Chương 581: The Doctor of Death

"Sick children. Yes, I see it now. You are all very sick." His smile widened.

"But that's alright. The doctor is here to cure you and bring joy back to your hearts." He raised the staff. A thick brown smoke spilled from its tip. The others immediately backed away.

"I understand. Rebellious children!" the man continued. Above him, arrows made of green smoke formed in the air and shot toward them.

"Don't breathe that smoke. Not under any circumstances," Luke called from the branches of a nearby tree. The sight stirred an old memory. Luke released an arrow. It struck the man directly, but the projectile passed through him as if he were made of mist. Part of his body dissolved into smoke where the arrow had pierced. Luke leapt down from the tree, firing again and again. Every arrow passed straight through.

"You are sick. You need treatment!" the doctor declared, raising his staff again. More arrows of diseased smoke launched toward Luke. The others kept retreating.

"Stay away from him, it's dangerous!" someone shouted. Luke sprinted forward anyway, weaving between the attacks. The clouds of sickness hissed through the air as he closed the distance. [Predator's Mark activated] He stopped.

"It didn't work," Luke muttered, stepping back. The staff pointed at him again. Another wave of disease-cloud surged forward, but Luke was already moving out of its path. Not real. Some kind of illusion. As Luke repositioned, a blast of flame suddenly rushed past him. He dropped to the ground without hesitation. The fire slammed into the doctor and exploded, igniting the cloud of disease.

"No, no, no!" the doctor shrieked as the illusion unraveled, dissolving inside the flames. Luke was already moving back toward the others.

"My marking skill didn't work. Like you saw, that guy was just an illusion," he said while scanning the forest.

"It looked like it was made from that disease cloud," Zoe observed.

"Yeah. But whoever's controlling it can actually use plague skills," Elijah replied, crouched on a rock. Luke's eyes swept across the trees.

"The real one is nearby." David stood still, staring into the forest.

"I think we've got a problem." They followed his gaze. The bodies hanging from the trees were moving.

"You disturbed my patients!" the voice echoed from somewhere deep in the forest.

"Now they'll help me."

"The plague cloud is coming!" Elijah shouted. The corpses were soaked with it. Luke drew and fired. The arrow buried itself in the face of one of the dead. [You have slain a Plague Corpse – Lvl 36]"They're weak," Luke said. The problem was the disease they carried. Against enemies like this, he knew exactly how dangerous things could get. Luke kept firing, arrows dropping corpse after corpse as they staggered forward.

"You're ruining my masterpiece!" the voice raged, echoing from every direction. The entire section of forest was filling with the plague cloud.

"Burn them again." Luke said. Elijah was already moving. His sword cut through the air, sending arcs of flame that tore into the approaching bodies and burned away the creeping plague cloud surrounding them. Zoe joined him, releasing bursts of heat that scattered and ignited the infected mist. Then coughing echoed through the forest. For a moment, the doctor had inhaled some of the smoke. Luke drew, aimed, and released. The arrow struck something hidden in a tree. A body fell.

"Damn it! You were supposed to let me treat you!" the voice shouted between coughs as it fled.

"Throw fire where I'm going!" Luke called. Beams of flame carved open a path through the disease cloud. [Predator's Mark activated] This time it worked. Luke could see the man running through the forest, raising his staff and tapping corpses as he passed. Each touch dragged another body to its feet. Luke nocked another arrow.

"This is going to be a good catch." He fired. The man collapsed to the ground. A burst of disease shot toward Luke and he veered away instantly. The plague zombies rushed toward the fallen doctor while more arrows of sickness rained through the trees.

"Keep burning everything!" Elijah shouted to Zoe. They pushed forward together, cutting through the cloud. Fire continued to bloom around them without pause. George and David followed close behind. Ahead of them, the doctor staggered toward a small house hidden among the trees.

"So the bastard can heal himself after all," Luke muttered when he saw the man running without a limp. Zoe cut down the approaching corpses with her heated blade, then unleashed another burst of burning mist that consumed the infected air around them. Luke fired again. Just as the doctor reached the doorway of the house, an arrow struck the back of his calf. He stumbled and crashed to the ground.

