Escape

Finlad's church.

Ever since the residents here had been relocated, the church had been used to house the wounded. A group of people afflicted with Blood Poison had also been bound separately in partitioned rooms.

The Priests had not given up on these people. They had notified their families, hoping that one or two of them could still be saved.

Today, the smell of blood in the church was several times stronger than usual.

Wounded people kept being carried in, and a large portion of them were gravely injured.

"Ughhh! Let me go!"

Without Holy Light to suppress them for so long, the Blood Poison patients had become increasingly restless.

Malvin, an apprentice Priest, forcefully pinned down a struggling patient while his companion cooperatively tightened the ropes.

"This won't do. We still need the Holy Light Spell to suppress them. Where is Priest Grane?"

His companion glanced at the roaring patients around them and shook his head.

"He's still outside treating the wounded. Two more seriously injured people just arrived. The Priest may not have any strength left to help them."

"I'll go ask."

Malvin went outside and, sure enough, saw the Priest stuffing a soldier's intestines back into his abdomen with one hand while casting a Healing Spell with the other to keep him alive.

Only after the soldier's injuries had finally stabilized did Malvin step forward and speak to the Priest.

"Priest Grane, the Blood Poison patients must be suppressed with the Holy Light Spell. Otherwise, I'm afraid they won't hold on much longer."

Grane turned around, and only then did Malvin notice that his eyes lacked their usual vitality. He looked utterly exhausted.

That was a sign of magical exhaustion.

Malvin figured that he probably no longer had any Holy Light Spell left.

Sure enough, Grane said with a pained expression.

"Malvin, take a sword inside and put those who can't hold on out of their misery.

"I can't abandon those we can definitely save for Blood Poison patients whose chances are so slim.

"I'll bear whatever consequences follow."

"Yes..."

Malvin picked up a soldier's sword from beside the wall and returned to the partitioned rooms.

Several more people had gone mad.

When his companion saw him return with a sword, he understood what it meant and walked out, unable to bear watching.

Malvin approached a man who was struggling the most violently and took a deep breath.

He knew this man. He was the captain of a patrol squad, and he had accidentally drunk tampered stream water during a mission, ending up like this.

"I'm sorry. May Ixion, Lord of Light, save your soul."

The longsword pierced his neck, ending the squad captain's suffering.

Malvin let out a long sigh and walked toward the next person.

She was a young female Adventurer. Apparently, she had been attacked by bats while carrying out a commission.

Half her eyes had already turned red. It was a sign that she was about to be fully transformed, and also the most agonizing stage.

Yet she gritted her teeth and made no sound, only letting out muffled groans.

Even Malvin could not help but admire her.

It was just a pity.

The female Adventurer smelled the blood on Malvin's sword. She did not resist, merely closing her eyes and trembling slightly as she prepared to meet her miserable end.

"May Ixion, Lord of Light, save your soul."

Bang—

The main doors burst open, and the sudden change made Malvin's sword freeze in midair.

The newcomer wore a tattered cloak. The moment he saw the female Adventurer, he charged over like a madman and knocked Malvin to the ground.

"What are you doing? I'm helping them end their—"

Malvin thought the man had misunderstood something. Clutching his waist, he got up and tried to drive him away.

But when he saw what the man was holding, he froze.

"Rebirth Potion!"

The cloaked man was naturally Dylan. He paid no attention to what Malvin was saying, only looking sorrowfully at his daughter's pained appearance.

With his uninjured right hand, he took out the potion and carefully fed it to her.

"Dad?"

"Don't be afraid, Bella. Dad's here. This is a potion that can save you. You'll be all right."

Bella seemed unable to believe that her father would appear at a time like this, but she obediently drank it anyway.

As the potion entered her body, Bella felt a piercing pain spread throughout her entire body.

"Ah!"

The sudden intensification of the pain made Bella cry out, and then she simply fainted.

"Th-This, what's going on? Is there something wrong with the potion? What do we do?"

Dylan completely panicked. If this one and only hope was fake... then he would definitely go back and kill that goateed man's entire family!

Seeing this, Malvin, who knew what was happening, hurriedly explained.

"Don't worry. This is a normal reaction to the Rebirth Potion. To transform the altered parts back, she naturally has to go through the pain again.

"It's better that she fainted. Once she wakes up, everything will be fine."

"R-Really?"

Dylan grabbed Malvin's hand. His grip was so strong that Malvin, an apprentice Priest, bared his teeth in pain.

"Really, really! Let go of me!"

Realizing he had lost his composure, Dylan hurriedly released him and apologized awkwardly.

"It's fine... I understand."

With that, Malvin picked up the sword from the ground and walked toward another patient on the verge of transforming, continuing his task—not everyone had the luck to escape disaster.

Bella's brows were tightly furrowed. Even while unconscious, she seemed able to feel the pain.

Dylan gently stroked her face, tears glimmering in his eyes.

He had finally saved his daughter.

The sounds of fighting outside had become almost inaudible. There were not many Blood-Eating Ghouls among the attackers compared to the soldiers; they had merely held the advantage of surprise.

The person managing this place seemed rather capable. Before Dylan entered, he had seen him organizing soldiers outside the church, forming them into teams and beginning their counterattack.

Dylan himself had only been allowed in after smearing his face with blood to conceal the Mycelium.

Order would soon be restored here...

"You're a lucky girl. You two must be very close, for you to rush into the village under these circumstances."

After killing all the agitated patients, Malvin began making small talk. He needed someone to talk to in order to ease his psychological stress.

But Dylan seemed to remember something. He stood up in slight panic and ran outside.

"Hey, hey?"

Malvin was left utterly confused. Even if he did not want to chat, there was no need to run away, right?

Dylan rushed out of the church and looked around. After confirming that there were no longer any Blood-Eating Ghouls in sight and that the church was no longer in danger,

he slipped out of the village before the soldiers had fully restored order.

It was not that he did not want to watch his daughter wake up. He was simply afraid.

As he moved his left hand, which had regained feeling, the Mycelium fused with the flesh around his wound reminded him that he had long since mutated.

He was not afraid that his daughter would reject him. On the contrary.

Just as that apprentice Priest had said, the father and daughter loved each other deeply.

So deeply that even if Bella learned what her father had become, she would unhesitatingly stand by his side.

And that was precisely what he feared.

It was only a matter of time before his abnormality was discovered. When that happened, whether he would live or die under judgment remained unknown.

Bella possessed outstanding talent and would have a wonderful future. Dylan could not accept her ruining that future for his sake.

He had to stay away from Bella.

But where could he go now?

Dylan even felt that perhaps finding a place to end his own life would be best.

But people ultimately desired to live. He could disregard his life for his daughter, but now that she was safe, he could not quite bear to throw away his own life.

If possible, he still wanted to hide somewhere and occasionally hear news of Bella, to know whether she was doing well.

After thinking it over, Dylan decided to go somewhere first. Deep down, he felt that he might find a way to survive there.