Chapter 301 The Two Hundred Ninety-Ninth Chapter Determination
Hearing the general of the empire’s reasoning, Jenna, who usually treated others gently, showed a rare serious expression and reprimanded, “General! Are you betraying the empire? Besides, submitting to Naga will not have a good outcome.”
“Is he definitely a follower of Naga?” the imperial general asked. “He didn’t lie, is there any evidence?”
Who said that a man with pus-filled sores on his face must be a follower of Naga? It could be a side effect of a disease or some kind of magical curse.
But in Jenna’s view, the probability was too small to be ignored.
She urgently said, “He might not even know he worships Naga. It’s already this time, General—”
Jenna paused. She understood now. In such a situation, demanding that “he is a follower of Naga” needed solid evidence to prove it, which in itself expressed one’s position.
She asked, “Why?”
The imperial general spoke, removing his helmet, revealing his cheeks with dark spots, and bitterly smiled, “Even I am infected, just barely holding on with extraordinary power. What about my soldiers?”
“I estimate nearly half are mild cases, among them are quite a few devout Sigma followers. I can’t just tie bells around their necks and throw them into the quarantine zone to die.”
“They wouldn’t lie to me. They all said they were fine, full of love. At least calling in the epidemic physicians wouldn’t result in more deaths.”
Jenna began to not believe, as the decisive general was now so weak. He was the one who originally ordered the mandatory quarantine, showing no mercy to fleeing patients, using his authority to pressure local soldiers to act against their own people.
But then, thinking it over, perhaps that was precisely why he couldn’t hold on. Looking at his puffy eye bags, one didn’t know how many nightmares he’d had due to moral torment. And then seeing his disappointed expression.
A plague shattered people’s trust in the church. If one could cure the disease and free the people from the fear of death, who would want to hope in an evil god?
Healthy bell-ringers ran past the transparent barrier Jenna had opened, while soldiers stood by, coldly watching the fleeing crowd, and quite a few soldiers even joined in.
The crowd roared, “The lackeys of Sigma have killed our representative!”
And the Bishop of Sigma, before this tumult, fled in a sorry state.
And the witch hunter, cursing heretics, with wounds, cut a bloody path, crashing through to the door of the quarantine zone, seizing the keys, and swallowed them whole.
Angry soldiers and the crowd surged toward this fool, he fell, crying out, “Oh Sigma!”
Then, he was stabbed to death by several long swords.
His corpse was trampled, as they kicked, stamped, and smashed his body, venting their anger against this judgmental witch hunter who often engaged in heresy and burned people at the stake.
“Rescue our compatriots from the prison!”
“Together!”
The crowd ignored Jenna and her group, surging toward the quarantine zone’s doors, the clanging of the copper bells from the front and back of the doors creating a chorus.
By this time, the situation was irreversible.
Jenna looked at Kima, who removed her hot raven beak mask and sat there yawning with the “branch axe gun,” picking her nose.
“Stop looking at me like that,” Kima said. “I can stir up emotions, but when it comes to putting out the fire, it’s not my strong suit. Besides, it’s come to this point, no one can do anything.”
Jenna looked at the general and asked, “So do you plan to side with Naga?”
The general shook his head, “I will never betray the empire.”
“Kima!”
“Ah?”
“Are you ready to fight with me?”
“Let’s just go at it.”
Jenna’s green eyes, on her egg-shaped face, suddenly became determined. She raised her hands, manipulating the light. On the quarantine zone’s door, amidst the dark gray quarantine zone, appeared a line of red universal text:
“According to the Empire’s Emergency Quarantine Law, Article 3, any act of breaching the quarantine zone is illegal and punishable by death!”
No one paid attention; everyone was smashing the chains on the door with tools, while another group was ripping the armor off the witch hunter, stabbing with sharp swords into his chest and abdomen, preparing to gut him.
Another line of crimson text appeared.
“Countdown: Ten, Nine…”
The imperial general, somewhat in disbelief, asked, “Are you going to slaughter these people?”
Jenna replied firmly, “It’s punishment.”
