Chapter 17 (clash of the guides)

"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.