Boom! I blew open the main doors to the imperial palace with a fireball. Before the dust settled, somebody or something rushed out. Just as I was about to fire a shot, the silhouette leapt at me and tightly grabbed my arm.
“Please, please, save me. Save me! Don’t kill me. Don’t kill me. I’m not them! I’m not them! See? See? I can still speak. I’m normal. I’m normal. Please, please save me. Take me away from here! Take me away from here!’
“You?!” Though there were no lights in the city, I could recognise him from his voice alone. The man in front of me was the new church’s pope! I grabbed him by his collar and shoved him up against the wall. I blustered, “Why are you are in my imperial palace?! This is my palace; this is my city! What have you done to my city?!! Look what you turned my city into! You killed thirty thousand of my people! And why are you fine?! In spite of being the pope of the new church, you never drank the water, did you?! You just swindled people with it!”
“Anyone with a brain would realise you can’t drink that water, right?! One look and you can tell the water is abnormal! Who would drink it?!”
“In other words, you sat on your ass and watched those people who trusted you turn into this state?! You sat on your ass and didn’t say a word when they drank the water?! They trusted you, yet that’s how you repaid their trust!”
“I didn’t know this would happen, either! How could I have known this would happen?! How could I have imagined water that could heal people would turn them into those creatures?! I’m just as helpless! I was just as helpless!! Those people aren’t my responsibility! I didn’t do anything!”
“Shut the fuck up!” I served him a knuckle sandwich and then thundered, “The entire city is in this state thanks to you! It’s because of you! I don’t know why you made your religion, but you suspected it was dangerous, yet still had your followers drink the water while you stayed here and trembled, you fucking coward! You didn’t do anything, but you fed them the demonic water. You aren’t remotely innocent because you didn’t inform them the miracles were dangerous! You touched that which humanity should never have touched! You coward! I really want to strangle you right now, but…”
Before I finished, I heard booming footsteps coming from within the imperial palace, which shook the entire ground. I released my grip on the pope. He feebly slid to the ground. I kicked him on his shoulder and imparted him with my final words: “Find a way to survive by yourself. Let’s see if you can escape alive. This is your comeuppance. This is your city. They’re your believers. A pope should be at the centre of his believers, not acting the way you are, phony coward! The old church’s pope may be just a child; however, be it before or after the fact, he takes it on the shoulder it as a man would. As for you, you’re nothing but a coward, a coward who can’t do anything but quiver in the corner!”
I spun around and sprinted into the palace, only to find it had collapsed. There, I found a huge fox standing among the ruins. She turned to look at me. Shusia and Ying were on her back. In Ying’s arms was a young girl. My heart skipped a beat. I suddenly remembered that Tanya came to me from Troy City and then returned to it. Tanya lived in Troy City for some time. Ling Yue was a magical species to begin with, so the mana wouldn’t affect her, but Tanya was a human! Tanya would be affected!
“Hey! Is there really no way to heal her?! Is there really no way? I don’t want to save everyone in the city. Can’t I save just one person?” I asked the woman in my head.
“Erm, Mm, in principle, there’s a chance, but pretty much impossible after a full-moon night. As long as she’s alive, you just need to wait until tomorrow, and transfer a portion of your mana to her. Even so, bear in mind that humans can’t excrete the mana out of their bodies. Unfortunately, even if you want to save the child, she’ll require mana on every full-moon night each month henceforward in order to live.”
I nodded. That was good enough. While Tanya would end up with a condition similar to mine in the past, I didn’t care as long as Tanya could be healed. I didn’t want to lose my Tanya no matter what.
Ling Yue slowly walked up to me and peered toward the city door. The flames and smoke over in that direction were still visible from this distance. The red uniform army was still engaged in combat
“What exactly happened? It has to do with mana, right? These people were fine before, but they suddenly changed in a single night. It must have to do with mana, right?!” asked Ling Yue, as she crouched down. I a soft voice, she said, “Sorry, Dear, I failed to protect Tanya … Sorry… sorry… there must be a way, though, right? There has to be a way to save her, right?!”
“Put the matter aside for now, I have a way to save Tanya. She’ll never be the same again, but I can keep her alive. We have to get out of here first, though. Ling Yue, can you block the door so that they can’t leave? Will you get hurt?”
“I won’t. When it comes down to it, they’re just humans. Humans’ teeth and finger nails can’t hurt me. What do you plan to do, though?”
I climbed onto Ling Yue’s back. She didn’t hesitate to crush few zombies that rushed over underfoot. Then, she bolted toward the city door. In a quiet voice, Ying apologised, “Sorry, Your Majesty, we failed to protect Princess Liu Yue and Consort Ling Yue.”
“You’ve already done very well.”
“Daddy!”
Liu Yue broke free of Shusia’s grasp and leapt over to hug me. She softly sobbed on my shoulder. She trembled as she sobbed, “Daddy, I’m so scared. I’m so scared. Those people want to eat us… I’m so scared… They didn’t act that way before. Why did they suddenly turn this way in an instant…?”
“Sorry, sorry Liu Yue, sorry for not being by your side. It’s okay now, though. Dad and Mom are both by your side. Don’t be scared, Liu Yue.” I gently caressed Liu Yue’s hand and then Ling Yue’s fur: “Ling Yue, block the door when we get there. Leave the people outside to the red uniform army. I have to wipe out the people inside along with the city. The entire city can’t escape destruction. I can’t let a single one of these monsters out.”
With a tinge of sadness in her voice, Ling Yue softly queried, “Do you want to destroy Troy City? I really like this city. This was the city we first met and held hands. Is there really no other way? Must you really… destroy this city?”
“Sorry, Ling Yue. I don’t want to destroy it, either, but… but I have to.”
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