Apocalypse Healer - Path of Death-Chapter 44B2 .2

He cast [Knight’s Prestige] and retreated. Peter appeared beside him, swinging his axe to behead the monster, but it simply raised its hand and unleashed a shockwave of poisonous fog.

A sickening crunch echoed as Peter was hurled backward. He jumped to his feet, but his skin was green, and he coughed up blood. A bright light engulfed Peter, removing the green taint from his skin, but his eyes remained bloodshot as he stared at the monster like a wild beast.

Not again. Lukas groaned. He should have gotten his act together.

Peter charged faster than before, ignoring the monster’s claws as they streaked across his chest. He leaped into the air and beheaded the monster with a swift strike. Lukas smiled—but his expression froze as the headless monster moved.

“Move!” he roared, overclocking [Accelerate] and [Charge] as he pushed toward Peter. The monster’s claws swept across Peter’s chest again, and blood spurted everywhere, but the Berserker was not dead yet. Lukas knew Peter was tough—tougher than most people. He would survive if the headless monster didn’t strike again before he could recover.

Lukas appeared before the headless monster, but something had changed. It moved faster than before.

No—Lukas’ eyes widened as realization struck. The monster wasn’t moving faster. He was just slower.

The battle behind him continued as he and Peter fought the stronger creature, and it looked like they were on the losing side. The trust everyone had placed in him was either diminishing, or his trusted allies were dead. Either way, Lukas was significantly slower than before. He evaded the first attack, but the monster’s claws caught his armpit as he pierced its heart. The monster stirred. A kill notification popped up a moment later, but Lukas could not relax. The monster’s claws whipped upward one last time, and a wave of blood, followed by searing pain, overwhelmed him.

His vision blurred, and he lost control of his sword arm. The same arm flew through the air a moment later. His sword arm had been severed.

Fuck! Lukas wanted to scream as blood spurted into the air, but warmth from multiple sources reached him almost instantly. His bleeding stopped within seconds. He rushed toward his severed arm.

Reattaching it might have been possible in a non-combat situation—but not now. Lukas ignored the arm and snatched up his sword. He weighed it in his left hand and frowned deeply.

Several Blighted Kobolds attacked, followed by other monsters. This time, Lukas struggled to keep up. He tried blocking their attacks and succeeded in killing a few, but his combat prowess had decreased significantly.

Their enemy wasn’t an ordinary horde. They’re fighting with discipline.

They… choose their enemies, Lukas cursed, realizing his mistake. He had underestimated the horde. It was not just a crowd of monsters—it was a small but well-trained army.

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“Retreat slowly!” he shouted at last as more allies fell to the monsters’ relentless attacks. They pulled back, but the pressure weighing on them didn’t lessen.

Not until a commotion rang out.

The space above the monsters in front of Lukas cracked open, and massive rocks rained down, crushing several at once. Lukas glanced left and right, shuddering as the phenomenon repeated several times. Gigantic stones crashed to the earth, killing monsters by the dozens and forming a temporary barrier that slowed them momentarily.

“Now! Go, go, go!!” Lukas roared.

His allies twitched—but they moved, turning to run back to Ashville.

Lukas didn’t turn immediately. He saw a group of monsters climbing the rocks, but they were struck down by arrows and magical projectiles. The rocks vanished—only to reappear in the air again, crashing down and crushing even more monsters.

A chill ran down Lukas’ spine. He turned and ran.

Catching up to the others was easy, but that didn’t mean the fight was over just because they had retreated. Ashville was still in danger. Their survival was at stake.

Lukas swallowed and slowed as he spotted a familiar figure standing atop a rooftop at the edge of Ashville.

When did she return? he wondered, staring at Maja.

She glanced at him, her eyes glowing. A moment later, Lukas found himself beside her, his heart skipping a beat as he realized how easily Maja had pulled him through space.

“You’re back,” he muttered, his eyes widening at the meaning of her return. “Where is your friend? He has to restore my arm, or Ashville will be destroyed!”

Maja didn’t even look at him, her attention fixed on the battlefield.

