from the fiery explosion.

They had been moving slowly and carefully under cover of darkness, avoiding light so as not to draw more Visages. Yet as the fireball exploded and its flames lit the rooftops, their group was finally exposed—to the same Visages of the local mages that had chased them from the Mages Guild earlier.

"Take the students and run!"

"We'll hold them off and buy you some time!"

It was only a few Visages that had spotted them, and Arezu knew that if they stuck together, they could eventually outrun them. But it also meant that the number of pursuers would steadily grow until they were cornered again before reaching the Crafters Guild.

The two instructors sacrificing themselves was the most logical way to improve the group's chances of survival. But leaving them behind would mean—

"Let's go, Mr. Arezu!"

Before he could decide, Lynn grabbed his hand and pulled him forward.

"The students need us to lead them."

Despite his reluctance to abandon the instructors, Arezu prioritized the students' lives as Lynn had said.

They kept running, leaping from rooftop to rooftop.

"Out of the way!"

Arezu struck down every Visage climbing up from the streets to block their path, swinging his baseball bat to knock them back down.

—"Gust"—

The students cast mystic spells to push away Visages attacking from the sides and rear.

"Glacier"

Lynn continued conjuring ice bridges to extend their path toward the Crafters Guild.

After half an hour of desperate escape, they finally reached both their destination—and their limit.

Ahead of them stood the Crafters Guild. Below was a wide street swarming with Visages, and behind them more Visages climbed the walls to reach the rooftop.

The students were exhausted, some collapsing from mana depletion and being carried on the backs of others. Even Lynn was on the verge of collapsing again.

But despite her exhaustion, Lynn gathered what little mana she had left, raised both hands toward their destination, and cast her mystic spell.

"Glacier"

A towering ice wall rose from the street, spanning across and connecting the rooftop they stood on to the third floor of the Crafters Guild.

"As you promised..." Lynn said as she collapsed to her knees, "If you could please carry me now, Mr. Arezu."

"You did a good job, Lynn."

Blushing as Arezu lifted her in a bridal carry, Lynn felt flustered. But when she looked at him, he wasn't looking back—completely missing her bashful reaction.

How can you be so attentive and so oblivious at the same time? Lynn thought, shifting from flustered to annoyed.

"Don't stop—keep running, everyone!"

The broken, barricaded windows of the Crafters Guild suggested there were survivors inside—but also left the possibility that the Visages had overrun it.

Whichever it was, they had no choice but to smash through a barricaded window with a single powerful kick and jump inside to escape the swarm of Visages closing in behind them.

"My, my... What an unexpected welcome we've got here."

"Damn it... We're surrounded."

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