Half an hour later, at the South Gate of Mida City.
“This world is truly so complicated,” the girl walking alongside Mo Tan sighed softly, her expression a little bitter.
“Since Luna herself doesn’t mind, you shouldn’t overthink it,” Mo Tan chuckled softly, then turned to greet the two guards stationed at the South Gate before continuing, “The main point now is that we can’t popularize her healing method, so we still have to follow the previous plan. The situation is still dire, and now there’s also a mastermind involved with necromancy, though that’s just a possibility…”
Yu Cheng pursed her lips and nodded silently. She still found it hard to believe that the disaster in Misha County might have been man-made.
This was beyond the scope of words like 'cold-blooded killer' or 'treating human lives like dirt.' It was pure madness. It was important to remember that, up to this point, over one-tenth of Misha County's civilians had died, and many more were living in constant fear, suffering from severe illness, and displaced, spending every day in despair. The Mutants that appeared recently were an even greater disaster. According to the dozen or so Holy Knights sent back by Xia Lian, countless people had already died at the hands of these monsters, and over ninety percent of the villages and towns had been slaughtered in just a few days, often by locals who had ‘mutated.’
If everything was truly not as simple as a 'natural disaster,' as Mo Tan suspected, then it wasn't a question of morality anymore, but a question of whether the mastermind behind it all had any humanity left...
Yu Cheng shook her head vigorously, casting away those unpleasant thoughts, then rather stiffly changed the subject: “I heard from Ai Mang that the previous rescue operation’s success was all thanks to you, Mo Tan.”
“I just did my best,” Mo Tan shook his head and smiled, explaining earnestly, “The greatest credit goes to Luna. If she hadn’t led the villagers to hold out for most of the day and maintained their physical condition, there probably wouldn’t have been any survivors when we arrived. Next are Tairo and the other Holy Knights; several times they…”
“Mo Tan~” Yu Cheng gave him a gentle sideways glance, then softly interrupted, “Of course I know Miss Luna and Mr. Tairo worked very hard, but you can’t be too modest. Ai Mang told me the whole process. If it weren’t for you, no one might have made it back alive.”
Mo Tan was stunned: “Was I being too modest?”
“It’s not really modesty,” Yu Cheng frowned, her expression a bit conflicted, “Hmm, I can’t quite explain it, but I always feel like you’re not objective enough when you look at yourself in many situations…”
Mo Tan laughed wryly. He felt that no one in this world could examine themselves more ‘objectively’ than he could.
The two continued to chat idly, and soon arrived at a well-established small outpost. Inside were orderly rows of tents and simple wooden huts. From a distance, many people could be seen moving about, most of them clergy and adventurers helping out, but there were also many civilians bustling around. Although the latter’s physical conditions were not good, most of their faces were beaming with vitality and hope, a stark contrast to how they were previously.
That’s right, this was the small camp that had been plagued by despair and filled with lamentations just a while ago. Thanks to Yu Cheng’s tireless efforts during this period, most of the seriously ill and injured had received proper treatment. Although only a minority had fully recovered, hardly anyone had died from illness or mutated into a Mutant during this time. The ‘compassionate Holy Maiden Wang Yu’ had become the hope that dispelled the gloom, lifting most people’s spirits.
“The compassionate Holy Maiden Wang Yu or whatever…” Yu Cheng’s face flushed from Mo Tan’s earlier joke, and she protested softly with her head down, “It’s too embarrassing!”
Mo Tan shrugged, greeting a few familiar priests and clerics nearby, while quietly asking Yu Cheng, “By the way, when I wasn’t here, you didn’t try that interfered Luminescence, did you?”
“No, after triggering the Dark Interference, I secretly cast Holy Healing on myself,” Yu Cheng stuck out her tongue and shook her head, “I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to handle it if something unexpected happened, so I decided to wait until you came back to try.”
Mo Tan nodded slightly, then asked a Sun Church cleric who was approaching from nearby, “Are there still seriously injured people in the camp?”
