Chương 98: A Strange Affliction

Arthur ran through the dark tunnel. As he ran further towards the narrow tunnel, he could not see anything. Once he saw the blood coming out of his eyes, he immediately knew it was not because he was stressed. Instead, it was the doing of those people. They had done something to his blood, causing it to pour out of his nose and eyes. He was afraid of summoning the Healer in the entrance room, so he ran as far away from those people as possible before getting healed.

Meanwhile, Repp glided behind him, both of them still invisible. After running for a minute, the blood from both his nose and eyes did not stop the entire time. He wanted to exit the tunnel before summoning Rouka. Soon, he saw the entrance of the cave. Arthur mentally commanded Repp to cast an invisibility barrier on Rouka as soon as she came out, allowing him to avoid detection from the enemies outside the cave. A few meters away, his eyes moved to see if anyone was waiting for him at the entrance.

Fortunately, there was no one. Following which, he successfully came out of the cave hole, quickly moving towards a rock without checking what was happening outside. Because he had started to feel pain in his head, or perhaps he was hallucinating, he first wanted to heal himself before assessing the situation. Arthur summoned the Healer. Immediately after, Repp put up the invisibility barrier, and in the next second, he ordered Rouka to heal him. Soon, his whole body was covered in a healing fog.

Arthur waited for the nosebleed to stop. However, he suddenly realized that the peaceful sensation he usually felt once covered in the healing fog was missing. The blood was still running from both places. The healing was not working. Realizing that the protection barrier might be stopping Rouka's healing, he quickly commanded Repp to remove it, but to keep the invisibility barrier. As soon as the barrier was removed, multiple strong presences started to assault his mind and heart.

The feeling of predators constantly hunting him, which he had felt earlier in the morning, came back to him. Consequently, his teeth started to quiver as fear permeated his heart. He could do nothing but grit his teeth, commanding the skeleton to heal him quickly as he suddenly felt a similar sensation of hot blood coming out from his ears as well. Again, the healing fog surrounded him. However, he did not feel the comfort he usually received.

He quickly gave a different command, ordering it to use everything on its roster of Abilities to heal him. Yet, every single command failed him. At the same time, the sensation of pain started to increase in his head, and the blood poured without stopping. Dejected by this failure, he realized he might have to find someone to help him. However, before he could run to someone, he quickly commanded Repp to use a Healing Barrier on him.

Since it was so capable, it certainly would have some kind of Healing Barrier that would help him, especially since the healing magic of the Intermediate Skeleton did not work. Arthur waited for Repp to take action. Although he could not see the skeleton, he could feel its presence as it hovered near him. Just as he expected, he soon saw a green-colored barrier start to spread throughout his skin, while a Green Halo appeared above his head. Arthur felt enormous joy, wanting to shout out loud.

The Great Grand Skeleton was actually capable of casting a Healing Barrier. Now, spending those Faunite Crystals did not seem so bad. However, that joy was short-lived as the blood did not stop coming out of his body. Looking at his hands, he noticed something odd; some kind of blood-red veins had started to swell out. Unbeknownst to Arthur, his eyes and face had also started to swell with blood-red veins.

The healing from Rouka did not work, and the healing barrier from Repp did not work, the severity of the veins increasing with each second. Not knowing what to do, he stood up on trembling legs, quickly commanding Repp to cast the protection barrier. He needed to find someone who would help him. Looking around, he saw the battle was still going on. Sweeping his gaze, he saw a lot of people gathered at the edge of the Dome Shield.

Soon after, the purple barrier engulfed his body, and the trembling of his legs stopped. He did not know any of those people standing outside the Dome. They looked new, and it was unknown whether they were friends or enemies. However, looking inside, he clearly knew who were friends and who were enemies. Instead of running to unknown people, Arthur decided to run towards the Plant Ecology researcher, Ashley, who was battling the guy that had treated Arthur's joke as the truth.

With that decided, and his condition getting more severe with every passing second, he ran towards the lady. Because the Protection Barrier was protecting him, he could easily run without being suppressed. The only issue was that the blood did not stop. Instead, its speed increased, staining the ground with blood in his wake. Gritting his teeth, he ran. Suddenly, he felt an ache in his teeth as well. Soon after, blood started to come out of his gums, and the pain in his head increased manifold.

When he was almost near the location of the battle, he ordered Repp to remove the invisibility barrier so that he could call her for help. As for how she could help while in battle, he did not know. As soon as the invisibility barrier was disabled, Arthur's presence suddenly spread out. Immediately, everyone around him turned their heads towards him. This was not limited solely to the inside of the dome; even the people standing outside the dome felt the new presence that had suddenly appeared in their senses.

Stacy, who was battling it out with Sabin, looked towards Arthur with a shocked expression. She noticed Arthur running towards her, and quickly, she heard something from him as well. Not only Stacy, but everyone around the area heard Arthur.

"Help me." Hearing this cry, Stacy immediately felt that something was wrong with Arthur. Ignoring her enemy, she dashed towards him. However, Stacy was not the only one rushing towards Arthur. Everyone from the Pleasence family did the same. Additionally, one other person took action; Denis, who stood outside the shield, saw Arthur. Before Linlyn could call out to him, he disappeared from his spot, tearing through the Dome Shield with his bare hands and entering the Dome.