“No, how can you do this? When I issued the Emergency Quarantine Law, you opposed it.”
“The situation is different now.”
The imperial general drew his sword, and Kima aimed her axe blade at the general.
Jenna asked, “Betrayal? Or loyalty?”
The imperial general hesitated instead, saying, “You must be crazy.”
“You either put the sword back, or you strike me now.”
Jenna looked up at the red zero on the quarantine zone’s door; the countdown had been at zero for quite some time.
But they were still chopping at the chains with axes, someone pulled out the key from the witch hunter’s abdomen and held the bloody key high, shouting, “Found it!”
Jenna raised her hands high, chanting a prayer, a blank white light gathered in the street.
At this moment, the imperial general still couldn’t believe. The usually gentle and kind Jenna was really planning to kill these people.
He stepped forward, and Kima also stepped forward, her axe blade glowing red.
The imperial general turned back, “You’re all insane.”
A blazing light formed at the quarantine zone’s door. In an instant, everyone in front of the door was enveloped in smoke, flames sprang forth from the smoke, rapidly spreading across their bodies, burning everyone.
Soldiers using axes to chop the chains, the person holding the bloody key high, and those pushing against the door were all engulfed in flames. They were so joyful for a moment that they didn’t even notice the fire on their bodies, or it could have been some kind of illusion—the time seemed to stop for a moment.
Time flowed.
Suddenly, everyone realized they were on fire. They tried to run, but their charred feet tripped them to the ground. They opened their mouths to scream, but a few seconds later, they lay lifeless on the smoking bricks, silent. The muddy earth dried up, turning to dust, rising into the air.
The brightness of the scorching orb covered this tragic scene, chasing after the fleeing healthy bell-ringers, moving towards the center of the cross street.
The rushing crowd simply couldn’t outrun the blazing orb. That orb, more than twenty meters in diameter, suddenly killed hundreds, and the number continued to rise.
The imperial soldiers wavered, looking at the imperial general and then at Jenna. With just one word from the imperial general, they would launch an attack on Jenna without hesitation to stop the slaughter.
But the imperial general did not have that courage. Angrily, he removed his feathered summer helmet and slammed it to the ground, leaving wordlessly with the fleeing crowd.
The imperial soldiers also scattered, leaving the scene.
The blazing orb extinguished, leaving over a hundred charred corpses on the scorching stone surface. The bustling crowd that had been there moments ago now scattered in flight, the quarantine zone’s door became much quieter.
Kima couldn’t help but whistle. Jenna’s decision was truly decisive; she appeared almost transformed.
Jenna, dressed in silver robes, silently stepped over the charred bodies, most of which were unarmed. She walked over the steaming pavement to the quarantine zone’s door.
One charred corpse knelt on the ground, one hand raised high, holding the bright red key.
That was the key to the quarantine zone retrieved from the witch hunter’s throat.
Jenna reached out, grasping the hot key, inserted it into the keyhole, and forcefully broke it. With her hands glowing white, she melted the key in the keyhole and took several swords to heat them up until they were red and soft, securely “locking” the door.
“At least for a short time, it’s better than worrying that someone can open the quarantine zone’s door.” Kima floated a meter off the ground, flapping her wings, and asked, “What do you plan to do next?”
“Go to the barracks and persuade the soldiers.” Jenna said expressionlessly, “Go hunt down the epidemic physicians, resolve the source first, and if possible, ask for their methods to treat the Black Death.”
“You suspect the Black Death is Naga’s doing?”
“Otherwise?”
“Novelists love this kind of plot.” Kima said, “All this time, the diligent and devoted Saint of the Hall, when she learns the epidemic physicians can cure the Black Death, will prejudge that they are followers of Naga based on Sigma’s wanted notices. Interestingly, during this catastrophe, the Sigma Church only knows how to burn people…”
“And the Hall Saint, when faced with a heap of patients cured by the epidemic physicians, thinks they are all followers of Naga, even if they claim they are not, you still prevent them from helping the poor patients in the quarantine zone, resulting in the massacre at Cross Street. After that, she’ll take the soldiers to hunt down the epidemic physicians.”
