Chapter 484 - The Melting of the Snow (1/2)

Chapter 484: The Melting of the Snow

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The sound of a man panting heavily could be heard.

The man whom Link had brought with him had a glazed look on his face. His body swayed about restlessly when he was seated on a chair. Even though he was surrounded by the corpses of fallen priests and fresh blood on the ground, he did not seem at all concerned.

He stared dumbly at nothing in particular, as if the world around him had nothing to do with him whatsoever.

All the priests on the scene were shocked at the sight of him.

“He’s close to losing all reason. We need to start treating him now,” Link said to the archbishop. With a rush of Dragon Power, Link gently raised a piece of rock from the ground till it reached a foot high and formed a cylindrical platform.

Link then set a white translucent crystal, almost as big as one’s head, on the platform.

The crystal was a dodecahedron. There was a transparent layer on its surface, almost an inch thick. Deeper within the crystal, a jumble of runes swirled around like a white fog. One would actually pass out from any attempts to make sense of the swirling motion within.

This was the Divine Power Focal Crystal that Link had spent a whole night sculpting.

The archbishop placed a hand on the left side of the crystal, with Link on the right. Both of them looked at each other, then released a flow of their power into the crystal.

When both powers entered the crystal, milky white on one side and crimson on the other, the runes within began swirling even more quickly. Its color had changed as well; after letting both powers seep through, the entire crystal was now a milky white shade.

Half a second later, there was a soft hum, and a pale red ray of light shone forth from the crystal.

Link already had a Spatial Distortion spell waiting outside the crystal. Once the ray of light hit the distorted space, it would immediately be refracted onto the body of the infected.

The infected man trembled violently, his empty eyes now forced wide open. The man’s body shook for 20 seconds, before falling forward to the ground. He lay there, devoid of any sign of life.

The archbishop swallowed, then said nervously, “He’s dead.”

Their Dispel spell had failed. With the whole city in the grip of the epidemic, if they could not come up with something to deal with it soon, the infected would be left running rampant throughout the city and eventually spilling out across the city borders. The archbishop dared not imagine what would happen later at that point.

Unfazed by this, Link kneeled down beside the corpse with one hand holding the Burning Wrath of Heavens. He then proceeded to prod at the infected man’s body, scanning for any abnormalities in it.

Half a minute later, he stood up. “I found the reason why the spell didn’t work.”

The disease had been dispelled in the man’s body, but it could not withstand the strain of the two powers clashing in it.

Now, he knew that he only needed to add a healing spell around the Dispel spell. This would mend any damage caused by the clash of powers in the infected person’s body.

He went back to the Focal Crystal and began making a few modifications to it.

The archbishop waited patiently on one side, while the other priests began carrying away the bodies of their fallen brethren. Three minutes later, there was a commotion outside the church. Inhuman screams could be heard from it, and in the midst of the pandemonium, someone was calling for help.

Celine rushed out through the great door. A moment later, there was the sound of gunshots from outside. Ten seconds later, Celine came back in, with a few other common folk following behind her in a state of panic.

“How’s the situation?” asked the archbishop quietly.

“Some of the people have started showing symptoms and are now randomly biting others in the city,” whispered Celine.

The archbishop went pale, then turned to look at Link. Link kept working on the crystal, as if he had not heard a word from their exchange. His hand was radiating off a crimson cloud of light. Bits of it seeped into the crystal like drops of red ink.

Upon closer inspection, the red light spreading across the crystal was actually composed of thin, spidery filaments, each of them manipulating a rune in the crystal with surgical precision.

Five minutes passed, and Link, who had been working on the crystal without moving an inch, finally let out a deep breath. The red light in his hand faded away, and he looked completely exhausted.

Link had been hard at work on the crystal, studying the magic behind it without rest ever since he reached Hapsburg. Even at peak physical condition, maintaining his concentration for ten minutes straight had put a considerable strain on his mental faculties.

Celine was most familiar with Link’s physical condition. Seeing the look of exhaustion on his face, she asked with a tone of concern, “Do you want to rest for a bit?”

“I’m alright.” Link recollected himself, then said to the archbishop, “There seems to be no problem now.”

He swept his gaze across the people who had entered the church. His eyes fell on a middle-aged woman with a dazed expression. “Let’s start with her.”

At that point, Link did not bother asking for anyone’s permission to be used as a guinea pig. He no longer had the time to blame himself for accidentally killing any of his subjects during his experimentations. RIght now, Link simply needed to make all the necessary adjustments to his spell till he found an effective cure for the epidemic, no matter how many times he had to fail.

Considering the urgency of the matter at hand, the archbishop did not object to this. He infused his Divine Power into the crystal alongside Link’s Dragon Power once more. A ray of dim red light shone out from the combination of both powers in the crystal.

This time, the ray of light seemed softer than before. A layer of mist could be seen surrounding it as well, as it hit the middle-aged woman.

The lady’s body began trembling violently for a long period of time.

As she trembled, all the priests in the church had their eyes fixed on the woman’s face, hoping that the spell would work this time.

After about a minute, the woman’s trembling began to slow down. Finally, she stopped shaking altogether. Her previously lifeless eyes now came alive. She looked around at her surroundings, perplexed. “What happened? Why am I here?”

Her speech was clear, and the lifelessness on her face from before had disappeared without a trace, as her cheeks were now flushed with life.

The middle-aged man beside her, presumably her husband, shouted with joy, “Mileia, you’re cured! This is great news!”

He then turned towards Link and the archbishop, and knelt down on the ground before them with a thump. He said with tears of gratitude, “By the God of Light, my humblest thanks to both of you!”

The archbishop and the other priests let out a collective sigh of relief. They were told that the the epidemic in the North was all but incurable, even with their divine spells. When they got here, the nightmarish state of the streets had sent a chill down their spines, and they all feared that there was nothing they could do at that point.

But now, they had finally found a way to purge the city of the disease!

The archbishop looked at Link and said, “Master Link, thank the heavens you’re here with us!”

Link too was overjoyed at this, but he knew this was just the beginning. “Alright, now’s not the time to celebrate. There’s still a lot of people out there who needs our help.”

He held out a hand which shone with the same red light, and directed the light once again into the crystal. Seeing this, the archbishop followed suit, and infused his Divine Power into the crystal as well.

Around ten beams of light radiated out of the crystal at the same time, hitting the remaining refugees in the church.