Chapter 112 Signal Flares
Boom, Fusyung-!
A red beacon shot up into the sky, signalling that the scattered soldiers would soon be rushing here. That meant that until reinforcements arrived, the five of them would have to deal with five medium-sized demons.
Once behind the trees, the group gripped their weapons tightly and waited with bated breath for the demons.
Buk, buk, buk.
The ground-shaking sound grew closer and closer. Killion’s brow creased.
“This… I’m guessing there are more than five. Fire another flare.”
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
For a moment, a heavy tension settled over everyone’s faces. Although they were all experienced in combat, it was hard not to feel nervous when the moment of battle was right in front of them. Especially in the face of a numerically enemy.
Boom, Fusyung-!
The second red beacon signalled that the situation was urgent and they needed to hurry up. Everyone took a deep breath and focused on the demons movements.
Buk, buk, buk-
The big demons were right in front of them.
Buk! Buk!
“Kaaaah!”
Judging by the tone of its howls, it seemed to be somewhat excited.
“I’ll go first. You guys are to come out in a minute.”
“Yes, sir.”
Taking advantage of the enemy’s defenselessness, the sharpest of the men stabbed them in the back.
While the enemy is stunned by the suddenness of the attack, everyone joins in and unleashes a full on assault. This was their favourite tactic when facing large numbers of enemies in a confined space with fewer men.
Giving his men a signal with his eyes, Killion did not hesitate to rush forward. It was a silent movement, not a sound of footsteps or even breathing.
He frowned as he took stock of the enemies before him. They were more than medium-sized, they were large, and judging from the ten or so he could see in front of him right now, there were probably more than twenty in all.
‘I completely misjudged them!’
The time for self-reproach was short-lived. Killion gritted his teeth hard and quickly began swinging his sword.
Thud.
The right front leg of the creature that was walking on all fours in front of him was severed.
Crakk-.
The body of the bipedal creature behind him snapped in half.
“Kyaak!”
“Quiiiiiiiight!”
The creatures screamed and began to stagger back and forth. Killion didn’t miss a beat. He ran, slashed, ran, slashed, and ran again, trying to take down as many as he could before his companions joined in.
After a few moments of indecision, the demons finally set their sights on Killion and charged.
“Now! Let’s go!”
The other four, seeing the optimum time, followed Windler’s signal and began to attack, joined by the soldiers who had seen the signal and rushed in behind them.
There were more of them than expected, and they were all larger, but the soldiers moved quickly and were not outnumbered. However, the original plan to capture them had to be modified. Instead of capturing them alive, the first priority was to defeat them.
“Kyaaak!”
“KEEEEEEEEK!”
The deafening screams of the creature could be heard all around.
***
At the same time, Veronia was busily treating patients in the infirmary set up in front of the Great Hall. All the younger patients under the age of five were her responsibility.
She was very grateful for the divine powers she had gained since becoming pregnant with Jediel, but she couldn’t help but feel disappointed that she was still unable to treat patients of an older age.
“There you go.”
“Wow, you’re clean!”
“Thank you, Healer, thank you so much!”
Both the child and his mother cried tears of joy as they saw their hands and feet, which had been rotten beyond recognition, clean and healed.
“He’s not cured yet, though, so we’ll give him a spoonful of this potion every day and monitor his progress. If you have any symptoms of the plague again, please come to the healing centre immediately.”
“Yes, I understand, Healer.”
The child’s mother quickly wiped her wet eyes and took the bag of potions Veronia offered. The child and her mother waved goodbye again and again, and left the treatment room.
Veronia was entering the patient’s details in her ledger. The door opened and the next patient walked in. With so many patients waiting, there was little time between treatments.
“Hello. Please come in.”
Veronia smiled brightly at her new patient. But with her helmet-shaped hood, it was doubtful her smile would reach the patient.
Almost all patients come in with a lot of tension, so it’s important for the therapist to greet them with a cheerful face to ease their nerves.
But this was not easy with the mask covering her face, so she had to deliberately make her voice even brighter.
