Rescue!

At that moment, hearing his words,

Merlin's heart sank. He suddenly sprang into action, driving his left knee into the soldier's groin.

The completely unprepared soldier took the blow and instantly let out a piercing "Ugh!!" from his throat.

At the same time, black flames surged from Merlin's left hand as he grabbed the man by the throat and released the Disaster Absorption he had taken from the doctor.

The crimson color faded from the index finger of his left hand, while black flames engulfed the soldier. Three bullet wounds appeared in the man's chest, and he crumpled to the ground, groaning in agony.

Merlin bent down and decisively drove his dagger into the man's neck, ending his life.

He took the only grenade from the man's waist. He had now collected seven.

But he had to find them alive or see their bodies.

Merlin continued upstairs. A minute and a half later, he reached an open medical room on the third floor. The once-cozy room had been utterly wrecked.

The hospital bed was ablaze, flames roaring through the room.

The pungent smell of disinfectant mixed with the stench of burning and rushed into Merlin's nose.

Merlin's nostrils flared. He caught several different scents lingering in the air, and his gaze sharpened as he looked toward a closed wardrobe nearby.

He hurried over and pulled open the wardrobe. Inside, a seven-year-old girl lay unconscious, her chest rising and falling faintly.

Most of her face was covered in pale scars. Her dark circles were pronounced, and though she had inherited her mother's lovely features, she looked frail and was struggling to breathe.

Lami, Doctor Trafalgar's younger daughter.

Seeing her, Merlin felt a wave of relief. She was in the late stages of Lead Platinum Disease, but she was still alive. She wouldn't die just yet.

Black flames rose from his left hand. He pressed it to her face, and the dark fire spread over her body. The moment it made contact, Disaster Absorption began, and the pale scars on her face and beneath her pajamas quickly vanished.

Merlin checked how much stamina and mental energy it had cost him and immediately relaxed. Absorbing an ordinary poison-type disaster didn't take much.

Soon, little Lami's breathing steadied. Her furrowed brow gradually relaxed, and she drifted off to sleep.

The Lead Platinum Disease disaster Merlin had absorbed was of the same kind, so he was able to store it in the middle finger of his left hand.

In the blink of an eye,

Merlin studied the even paler hue of his middle finger and sensed the effects of this disaster "bullet":

"Potent Lead Platinum Disease disaster. Upon release, it will instantly put the target in the late stages of Lead Platinum Disease.

Symptoms include heart palpitations, full-body weakness, severe pain, and difficulty breathing."

Merlin calmly looked at the recovered Lami, then helped her up. He spotted some oversized clothes in the wardrobe, pulled them over her, and tucked her under his left arm.

She weighed around forty pounds.

In the past, carrying her for long would have been a huge strain, but now it felt much easier.

The fire inside was already spreading. Carrying Lami, Merlin quickly left the room.

He rushed down the stairs to the first floor. Passing the doorway of the room where the doctor and his wife had been buried, Merlin paused briefly, then left the hospital without hesitation.

Flames blazed all across the streets. Merlin avoided the soldiers and wove through the alleys. Before long, he reached the church.

The church was surrounded by flames. Merlin's heart lurched, but he soon breathed a sigh of relief.

There were no bodies of the boys or Yol nearby.

The air was thick with the pungent stench of burning, along with various other scents.

Merlin carefully picked out the traces of Yol's scent, then turned his gaze toward the distant route leading to the mountains.

Without hesitation, he ran that way. Piercing screams and the sounds of gunfire and artillery rang out from the streets around him.

It was like hell on earth.

With a child in tow, he had no choice but to avoid the soldiers. Following the lingering scents in the air, Merlin reached a street surrounded by flames twenty minutes later and stopped.

"Yol's scent is coming from in there."

He glanced at the little girl trembling in the crook of his arm and spoke softly:

"You're awake, aren't you, Lami?"

Feeling her flinch, Merlin said, "It's me, Laplace."

At the familiar voice, Lami abruptly raised her head. Her tear-filled eyes widened, and she whimpered as she sobbed:

"What happened here? Laplace, what about my mom and dad? And my brother?"

