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Chapter 199: Corruption Pestilence and the God-Chosen Hero

Amidst the shrill screams that erupted in fear, intermingled with the shouts of the Holy Warriors and the clashing sounds of drawn weapons, Miss White Fox turned her gaze towards the source of the strange noise.

Among the hundreds of refugees gathered together, waiting to be “processed,” one person began to undergo a terrifying transformation.

He was… rotting.

From his face, murky slime flowed out of his twitching mouth, and all his facial features, including his hair, began to rapidly dissolve, transforming into an unrecognizable form that made Priestess think of something called a slime monster.

The dripping slime splattered onto people like hundreds of fast-multiplying bacteria, visibly spreading grotesque spots and decay across his body, evoking howls of agony that seemed to rise from immense suffering.

The surrounding people screamed in terror, trying to retreat and flee, but the Holy Warriors promptly took action. Amidst suppressing the chaos in the crowd, several warriors rushed forward, cautiously encircling the twitching, mutated, and rotting creature on the ground, holding their long polearms at the ready.

“This is…”

The girl whispered, and Yuna’s voice conveniently floated nearby.

“…one of the ‘Unclean’ offspring, who, conditioned by certain circumstances and in a desperate bid to survive, chose to trade with that terrifying entity from another world, offering faith and everything in exchange for rebirth.”

“The creature that is not a demon, but closely related to the ‘King of Impurities’ is what we usually call a ‘Corruptor.'”

“Swish swish swish!”

Four golden lights simultaneously erupted from the holy seals in the hands of several Holy Warriors, forming a capped barrier that descended upon the drastically transforming figure, firmly suppressing it.

With a sigh, the Saint of Bright Light stepped forward.

“‘Corruptors’ are the apostles of impurity. Their existence and spirit have been altered into a distorted form under the influence of the ‘King of Impurities’ Pragg, self-spreading the plague of impurity and corruption infinitely around them.”

“…Of course, for them, this might actually be a kind of blessing and endowment.”

“…”

The three girls arrived at the scene, where the Holy Warrior captain, who was also responsible for suppression but had not directly engaged, quickly bowed to them.

“Your Highness, Saintess, and ladies, he…”

“Yes, your response was quick. You haven’t wasted my usual teachings. This person… has actively abandoned the Holy Light and has been completely corrupted by the ‘Unclean.'”

Within the light screen, the creature that had completely lost its form, filled with fungal spots and slime throughout, even having its facial features entirely melted away, struggled and writhed, crashing against the surrounding barrier while occasionally spewing large amounts of visibly sickly green poison mist from its body, all of which was contained within.

Clearly, this repression created by the four Holy Warriors exceeded its current strength.

Yuna turned her head and looked at a certain Holy Knight beside her, whose brows were tightly furrowed.

“Acting Captain Edwina Cecelia, do you still think there is hope for him, that he could be a candidate for us to attempt treatment even in such a state?”

After once again discreetly observing Miss White Fox beside her, and seeing that she seemed neither willing to speak nor judge, Edwina shook her head as if making a decision and spoke seriously.

“Your Highness Yuna, this is this, and that is that. What you mentioned earlier is indeed recognized as the most effective method of dealing with ‘Unclean’ pestilence. The Theological Hall three hundred years ago also failed to develop a treatment…”

“But, discounting ‘Killing’ and ‘Corruption,’ the ‘Unclean’ has not descended upon our world for over three hundred years. With current methods, it may not be impossible for us to attempt treatment on the early-infected patients.”

The Saintess did not respond affirmatively and just shook her head.

“Based on what? Why should we risk potentially dozens of times the cost for such an elusive possibility?”

“…Simply because of the name Edwina Cecelia.”

“Boom!!!”

Golden flames suddenly surged from the Holy Knight girl.

The brilliant golden flames swirled around her like a halo, igniting the clarity of her pupils into a reddish-golden hue, her long hair, adorned with exquisite patterns, floated freely as it broke through its constraints, while her brow reflected a symbol of some supreme existence through three golden single-winged patterns.

A magnificent shadow appeared in the air above the golden-haired girl, though too blurred to make out its features, it was evident that it was a faint golden-hued, pure woman draped in a plain robe, holding a luminous staff.

A formless yet divine pressure emanated from the shadow, almost causing Yuna’s pupils to constrict.

“Divine, Divine Goddess! It’s the Divine Messenger! Divine Messenger, please save us! I don’t want to die yet; I’ve always prayed devoutly!”

“Divine Messenger!”

“The Divine Messenger has come to save us!”

