"Verminous…" I mentioned, heightening my guard and sense. This man focuses on corruption and decay, he is known for specializing in poison.
Verminous laughed creepy, showing that he wasn't worried about my appearance. "Aren't you unfair? Two versus one?"
I held my head up while staring at him. The staring contest continues for a few minutes. Until, my Arcane Lens floated in front, suggesting an emergency notice nearby.
Arcane Lens are like cellphones with a combination of holograms that are magically powered.
"Important Emergency Mission at Welholme Town."
Emergency at Welholme Town? That town is in the back of this forest.
I remained calm, not showing any sign of worry in front of this Abyssal Order. I need to move.
Verminous tilted his head and chuckled. "Ohh… those were fast actions, weren't they?"
What? Is he the one who created a mess in that village? Did he come from that village that is why he suddenly popped up here?
I cleared my throat and calmly asked, "What do you mean?"
"Did you do that?" Blake suddenly meddled, still staying in my back.
Despite his face being covered, I felt like he somehow grinned. "Oh… a weakling like you doesn't have the right to question me, don't you?" he teasingly asked, trying to piss off Blake with his mocking voice.
Blake forwarded, trying to attack Verminous. "You f*cking—"
I interrupted him while quickly spreading arms to stop him going forward. "Blake," I softly whispered.
He somehow got it and backed off while stamping off his feet in annoyance.
My intense gazes remained at Verminous. "What did you do?" I repeated Blake's question in a calm manner but I added a little intimidation and a warning tone.
He shrugged, and replied sarcastically, "Well… I just played a little. Why don't you check the town? Checking it would answer your question, won't it?"
"Right." I nodded my head in agreement. I smiled at him. "Well… punishing you with whatever you did, would not hurt right?" I innocently asked while summoning my bow and arrows.
He backed off a little. "Ohh… I would not mind actually… but fighting you is not part of my mission, isn't it?" he chuckled, looking like he does not take it seriously.
I am serious. Whatever he did in that town isn't unforgivable. I instantly released my water arrows in his direction.
Verminous remained calm, not showing any sign of shock with the arrows raining towards him. He laughed, and effortlessly avoided it. "I'll see you soon," he declared, waving his hand at us.
No arrows hit him.
We remained standing and looking at him while we cannot see him anymore. He completely vanished in our sight.
"Are you okay?" I turned to Blake as Verminous left. I quickly assessed his body to check if he had any wounds.
He halfly smiled, "Thank. I'm okay… what should we do?"
"Let's check what's happening in the Welholme Village," I replied, turning around and facing the way towards the town.
I quickly jumped into the branches, swiftly ran and not bothered by the height and the gaps of it. Blake is on my back, following my lead as he does not know the direction.
Is the situation severe? My arcane lens would not receive a notice unless a Beta really needs to be there. If that is Verminous doing, hence the situation might be really severe.
Arriving at the town made us witness how chaotic this place is. People were mindlessly running and shouting for help, desperate enough to call for assistance. Cries and begging can be heard throughout the town.
The town smells sweet yet strange with a touch of rotting smells. The view is so terrifying, everything is messy. Fruits and vegetables were everywhere, scattered and muddy. Things are broken as if a war just happened.
People seem not to have their own mind as if their sanity leaves. They are intensively scratching their body until it bleeds, some were already bloodbathing and few skins mutated as it looks different from the normal skin. The view is so sickening, this situation would make someone feel sick to their stomach.
I saw some people with the mark of Delta. They are restless from walking back and forth, trying to help who they can help. No one noticed us.
A nearby Delta approached us. She has a circle mark of blazing fire with a dragon on it; few words were carved curvely "Draconis. Delta C."
Draconis Guild from the Ignis Region?
"I am sorry but this is off limits for the meantime," she stated.
I take off my hood, revealing my face. Blake remained at my back, remained covering his face with his hood.
She backed off a little, widening her eyes upon seeing the face beneath the hood earlier.
"La-lady Aella," she murmured nervously with her voice suddenly becoming unstable. She quickly bowed her head. "I-I am sorry, Lady Aella. Pa-pardon my… rudeness."
I smiled even though she would not see it. "It's okay, can you tell me what happened?"
Without lifting her head. "Gladly, Lady Aella. The cause was still unknown but the people were uncontrollably scratching their skins. Some Delta B are still investigating it. Us, the Delta Cs, were trying to ease the pain."
I nodded. "Thank you. Your hard work is appreciated." I smiled, and continued to softly ask, "Where are the Delta Bs?
"I am beyond grateful, Lady Aella. The Delta Bs are in the center of the village."
"Thank you. You can continue your work," I stated, bidding my goodbye and expressing my gratitude.
I rushed into the center of the town with Blake still following me.
I approached a Delta B from the Corallius Guild of Aquaria Region. Her mark is a soft blue wave with coral in it, and curvely carved words "Corallis. Delta B."
"Hey, Aquina," I calmly called her.
Upon seeing me, she immediately bowed down. "My Lady."
The other people nearby who were also Deltas, briefly bowed their heads and got back to what they were doing. I just gave them a smile and a nod.
