Returning from the abyss

Chapter 1444 Human Footprints
Vanessa's leap startled both the apothecary and Liu. But Vanessa pulled a dagger from her sleeve and stabbed it through the gaps in the scales, regaining her balance. She then slung the bow over her back and placed one hand on the king's head.

Second-tier divine spell "Incineration"!
The fire easily ignited the black substance on the king's scales, and Vanessa tumbled off the king, abandoning her dagger. She rolled a few more times, somewhat clumsily, to avoid the king's trampling, before finally standing up and clapping her hands.

The flames that ignited directly from its head had almost completely drained the king of its life force. Its last struggle consisted of frantically jumping around a few times, trying to curl itself into a ball to extinguish the flames. But how could flames ignited by magic be extinguished so easily? In just a few dozen seconds, the king collapsed to the ground, convulsing, and soon became still.

"Oh, so she saw that my use of fire worked against it, so she copied me?" Liu looked at Vanessa with surprise. "Are you from the Savior's Cauldron? Want to come to the Burial Cauldron and find a job?"

"Go away, go away. Don't you train people from childhood? Why do you need to poach people from other cardinals?" The pharmacist glanced at the guy who was trying to poach people right in front of him.

“That’s the requirement for combat personnel. Our civilian staff can also recruit new people. Besides, Vanessa has just come of age and has a bright future…” Liu replied with a smile.

The pharmacist didn't answer her; she knew perfectly well that Vanessa would never switch sides.

The battle on Veronica's side, however, seemed to drag on a bit longer.

Her fight with the Queen can only be described as steady and methodical. She used her agility to dodge the Queen's movements and then used a mace to strike the Queen's head and neck. She did not use any divine magic, and blunt force was not blocked by scales like stabbing or slashing. It took Veronica more than ten minutes to patiently smash the Queen until she was gradually unable to move, and finally even her brains were smashed out of her eyes.

This was much less efficient than Vanessa's, but Veronica's clothes were only slightly dirty, a stark contrast to Vanessa's dusty appearance.

The two of them didn't seem to mind, and they high-fived each other to celebrate that the other had defeated the monster. However, the pharmacist and Liu were a little unsure how to judge what was happening.

“In terms of combat, Vanessa is undoubtedly more talented,” Liu said. “She’s an excellent warrior, willing to take risks, and doesn’t hesitate to use divine magic—these are essential qualities. But Veronica…”

“She’s suitable to be a team leader,” the pharmacist said.

Veronica's composure allows her to control the situation, which is a great trait, although it may cause her to miss many good opportunities. However, the principle of the Savior Kaname is to avoid mistakes, and Veronica's way of doing things is just right.

"It's hard to say... The Burial Center needs someone who can make quick decisions and take action."

“Veronica made her decision quickly; she simply made up her mind to persevere,” the pharmacist replied.

However, since the battle was over, the two could only chat at most; neither of them actually intended for Veronica and Vanessa to be involved in high-level church affairs right now. Learning those things in person in Violet City was the most suitable option.

The pharmacist lit a fire and set all the corpses ablaze again. Then the four of them left the area to chase after the convoy.

The convoy was moving at a slow pace, and the four men quickly caught up. The smoke rising from the burning corpses had already been seen by everyone in the convoy; their expressions varied, but they remained silent in this desolate wasteland.

Father Thorne greeted them with a smile, showing no doubt about their successful return. He only asked Vanessa why she was covered in dust. After understanding the situation, he didn't say anything, simply telling Vanessa to wash herself clean.

There were no problems on the journey after that. When the sun was setting, Father Thorne immediately stopped the caravan and set up camp in a place that didn't have too many purplish-black patches.

