My SSS-Rank Class Is Blood Monarch!-Chapter 372 - - God’s Gate (Part 10)
Standing there for a few seconds, Arthur exhaled and continued on with the absorption process. He felt a little hesitant as he was still uneasy about the entire situation. But he still didn't want to waste crucial levels that could help him against whatever was awaiting him ahead.
After that, he turned to Germa, who was standing with some people talking about the situation and what they needed to do.
"Can you check our numbers, Germa?"
The man nodded and did the usual click check, making sure everyone was there. Luckily, they didn't lose any members of the group, and that was precisely what Arthur wanted.
"Sir, I have talked with the group. It seems they can keep going without a break." The man reported to Arthur.
".. Is that so? I suppose we can start moving again then. We can't waste time if we don't need to."
Arthur intended to give the group a break so that they could treat the wounded and perhaps recover. But, seeing how one-sided the battle was, the effort they put into it wasn't really that high.
So, Arthur decided not to prolong their time there any further and ordered the group to resume marching. Nobody protested that decision as they themselves wanted to leave that place as soon as possible. The darkness was suffocating and their desire to reach the outside world was making them more and more urgent with their steps.
An hour passed swiftly, then two hours, then three. The journey continued rather peacefully, with some instances of Human Chimeras attacking the group. They were all in groups of 4 or 5 at most, and dealing with them was perhaps the easiest thing out of the entire journey.
Arthur found himself not even required to move and kill them as the group was taking care of it quite well. It felt quite relaxing seeing them function on their own.
'So this is what it feels like to be a leader. It's like my arms stretch far beyond my body, and I don't need to do everything on my own. It's quite a nice feeling.' Arthur mused as he watched those scenes.
The more time passed, the more he started realizing that being a leader wasn't all pressure and responsibility; it also came with its own perks. It came with more minds and more arms to do more work. He didn't have to be everywhere at the same time to achieve a task, there were people who can do that for him while he steered this ship.
It gave him more room to think about what's more important. The trip ahead and the things they were going to face.
'I love being solo, but this is also not too bad. I'm still going solo after this.' Arthur shrugged. 'I'm not a leader by nature, but if I gain this ability, then it will be very useful in the future.'
Knowing how things go for him, Arthur was aware that this wasn't the only time he would have to lead others. He will perhaps face bigger responsibilities with bigger groups, perhaps armies.
But, that was not the time to think about that kind of future, so he shook his head and focused on the path ahead of them.
"Let's get out of here first, and then I can daydream about all of that." He muttered. The future was ahead of him, and the work he had to do to reach it was huge and so there was really no time to just dream about it. If he can imagine it, then he surely can do it.
"Let's pick up the pace, guys. We need to make it there as soon as possible."
The path ahead was completely clear, so the group could start increasing their speed without a hitch. They didn't go too fast not to exhaust the elderly and kids. On the way, more monsters attacked them, and they were able to defend themselves against those attacks.
Arthur noticed that the attacks became more and more frequent as they got closer and closer to their destination. On the one hand, that was a sign that they were indeed moving in the right direction, but on the other hand, that also meant more threat to the group.
So, in many of these instances, Arthur had to help to make sure no disaster occurred. Another thing Arthur noticed was that the aggression of the Human Chimeras was a lot stronger than before.
They were more rabid and more suicidal in their attacks, as if they didn't care about their lives anymore. That naturally made the battles riskier as fighting these monsters when they have no regard for their lives could easily lead to disaster.
***
"EEEEEER!"
*Swish*
Arthur stabbed his sword into the body of a monster, piercing its organs with ease before he pulled it out and looked up, exhaling a long breath. He was starting to get a little tired after traveling and fighting for several hours.
"This is the last monster…" He muttered. "The 7th one in the past hour alone. The numbers are getting bigger and bigger with time. If this isn't a sign we are getting close to the island, then I don't know what is."
The boy was a little apprehensive about everything happening. Taking a look at his group, they were all still relatively fine. Due to the circumstances, more people got injured, but it wasn't bad enough to make them stop
'Why are they getting so aggressive? It's like they're trying to stop us from moving toward the island by all means necessary. Even if it meant that they die doing it. That's a little odd since these creatures seem to value their lives like any other creature would.' Arthur mused.
This particular detail raised several red flags in his head, and it also gave him an idea of what to expect there.
'They are either simply protecting that island… or they're protecting something in that island. 'God's… Light'...'
Many small pieces are already filling the puzzle of this entire mystery, but Arthur still misses many key pieces of information to understand what was happening.
"Ugh, this is such a headache. I hate mysteries." Arthur grumbled as he rubbed the back of his head. 'This feeling of unease is plaguing my head, and I still can't figure out why. The situation hadn't changed one bit so far. Could it be that I'm worried about what's ahead?'
As he asked all those questions, Germa was occupied checking the condition of the group. He made sure the injured didn't sustain anything serious.
"Hmm?" As he was checking their condition, he suddenly noticed something rather odd. "Sir… can you come check this for a second?"
Arthur heard that as he snapped out of his daze. "Is everything ok?"
"There is something… weird happening." The man explained.
'Weird?' Arthur blinked before he approached the man. "What is it?"
"Look here, sir. His injury seems a bit odd." He said.
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Arthur frowned visibly as he crouched to the level of the man to take a closer look. The injury he sustained was a small bite to the upper arm. It wasn't deep enough to cause excessive bleeding, and the injury itself was normal… except it wasn't.
Around the bite marks was a dark, almost black oozing substance accumulating on his arm. The substance was being exerted by the man's skin, making the injury look almost rotten.
"What is this?"
"I… don't know, sir. This is the first time I have seen anything like this."
'It almost looks like some sort of infection.'
"Clean the wound," Arthur said as he stepped up and approached the man from the other side. Although he appeared to be fine, he was sweating a little, and hearing their conversation and the gasps of shock around him made him panic.
He started asking if he was fine and if his injury was serious or not.
"Calm down, you're going to be fine," Arthur said as he tapped his chest. "I don't want you to panic. We will understand what happened after we clean your wound."
"..."
The man didn't understand what Arthur said, but he could comprehend the message intended as he visibly stopped fidgeting and laid there.
"The slime… It keeps oozing out no matter how much I clean it." Germa said as he pulled out another piece of fabric and started wiping. However, that black matter kept appearing, in bigger volumes as if it was spreading.
'I have never seen a bite injury react this way. What is happening?' Germa was struggling to comprehend what he was even seeing.
"Hold on a second." Arthur moved to the side as he pulled the man's arm up and stared at it closely. The matter was spreading quite fast, starting to take over his arm.
'This doesn't look good at all.' Arthur pulled out one of his health potions and poured it on the man's arm. Immediately, a screech leaked out of the man's mouth, accompanied by a burning sound.
