At the same time, on the outskirts of the task village in the Netherworld Forest.
“Whoosh—whoosh—”
Suddenly, several fleeting sounds pierced the air, as if golden blurs had flashed past.
They moved with a speed that was almost imperceptible to the naked eye, swiftly passing through the area.
Of course, being imperceptible to the naked eye didn’t mean they went entirely unnoticed. Just like Chapman, who stood at the village entrance, eyes closed in thought.
“Hm?”
A soft murmur of confusion escaped his lips.
Chapman’s Level 3 warrior’s intuition told him that something had indeed passed through the jungle just moments ago. Regrettably, its speed was astonishing, far surpassing anything Chapman could possibly match.
Truth be told, it brought to mind the fleeting blue figure he had witnessed on a previous occasion.
He wondered which of the two would prove faster, should their speeds ever be compared.
“Captain, Captain!—”
“…………”
As Chapman stood lost in thought, a very familiar shout suddenly echoed from not far behind him.
Turning his head, he saw none other than Jim, the youngest and most skilled spearman in their team.
Frankly, Jim was also the person Chapman relied on and cared about the most. He couldn’t quite articulate why, but…
Chapman had always felt that Jim was different from everyone else. Yes, that was it. But where precisely did that difference lie? Chapman couldn’t quite put it into words. Perhaps intuition was simply a strange and unfathomable thing.
“Ah, Jim… Is something wrong?”
“No… It’s bad, Captain! The bodies of the deceased… they’ve started mutating again!”
“What did you say!?”
Chapman’s body jolted, clearly startled by the news.
Without a moment to spare, he rushed forward, grabbing Jim by the collar of his shirt. Disregarding all decorum, he bellowed, “Where are the physicians!? Where are the healing mages!? Have they all died!? Didn’t I say that if one more person turned, they would all be buried alive with the dead!?”
“…………”
Jim remained silent, seemingly a little embarrassed. He scratched his head, finding it difficult to speak.
“Uh… Captain…”
“They… they…”
“Tsk! Spit it out! Even a woman would be quicker than you!”
“Er… alright… The truth is, Captain, those physicians… well, they *did* go to be buried with the deceased.”
“…………”
The atmosphere grew incredibly awkward.
“Sigh…”
Eventually, Chapman broke the strange silence. He released Jim’s collar, sighing helplessly.
“Are they all gone?” he asked.
“Uh… yes. The moment the bodies mutated, due to a magical backlash, all our remaining physicians died at the hands of those ‘monsters’.”
“…………”
His eyes vacant, Chapman seemed to age decades in an instant.
He stumbled back and collapsed against a large tree not far behind him. Gazing at the cloudless, bright sky, he spoke with a profound sense of loss.
“If that’s the case… have those monsters all been burned?”
“…Yes, they have all been burned to ashes to prevent their regeneration,” Jim replied, his voice heavy. His fists clenched, his eyes burning with the fires of hatred.
“And… what is the situation in the village now?”
****
Indeed, mutation!
The first time such an inconceivable situation was confirmed was back when Leya was still on her mission here.
That morning, didn’t two very strange corpses appear?
They should have been in the infirmary, yet they had mysteriously ended up at the church entrance, dead.
Back then, due to a lack of information, coupled with the invasion of demonic beasts and the deployment of rescue teams, everyone was perplexed but hadn’t paid much attention to the matter.
But that was in the past.
Who could have imagined that a mere day later, a large-scale “mutation” event among the injured would occur?
Calling it terrifying or supernatural was insufficient to describe this mutation. Based on the intelligence gathered so far, even a minor graze meant the inevitable onset of mutation.
It was a horrifying existence, like a nightmare, for which there was no cure, only a slow wait for death.
****
“Captain Chapman, you’re back.”
Upon entering the church, Chapman found all the adventurers participating in the mission, both great and small, standing in orderly rows.
At this moment, they were all either tense or deeply unsettled. It was clear that the “mutation” incident had profoundly affected them.
After all, no one could remain composed in such a dire environment, could they? Oh… he was mistaken. Perhaps there was one.
That was their dear Elder of the Church, Ingmar!
“Hm… Since everyone is here…”
After a brief glance at Chapman and Jim as they entered, Ingmar spoke with a placid expression.
“I imagine you all know by now, but currently… the situation in our village can be described as extremely grim!”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
“Therefore, in this time of crisis, if anyone has any ideas, please speak them now. We can discuss them together and decide what we should do next.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a cacophony of chattering and arguing immediately erupted from below.
After an unknown amount of time, perhaps when they had tired themselves out from arguing, a younger adventurer stepped forward and said, “On behalf of my team, I propose we organize a breakout, protecting the villagers as we fight our way out!”
“Pfft—” Kennedy, who had just arrived behind Chapman and exchanged greetings, suddenly burst into laughter.
“Wh-what! Hey, you! What are you laughing at!?”
“Laughing at what?” Kennedy’s tone was laced with mockery, a playful expression on his face. “Heh, of course, I’m laughing at you, you fool, for not understanding the situation. Fighting your way out… Heh, alright then. Divided equally, your team can go deal with your hundreds of demonic beasts first.”
“You…”
“Enough! Stop arguing!”
Seeing this, Chapman’s already agitated mood grew even more volatile. He roared, “Our reconnaissance team should have long since returned to Volantis by now. I believe reinforcements from headquarters will arrive soon. Therefore, in the meantime, I propose we stick to the original plan and defend the village to the death!”
“…………”
“But… but then again… if the injured here can mutate, then… those injured who returned to the city… will they also…”
“…………”
Unimaginable… simply unimaginable… If such a thing truly happened… given the population density of Volantis City…
Tsk tsk, what a colossal disaster that would be!
“I… I already said it…” an adventurer muttered, almost on the verge of a breakdown.
“This isn’t something we mere adventurers can handle! The army… yes, the kingdom must deploy its army to fight them if we are to have any hope of victory!”