Chapter 569 - A Festering Wound

"What is the situation?" Pelaros asked, woken when someone tried to move him. His body was still too battered to move itself, his body covered in countless wounds.

"Sir, you need to rest." One of the three people carrying him replied. 

"I can't... I'm assuming we won, but..."

"Sir, please focus on recovering."

Nodding, Pelaros tried to summon his magic to start healing himself. Sadly, he found himself unable to do even that. He was drained, completely and utterly. But it seemed to be even more than that.

"Wait! Stop!"

"What is it?" 

"That man... Elf, bring him too."

"Is that?"

Pelaros nodded. 

***

"What happened?" Itireae asked, landing softly next to Mneme. Everyone had kept their distance from the roc, no one dared approach it. 

Mneme indicated to the craters beyond the walls. Looking at it, Itireae struggle to comprehend what could cause such damage. Considering that the strongest were only Tier 8. 

Mneme then pointed to where the special cannon had been installed. Moving there, Itireae looked at it in wonder. The gore of the battle did not even bother her, no, she was enthralled by this ingenious invention. 

...

Struggling to her feat, Thesolis moved forward. Only to be stopped by a rough hand grabbing hers. 

"You can't help, not in your condition."

Pulling away, Thesolis growled, "I can walk, so I can help!"

"You know as well as I do that doing so is far too dangerous and incredibly stupid." Solvi grabbed the centaurette's hand again. This time pulling her back with far more force. 

"We can only do so much. Our job was making the weapons that gave us the victory. Don't throw that away in your concern."

"But... I can help." Tears filled the centaurette's eyes. She hated herself for not moving to help earlier, for not being able to help. 

After finishing the cannonballs, she and Solvi had both reached the next Tier. That, however, came with consequences. 

Unlike players; for the natives reaching a new Tier was far more strenuous and far more dangerous. 

It required a spark to start, but after they needed to consolidate what they had learned. Make it a part of them. This took time, days to weeks, sometimes even months. 

That was not the true problem though. The true problem was that if they strained themselves during this time then they would cripple themselves. This was especially true in the area of reaching higher Tiers in crafting professions. The Tiers of combat had more room to maneuver. 

...

"So... We won." Eldrian smiled, though the atmosphere inside the room was more like that of the defeated. 

"The damage to the city was significant, but thanks to our early evacuations to the city center the death toll isn't as high as it could have been." Someone Eldrian didn't know replied, it seemed that she was just a simple captain. Thrust to the rank of commander in the aftermath. 

"Thank you, Jannet." Pelaros nodded and indicated for her to return to her duties. Reports were constantly coming in. 

Eldrian wanted to rush out to help, but Pelaros had asked him to stay. Once Jannet was outside Eldrian was why- again. 

"Whether you want to lead or not, you are in a position where you will. You again demonstrated your willingness to die for the city."

"That isn't-"

"You didn't run outside the walls and deploy one of the Magic Crystal infused cannonballs?"

Eldrian didn't reply immediately. "I did, but I wasn't-"

"It was a brilliant plan, and it also helped me."

"What-"

"The demon commander, he was boasting after delivering this wound." Pelaros pointed to his side where a massive piece of his flesh was missing. Currently, it had only been burnt to stop the bleeding. Healing was not something that could be considered yet, not even for the VIPs. 

Yet, that was clearly not all. Black pulsing lines were growing from the wound, infecting the rest of Pelaros's side. 

"The explosion's shockwave sent him crashing into one of the towers on the wall. Which allowed me to deliver the killing blow before he could recover..." Pelaros paused and looked Eldrian in the eyes. 

"You did more than simply stopping the undead from entering the city. You saved my life, the life of everyone in this city."

"I wasn't-"

Pelaros held up his hand to indicate for Eldrian to stop. "I know, I understand. But I must say my thanks, and I've also heard from Sofiera."

"What-?"

"You want a Magic Crystal, right? I think you've more than earned it. I doubt I would be able to organize the kingdom handing you one, but... As payment for the cannons, I will give you one of the magic towers' crystals."

"That... Won't that-"

Pelaros again thrust his hand forward. "Just accept it. I don't know what the future holds, but I hope you can take full advantage to help us in this hell we are in."

"You were right. We were constantly underusing the Chosen simply because we focused on their personal strength. In this siege, we witnessed another part of the Chosen."

"You're so much more than we considered. Which is why I've decided to personally sponsor your guild."

"My guild?"

"Yes, I believe you are part of the guild named Phoenix. I've decided that we will start there. I believe everyone has more than proven their worth."

"I'm sorry. What are you saying exactly?"

"He's saying that we will become a special division," Elizabeth answered, walking in at the pristine moment. Eldrian however was shocked when he saw who was following her. 

"Erik!?" Jumping up, Eldrian hugged his friend. "I thought..."

"I can't live a peaceful life if the world ends, now can I?" Erik said this with a smile as if it was the most natural conclusion. As if the words coming from his mouth formed a natural everyday sentence. 

"Pelaros, you're caught up, right?" Elizabeth asked.

The centaur nodded, "Mostly, I didn't hear it from Eldrian but Sofiera was quite clear. I understand that we can't trust the gods, I've never planned to. But it is still sad that it has come to this."

"Unfortunately, we will have to continue to make use of them." Elizabeth sighed, wishing they could be truly independent. Unfortunately, that was completely impossible. 

"It isn't too bad, it is actually quite convenient," Erik said with a smile, taking out a light yellow tulip. "Sir centaur, this should help with your condition."

"My condition?" Pelaros questioned while accepting the intriguing flower. Its basic form was that of a tulip yet it was clear that it wasn't normal. Upon taking the flower its color changed to an ugly gray yellow.

"Your mana," Erik replied, causing Pelaros to stiffen. 

"How did you?"

"It was obvious, far too obvious. Especially to Akarui."

"She's here?!" Eldrian asked in shock.

"I left her at your mansion, but yes. When she saw you, 'sir centaur is hurt', she said, immediately realizing what was going on with you. It's the corruption of the demons, Akarui called it Chaos infestation."

Pelaros sighed and fell to the ground, he had feared it might have been. But he had never dreamed. "You really think this-"

"Akarui said it will stabilize you, but it can't heal you."

"Can anyone explain what is going on?"

"Corruption of demons..." Pelaros sighed, hoping that with these strange people around him that he would be able to survive.

"When a demon curses someone in death. To be able to do this they must have a strong hatred, and also have inflicted a great wound. It is similar to the venom of ghouls, but instead of attacking the soul, it attacks a person's mana and cultivation. Cutting them off from magic"

"It rarely kills directly, but its effects almost always ends in the affected's death."

AN: A big thank you to everyone who continues to read and support the story on WN.