Jenna asked, “Kima, are you trying to blame me for being hypocritical?”
“No, I’m reminding you how the world might judge you. Believe me, everyone loves a twist. On the surface, acting like a virtuous person, but behind the scenes, being a treacherous villain. I’ve heard the doctors, whom everyone claims are evil heretics, are actually wrongly accused eminent physicians. This is a timeless trope in literature.”
Kima continued:
“Of course, I don’t care how others see it. I also don’t care if the people lying on the ground are innocent or not; they are dead regardless. I care about you, do you have the resolve? If faced with others’ doubts, would you waver? Do you really think you’ll become the hypocritical good person others say you are?”
After all, you are one of the two extraordinary beauties in this world willing to sleep with me.
“Thank you for your concern, Kima.” Jenna looked at Kima, speaking with the gentle tone she had before, “I have made up my mind.”
Kima shared a secret knowledge: “Now that you’ve said that, I’m relieved. I forgot to tell you, as far as I know, Naga represents not only decay and disease but also rebirth and the vitality of life.”
“Rebirth?”
“So, you can see that Naga’s followers may appear sickly and decaying, but they are very resilient.” Kima said, “Furthermore, Naga’s divine magic can make people appear healthy and radiant; that’s quite normal.”
Jenna secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
“Damn it, the horses have all run away.” Kima reached out her hand to Jenna: “Let me fly you to the barracks.”
“Alright.”
“Whew, much lighter than George.”
The two quickly flew to the military camp.
The military camp was on the brink of rebellion, or one could say it was nearly half in turmoil, in a state of chaos. Those who witnessed the massacre at Cross Street escaped back, recounting horrific news to their comrades.
Compared to the epidemic physicians having cured thousands of patients, more horrifying was that the slaughter was initiated by the Hall Saint.
Illogical and expected.
Many proclaimed they had seen the Hall Saint had gone mad, with fewer than ten critically ill patients surviving once handed over to her. Some said she was crazily jealous of the epidemic physicians.
These rumors had just been spawned and hadn’t been able to spread yet.
Jenna arrived at the military camp and began her speech. As she spoke, words formed from light floated above the camp. She claimed the epidemic physicians were very likely followers of the evil god Naga, and this Black Death was undoubtedly Naga’s conspiracy.
The cured patients were not truly healthy; they simply appeared radiant on the surface, but upon death, they showed signs of illness, with maggots crawling on them.
She emphasized that she had warned the healthy bell-ringers, but they still rushed to breach the quarantine zone’s doors.
And the imperial general, he was not devout and harbored thoughts of betraying the empire.
Finally, Jenna stated that as long as everyone still believed in her, they would accompany her to attack the stronghold of the epidemic physicians.
The imperial soldiers exchanged glances, their thoughts in chaos, unsure of whom to trust.
Although the Saint Jenna had always had a reputation for healing in the army, she was merely a powerful spellcaster. She had never commanded an army, nor had anyone ever been commanded by her.
The soldiers found the imperial general, who had discarded his helmet. He said nothing, just drank in silence, as if the liquor would help him escape from this infected city.
In the end, some officers were willing to follow Jenna, half the soldiers followed suit. Some imperial soldiers, disappointed with the situation in Olli City, quietly became deserters.
Thus, the imperial army of Olli City split.
The remaining imperial army supported the general, who, drunk, ordered to firmly defend the Olli City docks and remain neutral.
Notably, among the soldiers following Jenna was the swordsman Henry.
This lucky fellow, before heading out, remembered what Kima had told him. He drank the potion Kima had given him, hoping it would give him strength.
Then the Scarry Sword Saint Henry felt an endless power in his stomach that expelled all his bowels.
Scarry Sword Saint Henry had to rush to the toilet, unfortunately missing out on the expedition.
In the evening, an expedition led by Jenna, composed of local Sigma priests, the Sun Knights from outside the city, and imperial soldiers, set out toward the stronghold of the Naga cult.
