Rapunzel crouched beside him and reached out to unwrap the blood-soaked bandages.
Layer by layer, the gauze came away, revealing blackened flesh around the severed limb. It was necrotic tissue left behind by Soul Power erosion.
The old soldier's temples throbbed with bulging veins from the pain, yet he gritted his teeth and made no sound. His intact right hand merely clenched the edge of the stretcher so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
Rapunzel said nothing. She placed her palm over the stump, and the instant a golden glow lit up, the old soldier's tightly clenched fingers abruptly loosened. Not because of pain, but because the warm current was too soothing, like soaking in a hot spring, every pore in his body relaxing.
Under the golden light, the necrotic tissue gradually lost its blackened color. Fresh granulation slowly emerged from the edges of the wound. Though the severed limb could not regrow, at least the wound would no longer fester.
"That's enough." Rapunzel withdrew her hand, her voice soft. "The wound won't get worse, but your arm... I can't make it grow back."
The old soldier lowered his head and looked at the healed stump. After two seconds of silence, he grinned. "Being alive is good enough. What the hell's one missing arm? Thank you, miss."
Rapunzel nodded and stood up.
She walked toward the next wounded soldier.
The ground in the wounded camp had been churned into mud by days of constant traffic, mixed with snow, dirt, and dried blood. Every step sank unevenly.
The air was thick with the smell of blood, medicinal herbs, and an indescribable rotting stench. It was the smell of wounds left untreated for too long.
Rapunzel had long grown used to it. After spending so many days in the wounded camp, her