“We won!!!”
“Wow!!!”
“We survived!!!”
Thunderous cheers of joy erupted from all around.
As I stood still, proudly watching them, the lord of the castle soon approached and asked,”If it’s not too much to ask, may I know which noble house you belong to?”
I couldn’t reveal my identity.
I was known as someone who couldn’t appear in public.
“I am not a noble.”
“What…? Then that fire earlier…”
There were a few noble houses that served fire-type constellations, but claiming to be one of them felt inappropriate.
“Aaah…! My… my leg…!!”
“My arm…!! Ughhh…!!!”
“Honey…! What do we do…! What do we…!! Hiccup…!!”
“Ohhh…!! My son…!! My son…!! Sob…!!”
Amidst the cheers, cries of agony and screams reached my ears.
Feeling uneasy about my conversation with the lord, I hurried toward the injured.
“Where… where are you going?”
Pushing through the jubilant crowd, I reached the source of the screams and had no choice but to stop.
The lord, who had followed me, also halted and stared in horror at the scene before us.
Burned and collapsed buildings.
Countless casualties, with their grieving families and lovers weeping over them.
Their faces, bodies, and clothes stained with desperate blood splatters.
It was a sight too gruesome to witness with open eyes.
There were countless people missing body parts—some without hands, some without arms, some without legs, others with gaping holes in their abdomens, and even some who had been decapitated.
We had won, but there was no joy to be found in this victory.
“Move all the injured inside.”
“The priest…! Where is the priest…!!”
At the lord’s desperate inquiry, a soldier responded,”The priest… was unable to evade the beast’s axe and has already perished…”
“What?!”
The lord’s face contorted in an instant.
“Th-this can’t be…”
The lord collapsed to his knees in despair.
He knew the injured would not survive.
All demonic creatures, without exception, received the Dark Energy’s blessing from the Demon King—even the lowest-ranked beasts.
As a result, any wound inflicted by a beast carried traces of Dark Energy.
If not treated quickly, it would spread through the body, melting it away within days.
In the entire empire, only those who served the Constellation of Healing, Herkaen—the saintess, priests, or nuns of the Holy Church—could remove this Dark Energy.
The problem was that this castle was far from any city with a Holy Church branch.
Even riding at full speed, it would take at least half a month to reach one and bring back help.
‘They… cannot be saved.’
As the lord hung his head, staring blankly at the ground in despair, the man spoke again.
“Move them inside quickly.”
“It’s… too late… It’s too… late…”
The masked man approached a soldier who had lost his leg and knelt before him.
Then, as he reached out his hand, a mystical glow surrounded it.
“What are you…”
The moment his hand touched the soldier’s wound, something incredible happened.
The Dark Energy, which had been rotting away the flesh, vanished like snow melting in the sun.
“…!!!”
“It’s not too late.”
Just who was this man?
But that was not the important question right now.
“Quickly, move all the injured inside!”
“Y-yes…!!”
“Oh, and find the severed body parts of the injured, if possible. Please.”
“Excuse me…?”
***
I had never seen anything like this before.
Even the saintess of the Holy Church couldn’t do something like this.
Could it really be possible to remove the Dark Energy from hundreds of wounded in less than a day?
Even now, he had been working for hours without rest, tirelessly purging the Dark Energy from the patients.
Who… Who exactly was this man?
He wasn’t a noble, yet he wielded the flames of a Constellation.
And he possessed healing abilities beyond even the saintess.
The power of a Constellation was reserved for nobles.
Nobles were not chosen because of their lineage; they became nobles because they were chosen by the Constellations.
Yet he had denied being a noble himself.
It was also certain that he did not belong to the Holy Church.
That brilliant light radiating from his hand—I had never heard of a saintess, priest, or nun using anything like it.
“Is this the last patient?”
“…Yes.”
“Then I must start over from the first patient.”
“Wait, what do you mean…?”
Wasn’t the treatment already complete?
What could he possibly be starting now?
I had already seen too many incomprehensible things today.
I had no idea what he was about to do next.
“How many people couldn’t find their severed limbs?”
“Fourteen.”
“14 out of 283… Thank you for your efforts in finding them.”
“No, you’re the one who has worked harder.”
“If you’re not too busy, could you bring me a large sack?”
