" SHAMAN SCUM, GET YOUR BENT SHOULDERS OUT OF YOUR DISGUSTING HUTS BEFORE I BREAK IT TO PIECES" Maki shouted furiously outside the shaman hut as soon three dark, gnarly and nearly hairless men walked out of the hut slowly with a severe case of bent backs and bent shoulders.
" What is it? Why are you shouting barbarian? " The shaman in the middle asked
" What is it? You have the gall to ask me what is it after everything you have done? " Maki said mockingly as he kicked the Shaman in the centre of his chest and sent him flying through the door of his own hut.
" How dare you do that! I will curse your seven generations for this insult " the shaman on the left said as he was clearly mistaken at reading the atmosphere of the room.
*SPLAT*
A moment later, his head rolled down on the ground as Maki beheaded him for that comment with his giant two handed sword.
" NOO, Bergham! " The shaman on the right shrieked as he fell to his knees and cried over the dead body of his friend.
" What do you want? Why do you do this? " The shaman who was sent flying moments prior asked as he got the rubble off from around himself and tried to get up.
" You infect my people with death and disease and still have the gall to ask me what do I WANT?
You betrayed my trust, Shaman, you betrayed our agreement to not harm my people and now you will face my wrath " Maki said as he held his giant two handed sword with a single hand and domineeringly pointed it towards the Shaman's head.
" We did no such thing and I have no idea what you are talking about, but today you have made a mistake by killing Bergham as everything else no longer matters.
Even if you kill us both today, our souls will be claimed by the dark shaman god and your clan will fall prey to the curse of our death.
Your anger and foolishness will be your undoing chieftain, your soul will suffer with my curse even in hell " The shaman who sat up from the rubble said as he retrieved his cane from his inventory and began preparing some spell.
" Oh no you don't! " Maki said as he charged towards the shaman, trying to kill him before he could complete his spell but was stopped by the other Shaman who threw his body in the middle and bought the Shaman at the back a valuable few seconds.
[ Soul Sacrifice ]
The shaman in the back said as his body began turning into black tar, decomposing fast as his head kept menacingly staring at the chieftain with a sinister smile that was sure to give the man nightmares for weeks.
In his rage Maki killed the three Shamans within his camp before getting to the bottom of the matter's truth and not only made a wrong assumption, but got cursed needlessly as a result.
************
( 2 weeks later )
The epidemic problem had become extremely severe at the fort as 4000 Soldiers had been infected with the plague in the last 15 days.
With over 1500 dead already, the plaque was a threat that could seriously destroy the clan as a whole if allowed to spread unchecked.
Healer Furio had finally caught onto the true cause of the disease spreading which was ' Rat Infestation ', however, he blamed it on the poor hygiene habits of the Barbarian clan as a whole that this situation had arisen.
The barbarians hardly ever got sick, which had made their lifestyle such that they could completely ignore hygiene decisions such as eating food with clean hands and cleaning after themselves once they were done popping.
While such practices were okay in the absence of such extraordinary viruses, however, under such circumstances it was deadly.
The infection rate had become so high that it had begun interfering with daily duties such as patrolling, fort upkeep and training.
Maki could do nothing about the situation either as his letters of plea to the South-western fort had came back fetching only 2 healers who could also not cure the disease but only offer pain relief and HP increase spells.
As things progressed, Maki began considering taking the healthy men and temporarily abandoning the northern fort until the epidemic had been contained, as the disease showed no signs of stopping at the moment.
" Doctor Furio, will the sick men take it kindly if we leave them to their own devices inside the fort? " Maki asked Furio, who rubbed his temples as she shook his head.
" No way, you will lose all respect as a chieftain if you run away from this Maki, " Furio said as he disapproved of Maki's decision.
" What do I do then? I'm losing a hundred healthy men to the plague everyday. The south has barred us from spreading the disease there and will only accept the healthy men for asylum.
If we stay here within the next 10 days we will be 70% infected ". Maki said as he tried to reason with Furio.
The two of them were the most senior members of the clan, and the decision of the future of the clan depended on their call today.
As a leader Maki was in a lose-lose situation that saw him unable to save the healthy or abandon the sick, and hence the call now vested in the hands of the chief medical officer Maki.
******
( Meanwhile Max )
To say that Max was rolling in EXP was an understatement.
Max gained 10 levels since the start of the death plaque and was now levelling up once every few hours as the death rate/ hour reached sky high levels.
His office reeked of sweat,grime and bacteria like someone had stuffed 100 gym worn socks inside, however, Max did not care.
His full attention was on spreading the disease inside the enemy camp to the maximum as the judgement day when either their forces were thinned out to nothing, or the healthy forces were forced to abandon fort was coming nearby.
Max could feel that he was zeroing in on his first major victory as a captain and hence he was not going to stop at this critical juncture now.
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/// This bonus chapter has been sponsored by patron allcat_gaming, please thank him in the comments for this one.
I'll also try and see if I can do one more chapter today ///