Chapter 111: Leon gets infected
Leon struggled to move, but nothing he did was working. It was like his entire body was stuck.
"Arghhhhhh!" he roared in pain as he tried to move even more, break free of the stiffness, and stop the enemies headed his way. Finally, after what seemed like a stupid amount of time, his hands finally moved. He spun his sword into a full slash, but it was too late, as one of the infected was already right in front of him and swung a mace that slammed into his chest.
"Ack!" Leon coughed blood and was hurled back through the air. Another infected used his mage staff and conjured a fireball attack that he sent flying. It slammed into the already airborne Leon and threw him further back in a stream of smoke.
Leon slammed into the ground hard and rolled until he came to a stop.
"Urghhhhh," he groaned in pain as he lay on the floor. He was not sure what he had broken, but he was sure of one thing, and that was the fact that he had broken a ton of bones in his body.
’My body feels like it’s dying,’ he thought as he tried to get up, only to see a shadowy form over him. He moved. The infected that came in with a swing missed the attack, and it slammed into the ground with explosive force.
Leon took a deep, painful breath when he evaded that. He would have been in for several layers of shit had he not moved out of the way as fast as he could.
The infected seemed invested in stopping him as the mage returned with another fireball. Leon gritted his teeth and pushed himself off the ground. His body screamed in head-shattering pain. He staggered back but forced himself to stand, though it did not last long, as the fireball slammed into the ground and caused an explosion that threw him back.
He landed on one knee with one sword stabbed into the ground. His eyes burned with fury as he struggled to his feet. He gripped the sword with both hands and then shifted into the perfect stance.
"Alright then, come at me," he gritted his teeth and said, wanting to face them one versus one, but the spiders did not have a sense of honor. He was swarmed by ten or more spiders lunging at him to have a bite.
Seeing the situation, he began to slash with his fastest form and accuracy, tearing into them. Bodies of spiders littered the floor, but every few seconds, he would get the black liquid on him, causing an intense burning sensation and more stiffness. His range of motion was drastically reducing.
Seeing that the spiders were not enough to take down Leon, the two infected rushed in themselves to take him down. The mage unleashed a barrage of attacks that slammed into Leon and hurled him back, leaving deep and heavy burns on Leon’s chest.
The infected with the mace followed up with a full swing. The mace connected with Leon’s chest and threw him back. He hit the floor hard and was unable to get back up in time due to the pain. He could not stop the spider that landed on his chest and bit right into his neck, fusing with Leon right there on the ground.
Leon tossed and turned on the ground as he tried to fight the spider that was now in his body, but the force that the spider came with was something Leon could not handle. In a few seconds, he was already changed, with glowing red eyes and a sword in his hands.
[....]
After arriving back home, Ren did not waste time trying to get a meeting in place. Silas had already told them what they needed to know. He got everyone ready and then headed toward the town. The plan was not to help but rather to observe and see if they were at risk of getting attacked.
Ren was not doing any favors for Raven Town. It was not his place to help the Vermilion Kingdom, but he was very interested in knowing what was happening with those spiders.
He brought the whole gang with him: Silas, Remu, Ragna, Ezra, Riker, and Luna.
"A few days ago, Luna and I discovered someone had infiltrated our home using a cub.
When we confronted it, we found a parasitic spider that had entered it and taken control. He fought the spider and killed it before saving the wolf.
The same thing is what is happening in that town. Silas stated that he saw the spiders bite into the humans, fuse into their bodies, and then control them.
I want us to observe these spiders and what they do to the people they take control of, and if we will be at risk of them coming our way," he explained.
"Are we going to save their town?" Riker asked.
"No. It’s sad to say, but the human town has nothing to do with us. We have no business or connection to them, to be honest.
The only connecting factor would be Leon and his party. These spiders are extremely powerful from what I saw when I faced one. We do not want to go against a thousand carelessly," Ren said.
"You could literally burn them all down, Master," Riker said with his hands behind his back. Ezra slapped the back of his head, causing him to stumble forward.
"Don’t be stupid. Master would destroy the entire town if he did that, and then the humans would see him as the villain and then proceed to hunt him," she explained to Riker.
"Luna is right. It’s not worth it," Ren replied.
"Then how about we start what he talked about, Master, the Primordial Crimson Mercenaries? We could have the baron of the town pay us somehow and then help him handle the situation," Riker explained.
"That’s not a bad idea. Hmmm, I’ve needed connections to the humans, even if it’s only a little. This could be a start, even if it’s with a low-level baron with no real power."