“About fifty people,” the latter nodded, “This morning, two more teams of Holy Knights brought people over, totaling over a hundred people, and their conditions aren’t very good. Everyone is currently preparing living quarters for them. Fortunately, there’s still a good amount of wood left, but if another two or three hundred people come, it probably won’t be enough. Uh… sorry, is Holy Maiden planning to treat everyone now? I’ll call everyone over right away.”
Yu Cheng smiled sweetly: “Thank you for your trouble.”
“No problem!” The young junior cleric’s face reddened, and he quickly turned and ran into the camp.
A moment later, Yu Cheng, in the center of the crowd, turned and smiled at Mo Tan, then wiggled her index finger.
The latter immediately understood and quickly walked to the girl’s side: “Triggered?”
“Mm.”
“Start. Stop immediately if you notice anything wrong.”
“Okay~”
Yu Cheng nodded vigorously, then raised her right hand, activating the Luminescence spell while in the 【Dark Interference】 state.
According to the results of her previous experiments with Mo Tan, this divine spell, which was originally supposed to provide illumination, should have no effect when cast, and would consume Yu Cheng’s current 【Dark Interference】 state. This was the result they most hoped to see, but…
Whoosh~!
Dozens of black mists rose from the Plague-infected patients around them, then swiftly rushed towards Yu Cheng, their immense momentum seemingly about to swallow her whole!
It wasn’t ineffective!
Mo Tan immediately realized something was wrong and quickly shouted to Yu Cheng, who was already starting to panic, “Stop quickly!”
“I’m already stopping, but… I can’t stop!” Yu Cheng exclaimed, then quickly moved away from the innocent people around her who still didn’t know what was happening, fearing she might affect them.
And those streaks of ink-black mist quickly followed her, enveloping the girl in an instant, and then… gradually began to gather at her fingertips.
The talent of Holy Light Avatar seemed to have completely lost its effect. The strange mists were not concealed by any special effects, but wantonly emitted an aura of coldness and decay.
The surrounding civilians began to stir, and a few Holy Knights not far away were already rushing over!
“Everyone, don’t panic! Holy Maiden is using divine magic to dispel the evil forces within you!” Mo Tan shouted decisively, then quickly released an authentic Calm Aura, temporarily calming the commotion in the crowd before grabbing the black vortex floating at Yu Cheng’s fingertips.
I hope Shuang Ye didn’t lie to me; interfering with the caster during the spell’s preparation process will cause it to be interrupted… This absolutely has to be true!
And then…
His right hand easily passed through the increasingly large dark vortex. He didn’t grab the spell’s core, but instead directly held Yu Cheng’s small hand, which had become surprisingly cold at some point.
“Huh?” Yu Cheng trembled slightly, then immediately looked at Mo Tan, who was blocking her in front, shielding her from the Holy Knights’ view, her face filled with worry: “Mo Tan, are you… alright?”
The latter quickly checked his character panel, then shook his head and said, “I’m fine. Are you feeling anything unusual right now? Is that Holy Light Avatar still active? Did you lose any health? Did you gain any negative status effects? Is that Luminescence still ongoing?”
“Uh… that…” Yu Cheng was a bit dizzy from Mo Tan’s barrage of questions and took two seconds to respond softly, “I’m fine. Holy Light Avatar still shows as active, and my health and everything else are very normal… Ah!?”
Seeing her suddenly show a surprised expression, Mo Tan quickly asked, “What’s wrong?”
“My magic power is recovering!” Yu Cheng’s eyes widened in surprise as she spoke to Mo Tan, who was currently being permeated by a large amount of black mist, “It’s incredibly fast, about three percent per second. Oh, it’s slowing down…”
What’s slowing down? Is the magic power recovery slowing down?
Mo Tan was stunned for a moment, then felt the surrounding black mist gradually thinning, while the black vortex at Yu Cheng’s fingertips began to shrink rapidly. A few seconds later, there was no trace left.
At the same time, two Holy Knights from a distance quickly arrived. They immediately guarded Yu Cheng on both sides, drawing their longswords without a word. The younger, blond knight nervously looked around and said in a deep voice, “Holy Maiden, we sensed an unusually evil power!”
