"Whaaat." Maximus, who is already in a
bad mood, roared out. "Based on
calculations, the next wave should hit in
two days, but it's started three days
earlier."He slammed his fists on the
table, clenching his teeth with his eyes
already red with fury. He leaps from his
seat, grabbing his spear from the left
corner of the house. Drake followed, his
face pale with worry.
This time the Crimson Rot numbers have
tripled compared to the previous waves,
sending a chill through everyone. Drake
scanned his surroundings; his heart
sinks as he sees witnesses, the fear
etched on the faces around him, sweats
dripping down their faces as the Crimson
Rot hordes pressing forward.
Maximus's crew shares the same
abilities as Sam's, with one exception.
Rafe 'the tanker' in Maximus's crew
wields two daggers with deadly
precision.
Maximus leaped into the air, charging
directly at the Crimson Rot hordes. He
raised his spear, slicing through the
hordes' midsections, while his crew
provided supports by thinning their
numbers with arrows and buffs.
Suddenly, the hordes created a path
between them, and a group of five
powerful Crimson Rot figures steps
forward.
Drake's eyes widen, and his heartbeat
races, seeing a familiar face approaches
them. He runs towards them.
"Hi, Sam, do you remember me?" He
gabbed Sam's clothes, bending his head
behind Sam's back, looking at the other
four. "Hey, Lilly, are you okay?" He runs
to Ben. "How was the mission? Did you
succeed?" He turns to Larry. "Why are
you guys not speaking?" Just then, he
heard an unclear but bold voice behind
him.
"Now...I....I...remember. You
must...must...be the guy... who travelled
with us... through this forest." Hearing
this, he dashed towards Sam, grabbing
his collar. "You remember me. Ye.. yes?"
His eyes danced nervously between
both sides, like a butterfly caught in a
spiderweb.
Sam raised his large sword up into the
air, but Drake was so engrossed in his
feelings that he didn't notice.
"So...join us. to embrace...the might
of...tinted power." Drake raised his head,
locking eyes with him, not seeing the
large sword cutting through the air
towards him.
Maximus lunged forward and snatched
Drake, flinging him towards his crew,
deflecting the massive sword with the
spear in his right hand simultaneously.
Maximus's crew reacted instantly,
catching Drake in midair and steadying
him on his feet.
Tears stream down Drake's face. "Please
don't fight." He pleaded, desperately
trying to rejoin the clash.
Rafe crosses his left arm in front of him,
his gaze dark and intense. "Hey, you
need to get hold of yourself. Since you
just left the scene, you should be able to
see the difference." Rafe said, his voice
low, slow, and monotone.
" But...." Drake began, his voice
trembling, but Rafe cut him off. "You were
almost killed just now. Don't try to defend
them when you can clearly see they're
not your friends, the ones you departed
with a few days ago."
At the front, Sam (the Rotwalker) leaps
forward with his sword raised high. He
strikes Maximus, who deflected the blow
with his spear shafts; the impact sent
him sliding backward.
Before Maximus could gain back his
balance, Larry (Rotwalker) darts towards
him, with his shield arcing through the
air. Seeing this, Rafe, balletic leaps,
twisting his torso. He launched himself
into the air, his feet whipping back
against the shield, pushing back Larry.
Both Rafe and Maximus turn their backs
at each other, raising their weapons
towards their enemies in unison.
Back to Drake and others behind. Drake
is still trembling in disbelief. "Why, why.
They're strong enough to defend
themselves from getting infected." He
muttered.
One of the ladies in the crew walks up to
him. "Your name is Drake, right." Drake
lifted his head, locking eyes with her.
"Yes," he replied, "Is there a problem?"
The lady turned back, facing the
direction of the battle.
"My name is Lumi, healer of this crew.
You don't need to be obsessed with or
attached to their failure to protect
themselves from being infected with
yourself. There are a lot of cases, like
this, happening in the guide. For
instance, this is the second crew I've
joined since I became a mercenary."
Drake's eyes widen, fixing his gaze at
Lumi.
"Yes, the first crew I joined was wiped
out by a bandit household called the
Flame Axe Bandits."
"May I ask you something?" Drake said
in a low and weak voice.
"Okay, I will gladly respond based on my
knowledge capacity." She said, turning to
him, giving him a faint smile.
"No matter how many times I try to figure
it out, I can't picture why they can get
infected through those weak Crimson
Rot."
Lumi cleared her throat. "You see, there
are two roads from the fog forest that
lead to the village where they went on the
mission. This mission they were tasked
with is the same task we are also trying
to clear. This village is one of the
distribution centres where bloodbane is
repackaged and distributed for sale
before the discovery of its side effects.
Unknowingly, during the process of
repackaging, the air around the village is
also polluted by the bloodbane, resulting
in the residents living in that village all
transforming into Crimson Rot. That's
why we didn't infiltrate and eliminate the
village head-on, but waited for them to
find their way here."
Drake, who has been attentively listening
to Lumi. "Then why did you choose this
road?" He asked.
"That because this is the only road they
can easily walk out of the village without
obstacles since the other way is full of
large rock debris." Lumi explained.
"So, this is happened because they
inhaled the contaminated air in that
village." He ranted.