In the end, four people died.

Four out of the fourteen they were meant to save.

Two were slaughtered the moment the fighting began. One cleaved in half by the armored Whisperers during their clash with Elaine. And the last—an arrow straight through the heart.

Isaac was ready for this—or worse—outcome the moment he saw the first corpse. Did that make him feel any less frustrated, any less angry when he looked at the ten survivors they had managed to save?

No… Not at all.

That said, he understood well enough that he and his team had done everything they could. Could the plan have been better? The execution? Maybe. Probably. But none of that mattered now. The act was done. Wondering about what-ifs never ended well.

Still, the anger inside his mind would take time to fade.

Anger at the Whisperers for slaughtering humans without hesitation. Anger at the Overseer and the Overlords for being the cause of it all. And most of all, anger at himself for once more not being good enough. Just like back during the fight against the Minotaur.

You can't save everyone, Isaac told himself as he made another pass over the quarry outside the village. Nor do I want to. That's not who I am.

He didn't feel guilty about the four deaths. If anything, without him and his team stepping in, these people would have been dead in a few days anyway—beaten, starved, or worse. So no, guilt wasn't the issue.

What gnawed at him was the fact that things hadn't gone his way. That he wasn't strong enough, fast enough, smart enough to execute everything perfectly. Ever since the Breakout began, every little failure and mistake like this scraped at his nerves.

Unhealthy? Probably. Definitely. But that was simply how he felt nowadays.

At least I'm self-aware, Isaac thought with a tired sigh. He then landed by the village's only intact gate and shifted back into his human form. No one came to greet him, no monsters, no survivors, or his teammates. Not that he expected them to.

The monsters were all dead—he made sure of that—while his team was inside the village, helping the survivors adjust. Not an easy job, and definitely not the reason why Isaac got out of there the moment he could. His people skills just weren't up to a task like that.

Of course, he didn't run away to search for the remaining monsters right away. After the main battle finished, he and his team first gathered all the survivors in a large house that probably belonged to the Chief before. Again, getting them there hadn't been easy. The ten survivors were terrified and confused. Some even tried to run.

They never got far, though.

And so, after about half an hour of screaming, running, and even some biting, they had managed to get everyone in one place. From there, they tried asking a few questions to find out how these people even got enslaved by the monsters. What happened to them during the Breakout?

But the answers they had received weren't answers at all. Only stuttered nonsense. More yelling. And some confused questions of their own.

At that point, Isaac decided to get out of there and make sure the village and its surroundings were safe for now. A job he could actually do.

They wouldn't be getting any real answers anytime soon, and he had no idea how to help them anyway. His skill set was much better used somewhere else. Unfortunately—or fortunately—his job of securing the area was now done, and it was time to face the music. He could only hope the others had managed to calm the survivors down a bit in the hour he was gone.

Still, Isaac didn't hurry. He just slowly strolled into the village and headed toward where everyone should be. He might as well use this moment to check on his notifications. With everything that had been going on, he never really had a chance to check them.

Let's see…

Well done, Hosts! You have managed to slay all the occupants of this monster village. The threat has been neutralized, and this instance is now inactive. Your rewards shall arrive soon. Level progression will be distributed between all contributors.

Be advised: Different monsters may take over this territory in the future to create another village.

Same as last time, Isaac hummed. No surprises there. Next.

You have leveled up! You are now level 21. Distribution of Ascension Power has failed to advance any of your attributes. No further changes detected.

Isaac clicked his tongue. He had at least hoped for his Regeneration to advance to the next grade. Seemed like that would have to wait for the next level, along with any other improvements. Disappointing, but hardly the end of the world.

And finally…

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

The following skills have advanced tiers:

Crimson Death (V->VI)

Cursed Draw (II->III)

Again, not a lot of progress, but the fighting didn't really last long. He would have liked Harden to advance again, but without getting more than a few shallow cuts, that wasn't really possible. The same went for his Pain Resistance.

Huh… been a while since that one advanced. Guess it makes sense, though. It's already at tier X.

With a shake of his head, Isaac dismissed all notifications. He considered reaching into his second Storage Brand to find out what rewards the Interface had given him this time, but just then, he rounded a corner, and the Chief's house came into view.

To his surprise, James was leaning against the wall by the entrance, head down. That couldn't be good.

Might as well, Isaac thought, and cleared his throat as he neared the other man. This quiet sound was more than enough for James to look up.

"Oh… you're back," he said, sounding twice as tired as after the fight. "We good?"