“Don’t worry, Holy Maiden!” The other, more experienced knight turned to comfort Yu Cheng, “Our comrades will arrive soon, please wait a moment. In the name of the God of Justice, any being that wishes to harm you will be vanquished by us!”
Mo Tan pursed his lips and smiled. He always found these Holy Knights who believed in the God of Justice and Courage particularly interesting, and he was also very curious about the style of the God of Justice and Courage…
“It’s alright now, both of you,” Mo Tan glanced at Yu Cheng, who became less talkative when she saw strangers, and smiled at the two Holy Knights in front of him, “There’s no evil trying to attack the pure Holy Maiden. It’s just Holy Maiden using divine magic to help everyone purify those dark forces.”
“Who are you…” The younger knight frowned, then suddenly realized their hands were intertwined, and exclaimed in surprise, “You’re the old flame!”
What am I?
Mo Tan was stunned, then immediately realized he was still holding Yu Cheng’s hand and quickly raised both hands to explain, “I’m not!”
The older, middle-aged knight was furious: “If you’re not the old flame, how dare you take advantage of the chaos to touch Holy Maiden’s hand! Holy Light, this pervert deserves to be…”
“No, no!” Yu Cheng, seeing that the guy was already swinging his sword, quickly stood in front of Mo Tan and explained in a flustered rush, “He… he is the old flame!”
Mo Tan: “…”
The middle-aged knight blinked, then elegantly sheathed his sword, grabbed Mo Tan’s hand and shook it: “I’ve long admired your name, old flame. May the gods be with us.”
The young knight also performed a proper knight’s salute, solemnly stating, “Hello, old flame. May the gods be with us.”
Mo Tan: “…”
“Ahem~” The middle-aged knight cleared his throat rather awkwardly, then nodded sternly: “Since Holy Maiden is purifying evil, we won’t disturb you further. Let’s go, Pat.”
The blond Holy Knight named Pat nodded in confusion, and before leaving, didn’t forget to turn back and bid farewell to the two: “It was an honor to fight alongside you, Holy Maiden. Goodbye, old flame.”
Then he received an elbow from the older senior next to him: “When did she fight alongside you?”
“Oh, oh…”
“Can’t you be more perceptive! You can’t even tell he’s the old flame!”
“But you were the one who was going to chop him down first! I hadn’t even reacted yet!”
“Are you talking back now?!”
“No, no, I wouldn’t dare. By the way, what’s that old flame’s name…?”
“I don’t know. Xia Lian just said he was the old flame. I really don’t know his name…”
“Tsk tsk, quite mysterious.”
“Nonsense… that’s Holy Maiden’s… how could it not be…”
The two figures gradually faded into the distance…
Mo Tan sighed and turned to look at Yu Cheng, finding, as expected, that the girl was almost in tears.
“I’m sorry. If you hadn’t… spoken up just now, I’d probably be cut down by now,” he chuckled awkwardly, then thoughtfully changed the subject, “By the way, you just said your magic power recovered?”
Yu Cheng nodded, her face flushed, and said softly, “Yes, I used about 20% when healing everyone earlier, and now it’s almost full again.”
Mo Tan thought about the black mist that had risen from the crowd just now, and immediately turned back with a hint of lingering fear: “Could it be…”
“Thank you, Holy Maiden! Thank you, Holy Maiden!”
“I can feel my arm again! Long live Holy Maiden!”
“They didn’t lie to me… this isn’t a place to wait for death! Holy Maiden can really cure me, I… I… boo hoo hoo…”
“My face isn’t itchy anymore! Look, my face isn’t itchy anymore!”
“Eek… okay, okay, hurry and turn your head back…”
The seriously injured patients behind them, instead of having their life force, magic power, or stamina drained as Mo Tan had imagined, were instead excitedly expressing their gratitude to Yu Cheng, and their originally terrible complexions and mental states… had miraculously improved significantly!
This was clearly not due to Yu Cheng’s previous treatment.
The two exchanged a dazed look.
“Could it be…”
“That Luminescence just now?”
Chapter 204: The End
