How to Survive Against Villains Chapter 175

Chapter 175 – Escape (2)

The boundary between Area 1, Tobaron and Area 2, Hell Gri collapsed when the Witches’ Settlent, Ordor Forest was burned to the ground.

The Grand Barrier, the Ghost Forest had completely blocked any interaction between the two regions. However, in Blyer’s case, the discovery of a passage during gold mine developnt changed the situation.

Kal, the regressor, knew of this passage. He used it to connect with the Black Market and mage factions, rapidly amassing power.

“…But I forgot. We’re still in the early stages of that tiline.”

A sealed mineshaft.

When we arrived after pushing through the waiting crowd, I finally laid eyes on the passage—and let out a dry chuckle.

A small crevice in a collapsed rock wall.

People were squeezing their bodies through, one by one.

Too narrow.

In the future, this passage would be expanded enough for large wagons to pass through, but for now, it was just barely wide enough for a single person.

I hadn’t expected this.

Now I understood why Heinz had brought us here with such urgency.

He wanted us to see firsthand that escaping through this passage would take ti.

"Heinz, how many are with us?"

"A little over ten thousand."

“…Ten thousand? That many?”

“There were more laborers in the mines than we expected. Since all of them joined the escape…”

Hearing that number, I realized ten thousand wasn’t even that large.

The number of people captured for labor and sacrificial offerings alone must have been in the thousands.

Adding their families, Heinz’s faction, and the Korun River survivors whom Lochter had freed from slavery, this was actually a small fraction of those affected.

Despite the chaos, most had chosen to stay behind in the territory.

It seed that Lochter’s presence still wasn’t strong enough to outweigh the fear of Kal.

“How many remain?”

Heinz estimated that about half had already passed through the passage.

Still, to get everyone out, they would need to move nonstop throughout the night.

The passage itself was quite long, after all.

In the end, ti was the problem.

How much of it did we have left?

“Well… at least we got lucky.”

“Yeah. We nearly got ourselves killed.”

Lochter and I exchanged bitter smiles.

We had been disappointed that fewer people had rallied behind Lochter.

But if he had been too charismatic—if he had led all the people here—then everyone would have been trapped, unable to move.

Ironically, having fewer people before us now brought a sense of relief.

People’s minds truly were fickle.

“Heinz.”

We needed to pick up the pace.

I whispered instructions to him, and he nodded before hurrying off.

Monts later, the soldiers began shouting.

“Once you pass through the passage, freedom awaits! You’ll no longer be oppressed, no longer starve!”

“UOOOOHHH!”

“Sir Lochter will lead us to salvation! No one can touch us now!”

“LOCHTER! LOCHTER!”

“Hurry! Move quickly!”

The shouts echoed loudly through the mine, amplifying the montum.

The entire mine was now chanting Lochter’s na.

With Lochter standing before them, giving them reassurance, the once-nervous people moved with newfound urgency.

The passage flow sped up as well.

“Lift your head. A hero needs to look the part.”

“Don’t touch .”

“You embarrassed?”

“No. You embarrass .”

What was so bad about smiling and waving?

Unlike , Lochter stood in the center of the cheers, head down, unable to et their gazes.

He wasn’t used to being idolized.

But he would have to get used to it.

I was an assassin by nature. So was Karl.

We needed a knightly hero on our side, didn’t we?

“…We need to send Lily to the other side of the passage.”

“Wasn’t she asleep?”

“She may not show it, but forcefully breaking a major spell like that has left her in an unstable condition. We can’t ask her for more.”

It wasn’t my idea—it was Keros’s request.

He had sensed Lily’s condition.

Reto had allowed to communicate with Keros, which was convenient, though I did miss the charm of him just being a dumb dog.

Ever since he saw the children mixed into the crowd, Keros had stiffened up and clung to .

If I left him alone, he might just bite my calf in frustration.

I carefully handed Lily over to a man Heinz had introduced.

A sturdy build.

I recalled seeing him among the officers commanding the soldiers.

“He’s a skilled knight. Your wife will be protected with his life, so don’t worry.”

…Wife?

This senile noble bastard.

No wonder Kal threw him aside.

Since I had personally carried and looked after Lily, misunderstandings had arisen.

And clearing them up imdiately wasn’t an option.

“Hah. Hah. Hah.”

I couldn’t exactly tell the knight that the woman in his arms was Lily Base, the Witch of Ordor Forest, and that the dog wagging its tail beside her was Keros, the Hellhound Guardian.

All I could do was laugh and wave as they disappeared.

The Hunt mbers were guarding the exit on the other side, so they would take care of her.

I turned to Heinz.

“Is there soone here who knows the mines well?”

“There’s a Mine Overseer—a man who looked after the laborers.”

“Is he alive?”

“He’s not a bad person. He mostly helped the injured and looked out for others. The laborers respect him, and he’s been assisting us actively.”

“Bring him here. Now.”

While Heinz stepped away, Lochter and I arrived at the crowded section of the mine.

Sothing was wrong.

The place was in an uproar.

As I moved closer, I spotted Karl.

He had just arrived and was searching for frantically.

“Hey! Sothing—”

I grabbed him before he could finish.

I clamped my hand over his mouth and dragged him into a corner.

“How bad is it?”

“…Huh? I didn’t even say anything yet, how’d you know?”

“You ca with the others. You didn’t have ti to gather intel on Rengua, did you?”