"No, no. Accept my treatment!" the doctor pleaded.

"Finish him," Luke said, already noticing more plague zombies approaching. The last thing he wanted was to catch some magical disease. Elijah carved through the plague cloud with another blazing arc while Zoe advanced beside him. The doctor tried to summon one more plague arrow. He didn't finish the motion. Elijah cut him down. One by one, the corpses collapsed back to the ground. Slowly, the plague cloud began to dissipate.

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"Holy shit… that was intense," George groaned as he collapsed onto the ground. His skin was pale, dotted with swollen blisters. The plague had left its mark.

"Don't drink a healing potion yet," Luke warned.

"Wait for the effects to finish running their course. Let the damage complete first." Luke helped him to his feet. George winced.

"And how the hell do you know all that?"

"I've dealt with healers like that before." A few steps away, Elijah stood frozen, staring at the corpse on the ground.

"That's Gregory Brown!" he blurted.

"His name vanished from the scoreboard the moment I killed him!" Which meant...

"I'm in fourth place!" The system screen appeared. User Rankings! These are the participants with the highest point totals and therefore the greatest chance of winning the challenge!

1st Place: Ivor Aaberg — 233, 111, 842 pts (Bracelets: 4) 2nd Place: Yut Saeten — 221, 974, 556 pts (Bracelets: 4) 3rd Place: Madison Sullivan — 197, 775, 841 pts (Bracelets: 4) 4th Place: Elijah Diggory — 183, 023, 111 pts (Bracelets: 4) 5th Place: Oliver Black — 169, 665, 003 pts (Bracelets: 4)"I'm practically guaranteed to reach the next stage," Elijah said, still staring at the list as if afraid it might disappear. The others quickly checked the ranking as well.

A small wave of celebration spread through Zoe's group.

"Our plan is actually working," Zoe said, shaking her head in disbelief.

"I can't believe it. We might really pull this off." Luke stepped inside the doctor's cabin. The place still held supplies taken from the man's victims: food, tools, equipment stacked carelessly along the walls.

"Now three more of you just need to climb the rankings," Luke said from inside.

"If you get close to the fifth-place score by the end of these next few days, you'll have a real shot at making the final board." They gathered whatever they could carry.

"We can actually do this," Elijah said. Then something slammed into him. The impact was so violent that Elijah's body lifted off the ground and crashed into the side of the cabin.

"Elijah!" Zoe screamed. He hit the ground howling in pain, blood already spreading across the dirt. The chestplate of his armor had shattered from the blow, metal cracked open like glass. He was bleeding badly.

"Down!" Luke shouted. Arrows whistled through the air toward them. George stepped forward instantly, raising his shield and bracing against the barrage as best he could. Zoe grabbed Elijah and dragged him inside the cabin.

"And here we are again!" a distant voice called out. Yut. Far off in the clearing, he tossed several stones into the air before launching them forward with terrifying force. Luke twisted aside at the last possible second. The stone struck a nearby tree. The trunk exploded on impact. More figures emerged from the forest. Men loyal to Father. Others moving alongside Yut. Arrows and spells began raining toward them.

"Elijah's alive, but he's in bad shape!" Zoe shouted from inside the cabin. Elijah's screams leaked through the doorway.

"Damn it, damn it!" George shouted behind his shield.

"How did they find us?"

"The mess with the doctor. And the fire we started," David yelled from behind a large rock where he had taken cover.

"It must've drawn them in!" George wasn't fully recovered yet, and Elijah was severely wounded. Luke was the only one with real long-range attack capability.

"Shit..." he muttered. Then he raised his voice.

"Run for the river. I'll cover you!" He rose from cover, already firing arrows.

"And how exactly are we supposed to run with Elijah like this?!" David shouted. Zoe didn't slow down. She hauled Elijah onto her shoulder, blood soaking into her clothes as it ran down his armor.

"He already drank a healing potion!" she yelled back. Elijah still gripped his sword, teeth clenched.