I looked at Aquina. "Any progress about the investigation?"
"We found a very tiny insect in their body, My Lady," she replied with an uneasy tone while her hand motioned to the prism lens as if asking me to look at it.
A prism lens is a device made of polished crystal and shaped like a teardrop that can reveal the smallest detail. In the mortal world, this would be called a microscope. But, prism lens can see much more.
I looked into it. Insects were really there, so tiny and restless. They keep moving.
Verminous uses venomous insects. So, it was really his doing.
While looking, I asked, "Have you checked their bodily fluids for poison?"
"Yes, My Lady. We found that their bodily fluids contained unknown poison. We were looking if the insects injected a poison towards the bloodstream."
I stopped watching those tiny insects in the prism lens. "Have you tried to remove those insects?"
"Few of us were still trying but none of the trials were successful," she answered with a lowered voice. She sounded apologetic.
"It is okay. We can do this." I gave her a reassuring smile. "How about trying to remove the poison from the bodily fluids?"
She looked at the right side, to those people wearing a soft blue cloak with dark blue gloves. That's the uniform of the aquatic healers. There are also soft crimson with dark red gloves, the uniform of the fire healers.
"There were some aquatic healers who were trying to cleanse the bodily fluids while some fire healers who were trying to kill the insects…but it wasn't enough, the energy used was too strong," she sounded so defeated.
Their energy would really not be enough. The enemy here is an Abyssal Order. Those tiny insects were his pet.
I remained calm, looking around to view the suffering.
I gazed again at the aquatic and fire healers who were trying their best. Doing those would only drain them. I appreciated them but their lives are also as important.
I turned to Aquina. "It's Verminous doing, one of the Abyssal Order."
Aquina's eyes widened, finally realizing why those insects and poison were too strong. "A-an Abyssal O-order?" she stuttered.
I slowly nodded. "Tell them to focus on easing the pain by trying to suppress or lessen the pain," I softly ordered.
She remained stunned, not able to process anything. I tapped her softly, trying to make her back to reality. "Aquina?"
She finally goes back, fastly and repeatedly blinking her eyes.
"Don't worry about it. I would try to think of a way. For now, do what I ordered," I softly stated, giving her an assurance feeling.
I quietly leave the center with Blake still following me. He wasn't noticed by them, or they just did not pay him any attention as most of them were preoccupied by the situation.
"What should we do?" asked Blake. Finally got a moment to speak as he wasn't talking earlier in my conversation with Aquina.
"I already have a plan," I declared.
I roamed my eyes around, trying to find something. I tried not to be swayed by the cries in agony. I should focus. I should persevere.
Blake was following me, cluelessly trying to look also with the thing he doesn't even know I was looking at.
As we passed through those begging for help, I could not suppress any emotions that I tried to suppress. These people don't deserve any of those.
I always questioned why innocent people should be collateral to the war they did not even wish for or hoped for. No one wants war. No one deserves to suffer for the thing they did not ask for.
What does this war lead us to? Just pure suffering.
I could not stop myself from helping people. So, I tried to lessen their pain using my aquatic healing that would only last for a while. As long as the insects were there, the poison would only be scattered uncontrollably.
Reaching at the back of the town. In the dark alley, I finally saw what I was finding. A dead body.
"Aella?" Blake called nervously.
I pat my palm into the body, trying to assess it. I took something from my bag, the prism lens earlier.
"How did you—"
I put my index finger into my lips, gesturing to him to stay quiet. He really did close his mouth by briefly opening his mouth and quickly closed it.
Looking at the prism lens, the insects were still there. The bodily fluids in the dead body are full of poison.
I turned around to Blake. "Try using your fire to kill the insects and the poison," I seriously yet calmly commanded while staring directly at his eyes.
He widened his eyes, not believing what I just asked him to do. He is squinting his eyes as if assessing if I am joking or not.
Taken aback by what I just said, he wasn't able to reply right away. "Wh-what…?"
"Don't worry, I will just test something," I assured him.
"But… that person is already dead…"
"Blake, I would not use someone who is alive to test something. You can do this."
Leaving with no choice, Blake does what Aella tells him to do. Before starting anything, I heard Blake say, "May the soul of this body forgive us."
He started to concentrate while closing his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he ignited the body. "I call upon the burning heart, with the flames of purification. I cleanse the soul," he quietly whispered, chanting his chant seriously.
He stayed like that, still concentrating and carefully navigating the body and killing all the poison and the insects.
A few minutes passed, Blake opened his eyes. I assessed the bodily fluids again and checked the skin with a prism lens. I widely smiled at Blake. "You did it! I told you, you can do it."
"Wait… don't tell me?"
I gave him a wink. "You would kill the insects and poisons in their body."
He bit his lips, shaking his head. "But… maybe I just got lucky? That person is already dead… I do not know what would happen if the person is alive," he anxiously stated.
I reached his hands, caressing it to calm him. I gave him an assurance smile, encouraging him that he can do it. "You would not know if you can do it if you would not try it. Have you forgotten? I'm always backing you up."
He took a deep sighed.
"Are you ready? This would be your first mission against an Abyssal Order."