17 Retreat!

After the dungeon gate opened Ms. Anna who is the only S rank present right now on the Roult island, showed up in front of the dungeon gate. She was standing with a sour expression on her face. All the students also gathered to help the blockade.

After an hour of long and nerve-wracking wait, the dungeon finally stopped absorbing mana. It started to spin slowly and just like that, several low-rank monsters started to come out of it.

Starting from low rank to high rank, a huge army of monsters started to come out of the gate. The monster army consisted of several different species, many types of monsters can be seen marching here, except for the really rare ones.

Several rare species among the monsters like phoenixes and dragons can't be seen so easily, because they live in secluded places. It is very rare for them to pop out of a dungeon.

Not to mention that legendary species like phoenixes and dragons have intelligence from the very day they are born, they never take part in fights where they have to act like cannon fodder for others.

In this world you can't have dragons and phoenixes as your pets, if you tried to enslave a dragon the very next day a huge army of giant dragons would greet you on your doorsteps with a concentrated Dragon's breath, right at your face.

Although species like dragons don't have much of a comradeship among them, they get extremely angry after finding that a dragon has been enslaved.

Due to this, the aspiring youngsters who always wanted to be dragon knights can only dream of riding dragons while still sitting on a pig's back.

...

With the entry of the monsters, the fight started immediately both sides started to attack each other and the battlefield became extremely chaotic. Although the monsters were being slaughtered one-sidedly, their high number started to show its advantage and the defenders started to be pushed back.

Rio just fought nonchalantly at the very end while slashing his sword boringly. He was distancing himself from the center of the battlefield, It is not that he is scared it's just he doesn't want to get entangled with more than he can't chew.

Unlike the other named characters like Link, and Lia, who are fighting on the very front, he knows he does not have a heavenly protection.

'Although I can kill early B-rank monsters easily now, several A-rank monsters are fighting with Ms. Anna there. Any one of their casual attacks can instantly kill me.' (Rio)

The named characters like Fade are all protected by heavenly luck, so there won't be a stray attack coming their way. But the same is not true for him because he is just an extra.

'I would use my energy more when retreating.' (Rio)

After deciding his course of action Rio continued his stroll around the rear of the battlefield while slashing a few monsters nonchalantly.

Then suddenly a huge explosion attracted his attention:

'I was wondering why Ms. Anna who is an S rank needed to retreat from a mere A rank monster in the novel, but it seems the reality is rather mind-blowing.' (Rio)

The S-rank gate was still releasing monsters endlessly but the most problematic thing was that several A-rank monsters were coming out of the dungeon gate. The stream of monsters is endless, there's no stop to it.

Even if Ms. Anna is an S rank, she can't fight so many of A rank monsters alone, not to mention she is a mage not a warier type. Due to this, she is at a disadvantage in the current situation.

Looking around, it can be seen that she is being attacked by at least 20 A-rank monsters together. 

'That's a dangerous situation. Not to mention the Gate is still releasing more monsters out of it. She can't handle it for long and will order retreat soon.' (Rio)

And as Rio had expected it even more A rank monsters started to come out of the dungeon gate, as if they were forcefully being sent here to fight. Maybe an S-rank monster is forcing them to come here.

If they can succeed in taking over this place and can make the dungeon stay opened here for a long time, they can upgrade the S-rank dungeon gate, and thus even more high-rank monsters will be able to come out of it.

'According to the novel they succeeded in doing so and upgraded the gate before the reinforcements could reach this place.' (Rio)

...

When Ms. Anna saw that even more A-rank monsters were coming out of the dungeon gate, she immediately ordered the officials to start evacuating the people of the island nearby to ensure their safety.

Slowly the defense line started to retreat more and more and monsters started to push forward more and more. The battle started to become unfavorable for the ones defending as time passed.

When Ms. Anna retreated, the rank monster who was fighting her directly targeted the people defending on the very front of the battlefield.

A huge onslaught started several awakeners and some unlucky student got killed instantly by their attacks. Seeing that the battle was turning unfavorable, Ms. Anna ordered the students to retreat to the ship too.

Yet some students who were caught in the monster tide were still not able to retreat on time and got overwhelmed.

In the end, no one waited for them and even Ms. Anna shook her head. It was clear that they had been sacrificed and no one would save them now.

This is the very reason why Rio did not join the fight on the front. It is good to be in front if you know that you can push forward during the battle. But when it comes to retreat the people on the very front are targeted first.

There will be no way for you to get out of that situation and you will be like a rat trapped in a cage. Waiting to be killed by the monsters following you, right behind your back, taking pleasure in your despair-filled face.

