Clean Water

At the center of Sacred Flame Square, a bitter wind whipped up dust, but it could not smother the sharp smell of quicklime and charred wood.

Fabien and several army priests stood rigid in the wind, their faces pale from exhausting their Divine Power. They stared at the newly built behemoth in the middle of the square.

It was an enormous, four-tiered stone trough, rough and strange in shape. Gray-white Alchemical Clay filled its seams, making it look like a Heretic Construct pieced together from scraps.

"Pour it in," Shien said from the top.

Two convicts hoisted a heavy oak barrel and poured the groundwater they had just drawn from an abandoned well into the funnel at the top.

Murky foam churned through the dark red water. A powerful stench of blood and rotting organs struck their noses.

After a year without maintenance under the Blood Moon's radiation, Blackpine Fief's underground waterways had long since become a toxic abyss.

The water was full of hallucinogenic toxins. A living person needed only one swallow for their organs to begin rotting.

For the past few days, the territory's six hundred-odd people had survived only because the priests cast Purification day and night.

But under the suppression of the Long Night Law, purifying one barrel of poisoned water cost three times the usual Divine Power.

The priests had long since been drained dry. Some had even vomited blood and fainted while casting.

If monsters attacked the camp tonight, there would be no Divine Power left for the medical tents.

Shien had put an immediate stop to this near-suicidal spellcasting.

Then, with the Canon of Grace and Righteousness, he replicated Victor's [Lv. 2 Alchemy of Materials] and [Lv. 3 Alchemy of Architectural Constructs] skills.

Combining them with the sedimentation and filtration systems of modern waterworks on Earth, he built this specialized wasteland water purifier.

With no industrial filter cartridges, he substituted high-temperature-calcined Activated Charcoal, quicklime, and low-grade Holy Silver Slag, modeling the entire structure in his mind.

There was no precedent for it, though, and he was uneasy. He had no idea whether it would work.

The dark red poisoned water flooded the first stone trough, then dripped through clay pipes into the second. The quicklime and slag gave off a faint hiss as dark red clumps of toxin precipitated out.

The water then entered the third layer. Dense charred wood and Holy Silver fragments formed a tightening net that trapped the rot-stench and shadow particles.

The square fell silent. Every eye followed that slowly moving line of water.

At last, the water passed through the fourth layer of fine quartz sand and flowed toward the Refined Steel outlet valve below.

"Drip."

A clear, transparent drop gathered at the valve and fell into the clean wooden basin beneath it.

Then a steady stream began to flow. The stench vanished completely.

Only the faintest trace of a crisp, cool scent remained in the air, like springwater freshly drawn from a deep well inside the Great Wall.

The convicts' throats bobbed. The priests slowly loosened their grips on their Holy Emblems.

On this land cursed by the Blood Moon, that crude stone contraption had somehow produced clean water. At least, it looked clean.

"Drip... drip."

Each drop rang out across the deathly silent Inner Fortress Plaza. The liquid flowing from the Refined Steel valve was crystal clear, neither bloody nor viscous.

Shien looked at the priests, who could barely stand. "Cast Purification on it."

A young priest swallowed against his dry throat and dragged himself forward. Raising a trembling hand, he squeezed out the last trace of platinum-white Divine Power.

From past experience, that little bit of Divine Power would trigger a backlash from the Blood Moon's radiation the moment it touched poisoned water. The caster would have to endure the agony of his soul being scorched.

But nothing happened.

The faint Holy Light touched the water's surface and spread without resistance, easily passing through the entire basin.

The quicklime and charcoal had already stripped the Corpse Poison from the water, while the Holy Silver Slag had neutralized the lingering shadow aura.

The priest's pitiful remnant of Divine Power now needed only to erase the last trace of Blood Moon particles at the bottom.

Power that would normally struggle to purify a single cup of poisoned water had covered an entire basin with ease.

Every member of the clergy was stunned!

Instantly purifying Blood Moon contamination on this scale would normally take at least ten times as much Purification.

Yet that fourteen-year-old silver-haired boy had achieved the same effect with nothing but stone, coarse sand, and charred wood.

Fabien strode forward. The Church Knight, usually so mindful of his bearing, plunged both hands into the cold basin, scooped up a great handful of water, and drank greedily.

Icy, sweet, and clean down to the bone.

For the past few days, the water the priests had forcibly purified with Divine Power had been free of lethal toxins, but it always carried the ashy taste of rotten flesh burned by Holy Light. It was a struggle to swallow.

This water was entirely different. The sweet liquid rolled down his cracked, parched throat and into his stomach without the slightest burn. It even had a cool, fresh scent.

Fabien stood frozen. A few drops slid down his stubble and struck the Holy Emblem on his chest with a soft patter.

Before this stone trough was built, the entire camp's drinking-water ration had been strictly limited. Each person received only a shallow bowlful a day.

That ash-tasting water was just enough to moisten cracked, bleeding lips and keep them barely alive.

Extreme thirst had driven everyone to the edge of reason. Even breathing brought a pain that seemed to tear through their chests.

So the sound of Fabien swallowing snapped the last thread of restraint.

The silent square erupted.

Soldiers with a greenish glint in their eyes scrambled toward the trough, grabbing wildly at the water and shoveling it into their mouths.

Even the weakened priests dropped to their knees beside the basin and buried their faces in the water.

Their hurried, greedy gulps blended together, broken by sobs they could not suppress.

This machine built from scraps had ended the Long Night's slow strangulation of Blackpine Fief.

It had secured the survival of more than six hundred people. More importantly, it had freed the priests' Divine Power.

Those exhausted casters could finally stop wasting their strength on purifying water.

In the coming defense, veterans whose bellies were torn open and knights whose chests were pierced would have a chance to be pulled back onto the battlefield by Holy Light.

At the same time, feedback flooded Shien's vision like a surging tide.

The Deep Blue Blessing above the heads of Fabien, the priests, and the soldiers and convicts drinking frantically began to roil.

Shien did not look at the changes. He simply raised a hand. "Fill your waterskins and return to the outer positions at once. Mack, take the craftsmen and build the remaining water purifiers.

"The rest of you, pick up your shovels. Get the first trench dug through before dark."

They were the simplest of orders, but they jolted everyone out of their frenzy and back to reality.

The crowd quickly regained control and silently picked up the tools lying in the muddy water. The awe in their eyes became brisk obedience.

Just as order returned, hurried iron-shod footsteps rang out.

A light cavalryman assigned to the outer perimeter rushed into the Inner Fortress and headed straight for Shien. He lowered his voice and whispered a few quick words in the boy's ear.

Shien nodded and waved him away, then turned to Fabien. "Fabien, gather every knight in the camp at the Resonance Realm or above."