Outbreak Period

The wind outside was still blowing softly.

Arthur sheathed the sword in his hand, looked over his body's stats, and stood there in silence.

"Name: Arthur Falkus. Strength: 4.9. Agility: 4.8. Constitution: 5."

A string of stats appeared before his eyes. Compared with before, every one of them had risen explosively.

These were the gains he'd made over the past few days.

He had no idea what had once happened in this world, but the wilderness teemed with dangerous life. As their group traveled through it, they encountered plenty of threats every day.

And Arthur had killed every one of these mutated insect beasts.

With every insect beast he killed, he gained a boost. Each one was small, but after several days and dozens of beasts, they had added up to a considerable gain.

Of course, the biggest factor was the Crystal Core Arthur had obtained earlier.

At the thought, Arthur slightly loosened his left hand, which he'd kept clenched, revealing a black crystal in his palm.

After being used for so long, the power inside the Crystal Core had steadily dwindled. Now, what had once been a crystal the size of a fingernail was reduced to just a few grains of sand.

"It'll be used up soon." Feeling the faint warmth flowing through his body, Arthur sighed inwardly. He closed his left hand around the black Crystal Core, hiding it from the others.

Footsteps sounded behind him.

The seven or eight people behind him saw that the battle was over and hurried over. They cheered at the corpses of the two insect beasts, looking quite excited.

Arthur couldn't be bothered with them. He walked quietly to one side and waited for them to move on.

"What a shame about these two insect beasts. If we could've taken them to another noble's territory, they'd have been very welcome. Now they'll just end up as food for the wild beasts."

Before leaving, the knight looked at the two insect beasts' corpses and lamented their loss, clearly reluctant to go.

The others felt the same. They gathered some of the more valuable materials from the two corpses, then finally left, just as reluctant as before. Even the three of Erui did the same.

This had become common over the past few days. At first, they'd eagerly rushed to fight over the insect beasts' corpses. By now, they were almost numb to it.

They continued on in silence. Ahead, a few signs of human habitation gradually came into view, though the area still looked desolate.

"We'll have to part ways here."

At a crossroads, the knight in armor addressed the others. "Count Alaral, to the east, is a distant relative of mine. I'm planning to head to his castle. Would you like to come with me?"

He looked at Erui and the others, his expression full of hope.

Noticing his hopeful gaze, the three exchanged glances, feeling helpless.

They knew his hopes weren't pinned on them, but on Arthur.

Arthur's terrifying fighting ability had been plain to see throughout their journey. The boyish-looking knight had killed countless terrifying insect beasts that could wipe out entire villages, saving countless lives along the way.

Arthur couldn't speak their language, so he couldn't communicate properly with the others. The three of them had been with him from the start, and they were the only ones who could manage to communicate with him. Naturally, everyone else thought they could influence him.

But truthfully, they didn't want Arthur to leave with the others.

With the strength Arthur had shown, he was bound to be valued wherever he went. If he stayed here, the relationship they'd built with him could bring them enormous benefits.

The middle-aged knight seemed to see through their thoughts. He cursed inwardly, but kept his expression composed as he continued to persuade them. "I understand how you feel, but I still urge you to leave this place at once."

"You may not know it yet, but our region is about to enter the Outbreak Period."

"That's impossible!" In an instant, the three of Erui paled. They stared at the knight across from them, fear flashing in their eyes.

"Lord Alaral, please don't make such jokes or threats. Our region hasn't been affected for a very long time." Erui's face was ashen, his expression grim.

"That's exactly why a sudden outbreak now wouldn't be strange, don't you think?"

A cold smile appeared on Alaral's face. "Otherwise, why do you think I'm leaving my own territory?"

"Word has spread among the remaining nobles of the Kingdom of Bosh. The nobles across the territories have already taken their people and left this land. You're the only ones still being kept in the dark."

"If you come with me now, you can avoid this outbreak. But if you stay, you'll have to live through Doomsday all over again and find out whether you're lucky enough to survive this time."

The three of them turned pale. As if they'd pictured something dreadful, fear flashed in their eyes.

They fell silent for a long time before finally making up their minds.

Erui stepped forward and addressed the knight. "Thank you for informing us, sir. But our families are here, and we can't just leave them behind."

His expression slowly settled. Then he asked cautiously, "Could you wait here for a while? Once we're ready, we could move our families with us."

"Impossible!" Aladi shook his head, his expression turning ugly. "I've made it quite clear. The Outbreak Period is almost here, and the anomalies could descend at any moment. I can't stay here and die alongside you."

With that, he stopped talking and left, taking several attendants with him.

Watching him stride away without hesitation, Erui hesitated, but the uncertainty soon vanished from his face.

"Could he be telling the truth? Is the Outbreak Period really coming?" The young man's eyes were filled with fear and apprehension as he turned to Erui and asked.

"He was just trying to scare you," the woman in the worn leather coat said dismissively. "Apart from that one time three years ago, we've never encountered any anomalies here. How could an outbreak suddenly happen?"

"It's obvious he doesn't care about us. Even if we moved all our families there, there's no guarantee he'd value us. Our lives might not be any better than they are now."

"With that powerful knight here, and with the good relationship we've built with him, things should get much better. We won't have to live in danger like before."

She looked excitedly at Arthur, who stood quietly in the distance.

"But..." The young man hesitated, yet in the end, he didn't voice his objection.