Chapter 362 The Figure Behind
Erend finally walked again into the hospital with an annoyed mind. 'Why didn't he just say it from the start?'
It's not that he was scared of walking back in there because maybe another monster would appear. It's not a problem for Erend's monsters to appear in this world. He has already encountered ones far stronger and more terrifying than the monsters here.
What annoyed him was that he had to walk back upstairs. Even though everything should have been done from the start.
Erend saved the man because he was the one who stole the keys from the Elves and first brought Magic to this world. That man also gave Aurdis and Saeldir a hard time when they tried to remove his Magic power. Of course, Erend felt compelled to save him for information about what he knew. And for another reason.
'What did Aurdis say that time? a Druid Magic?'
That man had a certain kind of relationship with a being that worried Aurdis and Saeldir. He knew more than he should, Erend intended to ask him about that.
Aurdis and Saeldir did not mention anything about the being they called the Druid. Yet, Erend had a hunch that that being might have the answers he wanted.
Erend wants to know about the cursed tree, and maybe something about The Great Calamity.
Because Systema gave him an Urgent Quest to save that man.
At first, Erend didn't think much about it even when he got a glance from Adrien. He thought that even if that man died there wouldn't be any significant problems arising.
However, Systema says otherwise. He got an Urgent Quest to save him so Erend immediately said that he was willing.
When Erend got the Urgent Quest, he immediately thought that this man must have a bigger role in all this. That's how Systema works.
So far, Systema has always given him a Quest which will later be related to the big event that will occur. So Erend has learned to do it without asking too many questions.
Conrad's room is located on the same floor as Julius's presidential room. As soon as the elevator stopped Erend went straight out without thinking much. He ran to Conrad's room, and when he found him Erend immediately opened the door.
However, the sight he saw when he opened the room made him pause. Inside there Conrad was still lying unconscious, but around him were five monsters wearing patient and doctor clothes.
They just stood around Conrad without doing anything, as if guarding him. But when they noticed Erend's presence who suddenly entered the room, their movements changed, and they began to show hostility.
'Who the hell are they?' Erend wondered in his mind.
The monsters turned and stared at Erend. Erend wasn't too sure but their eyes seemed to give the impression that they knew something about him.
"Dragonborn..." one of the monsters said in his remaining human voice, making Erend even more astonished. They indeed know about him.
"Who are you? Laston?" Erend asked. The only thing Erend could think about now was the Elf who had betrayed his own kingdom and caused his race a lot of casualties.
A strange grin appeared on the lips of the man with a distorted face. Erend seemed to be able to see that there was another figure behind him, a strong figure that controlled all the humans who had changed in this room.
Erend couldn't imagine anyone other than Laston. That cursed tree has never shown that it has consciousness. And whoever this figure was controlling them, they had enough sense to recognize Erend. They even knew that Erend was a Dragonborn.
"Tell me who you are," Erend said coldly.
"HA HA HA HA!"
The five monsters laughed simultaneously. Their voices echoed between the walls of this room. And then, they spoke simultaneously.
"I can't wait to fight you. I want to see how you look when I tear your body apart. And let my children eat you. Give you a slow and painful death!"
Erend frowned. Their words made him feel angry, instead of scared. He immediately charged toward the man at the forefront with incredible speed.
Erend grabbed the man's neck and with his Dragon muscle, he crushed the man's neck in one squeeze. After that, he threw the man's corpse aside.
It didn't take long for the other four monsters to react, they charged towards Erend simultaneously in savage motions, wanting to pounce on him as fast as possible.
However, Erend, who was too annoyed by the behavior of the figure controlling them, was merciless. He knew that they could no longer be helped therefore the only thing left was to kill them.
At this moment, Erend didn't even think that he was killing humans. He felt that now he was just killing monsters.
Erend sent a fist toward one of the monsters, hitting him in the face and sending the man crashing through the window. He immediately fell.
The other two immediately took out their claws and tried to claw Erend's face; while the other one took out tentacles to ensnare Erend's neck.
[ Skill activated: Dragon Scale (Lv.5) ]
However, before the tentacles and claws reached him Erend immediately activated [Dragon Scale], enveloping his body with red and black scales which immediately rendered all attacks meaningless.
The claws only bounced when they hit his face and after the tentacles managed to wrap his neck, the tentacles immediately shattered.
Erend swung his fist at the two monsters that were attacking him with claws.
*CRAAATT!*
*CRAAATT!*
With a single blow of his fist, both of their heads were crushed. Afterward, Erend pulled the only remaining monster's tentacles and then did the same. He slammed his fist toward the monster, crushing its head.
Erend looked around, realizing that there was no longer any danger he deactivated [Dragon Scale] and walked towards Conrad. He immediately carried Conrad and returned downstairs.
After he got downstairs, Erend immediately put him in a random car that he found in the parking lot and left the hospital. A notification saying that the Urgent Quest had finished accompanied him.
~~~
They immediately took the president to the military headquarters because that was the safest place for him at the moment. His family, who had already regained consciousness, had also been taken to the military headquarters yesterday.
The soldiers who were there immediately put on somber and scared faces when they heard the news from Adrien that the other seven soldiers who had departed with them could not return. It made them realize how dire this situation was.
The President was taken to the treatment room where all the veteran doctors and nurses immediately attended to him.
General Lennard and Thomas went straight to the General's office as soon as all the doctors and nurses had done their jobs.
The General dropped his buttocks on the chair and let out a long breath.
"What happened to our country?" General Lennard asked himself while massaging his forehead.
"This doesn't just happen in our world, General," Thomas said. "The whole world seems to be going through the same incident."
"How do you know?"
"I read the news in the car earlier. Look." Thomas showed the General his cellphone screen.
General Lennard saw that what Thomas said was true. He saw a video of some people rioting in the streets caused by some humans changing. But there weren't as many of them as there were here and the soldiers could take care of them easily.
"What happened was no worse than here," said General Lennard.
"Yes, but it happened nonetheless, General. That means this... this disease has spread."
General Lennard looked at Thomas. "Then why in this country the situation is like this?"
Thomas licked his lips. "I can't be sure. But maybe it's because we did the Magic experiment."
General Lennard wanted to argue but he felt that Thomas' reasoning made sense. They toyed with the otherworldly power and succeeded before the mysterious forces destroyed everything. So maybe, they have opened up greater opportunities for this strange disease to spread.
A deep sigh escaped General Lennard's mouth, he looked up blankly. "So this all happened because of us?"
"Maybe... it is, sir," Thomas answered hesitantly.
The room was silent for a few minutes as they were preoccupied with their thoughts. Until finally the news about the arrival of Conrad and Erend was heard. General Lennard didn't expect that they would make it back safely.
"Perhaps Conrad knows something about this, sir," said Thomas.
"What do you mean?"
"You heard what he said before. He once said that his magic power grew after being with that elf for a few months," Thomas said.
General Lennard thought for a moment. Then he said. "You're right. I'll ask him as soon as he wakes up."
General Lennard and Thomas went straight to the room where Conrad was and waited for him to wake up.
After waiting a few minutes in anxiety, Conrad finally opened his eyes. The unfamiliar sight of Ceiling made Conrad crease his brows.
"How's your feeling?" General Lennard wasted no time to ask.
~~~