Since it was summer and the rainy season hadn't yet begun, Father Thorne hadn't prepared any tents. He only bought a large amount of cheap linen, and with a few sticks, a simple shelter would suffice. The refugees who followed him all relied on their skills for a living, and even those who didn't know how had learned in the past few days under Father Thorne's requirement of "mutual learning." After quickly setting up the camp, Father Thorne distributed food and arranged a watch team; everything was in perfect order. Liu watched these arrangements with considerable interest, but the apothecary didn't have time to chat with her anymore. Veronica and Vanessa had already set up a large pot for her; a pot of medicinal soup would be essential every day after entering the wasteland, in case these people fell ill later.

After a flurry of activity, night fell quickly, even though summer days are long. People ate the food that had been distributed; the bread was coarse and the soup bland, but it was still a hot meal. People finally began to recover from the silence and started chatting with each other, and the camp gradually became much livelier.

The pharmacist instructed Veronica and Vanessa to begin dispensing the medicinal soup. A pot couldn't possibly be prepared for a thousand people; they needed help. The leaders appointed by Father Thorne among the crowd came to line up and began whispering amongst themselves.

The pharmacist hadn't paid much attention to these people before, but now he overheard some information from their conversation.

Father Thorne's team didn't have that many people at the beginning.

Around five hundred people followed him and left their homes. This group was indeed affected by the war, and the local lord was incompetent and even tried to conscript soldiers. Although this was a common trick used by many incompetent lords in that era, he actually set his sights on the church.

The details of what happened in between were unclear to these people, but Father Thorne would never agree to conscript church personnel into the military. Less than a day after the news broke, the church's knights went door-to-door asking if anyone was planning to leave, and set a time. Under the cover of dawn, Father Thorne led the entire church, along with about five hundred people, and fled the territory without anyone stopping them.

Later, Father Thorne took in some people he deemed worthy along the way, most of whom were refugees with some skills, and they became the leaders of the queue. However, it was clear that these people were not skilled enough to be Veronica and Vanessa's teachers, so the treatment they received was limited.

However, these people had no complaints. On the contrary, they were very satisfied with their current life, which only required walking, eating, and sleeping. After the pharmacist joined, they didn't even need to worry about getting sick—it was simply wonderful.

Of course, there were some restless people, but looking at the weapons in the hands of the knights, these people didn't dare to make too much noise. After all, Father Thorne was very strict when enforcing the rules, and the Knight Gael was really good at beating people.

As the pharmacist was distributing the third pot of medicinal soup, she suddenly saw Liu walking over quickly.

"Veronica, go ask Liu what's going on," she instructed. Veronica went over, whispered a few words to Liu, and then returned. Liu, on the other hand, hurriedly walked past her and headed to the back of the line.

"Teacher, Sister Liu said she sensed someone approaching and we need to go check it out quickly."

people?
The first-tier divine spell "Biodetection" of the Burial Pivot can indeed detect nearby creatures, but its range is not that large, so this should be the second-tier "Hunter's Mark".
It was a very cautious approach. After all, even the pharmacist hadn't expected there to be anyone in this godforsaken place. You have to understand, a group like this trying to cross the wasteland to White Tower Town might only appear once a month. Without sufficient supplies and protection, who knows how many people would die crossing the wasteland.

"Vanessa, you'll cook this last batch." The apothecary pulled over the nun who was distributing the medicine, patted her on the shoulder encouragingly, and then followed Liu to the back of the line. The firelight made the darkness even darker. Before the apothecary could get close, Liu had already cast a light spell, illuminating the perimeter of the camp and revealing those who were quietly approaching.

When Liu saw those people, her eye twitched slightly.

"Hey... Pharmacist, your Savior's Cavern's medical records are more complete than ours. Has there ever been a case in history where a person turned into a monster?"

"Monsters were originally created by the Plague Apostles to facilitate the spread of plague to people. If they can directly infect people, why bother turning them into monsters... They're not so well hidden that you can't recognize them."

The pharmacist squinted at the "fish-men" crawling on the ground, their bodies covered in scales.