Just as Rio was going to retreat, he remembered something and looked around to find a certain person. And after looking carefully he found her retreating in a panic state.

...

(Lia's Pov)

Lia was visibly exhausted and was struggling hard to even take steps. Yet seeing the monsters following behind she had a desperate expression on her face.

'I can't die here; I will get out of it!' (Lia)

Lia was encouraging herself by saying this in her mind. But her tired body was not listening to her desperate will.

'I shouldn't have rushed to the forefront to compete with Kira, tsk, what do I do now!' (Lia)

Suddenly she saw a huge lion-type monster rushing straight at her. It was a B-rank monster and in her exhausted state, there was no way to defend herself.

The monster did not care about her state at all and directly used its front paw to attack her face, but just as it was only a few inches away it stopped.

As if time had stopped for the monster it stayed in its place for a second then it collapsed down with a bang. Its body was sliced neatly into several pieces as if an experienced Chef had sliced it very carefully. In an instant, a B-rank monster was reduced to neatly cut meat.

Then she heard a calming voice with which she was extremely familiar:

"Need some help? Tsundere-chan!" (Rio spoke with a grin on his face)

Hearing him teasing her even in this situation, she suddenly felt the urge to punch this bastard in the face.

But due to extreme exhaustion, she fainted. Just as she was about to fall, Rio caught her and carried her on his back.

After taking Lia, Rio immediately left the battlefield and started to retreat towards the Ship, the Stormwalker.

...

While on the way he started to think about the previous event.

According to the novel he read in his previous life, it was described that Lia was an extremely beautiful girl before her face was destroyed by a lion-type monster.

Yeah, in the later parts of the novel Lia always covers her face under a mask, to hide her face.

During the fight on the Roult island, she charged right at the front, to compete with Kira, she made a bet with her that the one who would kill more monsters would win, being a battle maniac type, she directly used her strongest skill from the very start and lost her mana very quickly.

Due to this, she was not able to retreat on time and got caught up with a lion-type monster. That monster had very sharp nails. It directly attacked her face several times and ruined her beauty which she had been proud of since a young age.

However, she was rescued by Ms. Anna later because Lia was the only daughter of an S rank. She enjoyed the privilege of being rescued thus saving her life.

But it was already too late at that time. Her face has been ruined already. I know what you are thinking, why did she not use healing potions, right? There's a big flaw in the healing potions of this world. That is wounds can only be healed within a particular period by potions and healing skills for maximum effectiveness.

When Lia was rescued, she was injured for around 2 days you know. Yeah, the monster did not kill her, instead, it dragged her out of the battlefield and took her to a hidden location.

As mentioned earlier every monster of B rank or above has a certain intelligence in this world.

That lion was not an idiot, it had been demonized, and thus it tended to enjoy others' misery. It liked to play with its prey.

So, for two-day Lia got tortured by that monster. Every time that monster attacked her face. Due to pain, she was not able to use her healing potions which she was carrying in her space ring.

This long torture causes Lia to develop a fear of monsters in her heart. She became an extremely depressed type of person and her targeting Kira became even more extreme after that. Thus, making her a full-fledged villainess.

In the end, she tries to get on the good side of the boss monster of the SSS rank dungeon by telling him the secret information about Fade's party which will be going to fight him. But she miscalculated and got killed by the monster. Thus, concluding her sad story.

...

'But since I have saved her, she shouldn't be going on that path now. It's a relief I remembered before I got late.' (Rio)

When Rio was going to retreat, he suddenly remembered the side story of Lia thus he decided to save her. Anyway, since he has a good relationship with her, it is not that bad to save her from going on the way to her doom. It won't do any loss to him anyway.

Since he could save her, he just did it, there were no particular reasons behind it... definitely!

After about an hour of running at full speed, Rio was already in front of Stormwalker. He immediately boarded the ship.

Looking around there were already several students on the ship. Most of them have injuries and are being treated by the healers.

Rio took Lia to an empty bed in the healer's office and laid her down while waiting for the healer to check her health condition. In a while, the healer came and checked her.

The healer declared her okay, she was only unconscious because of mana exhaustion. She can be discharged.

Hearing it, Rio took her to his room, while a sense of relief was filling his heart. This fact brought great confusion to Rio since he had never felt affection due to being an orphan for two lives...

'Why am I taking care of a potential villain, what's wrong with me... sigh~' (Rio)

Without Rio knowing himself, he had started to care for someone for the first time in his two lives.