Dragging their exhausted bodies, the surviving Black Nightmare Army soldiers quickly left the area.
They still remembered their original orders—hide their identities and reach Koester as soon as possible. Despite such a huge upheaval, it seemed they had no choice now but to continue with the original plan.
The area around Pearl Lake was empty, with scarcely a soul in sight. Their withdrawal encountered no trouble at all.
That still came as something of a surprise to them.
"If The Church really blew up our tunnel, shouldn't there be patrols around here? There are plenty of footprints on the ground too, so how come... where did all The Church's people go?"
No one could answer that question, and they had no time to dwell on it. Since their enemy had handed them a chance at life, they naturally seized the opportunity to escape quickly, disguise themselves as ordinary refugees, and split up as they streamed toward Koester.
As for where The Church's people had gone...
More than ten kilometers north of Pearl Lake, beneath the clear afternoon sky, an ice ship sped through the air.
"They really can chase."
Benjamin stood at the stern and glanced back, muttering to himself.
"Isn't this exactly what you wanted? You even deliberately slowed down a little." The system popped up and said lazily, "If they didn't chase you, how were the people buried underground supposed to escape?"
Benjamin gripped the ice railing at the stern, drew a deep breath, and said nothing.
He only hoped enough people would survive.
When he had arrived at Pearl Lake, the horrific sight had nearly driven him out of his mind. But luckily... the system had suddenly detected signs of life underground and told him. Only then had Benjamin remembered that they had prepared an escape tunnel