Chapter 14: Mutation

The vortex gate opened once again.

Bai poked her head out cautiously, trying to get a sense of what was happening outside, but instead of the muffled chatter of the soldiers she was used to, what reached her ears was… screaming.

“Ahhhhh!!!”

“Quick! Grab your weapons and fight back!”

“We’re under attack! Under attack!”

The camp was engulfed in chaos, screams, roars, and the growls of magical beasts interwove into a symphony straight out of hell.

The bodies of knights lay sprawled across the ground, blood soaking into the dirt.

The campfires flickered and died out, leaving only scattered embers glowing faintly in the darkness.

In that blackness, the magical beasts moved like phantoms, too fast to track.

One pounced on a knight who had just struggled to his feet.

Its fangs sank into his shoulder, then dragged him from the tent and hurled him against a distant tree trunk.

The crunch of shattering bones was terrifyingly clear.

Still stunned, Bai was suddenly yanked from behind a tree, by none other than Aurelia.

Her voice was urgent.

“There you are! I thought for a second one of those bloodbeasts had swallowed you!”

“Aurelia-jie! What’s happening out there?!”

Aurelia’s expression was grim, her fury barely contained.

“The camp’s under attack by bloodbeasts. But those brainless monsters should never be capable of coordinating something like this. Damn it! This has to be the vampires’ doing, those cursed bastards!”

She drew her silver sword and turned to Bai.

“Stay here and don’t move. I’m heading to support the others.”

“Aurelia-jie!”

Bai tried to ask more, but Aurelia had already leapt forward, vanishing into the inferno of the battlefield.

Panicked, Bai looked around frantically.

She had only been gone a short while, how had things turned into this nightmare so fast?

The once-quiet camp had become hell on earth.

The overwhelming stench of blood hit her hard, snapping her hazy thoughts into sharp clarity.

And just then.

Bang!

A knight was sent flying by a bloodbeast, slamming directly into a nearby tree.

“Ugh… shit!”

The knight spat out a mouthful of blood and cursed, trying to get up, only to find his legs wouldn’t move.

That was when he spotted Bai standing there, frozen, and Bai realized who it was.

It was Oga, the knight who had been stationed at the camp’s edge.

“Sorry, kid, scared you, didn’t I?”

Oga’s bloodied face twisted into a sheepish smile.

“I’ll get up now, cough….”

He reached for the silver sword that had fallen nearby, trying to prop himself up, but collapsed again.

Bai quickly rushed to his side and dragged him behind a tree to a safer spot.

“What are you doing? Help me up! I have to get back out there!”

“You’re injured, badly.”

“It’s just a scratch, tsk…”

Just as Oga tried to act tough, a tree branch scraped against his wound, and the sharp pain made him suck in a breath through his teeth.

“Bai knows healing magic. Please, hold still.”

“You? A kid? You know healing magic?”

Oga stared at her in disbelief.

Healing magic wasn’t something just any mage could learn.

It could only be cast using two elemental affinities, Holy Light or Wood, and it required both exceptional magical talent and years of relentless study.

A mage who chose the healing path usually had to devote their entire life to it, rarely able to master any other type of magic.

It was a path with no turning back.

That’s why healers were incredibly rare and valuable.

Even their entire knight regiment only had one, someone named Godar, and he had just been ambushed by a bloodbeast and knocked unconscious, completely out of commission.

Bai didn’t reply.

She simply reached toward Oga’s legs and began softly chanting an incantation.

A faint green glow emerged from her hand, wrapping around the gaping wounds on his legs.

Mid-tier Healing Spell, Aiersha had taught it to her.

Back then, it was meant to treat the cuts left behind after bloodletting.

But Bai’s body was frail, and casting magic consumed tremendous energy.

Every time she used it, she’d end up even weaker.

But now wasn’t the time to worry about that.

The bleeding stopped.

A tingling sensation spread through Oga’s limbs like an electric current.

Before long, he could move them again.

Oga stared in utter disbelief, his eyes wide.

“Wait, you really can do it! But you’re barely older than a kid! How the hell do you know healing magic?!”

He flexed his legs a bit and added, “Way more useful than Godar, honestly.”

“Bai learned from her sister. And Bai’s not a kid,” she said quietly.

Her eyes wavered for a moment, and her body swayed slightly.

A bit of fatigue crept into her expression.

I knew it… even using it once burns up too much energy.

Oga looked like he wanted to ask more, but he had already been away from the battle too long.

The camp was still a warzone.

He quickly snatched up his silver sword and called out, “Stay right here! I have to get back out there!”

“You’re still injured! You can’t keep fighting!”

“If I don’t fight, what kind of knight would I be?!”

Before she could stop him, Oga had already charged back into the fray, merging into the chaos of the battlefield.

“Honestly…”

Boom!

Before Bai could catch her breath, another knight slammed into the slope beside her like a cannonball.

“Ow, ow, ow, shit…”

The knight groaned in pain.

Bai froze for a moment, then her eyes hardened with determination.

She rushed forward again to heal him.

Under the knight’s stunned gaze, the serious wounds on his body rapidly closed up.

After a hasty thanks, he grabbed his sword and sprinted back into the fight.

Bai swayed again, leaning against a tree to rest for just a second.

But her eyes wandered toward the battlefield, knights sprawled across the ground, struggling to rise, trying desperately to keep fighting.

“I have to… help them.”

Bai, swaying slightly, pushed off from the tree and stood up again, making her way toward the wounded…

What followed on the battlefield was a strange sight, while warriors fought desperately against bloodbeasts throughout the camp, a small figure quietly darted between the fallen knights.

With great effort, she dragged them behind the tents, and not long after, those same knights came sprinting back out, swords in hand, ready to fight again.

“Cross Slash!”

Aurelia’s silver sword flashed with cold light, cleaving a bloodbeast cleanly in two.

She panted heavily, but just as she began to relax, a sharp snarl came from behind.

A bloodbeast had somehow crept up on her, its fangs bared as it lunged forward.

“Slash!”

At the last possible moment, Skarn’s furious roar rang out, and his blade struck down the beast before it reached her.

“Never let your guard down on the battlefield, Aurelia!”

“Yes, Commander! But… I don’t know if it’s just me, but doesn’t it feel like our numbers are growing instead of shrinking?”

Aurelia asked, puzzled.

“Turn around and look.”

Aurelia turned her head, just in time to see a small, sneaky figure poking her head out from behind a tent.

After confirming it was safe, she scurried over to a collapsed knight and began dragging him back behind the tents.

Moments later, a soft green glow flickered, and the knight came rushing back out, sword in hand.

“………”

“I don’t know who that little one is,” Skarn said, “but right now, she’s exactly what we need. Godar’s awake and treating people again too. If even a little girl is working this hard, we sure as hell can’t slack off!”

Aurelia stood stunned for a second.

Then she shook her head sharply, snapping back to focus.

“Yes, Commander!”