The group consumed the crystals for a while, then moved on.
Soon, the glowing of the crystals stopped, and Roy crawled out of the sloped rock and deactivated his skill.
'Those things are definitely an A-rank elite monsters.'
Normally, it would take two or three A-rank experts, or a master, to bring down an A-rank elite monster.
Roy stood up and checked his status,
-------------------
Name: Roy
Age: 28
Bloodline: --/--
Mana core: A->C (fractured)
fragments: [--/--] (fractured)
Combat level: Master->Expert (fractured pathways)
Battle arts: Weapon master [★★★]
Skills: [stealth(C)],[Feather steps(D)]
Subspace: [twin swords (C)],[Ebonsteel sword (D)], [First aid box(-)]
-------------------
He had already hit his core limits long ago.
And not a single thing in his possession could be of any help to him in this situation. All the potions and food were in Robert's subspace.
Roy sighed and then continued to follow in the direction pointed by the compass.
At this point, he wasn't sure if it was working correctly because It was leading him past the mountains straight into the depths of the dead zone.
But this was his only lifeline; if even this won't work, then his life was pretty much over.
Despite his heavy heart, Roy limped slowly and carefully.
After 3 hours of continuous hiding and limping, Roy finally found what he was looking for.
He stood in front of the Ashford mercenary group's uniform, ripped from inside by the jagged red crystals.
Nearby, a health potion lay on the ground, half spilled, its contents seeping into the glittering shards.
Roy knew exactly who this uniform belonged to.
On this raid, only one other person besides him was from the Ashford Mercenary Group.
A chain tag dangled from a red crystal, catching the light just enough to reveal the name.
[Robert Ashford]
Roy's chest tightened,
Somehow, his friend had turned into a crystal corpse. Most likely after touching some crystal.
'No, it's not just crystals.'
He glanced at his own hand, small crystal buds forming on his skin.
'The very air in here is infectious. The crystals accelerate the transformation.'
He just stood there staring at the red crystals.
He had wanted to say so many things to Robert, to curse him, to let out all his anger, but now, standing here, he found himself at a loss for words.
After a long silence, he finally spoke.
"Look at you all shiny and glitter now, seems like you finally made it in life."
But no response came.
Roy freed the chain tag from the grip of the red crystal,
"Rest well, Robert Ashford."
Then he crouched down and picked the health potion.
"You will be remembered."
He drank the last drops of the health potion, the bitter taste lingering on his tongue.
Then he got up and looked at the chain tags he had gathered.
There were nine people on this raid.
Four low-ranked ones were found dead, impaled on sharp crystals when they were hurled out of the rift.
He had heard the screams of two earlier, most likely killed by Crystalis.
And he just found Robert transformed into crystals by the infection.
That left only him and Leo.
At this point, even if he found Leo, nothing was going to change. But he still carried on.
After searching for a while, Roy came across Leo's body near a lake.
The upper half of the body was gone, organs scattered across the ground, and blood smeared a trail toward the lake as if something had dragged it there.
He knew this was Leo's body from the dagger embedded in the ground near the corpse.
He put the compass back in subspace.
'There is no need to look anymore.'
He picked up the dagger and put it inside the subspace, too. Then he hurriedly left the lake area.
Leo was a fiercer warrior than he was.
But even he fell.
He walked as far as possible from the lake.
_kreeee!
Suddenly,
The cry of a bird rang out. He quickly found a sloped rock, activated the [stealth], and hid under it.
Rays of blinding light swept across the earth, and a giant peacock made of crystals landed beside the corpse of Leo.
Roy didn't dare to look.
He didn't even breathe. From the glow of the crystals on the ground, he can tell something far more dangerous than Crystalis has descended on the ground.
He just lay there, praying not to be noticed.
The peacock scanned its surroundings, as if searching for something. After finding nothing for a while, it spread its wings and flew away.
_Kree!
Soon, the glow of crystals slowly faded, signaling that the danger had passed.
But Roy remained lying beneath the rock.
'Damn it! Damn it! Damn it.'
All of his comrades were dead.
And even though he was a (C)-rank expert, in the dead zone that housed the monsters no weaker than (A)-rank, he was nothing more than a sitting duck, waiting to be slaughtered.
He can't even fight properly with a fractured mana core.
He thought that if he managed to regroup with others, Leo could attempt to break through to (A)-rank and that might increase their chances of escape.
Now that even Leo is dead, all the hopes were lost.
'Damn it.'
Roy gritted his teeth, slamming his head on the rock.
_Crack!
But instead of the dull thud of flesh and bone, the sound of shattering crystal rang in his ears.
He froze. Slowly, his trembling fingers reached for his forehead, only to feel the cold, unyielding surface of crystal where skin should have been.
His gaze fell to his hands and arms. They had already hardened into jagged crimson shards, half of his body already overtaken by the unnatural growth.
Roy exhaled a heavy sigh and let himself sink against the ground. His body refused to move.
'Guess this is it for me.'