Geoff immediately felt the backlash after his shield was torn away. Seeing the situation escalate beyond control, he realized his shield would not help much. Subsequently, he abandoned his post, rushing towards Arthur to protect him. Once the Dome was abandoned, everyone from the outside rushed towards the location. Out of everyone present, only Lothaire stayed where he was. He did not do anything, his gaze simply resting on Arthur before turning toward the direction of the Cave.

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Before anyone could reach Arthur with their different intentions, Stacy had reached him first. As her eyes landed on him closely, she immediately knew something was wrong. Currently, his face and head had swelled, blood constantly coming out all over the place. She was about to check what was happening. However, Arthur fell before she could do so, his last request escaping his lips.

"Help me." Stacy rushed forward, holding Arthur before his body could fall to the ground. As soon as she held him, someone suddenly appeared nearby.

"What do you think?" Patrick asked. He looked at Arthur's eyes, seeing that they had turned black and swollen, black blood continuously gushing out. Meanwhile, the people who had already rushed towards Arthur halted their path as soon as they saw his condition. Even the Pleasence family members, who had rushed over to kill Arthur in one hit, stopped. Arthur's condition was so severe that they were all shell-shocked in their hearts. What could have happened to him? And who was the cause of this?

"Ralph, give me the [Life Restoration Elixir]," Stacy called out to Geoff's made up name, who had just come rushing over. Geoff quickly picked up the injector from his utility belt, passing it to her. Without delay, Stacy removed the cap of the injector, stabbing it at Arthur's chest. However, the injector did not make contact with Arthur's skin. Instead, it was stopped by some kind of magic Red Array, shimmering at the time of contact.

Startled that this strange shield was stopping her from injecting the elixir, she revealed an expression of helplessness towards Patrick. However, no answer came from him. Not knowing what to do, she tried once more, stabbing hard this time. Yet, the result was exactly the same, the injector failing to contact his skin. Stacy looked at Patrick again, acting as if he would give a solution or an order since he was the captain. However, no answer came as he simply stared at Arthur's swollen body.

Seeing this, everyone was shocked. This was especially true for Linlyn; after seeing the Red Array, her face changed as if she could recognize what was happening. Meanwhile, Denis simply clicked his tongue in disappointment, walking away as if he had gained an understanding of what was happening, his intention of killing Arthur no longer possible.

"Ralph," Stacy called again. Automatically understanding what she was asking, he quickly rummaged through the backpack, passing a vial with a green potion in it. Currently, Arthur's eyes stared blankly. His entire eyes had turned black, his face swelling beyond recognition. The blood on his body had turned from red to black, saliva and blood gushing out of his mouth as his whole body multiplied to double its size. Stacy uncorked the vial, forcefully pouring the green liquid into his mouth.

However, Arthur could not able to swallow the potion, all of it rushing out with the blood. Defeated, Stacy simply stared at Arthur's face. She felt bad for the Arthur, it was a gruesome death. Furthermore, this was the second time he was dying. It was truly a pity. They had all tried hard to save this particular boy, but eventually, they could not save him. What kind of change would the death of this boy bring to this Trial? They simply did not know.

Afterward, Patrick looked up, the countdown showing a mere seven minutes remaining. While the spot went silent, some people suddenly rushed toward the location. As soon as they saw the situation, they started to cry. Susanne, who had run without stopping anywhere, finally reached the Crater. However, what she saw there was more than what she had been afraid of. After seeing Arthur's condition, the three party members cried out loud.

"Grandma, do something, save him! He was a good person, please save him! Please, someone, please save him!" Susanne cried, kneeling before the cruel sight of Arthur's body. However, all she received was a devastating head shake from her grandmother and silence from the crowd. The entire crowd had gathered around Arthur, watching the unfortunate thing happen to the boy for the second time.

Meanwhile, Arthur choked on his own blood, vaguely seeing the surrounding people and the person who cried as she knelt before him. As he struggled, his breath slowly reduced to a thin thread, his eyesight dimming simultaneously. Eventually, his breath stopped. Arthur had died.

❖❖❖❖❖❖❖ Hi all check out this Novel ✦ FEATURED STORY ✦ by Echooo The Beacon - Hopeful LitRPG Ioan, an analytical martial artist is thrown into a jungle apocalypse by a mysterious System, forced to fight and think his way through brutal survival trials that punish hesitation and reward creativity, he believes that he can't do everything and true strength is born from the group Leah moves first and thinks later, raw, impulsive, and almost impossible to keep still, she throws herself into danger without waiting for a plan, but her instincts in a fight are keep her alives.

Eliot is Leah counterweight: patient, easygoing, and slow to anger, but once he plants himself somewhere, nothing moves him, the pillar the rest of the group learns to fight around, if anything wants to endanger the group, it needs to go through him first Tasia watches before she speaks, trusting slowly and noticing everything, her precision at range making her the one who catches the threat no one else sees coming Anne is softer on the surface, but far harder to shake than she looks, her compassion is not a weakness but a choice, and when pushed, it becomes a quiet, stubborn, kind of courage, she's the heart of the group » WHY READ THIS: System as a element pushing the story, but low amount of status windows A class system that reflect the user, starting generic and getting more personal with time A large cast of character - a warrior who never breaks his stride once the pressure's on, a rogue who reads the field better than anyone, a healer whose kindness has a cost, and a dozen more with their own quirks Settlement building and territory management Faction diplomacy and conflict Around 4, 000 words per chapter, 3 times a week Start Reading →