Returning from the abyss

Chapter 1476 The Predicament of the Physical Body

Lu Ning felt the situation in District 33 was very bad.

When Quirina didn't assign her any guards to go directly to provide support, she knew that the church was currently facing a severe shortage of troops. Otherwise, no matter how strong she was, she should have been assigned two guards.

Fortunately, she wasn't afraid of any of that. After confirming that the strange child was far away, she continued walking. She maintained a fairly steady pace, and apart from the occasional gunshots and explosions caused by magic in the distance, the street was practically silent.

“Ah… I really don’t like the feeling of being out in the open.” Lu Ning said as she walked to the end of the street and turned the corner, “I thought that child might have run away because he was scared, but you all still gathered here.”

Some heads peeked out from the surrounding uninhabited houses. Their faces were expressionless, and they just stared at Lu Ning with blank eyes. It was obvious at a glance that they were all beyond saving.

"Sigh, a pointless waste of energy." Lu Ning placed her hand on the hilt of her sword and continued walking forward. She couldn't tell when these guys, who were no longer human, were planning to attack her, but if she could reunite with the Knights, they probably wouldn't have a chance.

It was only a fifteen-minute walk from where she reached the main road, a distance that Lu Ning could cover in as little as ten minutes if she quickened her pace.

"Not coming yet?"

Lu Ning maintained a steady pace, a slight smile playing on her lips, her eyes glowing with a soft green light, and her muscles gradually adjusting to their optimal state during this seemingly gentle walk.

Finally, as she stepped onto the narrow path leading to the main road, "things" came into view.

"It really is invisible."

A cold light enveloped the sword, and in an instant, a chilling wind swept through. The blade pierced the air, tearing apart an invisible veil and penetrating the body. Then, the sword light twisted and turned, instantly splitting the attacker's body into five or six pieces, which fell to the ground.

No blood splattered; the coldness of the sword had completely frozen the wound. However, Lu Ning also noticed that the person's internal organs did not have a soft feel, but were as hard as bones.

We still can't discern any distinguishing features, so we can't determine which plague lord they're connected to. Lu Ning slightly turned her head, her sword flashing, and just as the other person materialized, she struck him on the head.

"Ah."

Lu Ning took another step, and dazzling snow light unfolded in her palm. The cold light on the sword began to spread on its own, and within three steps, three more heads fell to the ground. The Snow Light Sword - Gui demonstrated its unparalleled suppressive power. Against opponents weaker than itself, Lu Ning didn't even need to give a command; the sword light would automatically sever the enemy's head.

When she fought Bai Tianzi back then, she was probably only just beginning to grasp the basics of this technique, which is why she didn't use it in the end, instead opting for Palm Thunder instead. But clearly, what the Pharmacist has gained from "Touching the Stars" is the fully mastered swordsmanship.

"It's a pity it's just a slash." Lu Ning easily passed through the blockade, leaving behind a pile of corpses. However, she could also see the weakness of this move. The powerful slash was enough to kill people, but it was not very effective against undead monsters.

The body parts were writhing and coming together. Some were even misaligned, but they didn't care; they simply connected and began to gradually regain their vitality. Even with the wounds frozen, this healing continued. Lu Ning didn't have time to go back and cut them again, and methods like burning would probably be ineffective.

However, she was already very close to her target location, and could even sense it.

A newly pieced-together human figure lunged forward again, its twisted neck swaying precariously as if about to fall off. Lu Ning, however, immediately dispelled the cold glint from her sword, took a step back, and then slashed down with a sword imbued with flames. The golden flames, like sunlight, instantly engulfed the lunging figure, just as the sun melts frost, giving the person no chance to revive.

This time, those who had fought together fled, and in a short time, nothing was left on the street.

Lu Ning turned around and saw the paladins marching in neat rows towards her, their feet unfurling their unique spell – "Aura".

