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"Father Wayne had already notified the diocese. The Paladin Order would be coming." Faced with Elufiel's provocative question, Eli answered in the priest's stead.

"All right. Let's hope they arrive in time." Elufiel spoke as she walked outside. She had already reached the edge of the barrier; one more step would take her beyond its protection. The crazed rabbits and infected people relentlessly slammed against the spot where she stood.

"Young man, you'll believe me. Unless you want to kill your own countrymen with your own hands."

The girl wrapped in a gray cloak stepped out of the barrier of light. Countless rabbits and infected people surged toward her. A layer of pale golden radiance enveloped her.

The girl was not very tall, and she looked even smaller amid the encirclement. She turned back and smiled at her companions. An even brighter circular curtain of light expanded around her, golden starlight shining dazzlingly even in broad daylight. Both the crazed rabbits and the infected people fell beneath this breathtaking divine spell. For an instant, the space around her seemed suspended.

The crowd fell silent. It was as though they had seen a messenger of God. Odovish looked at the elf, a hint of helplessness in his eyes. He had forgotten to tell her that Kanado's divine spells rarely produced such flamboyant effects. The effects cast by divine spellcasters were usually nothing more than a fleeting halo of light. Only during festivals did high-ranking divine spellcasters often arrange divine spells with exquisite visual effects, so that people could feel God's radiance.

The old priest stood with his mouth open, too shocked to speak. She was actually a high-ranking divine spellcaster.

Eli was equally astonished, but he quickly found what he needed to do. Divine spellcasters were vulnerable while preparing their spells, and he had to ensure this high-ranking divine spellcaster's safety. That would not be easy. Those rabbits and infected people had no reason left at all. At that moment, he missed his friends. If his team had been here, they definitely could have kept the divine spellcaster completely unharmed.

Eli rushed out. He moved with agility, often needing only one thrust to kill a rabbit. When facing the infected people, he followed the divine spellcaster's advice and merely knocked them unconscious. Naturally, that made him less efficient.

Elufiel had of course noticed the ranger, but she had not realized that he intended to protect her. The rabbits and infected people could not do much damage, and there was no chance of the Power Word: Shield's defenses being broken before its duration expired. Elufiel could simply recast the shield endlessly.

Not many people had been bitten. Most of the townsfolk had safely gathered near the small chapel. The rabbits were the ones with truly overwhelming numbers. Elufiel weaved through them with effort, instant-casting a Holy Nova from time to time to keep them from blocking her path. To her, it was merely a basic skill, but Eli felt that this high-ranking divine spellcaster was truly incredible. She could cast so many divine spells without interruption and show no sign of fatigue.

"Divine Spellcaster!" Seeing Elufiel moving farther and farther away, Eli could not help calling out, "It's too dangerous for you to be alone."

Hearing the urgency in Eli's voice, Elufiel did not know whether to laugh or cry. Looking at the rabbit corpses around her, she could not understand how this ranger had come to the conclusion that she was in danger.

"You don't need to follow me. I'm going to catch a special rabbit, and you're too slow." The moment Elufiel finished speaking, she caught a trace of denser cursed aura. She took aim at the target and raised her hand to channel a Smite.

A golden streak of light flew from her side and landed precisely on the rabbit. The red-eyed rabbit died without even struggling. With its death, Eli clearly felt the pressure ease. The rabbits seemed to be less crazed now?

Elufiel carried the rabbit that was the source of the curse back into the barrier. "The source has been removed. I think you can pick up your weapons and kill the rabbits now. That young man seems to need some help."

Although Eli was quite skilled, the countless rabbits had still inflicted several wounds on him. Hmm, before the source died, Elufiel thought. Before long, he would become like the other infected people.

"Divine Spellcaster, may I ask, if someone is bitten now, will they still be infected by the curse?" a sturdy young man asked.

Elufiel shook her head. "The source of transmission has been cut off. Those rabbits are only a little fiercer than usual now."

The people hesitated, but at last someone became the first to try. It was the sturdy young man who had questioned Elufiel. With the hunting knife he carried, he easily killed a rabbit. "It's true. The divine spellcaster was right. They've become slower."

More and more people joined in killing the rabbits. Elufiel handed the dead rabbit in her hand to the mage. "You look like you really want it." The mage had been staring at the rabbit for quite some time.

Odovish remained silent. He simply had not expected the elf to be so... uninhibited. The elf's slender fingers gripped the rabbit by its ears, holding up its entire body. The rabbit killed by Smite bore no wound at all and looked like a little girl's toy. Odovish had thought that even if the elf wanted to take the rabbit back, she would carry it in her arms rather than like this.

"I'll handle it. It needs some special cleaning." Odovish took the rabbit from the elf's hand.

The old priest looked at Elufiel with great excitement, seeming as though he wanted to step forward and speak with her. Yet Elufiel did not have the slightest favorable impression of this "servant of God." True compassion and kindness were not offerings to God, but gifts given to others—those who truly needed help, whether commoners or nobles, poor or wealthy.

Compared to old Father Wayne, Elufiel appreciated the ranger and the sturdy young man who had dared to take the first step more. At the very least, they had proved themselves with courage.

The paladins arrived even later than Elufiel had expected. Only after the townsfolk had killed every last crazed rabbit and begun cleaning up did the paladins finally arrive at a leisurely pace.

Rabbit corpses were piled to one side, while the unconscious infected people had been carried outside the small chapel. Eli leaned on his sword to support himself, feeling his mind slipping away. He wanted to ask someone to knock him unconscious, but the crowd feared coming near him. The young man who had been the first to step out of the barrier wanted to approach, but his family held him back tightly.