These people did not exhibit symptoms of the "Fish Swarm" plague. The Salvation Hub had meticulously documented the medical rescue process of that incident, clearly listing all the variants of the plague. Those infected with the "Fish Swarm" would develop purple, cracked blood spots on their skin. Deep infection would lead to fever, skin ulceration, and hallucinations. Regardless of the variant, once the outbreak began, they would become completely exhausted, unable even to get up, let alone make it to the vicinity of the camp late at night.

“Let’s go take a look.” The pharmacist cracked her knuckles, and a soft light enveloped the two of them. The second-tier divine spell “Purification” was the same divine spell that Father Thorne had used when he saw her before. It was a method often used to deal with unknown diseases.

The two men left the camp's perimeter, and the merfolk clearly noticed them. They bared their teeth and let out slick roars, while quietly retreating.

There were at least twenty fishmen visible in the light, and if we consider that this was a race, the number behind them was probably at least ten times that. However, no one in the wasteland had ever heard of such a race existing.

"Could it be the work of a new plague apostle?" Liu asked.

The apothecary lit a medicinal cigarette and let the smoke drift toward the merfolk, but the merfolk did not react much to the smoke, which further confirmed that these people were not infected by the plague.

"The ultimate purpose of the plague is to spread the 'blessings' of the Plague Lord to the world, thereby indirectly controlling it. Beasts without intelligence cannot receive these blessings; only humans can. Therefore, the Plague Apostles wouldn't waste the effort of turning humans into monsters..."

"But what if they think it doesn't matter if some people become expendable resources?" Liu asked in a deep voice.

"...Let's not make any hasty decisions. Let's see what's going on with these people."

The apothecary approached a merman with gentle movements. The merman didn't seem too afraid; after taking a few steps back, he stopped and instead squatted down as she got closer.

“The joints have developed severe lesions, leading to a movement mode more suited to crawling on all fours. The head…” The pharmacist followed the light shining from the orb and looked at the person’s scaly face. “The eyelids have disappeared, replaced by a distinct blister membrane to keep the eyes moist.”

But this also makes their eyes look very big, as if they're bulging out.

"The nose and mouth retain human-like features... Oh, he bared his teeth at me. Some of his teeth have become canines. There are no gills or other organs, so they are not actually fish-men and cannot survive in water for long periods of time."

The pharmacist explained the symptoms that appeared on the human body, as if introducing them to Liu, but Liu only responded with silence.

After observing the fish-man, the apothecary asked, "Can you speak? Or can you not make any sound except for roars?"

The merman let out a complex roar.

"I guess you can understand that you don't understand me, but you have your own language system? Then—"

Just as she was about to ask further, the fishmen suddenly stirred and then parted to make way, forming a clear path.

A gigantic fishman, noticeably larger than the other fishmen and with muscles so muscular they looked like they were about to explode, walked along the path the fishmen had cleared for him.

“Firelight, you…” The large merman tried to speak as he approached, speaking in broken English. Seeing this, the apothecary nodded: “The firelight in the camp belongs to us.”

"No, daytime, firelight, loud noise." The big fishman pointed behind him, "You, kill."

The pharmacist understood what he was saying, so he nodded and said, "We did indeed clear out a group of monsters here during the day, so what impact did that have on you?"

"The Church?" the fishman suddenly uttered the word.

This is quite novel; such specialized terminology is not something that savages living in the wilderness would know, unlike those simple words.

“Yes, we come from under the Church.” The pharmacist nodded.

“We, the church, follow.” The merman gestured, a hint of excitement visibly appearing on his scaly face. “Mother, teach. We, live, the church, follow.”

"Mother? Where is she?"

“Underground. Mother, death.” The merman patted the ground with both hands. “Church, new, mother.”

Liu said, "We probably need to go and check out the current homes of these merfolk. We can't take his words at face value. The church has been trying to solve the wasteland problem here for years, and has come more than once or twice. Why haven't any merfolk come out before?"