“Open up a path!” I yelled out to the girls, “Help the people fleeing!”

The miasma was worse immediately around the arena; thus, the monsters were also the strongest. I was running around, trying to heal the injured and get people to leave the area. Once the royal elite arrived, the fighting might become extremely dangerous. Thus, we had to get everyone out of the area quickly to minimize the casualties.

As I was still healing people, a man appeared next to me. I looked up to see the Prince. He had a few guards with him, but they were less than half the number he had before.

“I sent my sister away safely,” He explained. “She was worried about you.”

“I’ll be fine,” I responded back. “When is the elite guard going to get here?”

Prince Aberis lowered his head with a bitter expression. “Two hours…”

I shot him a shocked look. “Two hours!”

“All of the elites are away on the borders. I’ve already sent word, but even our fastest will take some time to reach the city.”

“By that time…” I shook my head.

“I know… the Miasma is only going to make her more powerful, and this place more dangerous. If we allow her to finish, even the elites might not be enough!”

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“Don’t you have some kind of defense formation or ultimate spell to stop this?”

“A Demon lord hasn’t appeared in this area for 5000 years. How could we have predicted this would happen?

“What are we supposed to do? Flee the Capitol.”

The Prince lowered his head. “My guards and I will remain and fight her. I know you have no love for this country, but this is my home, and I must fight for it. Please get as many people as possible out of the dungeon, it appears to end at the city gates. I know you don’t owe us anything. My cowardice in the face of that bastard…”

His fist tightened, and it was clear by his expression that he held a great deal of anger. Except, it was all directed at himself.

“It’s fine. Right now, we need to worry about these people.” I said.

“You’re a true man.” Prince Aberis bowed to me, causing some of the guards behind him to gasp. “If I make it through this somehow, I will acknowledge you as my brother. I failed at being a man today, but if I look up to you, someday, I might be worthy. Please… look after my sister.”

He was speaking like he didn’t plan to survive this. I grabbed his shirt, surprising him.

“You’ll make it out of this. We all will! I will help you fight.”

His surprised expression slowly faded and he grabbed my hand, squeezing it, “Yes, brother!”

I didn’t know how I felt about him calling me brother, but his feelings were genuine. Few men could grab a prince’s shirt like that. I let go of him, and he drew his sword, looking back at all the guards. Since he had been talking to me, some adventuring guild people had also shown up. His force consisted of about twenty people. It was enough for a so-called raid. This is what we had used to defeat the clockwork dragon some time ago, and those were just bandits who valued their life more than their duty.

“Men! To arms!” The prince kept it short, turning and immediately racing toward the woman floating where the platform once was.

“What are we going to do?” Lydia asked as the girls approached me.

“We’ll do what we always do. Support!”