There was no time for pettiness, Lukas cursed inwardly.

He was about to shake Maja, hoping to snap her out of it, when she winced.

His anger subsided, replaced by something else. A shudder ran through him as he followed Maja’s gaze—back to the battlefield.

Lukas had been certain the horde would reach them at any moment—but it didn’t.

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Only a handful of monsters had pursued them, and they were already dead. The Hunters had taken care of them before they could harm anyone.

The rest of the horde wasn’t heading to Ashville.

They were charging at a small figure standing at the edge of the battlefield.

"Wha—what is that?" Lukas asked, shuddering as his danger sense went off.

Poisonous fog shrouded the small figure, but the figure remained unmoving. Lukas stared at it, quickly realizing he couldn’t look away. The threat of the poisonous fog and the horde was still etched in his mind, but it lingered in the back of it. Instead, the small, unmoving figure consumed his entire attention. It felt more dangerous—deadlier—than the entire horde combined.

But why did he feel this way? The figure was nowhere close, yet Lukas could feel it all. And it scared him—far more than the horde ever could.

"You can feel his bloodlust," Maja said somberly as the fog around the figure turned crimson. It was only a thin layer at first, but the crimson taint expanded explosively, overshadowing the poisonous fog.

Lukas' lips parted, countless questions swirling in his mind, but all he could ask was, "Whose?"

Maja sighed again. "David's, of course."

David? That didn’t make any sen— Lukas' eyes widened as the features of the unknown figure registered in his mind.

Lukas saw him and shuddered as David’s brilliantly glowing eyes fluttered open—cold, merciless.

David raised his hand as the first monsters reached him, mostly undead creatures, while the rest hesitated to move closer. Was it because of the bloodlust? Lukas noticed something materialize in David’s hand—a grey blade. No... was that really a blade? It looked like one, but it felt different even from a distance. Maybe it was just... Lukas shuddered. He had no idea what it could be.

David moved with deliberate simplicity. He flicked his wrist, and a long, grey crescent blade whipped outward. The nearest monster was torn to shreds instantly, while those behind were cleaved in two, ripped apart as the attack reached them. Dozens of monsters were split in half before the crescent blade dissipated.

"How?" Lukas whispered, breaking into a cold sweat as the second blade whipped through the air, killing the undead that never stopped charging at David. More monsters collapsed to the ground, never moving again.

Suddenly, the crimson-red hue shrouding David expanded further. It encompassed the poisoned fog and overshadowed it, seemingly devouring it, as he took a step forward. It was David’s first step since Lukas’ eyes fell upon him, but the dynamic across the battlefield shifted in an instant.

Armor, resembling the crimson world around him, suddenly coated David as the first monster clawed him. But David did not seem to mind being hit and clawed. The armor never chipped.

David turned to the aggressors and killed them on the spot. He caught a Blight Kobold with an empty hand and crushed the monster’s neck. The carcass was thrown aside, and David picked the next target. As stronger creatures surrounded him, Lukas flinched. He found himself staring at the Healer in awe as David ignored the massive club swinging toward him.

The club struck the crimson helmet and... shattered.

"What the fuck..."

Lukas heard someone blurt aloud, and he couldn’t blame them. That strike would have killed him. However, David didn’t even flinch.

But to make matters worse, Maja remained eerily calm as she watched the horror unfold. Somehow, Lukas couldn’t quite tell why, but that scared him even more. How could she stay so calm when this was happening right in front of her?

"Who the hell is he?!" Lukas asked, shuddering when half a dozen monsters collapsed with bloody holes in their foreheads.

Spikes erupted from the blood across the battlefield all of a sudden, and more grey blades whipped through the air, cleaving through chests, beheading monsters.

Maja glared at him and snapped, "Don’t bother him. He... needs to destress."

Lukas wouldn’t do anything to get on David’s bad side. That was the last thing he wanted. But destress? Was that how someone was supposed to destress?

In the first place, wasn’t David a Healer?!

"Don’t ask stupid questions," Maja said, her voice lower this time. "He just found out his family is dead. And his friends."

"Most of them, at least."