Returning from the abyss

Chapter 1485 Locking the City
The tendrils grow in abundance, penetrating deep into the body, yet they do not interact with people; they simply exist there.

Charles instantly understood the situation.

"I understand, then this strategy is correct..."

“Charles, let me give you some more information. After all, this is the best outcome I could get for you. You should be glad I was close enough to get here first.”

"I guess it's a message from Grand Duke Toril."

Vajiya nodded.

“Grand Duke Toril had already completely relinquished power to Violet City long ago, even earlier than most people know. Roswell did leave Violet City not long ago, but that was done intentionally, and the Archbishop of Violet City left with him to confirm it.” Vagiya glanced at Charles. “Toril is preparing to leave a good legacy for his son, but Roswell wants to go further, and now is a good time.”

Good times? How could Charles not understand what that meant?
"Is he preparing to go to war?"

“Joining the war was the path Toril had prepared for Roswell.” Vagiya shook her head slightly. “And what Roswell wants to do is something even more. I can’t say more, Charles.”

Charles took a deep breath to calm himself down.

"Then... we need the Church's assistance; we need to protect the people of Violet City as much as possible."

“There will definitely be an order to it, Charles,” Vagiya said. “This is probably a long-term task, and you will have to decide the order.”

“I know that if that’s the case, then naturally we should let the child leave first.”

=
On the front lines, Lu Ning gathered a group of people.

Based on her battlefield intuition honed through previous experience, she sensed that the battle lines had not completely collapsed. In this state, if the number of insects did not continue to increase, it would be a tactic of trading space for time, and if they could seize the opportunity, they might be able to launch a counterattack.

The insects that appeared numerous on the mountain gradually thinned out once they spread throughout Violet City. After Lu Ning successfully organized two or three small-scale extermination operations, she discovered that the insect population had indeed not increased and was beginning to dwindle. Although the worker insects were still attempting to build nests, the number of soldier insects, which formed the main fighting force, was visibly decreasing. As for the alien insects, which were already few in number, they went into hiding and disappeared after realizing they were at a disadvantage.

It looks like the leader of the insects is dead?

Lu Ning led the dozens of people she had gathered to take a detour and launch a surprise attack on the command post again. The place was built quite solidly and was not eaten away by the insects for a while. Lu Ning took out the leader of the alien insects with a single shot. After paying the price of two dead and three wounded, the remaining insects were also wiped out.

The medical station was filled with wounded soldiers, and the Salvation Hub was severely understaffed. Lu Ning didn't have any extra Nascent Soul spells available right now; she had only managed to fire that shot because she had just recovered a little bit of her strength.

Lu Ning pulled aside a cultivator and asked him a few questions, only to learn that there were over two hundred wounded people in the area, half of whom were seriously injured and barely clinging to life with the help of magic. Rejuvenation spells might not sound high-level, but they weren't something ordinary cultivators could learn; medicine and bandages were far more practical.

Even some lightly wounded soldiers were helping out. Lu Ning also saw several paladins who looked like they had been through a fierce battle, yet they were still using their healing auras to act as human medical stations.

"The number of insects... hasn't increased." Lu Ning announced the news, but there wasn't much joy on people's faces.

“Did you see those people who turned into bubbles?” a monk asked. “We’ve already banished that other god, haven’t we?”

“The pollution brought by the gods won’t disappear so easily, just as miracles don’t fade away for a long time,” Lu Ning said. “Of course we will investigate their situation. It’s just that time is a bit tight right now—”

At that moment, someone ran down and shouted, "Anglican Crom and Anglican Rosalind are back!"

Several wounded soldiers immediately showed joy and tried to get up, but then they started coughing violently.

However, most people didn't react much; they were simply numb from the blows and might not even have realized who it was.

When Chrome helped Rosalyn in, everyone fell silent. Rosalyn looked badly injured, and Chrome didn't look much better either.

Krom's gaze swept across the faces of the people, and he quickly locked onto the only one who looked like he could get things done.

“I remember… you shouldn’t be from Violet City, but a saint who entered the city some time ago, right?”