Aura spells can be categorized as a subclass of status spells, and only paladins can learn and use them. Since Lu Ning is not a paladin, she doesn't know why. This spell can cover all friendly units within a certain radius, possessing excellent friend-or-foe identification capabilities and a very significant battlefield boost. While a single aura's effect is not as strong as some ordinary buff spells, the combined effect of multiple auras increases each unit's combat power almost exponentially, making their ability to breach enemy lines unparalleled.

Of course, such spells also have their drawbacks. First, a person can only have one aura at a time. Second, aura spells naturally consume more mana than most spells, and one must have sufficient magical talent to cast them.

Lu Ning's attack just now was because she felt herself being enveloped by a halo, so she tested the effect of these halos.

"Thank you all." Lu Ning took out the letter of introduction that Querena had written for her and handed it to the leading paladin. "I am a member of the Saviors' Council who came here to provide support. My name is Pharmacist. Please tell me where Knight Roman is?"

"Knight Roman has discovered a location that is likely Lugo's hideout and has led a team to investigate." The leading paladin took the letter of introduction and looked at it. "You've arrived just in time. We have some wounded men here and hope you can provide some treatment. They weren't bitten, but the enemy was too strong, so injuries were inevitable."

"My duty."

While paladins possess healing auras for combat support, these can only be used to treat minor injuries, which are obviously not the cases requiring Lu Ning's attention. They requisitioned a noble school as their base, since there were no nobles left in District 33 anyway. The wounded were placed in the school's infirmary.

The most common injury was a fracture, followed by amputation or near-amputation. In addition, Lu Ning also found some unusual wounds, such as several people with penetrating wounds that didn't look like they were made by spears or similar objects, but rather by bullets.

“This kind of injury… that’s exactly what I wanted to ask about. I saw a lot of bunkers piled up on the street. These bunkers were built to be bulletproof, but apart from the church and the royal family, ordinary nobles definitely don’t have the ability to widely equip themselves with firearms,” Lu Ning said, frowning.

"It's not a gun. One of Lugo's servants can condense blood near the finger bone into the shape of a bullet and then fire it with their finger. As long as there is enough blood, they can fire at long range. The power is not as great as the Burial Pivot's pistol, but it's about the same as the firearms we are equipped with."

These days, there's no such thing as automatic or semi-automatic firearms; the guns equipped by paladins are all bolt-action, and their power isn't small either.

"What is the approximate quantity or proportion?" Lu Ning asked while examining the wound.

"Judging from the exchanges over the past two days, I estimate that about 40% of the servants possess this skill."

"Are our firepower sufficient?" "Several monks from Kishi have assisted us in constructing defenses, and their firepower is more than enough to suppress these servants. The more pressing matter now is to locate Lugo and the beacon he set up."

"Could you elaborate? What exactly is this Lugo guy?"

Lu Ning's words were answered by another powerful voice.

“Let me explain.” A tall paladin strode in. “But please assure me they won’t have any problems. We are in dire need of medical personnel. Although the Salvation Hub has many monks, there may be too few who can use advanced healing spells.”

"Roman Knight?"

"Hello, Master Pharmacist, please forgive my anxiety. The situation is extremely urgent. Lugo has probably set up three beacons, which must be destroyed simultaneously. The one we are responsible for hasn't even located the exact position yet, and we're already behind the other teams." Knight Roman nodded and said.

"They will be able to recover tomorrow."

Knight Roman was pleased and then explained Lugo's situation to Lu Ning.

On the surface, this nobleman was a minor, pretentious figure with some assets and businesses. His noble title was bought with money, indicating he was a man of some ability. However, in secret, this minor nobleman had a perverse hobby: he would abduct young men and women to his private dungeon and torture and kill them for his amusement. He kept this a secret very well, and the church only discovered it after ransacking his house.

The church was following standard procedure to check the area for anything unclean, but for some unknown reason, Luca activated the beacon the moment church members entered the house, converting two church members along with all the servants into his servants. Although the Church of the Dead reacted swiftly, Luca still managed to escape.