The hundreds of desperate refugees quickly broke down emotionally, falling to their knees in prayer, crying out to the distant figures of the Temple Knights and Holy Warriors, who looked at each other but also began to bow in reverence upon feeling that purest radiant light and divine power, their faces painted with longing and excitement.

Even the ‘Corruptor,’ which had been screaming madly moments ago, now held in tight confinement, seemed subdued by that holy light, falling silent in fear.

“The blood of the divine offspring… secondary awakening? The God-chosen Hero… Edwina Cecelia, has you transcended the modeling laws of comprehension? When exactly did this happen…”

On seeing the Holy Knight’s first expression of shocked confusion, the commanding presence of the Holy Knight girl momentarily froze as she immediately reacted and silently shook her head.

She drew her holy sword from her waist, approached the rotting thing suppressed by the light screen—almost completely devoid of reason and form—and gazed deeply with her burning golden eyes before shouting down with her sword engulfed in golden holy flames!

“Whoosh!”

The holy sword breezed through the barrier created by the Holy Warriors with no hindrance, piercing through the foul figure’s heart-like area, nailing it to the ground, and instantly, the golden holy flames surged forth!

The Holy Knight girl turned around, the flames reflecting off her exquisite, holy profile beneath her helmet; against the background of the surging golden flames and divine shadow, at this moment, she may not have been a Saintess, but she seemed to embody that noble title more than anyone else in the world.

“The condition to become a ‘Corruptor’ lies in an inner surrender to the King of Impurities. It’s a choice they made; they are our enemies and deserve the harshest purification. I have no objections, but…”

She pointed toward the people nearby, who were kneeling and praying under the burning impurity, their faces filled with confusion and pleading.

“They are the subjects of my Holy Kingdom, believers of the Goddess, and as a Messenger of the Goddess, as a divine offspring, I, Edwina Cecelia, cannot accept or condone abandoning them mercilessly.”

“The pestilence has already spread. If we act on your idea, Yuna, how many more innocent lives must we take in the future? A hundred thousand? A million? Or even more? Can we call ourselves holy ministers like this? How are we any different from demons?”

“You say mortals cannot fight against demon lords, then Yuna, how am I now…?”

“…”

As the clear and sharp reddish-golden eyes of the Holy Knight girl met Yuna’s, after the initial shock, Yuna glanced at a few Holy Warriors nearby who seemed to nod in quiet agreement at the girl’s words, and she sighed softly.

It was as if she reminisced about some distant past.

“So, what do you plan to do? The Holy City has fallen. Right now, it’s already quite a stretch for us just to confront demons. The most skilled Redeeming Saintess and the Healing Squad have yet to arrive, and even if we can heal, how do we accommodate and care for these refugees bearing the pestilence?”

“There are more of them than what you see now; many more lie ahead.”

“Acting Captain Edwina, you truly are the most outstanding and closely aligned with the Goddess that I’ve seen. But even having surpassed limits at an unbelievable age, the plight of reality cannot be resolved solely through individual strength and a few bold declarations.”

“I intend to…”

“I actually have a solution for that.”

Secretly retrieving the half-full container of ‘Blood of the God Potion’ hidden in her sleeve, Miss Vilyric couldn’t help but marvel at how quickly this thing could come in handy and how it only took a few drops to penetrate the skin to showcase its overly absurd efficacy…

However, no matter how potent the blood of the divine, it couldn’t suddenly make someone comprehend the modeling laws; that should be a result of Edwina’s own efforts, and probably what she initially intended to use to convince Yuna.

Casting a calming glance at the Holy Knight girl, who seemed to be in a “Super Saiyan Transformation!” state, Miss White Fox naturally continued the conversation.

Around them, within the sealed barrier maintained by the Holy Warriors, the ‘Corruptor’ ignited by the holy sword was still erupting with towering mists of ominous green gas, accompanied by a dense crackling of fires, as many insects frantically fled from its body, crashing against the barrier, only to be quickly burned to ashes.

It seemed its body was already filled with condensed pestilence due to the transformation and had even bred countless horrifying parasites along with a noxious poison.

Evidently aimed at the soul-dispersing pestilence.

So shocking was this scene that it was understandable why Yuna would dread such things to the point of risking her reputation and going to great lengths to completely bury it.

Even if the ‘Unclean’ power inside those ordinary pestilent carriers was but a fraction, a thousandth of what this ‘Corruptor’ had, once it exploded among the crowd upon death, the consequences would still be unimaginable.

Yet, though rationally more supportive of Yuna’s perspective, as a friend of Edwina, Miss Vilyric also could not stand idly by at such a critical moment. After all, finding solutions that result in fewer casualties is always better than slaughtering one’s own people.