Chapter 198: Collision of Ideas

Turning the corner, under the shade of trees near the main road, Miss Vilyric saw Yuna and Edwina Cecelia engaged in a heated argument. Their bodies, in addition to their holy robes and holy knight armors, were surrounded by faint golden isolation barriers.

When Miss White Fox arrived, she found Edwina retreating from the argument, her face full of resentment, biting her lip as if she wanted to say something but held back. In front of her, the Saintess maintained her usual calm demeanor, though her smile had faded, replaced by an air of solemnity.

“What are you two talking about?”

In a scene that couldn’t possibly be called a “talk,” Miss White Fox subtly gestured to the envoy beside her, who nodded and left as if he understood the hint. Then she approached the two important figures and inserted herself into the conversation.

“Miss Xī…”

“Miss Xī has arrived. My apologies for the disturbance.”

“No need for that. So, what’s going on now?”

The Holy Knight (female) remained silent, seemingly deep in thought, while Yuna, more composed and experienced, upheld her saintly decorum and let out a small sigh.

“Even if I don’t say it, with Miss Xī’s abilities, I’m sure you’ve already picked up on it on your way here.”

Yuna got straight to the point.

“It’s the [Impure] plague.”

The Saintess pointed to a nearby spot where around a hundred ragged refugees were surrounded and detained by Holy Warriors. In a large pit nearby, strong individuals were rapidly excavating the ground.

Another area still held remnants of burning ashes, the cause of which was unclear.

But the cries and sounds of digging Miss Vilyric heard earlier evidently came from here.

It wasn’t too difficult; soon enough, Miss White Fox pieced together the basic cause and effect.

In the intelligence she had heard at the military meeting a couple of days ago, it clearly mentioned the fall of the Holy Capital and how the three major Demon Lords teamed up, bringing the [Impure] plague into the city related to the “Corrupted” kin.

As the name suggests, the [Impure] plague was a … contagious disease similar to a plague. The King of Impurities, Preg, and his kin would carry this affliction in varying degrees and spread it to other life forms they came in contact with, making them secondary infection sources.

If these refugees had indeed escaped from the Holy Capital, they were very likely carriers and victims of the plague.

Though Miss Vilyric had limited knowledge about the four Lords of [Impurity], who kept a relatively low profile and had scarce complete records, she had at least heard of plagues.

Combining the current scene with Edwina’s intense reaction, along with the pained expressions of the clergy who averted their gazes, it was clear what would happen next.

“Are you planning to bury these infected refugees alive?”

Even faced with Miss White Fox’s inquiry or accusation, the determination on Yuna’s face remained unshaken; she simply nodded slightly.

“This is the only way. Although the [Impure] plague is a single, basic characteristic, it possesses extremely strong contagious and latent abilities. Even with faith-based magic, we can only temporarily isolate it, yet there are no means or medicines to treat those already infected.”

Yuna pointed to the pile of ashes on the nearby ground.

“And once an infected person dies, regardless of whether they’re in the incubation period, the plague inside them will erupt instantaneously. We won’t even have time to cremate them. Based on the Holy Academy’s centuries of research, deep burial and isolation are pretty much the only low-cost ways to allow the plague to naturally dissipate.”

“After all, although the [Impure] plague is terrifying, it can’t spread through non-living materials and small non-sentient beings. The strength of its dispersal seems to be measured by the amount of [Void] energy within the host.”

“Hmm, so it’s a plague that affects the soul…”

Muttering to herself and not immediately responding to the glance from the Holy Knight, Miss Vilyric looked again at those nearby who were crying and pleading, while the Holy Warriors merely turned their heads to ignore them, and posed another question.

“By the way, did you only just discover this situation? If the [Impure] plague indeed spread from the Holy Capital, their condition must have already been scattered to various places like the scattering of flowers, right?”

Understanding what Miss White Fox was implying, Yuna nodded again, musing.

“This is indeed a serious issue. I suspect the demons are using this method to quickly undermine our battle strength, especially to create panic among the populace, achieving victory without a fight.”

“But actually, when we set off from the Holy City a few days ago and the intelligence mentioned the emergence of the [Impure], I anticipated such a possibility and issued a war ban in advance, strictly requiring surrounding provinces and major cities that hadn’t been affected by the flames of war yet, especially those in the Province of Fran, to temporarily seal off the borders and let not even a single outsider enter the city.”

“By sealing the borders and cities, apart from the main battlefield with the demons, the entire Province of Fran and its surroundings formed a massive encirclement, trapping all potentially infected beings inside and minimizing losses.”

“Princess Yuna, since you already anticipated this, why didn’t you inform us earlier? Perhaps we could have contacted the Theological Hall…”

The Saint of Bright Light turned her head slightly, glancing at the Holy Knight girl, whose face showed signs of anger and frustration, then shook her head helplessly.

“The Theological Hall? If they could create a cure for the [Impure], our country wouldn’t have had to endure over ten million deaths due to a mere random appearance of a few [Impure] kin during that war three hundred years ago.”

“Besides, let’s not forget that I already issued strict orders forbidding any military personnel from having clandestine contact with the refugees. Based on that, a smart person should have figured out a lot by now, right?”

“At the end of the day, we’re just mortals and not omnipotent deities. There’s only so much we can do in the face of disaster, and the [Impure] plague is akin to a natural disaster for this world.”

Hearing this, Miss White Fox nodded in reluctant agreement.

Although Yuna’s actions seemed somewhat autocratic and ruthless, when considering it rationally, it really was the most judicious choice from her perspective.

According to what she had read, beings infected by the [Impure] would lead to two possible outcomes.

One was, of course, that over time, the plague would continue to spread, eventually erupting and leading to death, or being discovered by the church and receiving a “handling” similar to the current situation—there was no escaping death.

But there was another, even more “selfish” possibility.

Based on results from some scholars who risked their lives for close investigation and research, the [Impure] plague was essentially a law, a unique power system. The plague that living beings feared like poison was merely a means for the [Impure] to spread corruption and expand faith.

Perhaps in the eyes of that god-like existence, the plague was not seen as harm but rather as a form of grace and opportunity.

In fact, the plague theoretically could grant mortals terrifying powers that far exceeded their original limits.

Though the probability, or rather, the proportion of eligible individuals was less than one in a thousand, if certain specific conditions were met, beings contaminated by the plague could potentially transform into…

“Ugh! Ugh ugh ugh ahhhhhh!!!”

Just as the White Fox girl had such thoughts, an incongruous wail erupted from the continuous cries, seemingly heralding the arrival of something “inauspicious.”

   

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