I know nothing about cursed parasitic worms, so I must find the person responsible for doing this to neutralize the poison. However, I've ruined Zeke's grand plans, and he may not even make it out alive. Will he still be willing to help me? The odds are slim. Zeke, you b*stard! Why didn't you tell me beforehand that you've poisoned me? If you had, I wouldn't have messed up your plans and helped you to take down that beast instead! What am I going to do now?
Camp South Master was overwhelmed by a myriad of emotions, and his mind was in utter chaos.
Meanwhile, two mountain peaks had crumbled and buried Zeke and the others deep under a pile of rubble. Fortunately, Zeke had managed to form a shield with his energy, protecting the group by the skin of his teeth.
Alas, he had been struck hard by the backlash of the impact and would not be able to maintain the shield for long.
The others were at a loss about what to do. If we don't think of something quickly, we'll be crushed to a pulp if Minotaur stomps on us!
Sole Wolf took a deep breath and said, “You should get out of here first, Zeke. We'll cover you.”
“It won't be easy to defeat this gigantic beast. Let's put our heads together and discuss this when we get back. Go ahead and leave first, Mr. Williams. We'll bring up the rear,” Nameless also piped up.
“You can go back first and prepare a meal while we stay and battle the thing. Who knows? Maybe we'll have a chance to take it down,” Killer Wolf added.
It was clear to Zeke that they wanted him to escape and not worry about them. They feel they're a liability to me now. If I run off alone, I still have a chance of surviving. However, as soon as I remove the protective shield formed by my energy, Killer Wolf and the rest will die. But if I stay to save them, I might die with them!
Needless to say, there was no way Zeke would abandon his long-time companions and escape alone. He growled, “Shut up and conserve your strength. We're going to try and break ourselves out of here later. There's still hope for us. We may be injured, but Minotaur isn't that much stronger than us.”
Everyone knew he was only saying that to make them feel better. It was true that Minotaur was wounded, but it was a superficial injury at most and would not do much harm. On the contrary, they had gotten hit by the backlash from the talisman blast and sustained severe external injuries.
“D*mn it! It's all Camp South Master's fault. He screwed up our plans. I should've killed him before this,” Sole Wolf uttered through clenched teeth.
“Don't worry. Things won't end well for him,” said Zeke.
Sole Wolf gave a bitter smile. “During our brush with death just now, I clearly spotted him fleeing.”
Zeke shook his head. “Not to worry. He won't get far. I've poisoned him with a cursed parasitic worm.”
Huh? Sole Wolf and the others looked at Zeke curiously. “Mr. Williams, when did you do that?”
“Technically, I didn't personally poison Camp South Master. All I did was use the cursed parasitic worm to poison Sunshade. That parasitic poison can spread to others, so anyone who came into contact with Sunshade would get poisoned too,” Zeke explained.
Gasp!
The others inhaled sharply. Great Marshal acted so ruthlessly. I can't believe that in order to poison Camp South Master, he'd also go as far as to let it affect anyone who came into contact with Sunshade.
“How contagious is it?” Sole Wolf quickly asked.
“It's very potent. It'll poison anyone within a one-meter radius,” Zeke replied.
“One person will spread it to ten people, ten to hundreds, and hundreds to thousands... It won't take long before it spreads to everyone in Camp South.” After a brief pause, Sole Wolf continued, “Wait a minute. If Camp South Master has been poisoned, and we've been in such close proximity to him, does that mean it has spread to us?”
Zeke nodded. “And it's not just you guys. Even I haven't been spared.”
All of them stared at him, dumbfounded. It's no wonder he holds the Great Marshal title. He's utterly ruthless!
“I'll teach you the technique to neutralize the poison. You only have to do as I say,” Zeke told them.
They all agreed readily. However, just as Zeke was about to help them neutralize the poison, Fortuna sprang forth suddenly. It glowed brightly with a golden hue in the dark, enclosed space.
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