Declared Dead, Exiled, and Betrayed— Now I Walk Away, but I'll Save One Who Cared - Chapter 10

Dungeon – Upper Layer

“Hey! It’s the Orc King and an Elder Wolf! What the hell do we do?!”

“Don’t push! There’s no way we can take them!”

“Jekyll! What should we do?!”

“Wait… Jekyll?!”

The adventurers, already panicked by the sudden appearance of the powerful Orc King and Elder Wolf, turned to look for their leader—only to find that Jekyll, who had been in charge of this operation, had disappeared.

“Where did Jekyll go?!”

“Did he… run away?”

“No way… Seriously?!”

“Damn it! They’re coming straight at us!”

“Run! We’re doomed!”

“Hey! Stop shoving!”

“What’s going on?! What happened?!”

Chaos erupted among the adventurers.

Their formation was already wavering under the assault of the Orc King and Elder Wolf, but Jekyll’s disappearance and the growing panic in the rear made it worse.

Screams filled the battlefield.

“Aaaaahhh!”

“Stop! Get away!”

“My arm—?! Noooo!”

“Damn it! You bastards killed David!”

“Claire! We need healing!”

The Elder Wolf finally lunged at the frontlines, sinking its fangs into the disorganized adventurers.

At the same time, the Orc King swung its massive battle-axe, cleaving through anything in its path.

Several adventurers were sent flying, some screaming in agony, others too paralyzed with fear to move. Some tried to fight back in rage, while others collapsed in terror or turned to flee. But no matter their actions, they were all easy prey for the relentless monsters.

The mages in the rear desperately cast spells, managing to take down Dark Wolves and Orcs. However, their magic was ineffective against the leaders of the horde. The Elder Wolf and Orc King pushed forward, unscathed.

Seeing Jekyll flee, other adventurers followed suit, abandoning their comrades. Claire, who had boasted about leading this mission alongside Jekyll, was among them.

The two who had claimed leadership were the first to abandon ship.

The remaining adventurers, left to fend for themselves, were consumed by a mix of fury and terror.

In the midst of the chaos, the Orc King raised its battle-axe high.

“No… no… I don’t want to die…”

“Stop… please…”

The massive monster looked down at the helpless adventurers with a twisted, sadistic grin, savoring their fear.

Then, just as they were paralyzed in terror, it brought its axe down—

CLAAANG!

The deafening crash of metal against metal rang through the battlefield.

But it was not the sound of flesh being torn apart.

It was not a scream.

The adventurers, who had turned away in horror, found themselves drawn back by the eerie silence that followed.

And standing before them was—

“Sorry for being late.”

A knight clad in pure silver armor, like a saint descending onto the battlefield.

Michelle, who had been asleep for six months, had returned.

Her shield had stopped the Orc King’s axe.

“M-Michelle?!”

“Michelle is here?!”

“Is this real?!”

“She’s awake?!”

“Apologies for the wait. Let’s clean this up.”

“We can do this! We can win!”

The adventurers’ morale surged in an instant.

Their trust in Michelle was incomparable to the false leadership of Jekyll or Claire.

“Shooting Ray!”

Michelle raised her hand and cast a spell.

A barrage of holy lances rained down, piercing through the Orc King. The radiant spears then spread outward, striking down the surrounding monsters one after another.

“Incredible…”

“Alright, we’re not done yet! Let’s fight!”

“Yeah! We can’t let Michelle handle everything alone—we’re adventurers, damn it!”

With their spirits reignited, the adventurers launched a counterattack.

The fall of the Orc King filled them with a long-lost sense of hope.

One of the terrifying monsters that had thrown the battlefield into chaos was now gone, and Michelle was already engaging the remaining one.

Unlike the Orc King, which was a towering brute with immense power but relatively slow movements, the Elder Wolf was a speed-type monster. It managed to dodge Michelle’s lances of light.

However, as if anticipating this, Michelle immediately lunged at the Elder Wolf the moment it evaded her attack.

The beast bared its fangs and countered, launching them both into a fierce battle.

“Michelle will handle the Elder Wolf! We focus on taking down the rest!”

“Keep pushing! We can win this fight!”

“We’re running low on healing, but just grit your teeth and fight!”

“Yeah!”

With Michelle in the fray, the adventurers’ morale had visibly returned.

Dungeon – Upper Layer (Shifa’s Perspective)

Michelle had long been the shield and raw firepower of this city’s top adventurer party.

When “Flash” was caught in that dungeon trap, there was no helping Lax’s fall. But even then, Michelle had managed to protect both Jekyll and Claire while escaping from the lower levels.

That was likely the only part of the story where Jekyll hadn’t lied.

After all, Michelle had fought hard enough that the escape could almost be considered her sole achievement.

But she had collapsed from her wounds immediately after and never woke up again.

The reasons were many—excessive bl00d loss, delayed healing, complete magical depletion, and even status ailments. It was a mix of factors that led to her condition.

No one had expected her to remain unconscious for six months.

Perhaps that was why Jekyll hadn’t dared to fabricate that part of the story.

As those thoughts ran through my mind, I chanted a spell.

“All Heal.”

“!?”

“A full-area healing spell?”

Naturally, the adventurers noticed.

“Claire? Did she come back?”

“No… The healing effect feels weaker than usual…”

“Then who? There’s no other mage in this city capable of full-area healing, is there?”

My magic hadn’t reached Claire’s level yet.

I was sorry about that.

I had only recently learned how to use this spell.

“Apologies… My magic isn’t very strong…”

“Shifa?!?!”

“Wait… what?”

“Shifa! This is a battlefield! You must evacuate!”

But before I could explain, they ignored me and insisted I flee because it was dangerous.

“As you can see, I can use magic! I can fight too!”

“Shifa… Did you train while I was asleep?!”

Michelle had noticed me and called out.

She was right.

Lax’s disappearance and Michelle’s slumber had been a painful shock.

But I am the lord’s daughter.

I might still be young, and I might not be involved in managing the territory yet, but that doesn’t mean I can stand idly by.

I have a duty to do what I can.

“This helps a lot! Shifa, keep casting healing spells at regular intervals! All mages, focus on support and healing instead of offense!”

“Understood!”

After assessing my expression, Michelle gave me a firm nod before issuing commands—including me in the strategy.

With our momentum sustained, we wiped out the middle-layer monsters and returned to the surface.