Finrad's Church.
Since the residents were moved away, the church has been used as a place to accommodate the wounded, with a batch of blood poison victims also separately confined in compartments.
The priest did not give up on these people but instead notified their families, hoping that one or two of them could be saved.
Today, the church's scent of blood was several times stronger than usual.
Injured people were continuously being brought in, a significant portion of them severely injured.
"Ugh, let me go!"
Without the suppression of Holy Light for a long time, the blood poison patients had become increasingly agitated.
Apprentice Priest Marvin forcefully restrained a struggling patient while his companion cooperatively tied the ropes tightly.
"This won't do, we still need the Holy Light Technique for suppression, where is Priest Glen?"
The companion glanced at the surrounding roaring patients and shook his head:
"Still outside treating the wounded, two more severely injured just came in, the priest may not have the strength to help them now."
"I'll go ask."
Marvin went outside and indeed saw the priest stuffing a soldier's intestines back in with one hand and using the Healing Technique with the other to keep him alive.
Only when the soldier's condition finally stabilized did Marvin approach the priest and say:
"Priest Glen, the blood poison patients need Holy Light Technique suppression, or I'm afraid they won't hold on."
Glen turned around, and Marvin found that his eyes lacked their usual sparkle, looking utterly exhausted.
This was a sign of magic power exhaustion.
Marvin figured there was probably no Holy Light Technique left.
Indeed, Glen said with a look of reluctance:
"Marvin, bring the sword in and release those who can't make it anymore.
I cannot abandon those who can clearly be saved for the sake of the blood poison patients whose hope is dim.
I will bear any consequences."
"Yes..."
Picking up a soldier's longsword from the wall, Marvin returned to the compartment.
A few more people had gone mad.
His companion saw him returning with a sword, understood the meaning, and walked out unwilling to watch.
Standing in front of a man struggling most violently, Marvin took a deep breath.
He knew this man, the captain of a patrol team, who became like this after mistakenly drinking tampered creek water during a mission.
"Sorry, may the Lord of Light Ikezion save your soul."
The longsword pierced the neck, ending the suffering of this squad captain.
Marvin sighed long, moving on to the next person.
This was a young female adventurer, reportedly attacked by bats while on a commission.
Her eyes were half dyed red, a sign of complete transformation and the most painful stage.
Yet she gritted her teeth without making a sound, only letting out muffled groans.
Marvin couldn't help but admire her resilience.
Such a pity though.
The female adventurer smelled the blood on Marvin's sword and didn't resist, merely closed her eyes, trembling slightly, prepared to meet her tragic fate.
"May the Lord of Light Ikezion save your soul."
Bang——
The door was burst open, the sudden change causing Marvin's sword to freeze mid-air.
The intruder, wearing a worn-out cloak, crazily charged towards the female adventurer upon seeing her, knocking Marvin over in one fell swoop.
"What madness, I'm helping them achieve peace..."
Marvin thought the intruder misunderstood, so he covered his waist and got up trying to drive him away.
But when he saw what the intruder was holding, he was stunned.
"Rejuvenation Potion!"
The cloaked newcomer was obviously Dylan, who didn't pay any attention to what Marvin was saying, just looked at his daughter's painful expression with heartache.
With his good right hand, he took out the potion and carefully fed it to her.
"Dad?"
"Bella, don't be afraid, Daddy's here, this potion can save you, you'll be fine."
Bella seemed doubting her father could appear at such a time, but obediently drank it down.
As the potion entered her body, Bella felt a sharp pain spreading through her entire body.
"Ah!"
The suddenly intensified pain made Bella cry out, then she simply fainted.
"Wh-what's going on? Is there a problem with the potion? What should we do?"
Dylan was utterly panicked, if this only hope was fake... then he would definitely go back and kill that goateed man's entire family!
Seeing this, Marvin hastily explained:
"Don't worry, this is a normal reaction of the Rejuvenation Potion, naturally the parts undergoing the transformation will go through the pain again during reversion.
It's good she fainted, everything will be better when she wakes up."
"Re-really?"
Dylan grabbed Marvin's hand, his grip was so strong that Marvin, an apprentice priest, grimaced from the pain.
"Really, really! Let go of me!"
Realizing his loss of control, Dylan quickly released him, apologizing somewhat awkwardly.
"It's fine... I understand you."
Saying that, Marvin picked up the sword from the ground and moved towards another patient about to transform, continuing his task—not everyone has the fortune to turn bad luck into good.
Bella was frowning tightly, apparently feeling pain even in her unconsciousness.
Dylan gently stroked her face, tears glistening in his eyes.
He had finally managed to save his daughter.
The sounds of slaughter outside were almost inaudible; there weren't many bloodsuckers attacking compared to the soldiers, they just had the advantage of surprise.
The manager here seemed to have some capability; before Dylan entered, he saw the manager organizing soldiers outside the church, forming teams to counterattack.
Dylan himself had smeared his face with fresh blood to cover up the hyphae to be let in.
The place would soon return to order...
"Lucky girl, you must have a deep bond to rush into the village under such circumstances."
After killing all the agitated patients, Marvin started a conversation to relieve his psychological pressure, now needing someone to talk to.
After hearing this, Dylan seemed to remember something, got up a bit flustered, and ran out.
"Hey, hey?"
This made Marvin puzzled, you don't need to run if you don't want to talk, right?
Dylan rushed out of the church, scanning the surroundings to ensure no trace of bloodsuckers remained, and the church was no longer in danger.
He slipped out of the village before the soldiers fully restored order.
It's not that he didn't want to watch his daughter wake up, he was just afraid.
His healing left hand, with the hyphae merging with flesh at the wound, reminded him of his own mutated state.
He's not afraid of his daughter rejecting him, quite the opposite.
As the apprentice priest said, they have a deep father-daughter bond.
So deep that even if Bella knew her father had become like this, she would stand by him without hesitation.
And that was what scared him.
His abnormality being discovered was a matter of time, and the outcome of facing judgment—life or death—was still unknown.
Bella, with exceptional talent, has a promising future. Dylan couldn't accept her ruining that future for him.
He had to stay away from Bella.
But where could he go now?
Dylan even thought perhaps he should find a place to end it himself.
But ultimately, people yearn for life. For his daughter, he could disregard his life; now that she's safe, he isn't willing to give it up either.
If possible, he still wanted to hide somewhere, occasionally checking on Bella, to know she is doing well.
After pondering, Dylan decided to visit a place; somehow, he felt he could find a way to survive there.