Chapter 32: The Truth About The Plague

When Rii saw the chimera, a monstrous creature, and began explaining about dark magic, Svioha was filled with many thoughts.

Somewhere, she felt like she had seen a similar technique before, and suddenly, the idea of voodoo came to mind.

The two had too many similarities.

Voodoo, originally, is a primitive form of sorcery.

Unlike sorcery that uses the energy of nature, it uses the flesh, and further, the body of living beings as its energy source, which eventually led it to be considered taboo and is now a lost art.

Now, it is only passed down as mere knowledge.

According to Rii, dark magic is performed using the blood and souls of living beings.

To Svioha, the two taboos seemed to either coincidentally match or complement each other’s shortcomings, creating synergy.

Was it really a coincidence that the chimera appeared here, where the infected were rampant?

If her hypothesis was correct, it might not just be the chimera, but the infected could also be the work of the same individual.

‘Perhaps it wasn’t just a simple plague.’

Even if one controls the human body, nothing happens if the soul doesn’t follow.

Similarly, controlling the soul is futile if the body doesn’t comply.

But what if both could be controlled?

Theoretically, it wouldn’t be impossible to create beings like the infected.

As soon as she reached this conclusion, she immediately went to find Rii.

“Rii, could I borrow your hand for a moment?”

“Huh? What’s going on?”

“I need a bit of expert touch.”

“Me, an expert? Hehe, I don’t know what it’s about, but it seems you’ve noticed how amazing I am, haven’t you?”

Lately, due to military reorganizations and such, the number of injured had drastically decreased, leaving Rii with nothing to do in the military camp.

It was a good thing, but it also meant she had no work, leaving her idle.

She even started to think, ‘Huh? Am I becoming useless? If this keeps up, I won’t be able to take a vacation.’

Rii, who had been craving for some reputation, looked at Svioha and asked, “So, what’s the matter?”

“Then, you agree?”

“Huh?”

Unaware of the misfortune approaching her, Rii was grabbed by the soldiers at Svioha’s gesture, who held her arms.

“Wha, what? What’s going on?”

Overwhelmed by the difference in physique, Rii couldn’t even struggle and was dragged away.

The place they arrived at was a tent slightly away from the military camp, a place whose existence Rii hadn’t even known.

As they entered the tent, a foul and pungent smell rose from all around.

“What, what is this?”

In the deepest part of the tent, iron bars, like those used to cage dangerous beasts, were visible.

Huh, why are there iron bars here?

I really don’t know.

It was too dark to see what was inside clearly.

Instinctively repulsed, Rii tried to struggle away but to no avail.

Dragged right in front of it, Rii unconsciously frowned as the stench of blood reached her nose.

In that brief moment, she made eye contact with something unpleasant inside.

“Kyaaak!”

“Ugh, aaah!”

The nose was cut off.

The ears were cut off. Both arms were severed, and all teeth were extracted.

A person with a horrifying appearance was inside the cage.

Or was it an infected?

No ordinary person could survive in such a state.

Not only that. As her gaze shifted to the sides.

Axes, saws, planes, hammers.

Various tools covered in blood and flesh were scattered around the cage.

Gulp, Rii swallowed hard and turned to look at Svioha with a stiff expression.

“Um, Svioha. May I ask why you called me here?”

“Oh my, why the formalities? I have no intention of harming you, so don’t worry. I just wanted to try an experiment.”

An experiment?

Suddenly, a flashback passed through Rii’s mind.

Svioha, who had brought her cheese and jerky, trying to get close to her.

She thought Svioha was a good person.

Back then, she wondered why Prenila called her gloomy, but now she understood why.

“Sniff, please spare my life.”

“Ah, why are you like this? I haven’t even explained yet, and you’re already like this, it’s getting a bit annoying.”

Gulp, Rii finally stopped sniffling and calmed down. Finally ready to listen! Svioha began her explanation.

“Rii, you said your holy magic is opposite to dark magic, right? So, I wanted to try something.”

Thud.

A bucket filled with the black blood and flesh of the infected was placed in front of them.

The sight was so nauseating that it made one want to vomit, but disregarding it, Svioha took out a talisman and performed a purification ritual.

For a moment, the liquid swirled and seemed to clear, but soon returned to its original state.

There was an effect, but it felt like something was being offset.

From just observing this phenomenon, Rii could understand many things.

“…It wasn’t a plague?”

“Seems like it, right?”