The flagbearer weakly shouted, “Advance.”
The army formed a long line, setting off from the Olli City gates with just over a thousand people, many of whom were suspected of being infected.
Jenna rode a healthy warhorse at the front of the line, turning her head to look at Olli City under the sunset.
She always had an ominous feeling, having taken so many people away; there must surely be insufficient defenses in the city. Plus, with the imperial general completely uninterested in maintaining order.
She didn’t know how long the quarantine zone’s gate could hold out. Nor did she know who else would be willing to deliver food and water to the quarantine zone.
Jenna forcefully turned her head back to face forward, just as she had when she raced through the streets, forcing herself to ignore the hands begging for help at the roadside.
Kima, on the other hand, was not as melancholic as she was; she sat sideways on the horse, relying on her superhuman physical coordination, was writing a novel with a pen while happily humming a tune off-key.
The dark-haired demon raised her head and smiled at Jenna, “Jenna, do you think my story is good?”
Her smile momentarily lightened the gloom in Jenna’s heart. Jenna took the paper Kima handed her, glanced at the content on the pristine sheet, and softly read aloud:
“Once upon a time, in the fief of Steel, where they liked to engage in improper relations with sheep, in a town there was a mouse infestation… Kima, this is regional discrimination.”
“Regardless, I’m not selling books in the fief of Steel; the other eleven provinces all love this stereotype.”
Jenna continued to read: “It was said that those mice stood as tall as a person and could talk. The townsfolk, unable to endure, pooled money to hire a piper… Kima, isn’t this the story of the Pied Piper?”
“The prototype is it, but I’ve innovated a bit.”
“Next, does the piper play his pipe, and the mice all run out? Then the townsfolk refuse to pay, and the piper takes their children?” Jenna said while flipping through the pages: “The next day, a piper, two meters tall and two meters wide, carrying a giant sword, shows up claiming to be the piper?!”
“Keep reading, his giant sword is called a flute,” Kima said. “When he swings it, it resembles a blown flute. Isn’t that a good setup?”
“Very contrived.” Jenna didn’t lie; she continued reading: “The piper jumped into the mouse hole, swung his big sword, and disappeared into the shadows? Every time he swung his sword, a pile of mouse heads dropped down, and before each mouse died, they heard a symphony of the flute and a woman’s voice intertwined? — Kima, symphonies don’t sound like that.”
“Ah, why seek realism in fictional works?”
The following text seemed to be Kima’s self-indulgence; she detailed for several pages how the piper killed those rat-men, cutting off their heads and piling them up. There would even be a strange music playing, causing the rat-men to tremble with fear because it meant that some of their kind had died nearby, and the killer was still around.
“It sounds like something a blood god’s follower would write; Kima, have you recently worshipped the blood god?”
Kima lied, “No way, I’m not that fallen. What do you think?”
Jenna honestly shook her head:
“It seems like a deliberate pursuit of an anti-impression. You used the well-known tale of the Pied Piper but shaped him into a butcher who can only swing his sword and kill mice without flute-blowing. However, that doesn’t make the story exciting.”
After saying that, Jenna felt that being honest would dampen Kima’s enthusiasm, so she comforted her, “This is still a draft; you can revise it. Who knows, you might turn decay into something miraculous.”
Kima gloomily took back the paper, saying, “I’ve already revised it three times and even published it.”
“Published?”
“Yeah, I asked the Shadow King to help me publish it.”
“The Shadow King? That… Arkannis?”
“I’ll tell you when the timing is right.”
Jenna asked, “By the way, do rat-men really exist?”
“Of course, they exist.”
“I don’t mean beastmen with rat heads.” Jenna said, “I’ve heard that there is a kind of rat-man who possesses intelligence comparable to humans.”
“Oh.” Kima whispered, “Of course, there are.”
————
Five thousand words, plus the four thousand from yesterday, can be considered as the final update to repay the debt owed.
Tsk, a man’s promise took a month and eight days to fulfill. In the future, I’ll work on a man’s promise only when I have drafts ready.