In Luca's study, torn pages were found covering the walls. The book, titled *The Skin Illusion*, contained heretical pronouncements. It argued that human wisdom originates from blood (red fluid), while the skin, the outer shell from which the black fluid originates, is a prison, an instrument of torture used to kill humanity, which was originally immortal. Therefore, humans, being beings of blood, must escape this predicament, break free, and reclaim their immortality, living freely in the world. Furthermore, humans can control prisons to resist their deluded and corrupted kin.

“One of the classic scams of the Bloodthirsty King,” Lu Ning said.

“That’s right! However, Luca has already accepted this statement. Because it contains the divine magic of the Bloodthirsty King, he can indeed activate blood. Through things like beacons, he can quickly turn the people around him into servants. And the servants’ biting, as long as it causes bleeding, can also activate the blood in the target’s body.”

Even though the Church was prepared, Luca had prepared more than one beacon; he activated three more immediately after his escape—this was a result the Church later compiled based on the battle's location, and the possibility of hidden beacons cannot be ruled out. These beacons were meaningless if not destroyed simultaneously, as they would regenerate with the blood contributed by the servants. As for the beacons' effects, besides continuously polluting and turning everyone around into servants, they also served to send signals to Luca.

"What is the background of the other enemy besides Luca? I don't see which lord's authority it is."

"The Alarm Hub is working hard to find the possible source. These enemies aren't very strong; they only have the ability to ambush, so we'll deal with them a little later." Roman took out a hand-drawn map from his pocket. "I just came back from scouting. The beacon is located here—the former underground arena of District 33. It's not unusual for it to be located here, given that a large number of people gather here, and the gladiators inside are all in good physical condition."

What is the planned time?

"tomorrow."

“I don’t have that much time,” Lu Ning said. “Ultimately, you’re afraid of the beacon’s self-repair ability, aren’t you? Where does this self-repair ability come from? Divine blessing? Or mass sacrifices of flesh and blood?”

"Not sure yet."

“If the bombardment of the Kishi is not enough to destroy it, what if we could achieve a more thorough destruction?” Lu Ning asked. “As you all know, rather than sending a small team to risk charging into the nest, it would be better to destroy it directly from the outside with advanced spells or artillery fire.”

“We don’t have that capability.” Roman glanced at Lu Ning. “Do you have a solution?”

"The remaining amount is just right... I need to get through here as soon as possible, so I don't want to waste too much time. Sir Roman, please lead the way?"

After a moment's hesitation, Roman looked at the wounded.

"What they need is proper medical care from the rear. Once the battle is over, you won't need to worry about emergency medical care."

"……it is good."

Lu Ning will naturally use "Touching the Stars".

The danger level of this spell is beyond the control of the pharmacist, but it is not too bad for Lu Ning, since she has some knowledge of the things that the spell can affect, greatly reducing the probability of it going out of control.

A group of knights escorted Lu Ning to the houses near the underground arena. Many of the houses had collapsed, and some burly servants were wandering aimlessly around, while others simply stood there in a daze.

Upon closer inspection of the ugly appearance of these servants with cracked skin, Lu Ning found it somewhat strange. After all, this was the result of the Bloodthirsty King's magic, but these servants were not infected by the plague... According to Roman, they would transform as long as they were bitten, which did not fit the definition of a plague. Instead, they seemed like monsters or something.

Following the directions given by the Roman Knight, Lu Ning calculated the distance and the area that needed to be covered before preparing the "Touch the Stars" spell.

She wouldn't dare touch anything that was evil to a certain degree. For example, the "Qi Meridian of China" was something she had only heard of, something that could sting her eyes even through the window of a vehicle in the distribution center. She was afraid that even the slightest touch would blow up the world.

She could only choose someone she had fought before and knew how to fight.

Reverse Life, Heitofelco.

(End of this chapter)