“A sack?”
“Yes. The largest one you can find.”
Holding the sack that the lord brought me, I stepped outside the treatment tent.”
Phoenix.
Give me your eye.
“< Ugh…! Just use it!! Stop asking me—GAAAAAH!!! >”
You enjoyed tormenting me all this time, didn’t you?
Get ready.
I’ll pay you back many times over.
“< GAAAAAH!!! You bastard…!! One day, I swear…!! I will tear you to shreds…!!! >”
Using the eye of the Constellation, I searched for the missing body parts of the patients.
One by one, I collected the severed hands and feet that had been scattered across the streets, stuffing them into the sack.
Then, I returned to the treatment tent and carefully matched each severed limb to its owner, distributing them accordingly.
“What exactly do you plan to do with these severed parts?”
“I’m going to reattach them.”
“…What?”
“I need to restore them to their original state.”
The masked man spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
The lord’s face was frozen in shock, his mind unable to process what he had just heard.
‘Reattach them?’
‘Does he mean… he’s going to reattach the severed limbs?’
Even if the Saintess herself were here, she couldn’t do that.
Not even her ancestors, nor their ancestors’ ancestors, nor even their ancestors’ ancestors’ ancestors.
Unless this man was actually the Constellation of Healing, Herkaen, descended into this world in human form.
Once again, his hands began to glow.
But this time, the light was different.
Instead of the brilliant radiance from earlier, it now emitted a fluorescent glow.
He aligned the severed limbs with the patients’ wounds and placed his glowing hand over them.
“….!!”
It was the day the lord’s eyes widened the most in his life, and his jaw dropped the farthest it ever had.
‘Th-this can’t be…!!’
It was attaching.
Very slowly, but undeniably.
The severed flesh was reconnecting.
The necrotized tissue, which had already started decaying over time, was regaining color.
The empty space where the limb had once been was filling in, the severed edges fusing seamlessly at a cellular level.
And after a few minutes, the foot and leg were fully reattached as if nothing had ever happened.
The lord, who had been watching from behind, the soldier who had been half-lying down observing with his own eyes, his wife beside him, and the many patients and their families watching from afar—All of them blinked in disbelief, looking back and forth at each other.
“Th-this…”
“This is… impossible…”
“My God…”
The soldier, now fully healed, wiggled his once-severed ankle, feeling the restored sensation in his foot.
“Wh… What…? What…?”
He repeatedly muttered in shock, his voice filled with disbelief.
Then, as he tentatively placed his foot on the ground and stood up—”Honey…”
“Dear…!”
The couple burst into tears and embraced each other tightly.
“Honey…! H-heuhh…! Hiccup…!! Sob…!!”
“It’s such a relief…! I can’t even put it into words…!!!”
Having the Dark Energy purged from his body had already been a miracle.
But the greater tragedy had been that he would have to live the rest of his life as a cripple.
Now, that nightmare had vanished in an instant.
The weight crushing their hearts had been lifted, and they were freed from despair.
“Thank you…!!”
“Thank you so much…!! I don’t know how to ever repay this debt…!! Thank you…!! Thank you…!! Ohhh…!! Sob…!!!”
“Honey…”
The soldier’s wife bent at the waist, bowing repeatedly, but that alone wasn’t enough for her.
In the end, she grabbed onto my pants leg, clinging to me as she wept tears of joy.
Seeing her overwhelmed with gratitude made my own emotions well up.
I barely managed to hold back my tears.
< What a ridiculous display… UAAAAAGH!!! O-okay!! I’m sorry!!!! AAAAAHH!!! >
‘Shut up and stay quiet, Phoenix.’
< O-okay…!! I get it, so please…!! Stop…!! Ughhh…!! >
“Please stand up now. There are still others waiting.”
“Ah…! Oh! I’m so sorry…! I was just so overjoyed…!!”
Wiping away her tears with her sleeve, she finally let go of my leg and stepped aside.
As I walked toward the next patient, I suddenly became aware of the many eyes fixed on me.
Inside the vast tent, all those countless people were staring at me with eager, hopeful eyes.
“Pl-please step aside! It’s my son’s turn next!!”
“Ah, s-sorry!”
“Everyone, be patient! He’ll treat us all in order!!”