Rii’s hand reached towards the bucket.

Purification, as Rii’s immense holy power was shot into the bucket, the same phenomenon as with Svioha was observed.

The two, looking at each other, nodded. And sequentially, purification and healing proceeded.

Amazingly, the corrupted, pitch-black blood gradually began to regain its vivid red color.

“This is confirmation.”

“Who, who would do such a horrible thing?”

Rii was greatly shocked.

Despite her light and frivolous demeanor, she was a saintess who believed in the inherent goodness of humans.

She firmly believed that while the environment could temporarily lead people to evil, they would eventually return.

Such acts of overflowing evil were hard for her to accept as reality.

“Well, we’ll have to find out now.”

First, let’s find a way to treat the infected. Presenting a realistic alternative, Svioha opened the door of the cage.

The horde of infected pouring out. Rii flinched momentarily, but Svioha comforted her by patting her shoulder.

The infected were completely incapacitated, with no part of their body intact except for their legs.

Even if we develop a treatment, would it be okay to use it on them?

Or could we even restore them to normal?

Many questions arose, but she soon stopped thinking and stood beside Svioha.

If it’s a dark magic spell that controls and dominates human consciousness, at least hundreds, if not thousands, of lives would have been sacrificed.

When Rii first headed to the northern lands, she vaguely resented the prince and the pope, but now she thought that perhaps the goddess had led her here.

Born in an era of peace and living a life without purpose, Rii, who only now realized the seriousness of the situation and felt a sense of mission, had changed significantly.

While Prenila spent nights searching for the missing, Rii and Svioha spent nights continuing their research on a cure for the infected.

*

In the holy land of the church and the ancient capital of thousands of years, Beatles.

Pope Eustinian hurriedly opened the letter from Saintess Rii.

Could it be that this child caused some trouble even in the northern lands?

He was worried, thinking he might need to write a letter of apology to the prince in advance.

Only after reading the entire letter did he feel relieved that Rii hadn’t caused any trouble, but another concern arose.

The emergence of a dark mage, and one likely capable of high-level dark magic.

Are there still those obsessed with dark magic?

The pope’s head ached.

Thinking of dark mages, a story came to mind.

The reason dark magic is taboo across the continent.

A story only found in ancient texts, much of which has been erased, leaving it as a myth-like tale.

According to the scarce records, the cause of the incident was the rampage of dark mages.

The damage was so severe that the continent’s population was reduced to less than half.

Everywhere you went, corpses littered the streets.

Maggots and crows became familiar sights to people.

Blood seeped into the ground, and wells only yielded red water.

The land became too polluted for farming, and the waters were teeming with mutated fish.

Even in such a dire crisis, humans managed to overcome it.

It must have been the will of the goddess.

As the ominous red planet in the night sky set, a blue planet split and descended.

The army from the sky, the Celestial Army.

Whether they truly descended from the sky or if it was just a metaphor to elevate their status is unclear.

With tireless horses, relentless weapons, and overwhelming martial prowess, they swiftly slaughtered the dark mages.

Those captured by them faced deaths so gruesome that it was impossible to tell who the evil ones were.

Being shown their own flesh and muscles being peeled off while alive, or being fried to death in the oil squeezed from their comrades’ flesh.

Just imagining such execution methods is horrifying.

So, many dark mages chose to commit suicide rather than be captured by them.

With their appearance, the dark mages were quickly eradicated, and the history thereafter is not recorded.

Of course, Eustinian did not believe all of it.

Some parts might be true, but stories tend to be exaggerated and embellished.

The idea of more than half the continent’s population perishing is absurd.

Even if it were true, such things could only happen in an era unaware of the dangers of dark magic.

In these times, where dark magic is taboo and monitored across the continent, such events are impossible, he was certain.

…Still, it wouldn’t hurt to be cautious.

“Summon the Holy Knights and the Inquisitors.”

He would handle the northern affairs himself and requested information collection from various nations.

Even though she’s a troublemaker, the request from a child like his own daughter didn’t require deep thought, and Eustinian ordered the start of the intelligence mission.

The targets were all nations, including the church itself.

Dark mages are the kind to hide in tunnels and plot sinister schemes, so nowhere is safe.

Starting from the kingdom closest to the church, experts in this field headed to the empire, the legal state, and Istian.

They are capable, so any unusual points would be quickly discovered.

Praying for a safe journey and Rii’s safety, the pope concluded his morning schedule.