Leaving the western plaza behind had been nothing but a frantic, bloody run through the ash. Ever since Professor Veyra slammed her massive water barrier shut behind us, locking herself in that open square with the nightmare to buy us time, we had done nothing but push forward.
I kept my eyes locked on the road ahead.
Our goal was clear: cross the outer roads, cut through the broken streets, and reach the central plaza where Sylvia and Elian were holding the main defense. Deep down, a small part of me held onto the foolish hope that Veyra would somehow break her own seal, survive the fall, and catch up to us from behind.
But hope didn't clear the way...
On the way, we ran into several packs of Grade 3 and Grade 4 monsters. We didn't stop to fight them properly, we killed whatever was right in front of us, pushed through, and kept running. But the constant fighting had drained us badly.
