Red Beckert

The atmosphere was tense. No one knew where the bangs came from nor who did it. The survivors had a general idea that the person who was banging was similar to the madman killed earlier by the soldiers. They kept their guards up, looking at every corner of the grand hall.

The Mayor felt confused and somewhat scared. If the soldiers did not know it then what could he know of it? Frantic, He hastily ordered the soldiers." Find that source of sound now!"

His voice resounded to the grand hall. The soldiers responded with no hesitation. But they weren't going out searching by themselves, fearing that they would get attacked. They searched in groups just so they could find the source of the sound without any worry of danger and risks that would surround them.

The leader of the Tromarie soldiers. Commander Holst accompanied the frightened mayor as they came downstairs. Holst commanded about 300 men in Tromarie, protecting it from any outside threats such as pirates and bandits. But due to the relative peace in the waters of Farley, there were barely any pirate or bandit attacks on the island. As such, the majority of the men in Tromarie weren't experienced with fighting men and monsters.

"Where are the others?" Holst questioned one of his soldiers. But they wore a gloomy expression. One of them responded to his question." They have also fallen sick, sir!. I fear our numbers are too few. Just earlier two hundred of us had fallen sick. We fear that we may be next."

The mysterious sickness that had spread out to the town scares the remaining healthy people. A woman was already sitting in the corner crying endlessly. Beside her was a sick child who already had gray skin." Well then we have to find the source of that sound. I fear that this is not going to go well. Sooner or later something bad might happen. Luckily we have our general present."

squads of soldiers split up into the halls. Each group had 7 soldiers with them in case one of the madmen were to appear suddenly. Anatolia assigned his squad of six to patrol outside of the Town Hall."I'll stay here, Yukio Mishima. I trust these men into your responsibility."

She nodded and bowed in front of her. The six proceeded to go outside; With their weapons intact and fists clenched. They met the fresh air and disaster once again. But the atmosphere outside felt awry. Beyond the town hall, the streets were heavily silent and somewhat creepy. There were a few buildings that managed to stand but even those who managed to stay up were already severely damaged.

"This place, Huh- feels like I'm in another town. It's too unrecognizable at this point." Beckert remarked on the status of the ruined town. From the town square filled with wooden rubble and silt. "Maybe we could find more survivors. I guess we could split up for about three people." Minerva Rance is one of the 6 that were left unaffected by the sickness. He suggested they split up for them to gather more information about the town. Khareva heavily disagreed." Have you seen what the madman can do? He had excellent strength even though I can't reach that strength!"

Minerva felt threatened due to Khareva's brash tone. He decided to stay silent for a while. The squad circled the town hall two times before heading to the docks. They barely encountered any threat but rather helped some who were stuck in the rubble.

The docks were heavily devastated by the encroaching wave that happened earlier. There was barely any structure that reminded them of a dock. Wooden planks were scattered and broken through the sandy coast. Renzia felt sad seeing the docks in this pathetic state. "Ah, I remember visiting Tromarie, the docks were beautiful and many people swam here for enjoyment. It looked like a curse purged this small and homey town."

Beckert also felt the same with the other four not sharing any feelings that they both had. Beckert felt very emotional and was not able to move on from the loss of his mushrooms.

Luckily, he managed to salvage a small amount of White Button mushrooms buried in the rubble. A relatively cheap and common mushroom found on the island. Albeit, it was easily picked and even showed small worth on the island. But even then it didn't stop him from giving a small amount of joy in his heart.

The squad strolled on the beaches for a while. Stepping onto the wet sand, where their feet slowly sunk. It made it harder for them to patrol the beach area.

There were so many things buried in the sand. Objects, living or not, were buried through the wet sand. Swords, gold, plant life, and even dead people were present. Renzia and Minerva picked up the remaining gold they could find on the beaches, sharing the same interests. 'Hehe, this is a good investment. Once this disaster ends I would use this gold for my interests'

Yukio, Khareva, and Thilgo never bothered in picking up any useful piece of object. Rather they searched for any living survivor in the sand. But they were hoping too much and only found dead bodies. "What a shame... they would have become great people." Thilgo remarked in a sad tone.

Beckert on the other hand separated from the group. He went closer onto the shore and inspected the waves. Looking down, he saw many objects that were of use to him but never bothered to pick them up. While holding the white button mushrooms that he salvaged.

He glanced to his right and saw something that piqued his interest. In the sand, there was a red glow emanating from the ground. The light even pierced from the small particles of sand in the ground. He walked closer to the red glow. 'This is interesting... This is the second time I've seen a red glow. The last time wasn't so great..."

He placed his spear on the ground. The sand was dug up with his bare hands until it finally showed up into his eyes. The glow struck his eyes and face. It blinded him for a short second until he looked back once again.

With his bare hand, he picked it up with no care or caution. They grew stronger and brighter. He dropped back into the ground and caught the attention of his other colleagues.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA" Beckert had a stomach-churning scream. Yukio and others were alarmed by his strong voice. A voice that showed immense pain on his body.

He frantically moved around while laying on the ground. Rolling up into the sand due to the pain caused by the mysterious rock. He never stopped screaming and this worried his squad mates. Even Khareva felt a slight nervousness from the situation but he maintained a serious face.

Renzia quickly ran towards him and nervously asked. "Hey! What the hell is happening to you? Hey!" Even in Renzia's question he never stopped. His pouch of mushrooms was dropped on the ground.

As he screamed in pain, the more agitated he became. His legs let him stand up but he kept falling to the ground. Struggling to find a footing caused by his strong pain. He grabbed a bit of sand and threw it at others.

Slowly he became more rabid and chaotic. Beckert grew small mushrooms from his face. It would seem that those mushrooms on his face were identical to the ones he had brought.

His eyes were brimming with red and rage. Until...

He stopped. He managed to find a footing and stand properly. Although his torso leaned more into the front. He had already dropped the red stone to the sand.

His skin was different. It had a more crimson tint into it rather than the usual grey they had found in the other sick people. Beckert, filled with brimming rage, attacked his other squadmates. He struck Renzia with a punch and brought him back to the sand.

"Ack!" Renzia felt great pain on his punch. It was clear that Beckert was as same as the mad man who terrorized the people in the town hall. Luckily he managed to stay unscathed. The punch was weaker than the mad man in the hall but it was stronger than the normal person.

Yukio Mishima quickly stabbed Beckert on his neck. It pierced through him but he was still moving and alive. Khareva, who had strong arms and possessed great strength, bashed Beckert on the head with his spear.

While Thilgo was standing by and pierced Beckert's torso. It held lesser damage since the presence of the chainmail on his torso and the red gambeson. Minerva was unsure where to strike. Trying to find a good spot to stab until he finally found one on the hips.

Beckert showed pain once again. He screamed until his lungs were tired from it. His knees eventually gave up and he dropped down pretty quickly. They removed their spears on his body and finally dropped down to the ground. His limbs hadn't shown a sign of life as such they were confident to retreat to the town hall. But his fingers flinched. It would seem that the monster Beckert won't back down.

They quickly retreated to the town hall where they would report Beckert's transformation. But as they get closer they hear the screams of people in the town.