Lu Ning wasn't surprised that Krom recognized her; after all, given his status as a saint, it was normal for him to pay more attention.

“Savior Pivot, Pharmacist,” Lu Ning said.

“Alright, Pharmacist… We need to organize an evacuation from here now. Zone Two is no longer safe. Even if those insects are no longer a threat, there are even greater threats. You are the only one here who can speak up, and I need you to arrange this.”

"What is the reason for Inspector Crom's unconventional command style?"

“Stalled soldiers management guidelines,” Krom said.

The so-called "rules for managing defeated troops" stipulated by the church that, after a major defeat, the regrouped troops would temporarily appoint the person elected by the members at the time of regrouping as their supreme commander, disregarding their actual church duties, until they returned to their original units. This rule clearly arose because of incidents of chaotic power struggles.

But that was different from now. The Second District Command Post was originally the place where these two first-level instructors were stationed. There was no issue of usurping military power. So, Lu Ning could only think of one reason.

These two individuals are currently unable to fulfill their command duties.

"I understand, but we have many seriously wounded soldiers, and we're almost out of our Na."

“This is easy to resolve.” Krom looked at everyone. “However, we are also seriously injured, so please find a quiet place and discuss this as soon as possible.”

Lu Ning had reserved several rooms specifically for private consultations, but none of them were currently needed by any of the seriously injured. She immediately led the two into the room. Krom helped Rosalyn onto the bed, then found a place to sit down. Before Lu Ning could ask any questions, he said, "We've dealt with the root cause on the mountain, so no new insects will appear, but those that have already been born won't disappear. I obtained two books from that root cause, which should be the source of this anomaly."

“As for the book… perhaps it’s a plague spread by Edgard.” Lu Ning also took out Edgard’s notebook.

Crom glanced at Lu Ning in surprise, took the book and started flipping through it. Soon, his brows furrowed.

"Nine books, one for each Plague Lord. It seems you killed Edwild to have obtained this notebook?"

"Yes." Lu Ning patted the gun on her back.

“Ha, serves him right.” Krom said while flipping through his notes, “This damned guy caused such a large-scale plague, so there are bound to be other strange things happening in the city as well. If it weren’t for the current situation, I would definitely apply for enough merit to promote you two ranks.”

"So there are still seven books outside? Or rather, still rampaging through the city?" Lu Ning asked.

“I need to finish reading this notebook, but the key issue for the evacuation isn’t here,” Crom said. At that moment, Rosalind, lying on the bed, groaned and opened her eyes.

"Damn divine calamity."

She cursed and tried to reach out, but although she managed to raise her arm, her fingers twitched a few times, not quite as nimble as before.

Krom sighed and said, "As you can see, Rosalind has been corrupted by the divine calamity. I used the compensation method in an emergency to save her, but even though I actively moved some of the damaged areas, the situation is not optimistic. We need a safe place to conduct a full inspection, but this place probably won't work. The insects could return at any time, and I saw that many worker insects have built nests on the spot. What I'm not sure about is whether a new queen will quickly appear after the queen dies."

Even if you got your hands on the book?

"This is a plague... Although some parts are still unclear, Pharmacist, if the alien is the prototype, then only the queen is infected. A plague-infected person will only exhibit one symptom, and these worker and soldier insects are products of the continued evolution of this symptom. This is the most ingenious design of the plague created by Edwild."

Upon hearing this, Lu Ning suddenly realized that these monsters in crisis were different from ordinary plagues.

"Therefore, the number of people infected by the 'Heterodox' plague is actually very small, but the infected will actively create their own offspring, therefore..."

"Don't jump to conclusions before a full analysis. But I think that's the case." Crom waved his hand. "We don't have the resources to deal with those issues right now. Pharmacist, do you know where we might be suitable to stay? Ideally, somewhere within the church or church-controlled area. At this point, neither residential areas nor the administrative districts previously under the Grand Duke's control are good choices."

