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Chapter 57: Sabotaged by Botlike Teammates

They cut their way backward as they retreated.

The scattered group soon reached the magitech stone that served as the exit from the ruins.

The first militia to flee had already gathered at the magitech stone, and Reiner was less than 100 meters from them.

He could vaguely see Junice sitting at the extraction point with Nora in her arms.

She looked injured, blood streaming from her thigh.

A few more knights pulled back from the front, leaving only Dimas and 2 others.

“Line up! Prepare to evac!” Dimas shouted over his shoulder.

Several more skeletal knights charged in.

They seemed endless; kill one and another appeared at once, hounding them without pause.

However, the monsters’ quality was visibly declining.

The skeletal knights now wore no iron armor at all, only bare, white bones.

The last 2 knights also left, so only Dimas fought shoulder to shoulder with Reiner and the others.

“Reiner, you go first! I’ll be right behind you,” Dimas said; his plate armor was dented and streaked with blood, proof of the injuries he had taken fighting the skeletal knights.

Plate offered only mediocre protection against blunt weapons, and once he was fully suited his movements were hampered, so he could not outrun them.

Leaving him to cover the retreat was tantamount to sending him to his death.

Besides, the skeletal knights clung like leeches; a fighting withdrawal was impossible because they would latch on again at once.

To escape they first had to carve out a buffer and then sprint at full speed.

“Dimas, you fall back; I need to stall them a little longer before I can leave.” With that, Reiner incinerated a nearby skeletal knight with fire magic.

Martina was deep in the enemy ranks; surrounded by skeletons she went berserk, and her battle cries sent shattered bones flying everywhere.

In close quarters she was virtually unbeatable.

At this rate the two of them could hold for another hour.

Dimas assessed the situation, hesitated, then accepted the advice and ran toward the teleport line.

Half a minute later he shouted, “Reiner! Get over here!”

Reiner looked back; the militia had formed a long chain, holding on to one another, and Dimas stood at the tail end, reaching out to him.

“Martina, time to go.”

“Got it!” Martina grabbed a skeletal knight by the cervical spine, hoisted it up and smashed it into a swath of enemies.

The two of them then sprinted toward the magitech stone.

Many of the militia shouted at them.

“Good heavens, you’re real heroes!”

“Brother, hurry up!”

“Watch the necromancer! He’s right behind us!”

Reiner glanced back just in time to see an incoming Fireball.

Ever since he learned chantless magic his casting speed had soared; in a flash he released a Water Orb and doused it.

Dimas yelled, exhilarated, “Come on, Reiner!”

Reiner could almost touch his outstretched hand.

A heartbeat later the line of more than 100 people vanished, and the ruins sank into dead silence.

The magitech stone glowed faint red.

Reiner was dumbfounded.

The militia at the very front had activated the magitech stone without permission, teleporting all of them away.

“What kind of NPC move was that?”

“They just left like that?”

Reiner grabbed Martina’s hand and tried to reactivate the magitech stone.

Mana had barely flowed in when a searing pain shot through his fingertips.

Junice had said the transport magitech stone inside the ruins could not be used consecutively and needed time to cool down.

With packs of skeletal knights closing in, Reiner could not wait around for the stone to reset.

“Reiner!”

Martina shouted, raising her shield to block a flying war-hammer.

“Clang!”

She tossed aside the splintered shield and slashed at the charging skeletal knights.

Reiner saw pale-green wraiths gathering again at the tip of the necromancer’s staff.

He raised his own staff to interrupt, but 2 skeletal knights were already upon him, forcing him to deal with them first.

A shrill roar tore through the air, stabbing his eardrums with pain.

Stunned, he looked up and saw a sheet of flame rushing toward him.

In desperation Reiner unleashed a torrent of water to shield himself and Martina.

Even so, half of Martina’s body was scorched by the fire.

The skeletal knights burst through the water barrier and smashed a hammer against Martina’s knee guard.

Reiner heard a sharp crack and she staggered back a few steps.

Martina was hurt.

The situation deteriorated rapidly.

Reiner washed away the nearby skeletal knights with water, hurried forward to drag Martina out of the Water Ball, and pulled her toward a side alley.

Seeing the skeletal knights still in pursuit, he ignored the risk of a cave-in, finished his chant and cast Earthquake.

In an instant the surrounding stone houses collapsed, and, unexpectedly, the water-soaked soil liquefied under the violent tremors, turning into a mire that trapped the skeletal knights.

Reiner had no time to ponder; he hooked an arm under Martina’s and sprinted.

Perhaps the Goddess of Fortune smiled on him.

He ran for a long time without setting off a single trap.

Reiner found a secluded stone house, smashed the rotten wooden door, checked the surroundings in a hurry, and, seeing no danger, slipped inside.

Martina was badly injured, sweat beading under her helmet.

Reiner wrapped her in flowing water and performed basic treatment first, separating skin and fabric for a moment because stripping burnt clothes outright would rip flesh away.

“Don’t move, I’ll take your clothes off.”

Martina shook her head and whispered, “No…”

“Now is no time to be shy; I’ve already felt everything, what’s there to hide? Hold still.” Reiner removed her armor piece by piece and tossed it aside. Then he carefully peeled away the scorched clothes that were stuck to her skin. Her twin mounds were now one flushed red, the other pale. Reiner cast Heal Water.

Seeing that the waist wrap below was still tied, Reiner reached to help.

Martina nervously pushed his hand away, untied it herself, and said, “I’ll do it.”

Reiner stole a glance; only the outside of her thigh was burned, so he treated it quickly. The charred skin gradually turned an odd white. It would probably scar in the future.

At the same time, a silent thought drifted into Reiner’s mind:

(Reiner saw everything again…)

Reiner let out an exasperated laugh. Of all times, she still worried about that. The sooner burns were treated with Heal Water, the better the result.

“You humans aren’t reliable at all; you ditched your teammates so easily… our hands were almost on that knight,” Martina muttered.

Reiner nodded in agreement. That bastard’s action had nearly cost them their lives. Luckily, it let them escape for now.

“Damn it, he would never volunteer to cover the retreat again.”

The pressing matter now was to figure out how to get out. They carried no food, so they could not hole up in this stone house forever…

Once the burns were mostly healed, Martina stood, picked up the charred scraps of cloth, and slowly wrapped them around herself.

“Don’t use that thing ever again… it’s filthy and unsanitary; if we make it back alive I’ll buy you something more convenient.”

Martina remained silent.

“(So it’s easier for you to take off…)”

Reiner could not be bothered to answer.

He lowered his head to examine Martina’s injured knee. “How’s the leg? Let me see.”

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