“No, but I didn’t need to. They’re all moving in a tight formation—it’s obvious at a glance.”

A force had appeared at the northern gates of the territory, moving toward the mine.

A luxurious carriage.

A group of shamans protecting it.

And at the front—200 to 300 warriors clad in blood-red armor.

All of them had their faces covered.

Karl had felt an intense danger just from seeing them.

Not ordinary soldiers.

“Did you fight them?”

“Hell no—I ran before I could.”

Karl cursed and gestured toward sothing.

The others he had returned with.

…But there were only three of them.

Two were being carried by the remaining pair.

I frowned and approached.

“What happened?”

“They were too fast. I tried to slow them down, hit them twice and retreated.”

“Did they use magic?”

“…I don’t even know what hit them. They just grabbed their heads and collapsed.”

Black magic.

If it was strong enough to incapacitate two 3-star warriors, then it had to be Rengua’s handiwork.

I knelt and placed my hands on their wrists, channeling Sacred Power into them.

As color returned to their pale faces, Karl let out a relieved sigh.

“I didn’t get to test their skills, but my gut tells they’re the real deal. Not just so random nobodies.”

“Is Rengua leading them?”

“There was an old shaman with a staff. It must be Rengua Field. Even the other shamans were bowing to him.”

“Is Kal inside the carriage?”

“I couldn’t confirm.”

“For now, let’s move. From the looks of things, we’ll need ti to handle this situation, won’t we?”

“Yes.”

“Then we need a plan. They’re moving faster than I expected.”

Karl’s intel was useful, but it wasn’t enough.

‘I need to see it for myself…’

As I considered our opponent’s forces, Heinz returned with an elderly man of similar age.

He was the Mine Overseer, the one who had been looking after the laborers.

Unlike Heinz, who lacked awareness, this old man seed sharp.

“Do you have any explosives?”

“…Explosives?”

“Sothing shamans might have used to break through tough rock inside the mines. Kal must have brought sothing like that.”

If Kal had access to shamans’ lairs, he would have had them create explosive tools.

Mining operations required them, after all.

As expected—

“Oh! Yes! The shamans brought bags of sothing…”

“Bring them. Now.”

While the overseer left with a few n, I asked Heinz to move our unconscious comrades to the other side of the passage.

Monts later, the overseer returned, carrying a heavy sack.

I opened it and found a pile of red daggers.

Around twenty in total.

Each dagger had a small gemstone embedded in the hilt.

The energy radiating from them was thick and filthy.

‘Clown Daggers?’

A type of suicide attack weapon used in shamanic rituals…

Had these originally been prototype mining explosives?

“How do they work?”

“You drive them into the ground and press the gemstone. Then they detonate… but there’s a problem.”

“…Don’t tell the activation requires a person?”

“…Yes.”

Ah, fucking black shamans.

They needed to be rounded up like fish and tossed into a grinder.

Sons of bitches.

“They can be triggered by impact, but…”

“That’s good enough. What’s the blast radius?”

I gathered the daggers into a bundle and led my team outside the mine.

After a mont, I stopped at the entrance, stroking my chin in thought.

Karl glanced at .

“What’s up?”

“We need to leave soone here.”

“…You an at the entrance?”

“Yes. We don’t know their exact objective.”

I was preparing for the worst-case scenario.

The Flash of Death—Teremore.

If Kal had another one of those fucking wide-area bombs, we wouldn’t stand a chance.

Especially if it detonated inside the mine—the passage would collapse.

With our retreat cut off, all that awaited us was death.

We had to prevent them from even approaching.

We needed soone who could hold the narrow entrance alone.

Soone who could withstand hundreds charging at once.

Soone who wouldn’t let them pass easily.

“Lochter, hold the entrance.”

“Understood.”

“What about weapons?”

“Karl picked up so useful things from where he fought Lyon. Not sure how effective they’ll be.”

I raised an eyebrow as Lochter pulled out a weapon.

A magic sword—Bega.

It wasn’t enough to contain Lochter’s full 5-star potential, but it would definitely be useful in the coming battle.

Looked like he had also grabbed a shield ring.

“You can use both?”

“Yes. I tested them.”

Was it lack of ti that kept him from checking thoroughly?

Or was he just being wary because they ca from the Magic Tower?

Either way, they weren’t cursed.

‘But wait… I killed two of Lyon’s lieutenants, didn’t I?’

I silently glanced at Karl.

He smirked and dramatically turned his head away.

Proud of himself, huh?

Judging from his reaction, it seed he only managed to take one.

“Don’t let anyone through.”

“Don’t worry.”

Before leaving, I planted about five Clown Daggers around the entrance.

Then, taking Karl and three others, I started descending the mountain path.

“Leave the navigation to .”

Karl took the lead, his eyes serious.

With thousands of lives at stake, he was radiating a grim determination.

…But then.

Karl sprinted ahead.

I hadn’t noticed it earlier in the dimly lit mine, but under the bright moonlight—

I saw it clearly.

The top of his head.

Barren.

A completely bald crown.

[So… grabbing one’s hair while using Burst Strike results in this. Good to know.]

The others turned away, pretending not to notice.

I couldn’t laugh.

No—I mustn’t laugh.

This was a serious mont.

‘Is this… so kind of test from the gods?’

I clenched my jaw.

“The sky is so bright tonight.”

Karl tilted his chin up, gazing at the night sky.

…In the end, I lowered my eyes.