[Lifespan Remaining: 25 days, 11 hours, 9 minutes.]
’...Don’t...breathe...it in!’
Thankfully, Aurora had used her defensive skill, [Aegis], just in time for the two of them to protect both of them from being burned to a crisp. But unfortunately, the devastation had completely sent the entire building tumbling towards the ground in a mess of debris.
With the roof completely gone now, Noct thought that the mist would eventually disperse by itself. But he had been so wrong.
It lingered on the floor, almost like it had a weight of its own. Especially while being trapped in a maze of debris, just one inhale of that intoxicated mist would be enough to turn him into the other crazed attendees.
"Aurora, hey! Speak to me!"
By his side, the girl was out cold. A line of blood dripped down her forehead. He hadn’t seen what happened as everything happened so fast, but through checking her pulse, Noct realized she was still alive.
’Shit...this situation...’
He could still hear the shouts and screams of people fighting each other tooth and nail, almost like they were being driven only by their most violent impulses.
Noct scanned the area, quickly finding out that he still had some options. Nearby, the debris managed to form a tunnel that presumably led outside. The problem was...he had to get through all of the crazed attendees, while carrying Aurora’s unconscious body.
’Damn it...I have to try.’
Using wind magic, he quickly created a makeshift air pocket long enough so he could get a single inhale in. The currents drifted around him softly, forming a thin shell of circulating air around his face.
But it was enough.
GASP—!
Noct managed to take a deep inhale before going back to holding his breath. The air pocket broke apart instantly afterwards. Whenever he tried to gather mana, the foreign presence inside the mist kept disturbing his flow.
’I can’t keep this up while carrying her.’
He tried to gather the scattered currents again, but they slipped apart before he could steady them. But just then, a faint green light shone through the fabric of his coat.
Something stirred within before a small ball of light slipped through the opening. It hovered beside his chest, bobbing gently despite the violent currents moving through the ruined hall.
’You were in there this whole time?!’
It was the same light he had glimpsed at Lenia’s tower—the fairy.
Before he could react, it floated toward his face. A cool breeze brushed his cheek, and the thin air pocket that he had been struggling to maintain suddenly evened out without any effort of his own, pushing the vapors away.
"You’re...helping me?"
The green light drifted closer, but before he could make out its intentions, a crash from the other side of the rubble pulled his attention away.
A crazed man was climbing over a fallen beam. Blood covered his chin as he looked around, one hand gripping the broken stem of a wineglass before his eyes locked onto Noct and the unconscious Aurora.
Noct slipped an arm behind her shoulders and pulled her upright against him quickly. But as soon as he did, his legs almost gave out.
’Damn my physical constitution!’
As quickly as he could, Noct dragged both of them toward the narrow passage between the fallen beams. It was only a short distance away, though with her weight resting against him, it might as well have been across the city.
And emerging from the mist, the other crazed guests were starting to sense their presence as well. The scrape of Aurora’s armor underneath her dress definitely wasn’t helping, as each step they took created a rattling sound that attracted even more attention.
Noct tried to make it as far as he could, but just within a few steps, he already had a few on him. Barely ducking a broken bottle, the jagged edge tore through his sleeve instead. But right afterward, a woman grabbed onto his legs and refused to let go.
He stumbled against the nearby wall of debris, barey keeping Aurora from slipping out of his grasp.
"Get off!" Noct yelled, kicking the woman off of him.
Even after all that training, Noct was still struggling against someone who probably spent most of her days sitting behind an office desk.
Gathering wind magic into his palms, he used the currents to shove her off. The gust struck her squarely in the chest, launching her across the hall, where she slammed into a wall of debris and went unconscious.
’That worked...? I could barely control the breeze just a moment ago...’
But he couldn’t linger on the fact.
Dragging Aurora the remaining distance, Noct squeezed between the fallen beams. A splinter caught his shoulder, but he pushed through until they reached the narrow space on the other side.
At least here, nobody could surround them.
The passage wasn’t empty, however. Purple mist pooled between the rubble, thick enough that he could barely see where he was placing his feet.
Noct glanced at Aurora, then at the green light that had been following him along the way. "She has a skill resistant to it, but you could please wrap those currents around her as well?"
Almost immediately, a second current brushed against Aurora’s red hair, sweeping the vapor away before it could reach her.
’So it does understand me...’
"Noct...?"
Aurora stirred, her fingers gripping weakly at his coat. "Hey, what happened? Are you...is everything alright?"
"Uhh, as you can see. It’s gone to shit."
"Put me down. I’m okay to stand."
Reluctantly, Noct loosened his grip and plopped her down. But that was when the man from before burst through the passage, the broken wine glass aimed directly at Aurora’s neck.
"Watch out!"
But his worry was quite misplaced. Aurora caught his wrist, turned quickly, and drove him sideways into a sloping wall, causing the broken glass to fall from his hand.
She then shoved him down and kicked the weapon out of reach before punching him in the face once more to knock the man out.
’Sheesh...I guess that’s what paladins are capable of...’
"Now we can go," she dusted off her hands.
"Y—yeah..."
They moved together, with Aurora being able to stand far better than he thought. It was probably the paladin’s base skill [Enhanced Regeneration] that allowed her to recover so quickly.
Within a matter of seconds, they reached the side courtyard, completely littered with shattered glass and pieces of the banquet hall’s outer wall.
They should’ve been relieved, but the scene in front of them was simply too horrific. The purple mist had spread into town, invading the closest neighborhoods and turning unaffected people into mindless versions of themselves.
A man had come out of his house carrying a bucket, apparently intending to help with the fire. But as soon as he breathed the mist in, his eyes turned bloodshot.
"H—hey, what’s going on? Y—you’re scaring me..." his wife said from his side.
But he couldn’t hear her anymore. He raised the bucket into the air, preparing to attack even his loved ones.