"I can still make flame arcs. Just get me out of here!" Even while being carried, he swung the blade, sending bursts of fire slicing through the air behind them. Zoe followed with a spreading cloud meant to blind and disrupt their pursuers. They sprinted for the trees. Luke covered the retreat. He loosed arrow after arrow. One enemy dropped instantly. The next took an arrow straight through the skull. [You have slain a Human...] 7, 775, 841 IP earned Luke reached back for another arrow.

His hand touched empty leather.

"You've got to be kidding me." The quiver was empty.

"Come on, Luke Moon! Didn't you say you were going to come kill me?" Yut's voice rang out across the battlefield, laughing as he hurled another stone. Luke dodged the projectile and drew his machetes. Then he ran straight toward Father's group.

"For the Father!" one of them shouted while charging. Luke parried the knife thrust and cut the man down in the same motion.

"Yeah, screw that." Arrows whistled toward him. He knocked them aside with quick movements of his blades. When he saw Zoe and the others vanish into the trees, Luke began retreating.

"Get back here, Luke Moon!" Yut's voice echoed through the forest, still laughing.

"Why don't you show up alone?" Luke shouted back while backing away. Suddenly glowing spheres dropped through the canopy, bursting with blinding light between the trees. A new skill from Zoe.

"And now what?!" Zoe's voice called out.

"I don't know!" David answered. Luke burst through the undergrowth.

"Jump into the damn river!" He dove first. The others followed without hesitation. The current was brutally strong. Arrows rained toward the water.

"Dive! Dive!" Luke shouted. As he plunged beneath the surface, he caught a glimpse of something rushing toward the riverbank. A wave of mud. Some kind of magic. They sank deeper into the river while chaos exploded above the surface. Through the distorted water Luke could still see flashes of color. Fireballs. Lightning. Bursts of energy lighting the sky. Luke allowed himself to sink. He pulled on the Assassin's Mask he had earned from killing the Guardian and let the current take him.

Someone splashed into the water ahead of him. Luke didn't hesitate. He surged forward, hooked the man's leg with his arm, and drove a machete straight into his chest. [You have slain a Human...] 3, 114, 058 IP earned The current grew stronger. Luke grabbed the corpse and used it as a shield while the river carried them both. Rocks rushed past in the darkness. Several slammed into the body he held in front of him, sparing him the impact. Then the river vanished beneath him. Free fall.

A massive waterfall dropped them into the abyss. Luke hit the water hard. The force of the falling water trapped him beneath the surface, pushing him deeper. Fighting it was pointless. Instead, he let himself sink farther before swimming away from the violent vortex. He finally surfaced near the riverbank. Zoe and the others were already there, dragging themselves onto the mud while coughing violently. Elijah looked the worst.

"We need to move," Luke said immediately. They ran again. Elijah climbed onto Luke's back this time. Out of all of them, Luke was still the fastest. They didn't stop until they reached a safer stretch of forest. George collapsed against a tree, swearing under his breath.

"Damn it. We lost almost everything. All the stuff from that chest is gone."

"They're always one step ahead of us," Zoe muttered.

"We can't stay here long," Luke replied.

"If they have someone with tracking skills, they'll find us." He glanced at the sky, calculating.

"We swam down the river for a while, then came out and split directions. Soon my locator will activate again. I probably have less than an hour." Elijah leaned against a rock, breathing more steadily now.

"How do they keep finding us?" The stone that had hit him earlier had come from one of Yut's monstrous throws. Without armor, it would have killed him outright. Luke considered the question.

"Maybe one of you got marked by a tracking skill." He knew he hadn't been marked. But the others might not know how to remove one the way he did.

"If that's true," Zoe said quietly, "then we're screwed." Luke shook his head.

"There's only one way we keep moving without them breathing down our necks." The others looked at him.

"And that's killing Yut." David almost laughed.

"Kill Yut? That guy walks around with an army. You might be stealthy, but something tells me that won't work on him." Luke nodded.

"I have a plan, but it's risky."