Merlin said nothing. He carried her to a half-collapsed building blasted by artillery, set her down, and patted her head.

"Wait here. Hide, and don't respond to anyone but me. And don't make a sound."

As he spoke, he bent down and slipped her into the gap beneath the sturdy, partially collapsed building.

He had barely straightened up when she grabbed his trouser leg. Merlin looked down and spoke softly:

"Be good and listen. Your dad entrusted you to me. Unless I have no choice, I won't abandon you."

Out of habit, he had resorted to a threat.

Lami's eyes filled with fear, and she trembled, but she obediently let go.

He didn't have time to comfort her now.

Merlin rubbed her head.

The girl had always been well-behaved.

He used to see her often, and she called him big brother.

Then he stuffed his backpack and the grenades into the space in front of her. He looked toward the buildings engulfed in flames, then at a collapsed fountain nearby.

Merlin ran over, jumped into the pool, which was deep enough to cover his shins, and soaked himself thoroughly. Then he rushed into the fire.

The water-soaked clothes protected him from the flames around him. Once he had crossed the block, Merlin's eyes narrowed. He spotted Yol.

At the end of a nearby street, where firelight spread across the road,

she was straddling a soldier, hoarsely pounding her bloodstained fists against his face. He had stopped moving.

Nearby lay the bodies of two more soldiers and ten boys.

Merlin rushed to her and grabbed her shoulder. But then he reflexively leaped backward as an arm swept toward him with a gust of wind.

He had barely dodged her attack when Yol spun around, kicked off the ground, and lunged at him with a feral scream. Merlin hurriedly shouted:

"Yol! It's me!"

Her bloodied left hand seized Merlin by the collar. Her right fist stopped in front of him with a rush of air. Yol's eyes trembled, blood ran from the corner of her mouth, and her shaking right hand lifted Merlin's mask. When she saw that it really was him, her emotions crumbled instantly:

"Wah... The children..."

Clutching Merlin's shoulder, she sank to her knees and wept in grief.

Merlin's expression turned somber. He placed a hand on her head. A few seconds later, gunshots rang out nearby again, and his heart jumped.

"Come with me. It's not safe here."

As he spoke, he gripped Yol's arms and pulled her to her feet.

But then Yol locked her arms around his. A tragic smile appeared on her lovely face as she gazed at Merlin and slowly shook her head.

"I'm so glad I got to see you safe one last time. I've been shot. I can't go far. I'll hold them off for you. You have to stay alive.

"This place is hell. Even if you're the only one left, you have to survive."

She wiped away her tears with the back of her hand, then turned toward the distant gunfire.

Seeing her start to leave, Merlin took a step forward and struck the side of her neck with the edge of his hand. Yol's mind went blank.

She staggered backward and fell. Merlin stepped close, caught her arm, and hoisted her over his shoulder. He glanced at the commotion in the distance, then checked the three soldiers' waists and found no grenades. Carrying her, he hurried toward a nearby burning street.

A few minutes later, five soldiers arrived and found their men dead.

"Search the area," their leader ordered coldly. "Don't let any infected escape."

"Yes!"

"Yes!"

"..."

After crossing the block, Merlin warily scanned the surroundings. Before long, carrying Yol, he climbed over an intact courtyard wall into a secluded residence.

He laid Yol on the ground. Then he noticed two bloodstains on the abdomen of her nun's habit.

Merlin gripped the bullet-torn fabric with both hands and ripped it open, baring her abdomen.

Two gaping bullet wounds appeared, their flesh turned inside out. Merlin pressed around them with his fingers, and his eyes flashed with understanding. As he'd suspected, the bullets had remained inside her body.

Merlin knew her body was denser than normal. Fortunately, because of that, the bullets had only caused through-and-through wounds.

They hadn't torn her flesh apart on a wider scale.

The pain from her wounds jolted Yol's dazed consciousness awake.

She realized she was in an unfamiliar courtyard. Propping herself up on both arms, she looked at Merlin, who was kneeling beside her, and spoke weakly:

"There's no saving me. The bullets pierced my intestines and are still inside me. Without proper medical care, I won't survive.