Alister hadn't even gotten the chance to understand why the rainbow-colored bird was singing at such a time when a loud commotion erupted outside. Screams of pain and terror thundered across the entire encampment, worrying the hero.
DING
-----
URGENT QUEST
OBJECTIVE: Protect the king
REWARD: 1000 EXP
PENALTY: None
-----
'What are we up against this time? Can't someone have some time to rest in this godforsaken world?'
Alister heaved a long sigh, opened his inventory and equipped his weapon before storming out of his tent.
"Hero! We're under attack!"
Alister met a young soldier standing outside his tent. The soldier was shivering, as was evident in his hands that failed to hold his sword properly.
Alister nodded his head and sprinted towards the centre of the commotion.
The big campfire was still burning intensely, providing sharper illumination over the chaos than the moon hanging in the sky.
Surrounding the big campfire were the crew members and countless abnormalities.
Corrupted humans could be seen overpowering the few crew members brave enough to attack them.
"What are those?"
Alister wondered aloud as he stared at a new type of abnormality accompanying the corrupted humans.
These creatures seem to be of different races based on their appearance and body structure. Most of them even had similar builds to ordinary animals like wolves, lions, bears, and even apes such as monkeys and gorillas!
However, all these creatures were of the same rotten grey color as the corrupted humans. Like the corrupted humans, they had soulless, glowing red eyes that shone with extreme bloodlust.
"They are corrupted beasts, several times stronger than corrupted humans and very difficult to kill."
The soldier standing behind him, the same one who had come to inform him about the chaos, replied in a shaking tone.
"I can already tell. Where is the king?"
"He is inside his tent, Theobald and some soldiers are guarding him."
The soldier pointed at the royal tent where soldiers were fighting off dozens of corrupted humans and beasts.
The influx of corrupted creatures targeting the royal tent made it seem as though they had a mission to kill the king.
'No wonder the urgent quest only asked me to protect the king, something is definitely going on,' thought Alister.
"Go and assist the others! Remember to apply the warning I gave several nights ago during the corrupted humans attack and apply the same with the corrupted beasts," Alister said, leaving the young soldier with a warning as he sprinted towards the royal tent.
"Protect the king with all your strength!"
"Remember to follow the instructions of the hero, target the necks!"
Theobald's voice rang out constantly as he fought off dozens of corrupted creatures targeting him. Corpses of both his comrades and adversaries surrounded him.
The few soldiers still standing fought with all their strength, but it wasn't sufficient against the corrupted beasts.
A corrupted gorilla could be seen smashing the skull of a dead soldier continuously while growling.
Not far away, a corrupted tiger sank its razor-sharp fangs into the neck of a struggling soldier and began chewing mercilessly on his flesh while the soldier cried out for help until he lost consciousness.
Aside from Captain Theobald, not a single soldier could withstand the beasts' attack. Even fighting in groups, they were quickly slaughtered by a single corrupted beast.
In just a few minutes, more than half of the crew lost their lives — it was drastic.
In the few seconds that Alister spent sprinting towards the royal tent, he saw an unfortunate soldier die in the most gruesome manner—eaten, internal organs exposed, turned to meat paste. It was nothing short of revolting.
Alister silently noted that all the soldiers were going to lose their lives and there was nothing he could do.
GROWL!
Once the corrupted beasts spotted the hero sprinting towards them, they let out furious growls and began approaching him with intent to kill.
Dozens of corrupted beasts of different races, as well as corrupted humans, abandoned their opponents and approached the hero. Only those still attacking Theobald remained, considering him a notable opponent unlike the weaker soldiers.
'Well, this is strange,' Alister commented inwardly as he tightened his grip around his sword and increased his movement speed, quickly arriving in front of his first opponents—a group of corrupted gorillas.
The corrupted gorillas were about the same height as him but were huge, emanating an intimidating presence with their glowing red eyes.
GROWL!
The gorillas beat their chests angrily while growling.
The two at the front leapt towards the hero with their huge hands clasped above their heads.
As they landed close to him, they sent their massive hands flying downward, ready to smash the hero into a meat puddle.
'Too slow.'
Alister scoffed as he swung his sword at the two corrupted gorillas fearlessly and expertly. His swing was so fast that he executed a couple of lethal swings in the span of a second.
GROWL!
The two corrupted gorillas landed on the ground and growled angrily while staring at their own hands beside them.
Alister left the handless abnormalities and attacked the others storming towards him.
He faced them fearlessly and flawlessly.
Though the corrupted beasts were said to be several times stronger than the already disastrous corrupted humans, against Alister they were only as strong as ordinary human beings.
Thanks to his improved swordsmanship skill and his current physical prowess, he could easily decapitate any corrupted creature that appeared before him.
[ You've slayed corrupted tiger, EXP +83 ]
[ You've slayed corrupted tiger, EXP +83 ]
[ You've leveled up ]
[ Level 4 --------> Level 5 ]
[ You've slayed 7 Corrupted humans, EXP +157 ]
[ You've slayed x2 corrupted monkeys, EXP +148 ]
Numerous notifications flashed before his eyes. In the middle of battle, he felt his body getting stronger and his slaughtering rate go up by a lot, so much that it was easily noticed by the corrupted humans he was battling against.
[ You've leveled up ]
[ Level 5 --------> Level 6 ]
....
[ You've leveled up ]
[ Level 6 -------> Level 7 ]