“The South.” Lu Ning didn’t need to think too much. “I used to live there. There’s a church there in the Clock River district. The South has a lower population density, and the lockdown started early, so there probably hasn’t been any problems there yet.”

"Go take a look, I'll leave them a message here."

"They" certainly refers to the other first-degree bishops.

Lu Ning no longer needed to ask what to do about the seriously wounded; with Krom there, a few Rejuvenation spells would solve the problem. That's the good thing about the spells here—as long as consciousness remains, paralysis doesn't affect casting.

But the wounds on Krom and Rosalind were not so easy to heal; they were genuine divine calamity contamination.

However, as Krom healed the wounded and everyone packed up to retreat to the southern region, Lu Ning also noticed several other people who had not been healed.

"The divine disaster and its contamination have already begun to manifest on a large scale."

=
In the western region, in front of a collapsed bakery, Liu took half a loaf of hard bread from the window, smashed a piece with a hammer and put it in his mouth, then took a swig of water from his kettle.

Several insect corpses, and others, could be seen on the streets. They were all monsters anyway, and Liu killed them on sight. She had already run quite far. She had no intention of going back; when the gods descended, she already knew certain things she didn't want to know.

In this scene, all the tourists are drawn together by fate. Liu doesn't think she can be an exception, but even though she was prepared, she still feels very bad.

The translucent branches on her arm, swaying like tentacles, were probably invisible to anyone in the city except her.

Both gods and men take them for granted, so no one can distinguish them. If you want to observe them, you must have an "external perspective".

"Oh."

The willow could smell the stench of decay in the air.

The death of the owner of "Sipping Rotten Juice" does not mean that the book is destroyed. The book is the fundamental problem; simply replacing the owner will solve the problem.

A gaunt man lifted the manhole cover at the street corner. Unlike the previous gravedigger, he wasn't covered in pustules; he just looked as thin as if he were about to die. The biggest difference was that he didn't embed the book into his body; he simply held it in his arms.

Liu sensed a divine aura emanating from him.

"Hey……"

"Saints who have passed away, those who live with death and bones, I have come to bring you a glimmer of hope."

A miracle. Liu is certain this is the current situation.

Most Plague Apostles were guided by the Plague Lord for various reasons before becoming apostles. However, some exceptionally gifted ones witnessed miracles deliberately displayed by the Plague Lord. Unlike divine plagues, these miracles were indirect, less contaminated, but lasted a long time.

But Liu didn't understand why the King of Decay wanted to see her. She couldn't possibly have faith in him.

Of course, the miracle was just a pretext; otherwise, Liu would have run away long ago. She didn't have the ability to confront the gods directly.

"Please leave."

"You've realized you're going to die, haven't you?" "Miracle" spread his hands, letting the putrid liquid flow through his palms. "I don't know why you have such a tangled fate, but you're irrevocably sinking in that direction. Fate, destiny—these words aren't good for you. It's coming, and the only way you can avoid it is by accepting my help."

“I’m sorry, I would rather die than become a follower of yours.” Liu shook his head. “Please leave, or I will have to expel you.”

"Why don't you cherish your own lives? For us, survival is the most important thing, and we understand humanity very well. Sacrifice is indeed a great word, but sacrifice also means loss. In unnecessary circumstances, such behavior is meaningless."

“Although I can’t go into too much detail, I can say that you were also part of that outcome, so your help was equally meaningless,” Liu replied.

The King of Decay showed a look of sudden realization.

"So that's how it is... It's an even greater torrent..."

Liu nodded.

“Then I have nothing more to do. This region has lost its value to me.” The King of Decay handed over the book in his hand. “Take it.”

"You don't need it?" Liu asked, somewhat surprised.

"It is merely a silhouette of power, and its existence and demise should be decided by humankind. Similarly, I will not take any action against the plague raging in this place; ultimately, it is your own business."

After the word "miracle" was spoken, it immediately dissolved into a pile of putrid liquid, and only the book was washed up and reached Liu's front.

Liu smiled bitterly. Wasn't the King of Rot's words just a declaration of the state of Violet City?