Chapter 123: Recuperate! March Towards the Darkness!
No Retreat Army’s leader, Zhao Yongkang, said in a deep voice, “City Master Link, please wait for a moment.”
Link paused. “Is there anything else?”
Zhao Yongkang looked up at the dark sky and frowned. “The God of Evil rituals performed by the Black Dragon Gang are extremely evil. Fighting those evil beings not only risks losing your life but also risks aberration.”
“Even we found fighting those Spiderhumans hard. Even if one doesn’t get injured and infected, just gazing at those distorted sights for a long time can cause spiritual pollution and lead one to madness.”
“The altar is also the place where the Black Dragon Gang communicates with the God of Evil. There must be powerful evil beings guarding it. City Master Link, you should take a moment to recuperate and recover your strength before we head over to destroy the altar.”
A No Retreat Army soldier soon answered, “Yes, we are willing to go to the altar with City Master Link and fight against those aberrated monsters!”
Link nodded slightly at his words and didn’t refuse the No Retreat Army soldiers’ goodwill. Participating in a series of battles had taken a considerable toll on Link’s own physical and mental strength.
The six-winged angel Yuna waved her staff, and a circle of sacred, pure, holy light energy flowed out like ripples.
This holy light had a restraining effect on dark, unholy creatures, and it caused damage via the holy flame. To all people, it was good for purifying the polluted.
All the No Retreat Army soldiers felt a warmth well up inside their bodies as if their souls were cleansed by the holy light!
Many No Retreat Army soldiers—who suffered from spiritual pollution and had indescribable whispers ringing in their ears—finally got out of that creepy state.
They had once again felt the power of this summoned Angel, and they couldn’t help but be amazed by it.
“The holy light is so warm. I feel like all my strength has been restored and that all the spiritual pollution from fighting the Spiderhumans has been dispelled!”
“Only City Master Link is capable of summoning such a powerful creature!”
“Thankfully, City Master Link came to support us this time. Otherwise, it would’ve been difficult for us to escape those monsters’ clutches!”
“The holy light can dispel the pollution. We can finally stop worrying about ourselves turning into one of those inhuman, aberrated monsters!”
...
Taking the opportunity to recuperate, some soldiers retrieved water and food from the wrecked camp, purified them, and distributed them to the people.
No Retreat Army’s Priests—wielding staffs—cast recovery magic on the wounded and helped the crowd quickly recover their strength and condition.
One Priest that was holding a scalpel caught Link’s attention.
This Priest was removing aberrated parts for the soldiers who were more severely polluted and couldn’t be completely healed by the holy light.
For example, this young man—who looked like a military doctor—dug out the blood-colored eyeball that grew on a soldier’s arm and threw it on the ground at this moment.
The blood-colored eyeball seemed to have a life of its own and was able to survive by itself. After being dug out, black tentacles formed, and the eyeball tried to escape.
But the young man used the scalpel to stab it completely, turning the eyeball into a puddle of pus and blood.
Link seemed to have met this young man in his past life, but he did not have a deep impression of him.
This scene was brought to the No Retreat Army leader, Zhao Yongkang’s attention, and he introduced him to Link. “That’s Jiang Cheng, who was said to be a doctor before the apocalypse. He has provided a lot of assistance during our encounter with the aberrated monsters.”
After Zhao Yongkang’s explanation, Link learned that the No Retreat Army had suffered great losses in the beginning since it was their first time encountering the aberrated monsters.
Many survivors perished or were aberrated as a result.
It was this young man named ‘Jiang Cheng,’ who had quickly sized up the situation and outlined the three stages of pollution.
The first stage: the victim’s spirit would suffer from initial pollution. Symptoms included evil whispers that rang in one’s ears and non-existent strange black shadows that occasionally appeared before one’s eyes.
In the second stage, the victim’s spirit would suffer from moderate pollution. Aberration would slightly occur on the body, but it wouldn’t affect more than 30% of the whole body. This aberration manifested in the form of additional eyeballs, teeth, or organs that ingested food. The victim’s internal organs would then be exposed on the surface of their body.
In the third stage, the victim’s spirit would suffer from severe pollution, leading them to madness and depravity. Irreversible aberration would occur on more than 70% of the victim’s body, leading to a complete transformation into a monster.
During the first two stages of pollution, one still had hope of being cured. In the third stage, there was basically no hope.
When the No Retreat Army soldiers found themselves—or their comrades around them—at the third stage of pollution, they wouldn’t hesitate to end the lives of the aberrated.
It was because they were able to determine one’s condition from the different stages of pollution that the No Retreat Army was able to secure a stronghold in a short period of time without all of them being aberrated.
It seemed that many capable people had emerged with the apocalypse’s coming.
Link silently remembered the young man’s name.
It was at this moment that Link felt a fluctuation in his spirit. It came from God Devourer Ant and Star Moon.
Since Link was their Summoner, and they originated from him, he was able to communicate with them via his mind.
In the current situation where the communication network was down, making it difficult to communicate with the others, this enabled Link to grasp the situation in Unfallen City immediately.
During the previous battle with the Undead, Link received the news that the Blood Demon Gang was attacking Unfallen City.
Since Link had made contingency plans, he did not make use of the [Ring of Teleportation]’s [So Close, Yet So Far] to teleport back to Unfallen City.
He believed that Unfallen City had the ability to eliminate the Blood Demon Gang, and that was exactly what happened.
At this moment, the spiritual fluctuations coming from God Devourer Ant were to inform Link that Bloodseeker had been decapitated.
Knowing that the Blood Demon Gang had been eliminated, Link gathered his spirit and began to meditate to recover his energy.
...
Over 40 minutes later.
Link opened his eyes. At the same time, Zhao Yongkang gathered the No Retreat Army’s soldiers.
The No Retreat Army had previously delayed the Undead army and most of the aberrated monsters. However, there were still aberrated monsters in the city.
The people who retreated first were also likely to have been polluted by the crowd of Spiderhumans. Their status was unknown at the moment.
Therefore, there could not be any delays. Even if they recuperated, they had to watch the time closely.
Most of the soldiers had recovered their strength. Although it was hard to fight the sleepiness, they were able to continue fighting.
A few heavily wounded were housed at the temporary camps set up, and personnel were arranged to look after them.
Link looked at the crowd lined up in front of him—which was standing at attention—and said in a deep voice, “Let’s go to the altar.”
“Yes!” The No Retreat Army soldiers responded in a resounding voice as they stared at Link, filled with admiration.
After the previous battle, he had become everyone’s support and backbone. He was held in high prestige in the No Retreat Army soldiers’ hearts.
The scene also caught the attention of Zhao Yongkang. But the No Retreat Army’s leader did not feel annoyed. He smiled instead.
Zhao Yongkang was not obsessed with power, and he had recognized Link’s ability. He even thought that there perhaps might be hope in changing the future if he followed this man.
Link led almost 100 No Retreat Army soldiers into the city’s criss-crossing streets.
The sky was dark due to the area being distorted by the God of Evil’s aura. They advanced step by step as if being slowly swallowed by the fog-like darkness...
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