Isaac nodded. "Haven't seen a Whisperer anywhere nearby. Not in the quarry and not in the forest. Other monsters are also staying away for now."

"That's… good." James exhaled. "It's a damn mess and a half in there."

Isaac stifled a wince. "Shit. Did they say anything?"

"Yeah… Apparently, no one remembers a thing from the last few days. They're from a small city, Taft. Said two days after the Breakout hit us, they were just living normal lives, and then"—James snapped his fingers—"Boom, they wake up here, confused and terrified, surrounded by dead monsters."

Oh…

Isaac opened his mouth, then shut it again. For a moment, silence stretched between them.

"Maybe that's for the best."

James nodded. "Agreed. If I were in their shoes, I wouldn't want to remember any of this either. Doesn't change the fact they're all scared out of their minds, though."

No surprises there. Still…

"How bad is it really?" Isaac asked.

James hummed, tilting his head back to stare at the sky. "Honestly? Could have been worse. They are listening and pretty much accept all we tell them. Giving them clothes to change into and something to eat probably helped too. Best of all is that they all have their Origins unlocked and are at least level 4."

Isaac blinked. That was good, very good even. He still had no idea what they would do with the ten survivors, but to hear that they weren't completely helpless was quite comforting. Not that level four meant much out here, but still.

"Should make things a little easier," Isaac admitted after a moment.

"Yeah," James said. "Or well, it will once they all calm down and agree to take a step out of this damn house."

Right… Isaac grimaced. There was still the problem of them getting brainwashed to get through after all. That could wait, though. He had a different detail on his mind right now.

"Taft," he muttered. "Any idea how far that is from LA?"

James shrugged. "About a hundred miles, give or take. Doable, if you ask me."

With that, Isaac agreed. They had already traveled three times that in the last few days. Then again, considering what had happened today, the remaining time might not be enough. He even summoned the timer, hoping it would show him something else.

It didn't.

The next stage shall begin in <60h:54m:42s>.

They all wanted to arrive in LA before the true Virus Wars began. That was the plan from the start. And with the distance remaining, that shouldn't have been a problem, especially with the monsters in their path constantly growing weaker. Only, nothing was the same now. They had ten terrified Hosts under their care. No way they would survive the trip.

He told James as much.

"I know, man. I know," the older man groaned, burying his head in his hands. "Hell, I doubt we could even get them to leave the village, much less haul them through the wilds. And even if they came, we would never make it to LA in time."

Isaac sighed as he also leaned against the wall of the house and closed his eyes. "That's why you're here?" he asked quietly.

"Pretty much," James muttered. "Needed a minute to clear my head."

"How's that working out for you?"

The man snorted. "Not great, as you can see."

Isaac let out a soft chuckle and let the silence settle again. Neither of them wanted to go inside, and without Marie and Elaine, there was no point in making plans yet anyway. Besides, James really looked like he needed a moment to think.

Still though, there was something else Isaac could do in the meantime.

He raised his left hand, his gaze dropping to the second Storage Brand on his wrist.

First, he summoned the sack of Virality Gems that the Interface had gifted him. There were exactly ten of them, all Normal-grade. He consumed them and frowned when no notification appeared. Guess he was still too far off from Phase Three.

What else?

The next object that landed in his palm, Isaac recognized right away. It was a Blueprint shard, a bit larger and brighter than usual. There was only one, though.

[Virus Blueprint Shard | Grade: Mystic] A small shard of a shattered Virus Blueprint. Can be used in crafting, or combined with 5 other shards to form a random Mystic-quality Blueprint.

So that's how it is, Isaac mused, rolling the shard between his fingers. Considering it needed four other shards to combine with, it might take a while before he got any use out of it. Oh well… Next—

"There you are." A voice he knew well stopped him from summoning the next item. "What are you two even doing here?"

Isaac turned to look at Marie, who had said all that. She just came out of the large primitive house, with Elaine following right behind.

"What else, Ari?" James shot her a weak grin. "Thinking about the meaning of life."

Marie crossed her arms. "Interesting time to do that. Hmm?"

James chuckled. "Better than never."

"Of course you would say that. Whatever…" Marie sighed. "Listen, we need to talk about the elephant in the room. The survivors. What the hell do we do with them?"

James' expression twisted into a grimace. "We can't leave them," he muttered. "But dragging them with us isn't an option either."

Out of nowhere, Elaine spoke up.

"Then I will stay."

Isaac's eyes widened.

What?

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