“Have a seat on the couch there, please. What’s your name, how old are you? How many months pregnant are you?”
“My name is Chloe Green, I’m twenty years old, and I’m seven months pregnant.”
“Well, you’re going to have a beautiful baby in three months. Do you have a name in mind?”
Veronia kept up a light conversation, quickly jotting down the patient’s details in her ledger.
She could tell the patient was nervous, and her voice trembled at the edges. It must not be easy being the guardian of a child in her womb when she was still so young herself.
“… No, not yet.”
“I see. I’m sure you’ll have a pretty name in mind soon.”
When Veronia had finished organizing her books, she finally came to her bedside and assessed her condition. The condition was grave. The rot had spread beyond her hands and feet to her arms and legs. It would have been difficult to walk at this point.
“Did you come all the way here by yourself?”
“Yes. A soldier helped me.”
“Oh, I see.”
Apparently, the rapid progression of her illness had delayed his treatment, as he was unable to reach the clinic on her own.
“Okay, let’s get started with your treatment. Make yourself comfortable on the back of the couch.”
“Okay…”
Veronia placed her hands on the patient’s convex stomach. For children, she would place her hands directly on the affected area, but pregnant women were different. She had to place her hands on the fetus to get a quicker effect.
The healing properties of veronia were limited to children under the age of five.
Therefore, in the case of pregnant women, she could not cure the woman herself, but rather her body as part of the treatment of the foetus.
A faint glow began to emanate from Veronia’s hands. The patient’s eyes widened in surprise at this manifestation of divine power. Veronia smiled and reassured her.
“It’s okay, the holy power is beginning to heal the foetus, and it will heal your body as well, for the sake of your child’s integrity. It will take some time, so please close your eyes as if you were resting.”
“… Yes”
The warmth of the divine power began to circulate through the patient’s body, centred on her belly, and soon the tired woman breathed out evenly, drifting off into a light sleep.
Treating pregnant women was time-consuming. If it took about 10 minutes to treat a child, it would take twice as long to treat a pregnant woman.
When Veronia finished, she patted her on the shoulder to wake her up.
“I’m done, thank you for your hard work.”
“Ah…!”
Waking up, the patient was first puzzled that she had fallen asleep during the treatment, and later amazed to see that her unsightly rotting arms and legs were now clean.
“Thank you, healer!” She said.
“You’re not cured yet, we need to monitor your progress, my other patients take medicine, but… I don’t recommend medicine for pregnant women. Can you come back in two days, I need a follow-up treatment?”
“Yes, I’ll do that, I’ll come back in two days.”
The patient nodded her head vigorously. She looked like she was going to cry at any moment.
“Well, go home, get some rest, and I’ll see you in two days. Take care, Chloe.”
“I’ll see you again, thank you so much, Healer!”
The patient, still examining her limbs in disbelief, bowed heavily and left the treatment room. Veronia turned back to her desk and filed the treatment in her ledger.
It was then. Startled by the strange sound, Veronica looked out the window to see a straight line of red smoke rising against the blue sky. The smoke was coming from the forest.
“What is that? Is it a signal?”
If it’s red and not any other colour, it’s a sign of danger, right? Veronia’s heart sank. Her mind raced as she worried about Killion, who had left for the Cotang Forest.
‘Surely… something hasn’t happened to him? Will Killion be okay?’
Frightening thoughts followed one after the other. Strange things were happening in that forest.
It had never happened before, not in history, not in the original story, and Veronia’s knowledge of it only increased her fear.
‘Please… it’s nothing! Killion…, are you okay?’
The thought of Killion suddenly brought a lively heat to her eyes. It was almost unbearable to miss him at this moment.
‘But…’
She had to hold back. There were many patients waiting for her. Veronia took a deep breath to calm herself.
“It’s going to be okay, it’s all going to be okay.”
She was just telling herself in a quiet but firm voice when she heard another bang outside, and her gaze snapped back to the window.
The plume of red smoke against the blue sky had grown to two. Two plumes of smoke seemed to indicate a more dire situation than one.
‘… Oh no!’
