Caroline was completely dumbfounded, as Isha had lost the Holy Light, so Caroline, as a professional, brought the soldiers to rescue the Sisters and refugees.
No amount of words from the scout could compare to the shock Caroline felt seeing it with her own eyes.
The horrifying depiction of hell was vividly displayed before Caroline, yet she couldn’t feel any joy; she wished this was just a nightmare.
“Lady Flora!”
Seeing Flora, who was filled with curses, Isha showed no disgust but was instead excited to want to embrace Flora.
As long as they were alive, for Isha, it was enough that the people of the Cathedral of the Blessed Mother of Relief could still live.
When she saw human soldiers had arrived, Flora’s first reaction was worry, fearing that the plague nearby would infect them. However, seeing Isha made Flora’s expression light up with surprise.
“Little Isha!”
Flora excitedly stood up, wanting to hug Isha like before, but as soon as she got up, she quickly retreated and loudly warned, “Don’t come over!”
Isha stood frozen, the stench irritating her nostrils, forcing her to recall the hellish refugee camp from the past.
The soldiers stood outside the white line drawn with alchemical powder, preventing the spread of the plague while observing the battle situation in the distance, making sure the demon soldiers did not return to kill.
While seeing the tragic state of the Sisters and refugees, this group of soldiers even regretted not being the ones fighting against the demon clan from far away.
Caroline took out two rolls of silk and handed one to Isha.
The silk was covered with alchemical powder and herbs for plague prevention.
Not far away, horse-drawn carriages carrying medical equipment, hot water supplies, and holy water were constantly arriving.
“Little Isha, is it really you?”
Flora still couldn’t quite believe the scene before her—two groups of human soldiers suddenly appearing, the order and division of labor strict, one group protecting refugees, the other fighting the demon clan, and Isha also appearing in front of her, along with supplies seemingly continuously coming in from afar.
For Flora, who had experienced despair, this felt like a dream, and she even thought it was the goddess giving her end-of-life care.
“Lady Flora, what’s the current situation? What curses and plagues did the demon clan inflict? I’ve prepared the medicine!”
Seeing Isha’s eagerness, Flora responded, her tone sorrowful: “No, little Isha, there is no medicine left. We’re almost dead; in fact, many brothers and sisters are on the verge of collapsing. The demon clan forced me to extend everyone’s lives, but we’re running out of strength.”
“Thank you, little Isha, but perhaps for us, being burned to death by fire would be the best outcome, perhaps just buried under lime; that would be enough.”
Just as Flora and Isha were talking, a Sister rushed to Flora’s side, shouting, “Lady Saintess, it’s bad! A sister is about to drown!”
Drown? Caroline, with her head wrapped in silk nearby, couldn’t understand this; wasn’t there a lack of water around? How could someone drown?
Flora and Isha rushed over and discovered a Sister with yellow-green liquid continuously pouring from her mouth and nostrils; only then did Caroline realize what drowning actually meant.
In an instant, Caroline felt a strong urge to vomit—not from the Sister who was on the verge of drowning in her own pus, but from the confusion of what she had been doing with Caudic, shouting for the demon clan?
Isha also reacted immediately, unhesitatingly propping the Sister up and forcing her fingers into the Sister’s mouth, manually pulling the pus from her throat and nostrils.
The Sister lay on the ground, continuously retching in pain, and Isha could only pat her back in sympathy.
“Why save me?”
The revived Sister cried out to Isha, “I was almost dead; if I died, I wouldn’t have to suffer anymore. Why save me?”
As Isha stood there helpless, Flora stepped past her, gently embracing the Sister.
“Sister, no matter the circumstances, we cannot treat our savior this way.”
“I’m sorry, Lady Flora, I just…”
The Sister broke down in tears.
“Lady Flora, the Graywhite Territory’s lord has prepared medicine for you all. Once it arrives, even if it doesn’t cure you, at least it can alleviate everyone’s suffering.”
Isha still wanted to hold Flora’s hand, but Flora quickly pulled it away.
“Thanks to this kind lord, but unless the goddess manifests a miracle, bringing endless holy water, we probably have no way out. Any measures are merely delaying tactics, so please, Isha, at least don’t let our sins multiply any further, okay?”
While speaking, Lind and Lena arrived at the location of the refugees.
Crimson Saintess Flora had little to no role in this play; Lind wasn’t very familiar with her either, but he had great respect for someone who treated the sick and saved lives on the frontier and could soothe the emotions of her companions in such desperate times.
No wonder she was Isha’s mentor.
Just a glance at these Sisters and refugees could raise goosebumps. It was hard to imagine how Flora had come this far.
Lena’s knights even forcibly pulled Lena back, fearing she might catch the plague.
“Lord!”
Caroline was the first to see Lind and bowed to him.
Isha also introduced Lind to Flora: “This is the lord of the Graywhite Territory, Baron Lind Roer, and his fiancée, Miss Lena Lars.”
Upon hearing Lena’s surname, Flora was first taken aback, but quickly regained her composure.
Flora, weak, performed the etiquette to bow to Lind, saying, “Thank you for your kindness, Lord. Your wisdom and courage are evident.”
Lind calmly accepted this bow and returned it with a gesture of equal respect, saying, “Lady Saintess, you are the strongest person I have ever seen; I wish for everyone’s recovery.”
“Unless the goddess personally manifests a miracle,” Flora let out a helpless smile.
“There will be a miracle,” Lind turned his head, looking towards the horse-drawn carriages approaching in the distance.
At that moment, Lauri, leading the soldiers, dragged over twenty dismembered demon corpses.
Lind glanced at the corpses; these demons had indirectly died because of him, yet Lind felt no guilt at all, not even the nauseating feeling that was typical for someone killing for the first time in a story.
There was perhaps a hint of unease, but Lind knew it wasn’t because of the first time he indirectly killed someone.
“Make it a spectacle.”
Lind said to Lauri.
“A spectacle?”
“Just stack the demon corpses together.”
Hearing Lind’s explanation, Lauri looked once more at the Sisters and refugees and laughed heartily.
“Good! Leave it to me; I’ll make these guys look great.”
Following behind Lauri, Darsi, who was fighting demons for the first time, shivered at Lind’s explanation, thinking Lord Lind was too cruel. Was Lord Lind actually such a terrifying and brutal person?
But when Darsi moved ahead and saw the tragic situation of the Sisters and refugees, he nearly vomited. He thought, if my sister were tortured like this… Darsi shook his head, lamenting that Lord Lind was still too kind.
