Leo didn’t have time to wonder what was up with Philips, as the next attack shot towards him. He placed his arms up to take the brunt of the blow, the ice shattered against them. With each attack he saw Philips’ wounds worsen, as the white bandages started to turn red.

Two more attacks aimed at Leo’s head shot forward, as he barely managed to duck out of the way. This left him unable to dodge the blast to his chest, which fell apart on contact. He didn’t want to go all out in his attempts to dodge, afraid of accidentally destroying the building.

Another blast shattered against his side, as Leo realized that this wasn’t the same force he felt from Philips before. He felt thankful, as the attacks being thrown against him were much weaker than before. Instead of burning frost, this was far closer to large ice cubes being thrown. No longer afraid of being struck, Leo started to walk towards Philips.

The mage shot out a plethora of shots, yet each one seemed more pitiful than the last. Leo got a few feet from him, before Philips stopped his attack. He turned around and marched down the hallway.

Leo couldn’t just let him leave, as it seemed as if instead of fighting Philips had chosen to simply ignore Leo. Leo tried to get in his way, but Philips sidestepped him. He didn’t want to just grab the injured man, afraid that he would worsen his already severe wounds.

Leo shouted, “Marem, get up! It’s an emergency.”

He saw Marem quickly rise, as she heard his call for help.

“Huh, what, what’s happening? Why the hell's Philips out of bed?” she demanded.

She grabbed her staff, as she stomped over to Leo and Philips.

“Philips, why are you out of bed? The stitches aren’t meant for gallivanting, they’re to make sure you don’t bleed out,” she near snarled at him.

Philips didn’t respond to her, as he continued to walk down the hall. The tired Marem and confused Leo followed him, unsure how to bring him back. Leo felt confused as to why Marem didn't know what caused this, until he remembered that he knew the reason.

He had been so distracted by the fight with the spike devil, that he nearly forgot what Philips told him on their first encounter. The disease, or whatever it was, could be spread through the monster that terrorized the city. Philips was infected with whatever had taken over the people.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“Marem, wait he’s infected. The people of this town all left suddenly, that’s why it’s deserted. The monster I left to fight, a spike devil, would infect people and Philips said they would just leave after that. I don’t know what it is, but from what he told me there isn’t any way to stop them,” stammered Leo as he tried to explain the situation to Marem.

“Well we can’t just let him die, the infection is definitely an issue but it’s a future one. If he keeps going like that, he’ll die in an hour at best,” she retorted.

Leo couldn’t just break his legs to stop him from going. Well he could break his legs, but he shouldn’t do it. Philips didn’t look well at all, as his bandages were now stained a deep red. They were slick with blood. Leo tried his best to think of what he he could do to find a solution.

What struck Leo as odd about the situation was the fact that Philips had attacked him when he first awoke. Philips said the infected just left the city, not fought off anyone else. The spike devil also had ‘INFECTED’ before its name, and it fought survivors. He couldn’t help but wonder, what if the infection wasn’t as simple as Philips had assumed.

It was like his mind was read, as Philips whipped around with his wand raised. Leo had just assumed he was harmless now, he hadn’t expect another attack. While Leo braced himself for another attack, he felt his heart drop as he saw the wand was not pointed at him. It was pointed at Marem.

She had no time to put her guard up, as the attack came to her as a surprise. Philips shot off a blast of magic, too close range for her to dodge. Yet it was not too close for Leo. He launched himself in between the two, a move that shattered the ground he was on, as the blast of magic struck his chest.

He felt it, as if pure ice shot through his veins. He saw the ice form around the magic, as a deep frost chilled his very being. These were not the harmless shots he was able to tank earlier. He smacked the ice off, as he quickly rose to his feet.

Philips' eyes were as dull as before, but now his face had broken into a wide smile. Philips fired another shot that Leo blocked with his arm. It seared, and as he knocked off the chunk of ice, the pain didn't go with it. With Marem behind him, he would have to bear through the pain.

“Figured. It. Out,” wheezed Philips, his voice lacked any energy or tone.

Before Leo could ask any questions, he was barraged with more shots. If Philips had been a rockmancer or something, this would have been a better fight for Leo. His complaints didn’t do anything to soothe the frost that permeated his skin.

He took rough steps forward, as he could barely contain his strength, each step shattered the elegant hallway they were in. Leo didn’t have time to knock off the ice, as Philips loaded him up with blasts. He just needed to reach him, and then he could do something to stop this.

Leo felt thankful when the blasts stopped, after a loud thunk sounded through the room. He focused his eyes to see Philips on the floor, with Marem standing over him. She held her staff in her hands, in a way similar to a baseball bat.

“Got him,” she proclaimed.