553 Chapter 553: Rescue Operation (2/2)
”Zhao Yan!”
”What did they do to her?!” Rossetti gasped, her hands flying to her mouth.
Zhao Yan's eyes flickered open as she raised her head weakly. For a moment, she didn't recognize us, but I didn't care. With a swing from my Hei Yue and Bai Ri, I severed her bonds and caught her before she could fall onto the ground.
”Are you all right?”
”Ah…you're…Richard?” Zhao Yan then lolled her head about to look at my partner, who had also hurried forward. ”And you are…Rossetti?”
I nodded and propped her up. She looked pale and so frail, a stark contrast to the Zhao Yan I usually knew. Studying her, I saw that her eyes were dilated. Feeling a sense of unease, I placed my fingers on her pulse.
I knew it. Her heartbeat was irregular.
”You are going to be okay!” Rossetti assured Zhao Yan. ”We are getting you out of here!”
”They drugged her,” I informed Rossetti, my voice hard. ”Probably to disrupt her mana flow and prevent her from casting spells.”
”How horrible!”
”Seems like she's also suffering some side effects from the drugs.” I paused for a moment and dredged my memories for more details. I had read a lot, and this time I benefited from the myriad of knowledge that I had accumulated from countless books. ”Zhao Yan is possibly experiencing delirium, hallucination and some form of memory loss.”
No wonder Zhao Yan didn't seem to remember who we were.
”Why would they do this to her?!”
Why, indeed? Who knew? I didn't. All I could do was curse at the perpetuators. Damn them…
Then again, given how skilled and powerful Zhao Yan was, the vampires wouldn't be able to restrain her unless they drugged her.
”Looks like they gave her quite the heavy dosage.”
”We need to call the medics here!”
”We will. But first…” I glanced tersely toward the entrance. Rossetti noticed my defensive posture and she also spun around cautiously.
”What happened?”
”They're coming. And this time, there's someone who's stronger than Xu Wu Cheng.”
I felt a chill run down my spine when I detected the potent mana from the group bearing down on us. They weren't from the military. This blood aura…it unmistakably belonged to the vampires. Scanning the exterior of the huge chamber with my glasses, I had the impression that several figures rapidly flying down the corridor, yet my lenses depicted them as leisurely strolling toward our position.
They would be here within seconds.
I gulped as cold perspiration flowed down my back. I wasn't a healing mage and didn't receive medical training. I clearly didn't have the aptitude for it. And before you could demand that I summon a healing spirit or whatever nonsense, for the umpteenth time, that was NOT how summoning magic worked. I couldn't conveniently summon whatever I wanted or needed. I had to learn healing magic before I could summon a spirit capable of healing spells, and given how I sucked at that (and how it took many years to master healing magic), that simply wasn't practical.
Preparing myself to escape the inevitable assault, I gently hefted Zhao Yan up. Even without my glasses telling me, I could sense the single colossal aura of mana that dwarfed the other presence. I was willing to bet that Fan Le Lao was among them.
Could we win against him and his friends?
”We should get out of here as quickly as possible.”
”Shouldn't we defeat those bastards that will be arriving here?” Rossetti countered, her voice icy with fury. I shook my head.
”I understand how you feel. I truly do. But don't let your emotions override your judgement. Check the amount of mana they are emanating. Are you sure we can defeat those guys? It'll be an extremely difficult fight.”
”…you are right,” Rossetti reluctantly agreed. ”The vampires approaching us are too strong.”
”Yeah. I know our chances of victory are not zero, but they are not very high either. And don't forget our objective. Our primary objective isn't to defeat Fan Le Lao – we can leave him to the military and the Midnight Order. We're here to save as many people as we can. We should prioritize saving Zhao Yan and bringing her to safety.”
”That's right!” Rossetti's eyes widened and her eyes flickered toward the stationary Zhao Yan. ”We need to get her out of here!”
”W…wait…”
Zhao Yan suddenly grabbed my arm. I flinched at how cold her fingers were.
She needed treatment and she needed it fast. I had to bring her to a medic as soon as possible.
However…
”Ji Yan…please save Ji Yan.”
”Yeah.”
”They have my sister…trapped somewhere in this castle…with the other hostages. Please help them.”
Even when drugged, even when mired in the depths of delirium, Zhao Yan continued to be concerned over the wellbeing of her sister. And of others. I felt a spike of shame, but I suppressed it. I had been so focused on rescuing Zhao Yan that I had forgotten abut the rest.
”We already rescued Ji Yan. She's safe now.”
”That's right!” Rossetti added. ”We're bringing you to her right now! You can see her yourself!”
”Thank you.”
She closed her eyes and seemed to have fallen back asleep. Taking a deep breath, I summoned Taurus and had him create a new entrance. He smashed through a wall opposite the entrance to the chamber, and we quickly stepped through the hole to escape.
”!!!”
However, we weren't given the chance to leave. Red spears sprang up from the ground, creating a barrier of their own and fencing us back in the enormous chamber. I yanked Rossetti back with my free hand and we tumbled away from the barrage of blood lances.
”Damn it! This is…!”
”You have something of mine.”
Whirling around, I caught sight of Fan Le Lao strolling toward us, his hands coolly inserted into the pockets of his coat.