Chương 139: Tears of Purity

In the early morning, the sun rose as usual, its golden rays casting warm light over the earth and dispersing the morning mist. As the fog cleared, it revealed the corpses left behind by the madness of the previous night. Without human interference, the natural level of magic returned to normal. The goblin recruits in the urban area of Poloya had all fully recovered; except for coughing caused by mild respiratory burns, almost none of them suffered major harm.

Under the officers' orders, the recruits marched out of the city to transport the survivors of the Punishment Army—who had fought fiercely through the night—back inside. Many had already perished. The warriors fell either under the enemy's blades or under the searing rays of Holy Light, burned into charred corpses. The most common cause of death, however, was suffocating from inhaling excessive Light magic, which severely scorched their airways and rendered them unable to breathe.

The 10th Company of the Punishment Army—no, it should be called the 10th Company of the Guard Army—had suffered heavy casualties once again. A force that originally numbered over 900 men now had only about 500 survivors, most of whom were injured. These 500-plus survivors all suffered severe burns as well as respiratory scorching; how many of them would ultimately survive remained an open question. Miss Hana led the medical company onto the battlefield to begin triage.

Among the medical company were thirty to forty tiny figures clad in mage robes, performing healing spells beside the wounded goblins. These children were magic apprentices recruited by the Mage Tower. When Li Qinwu had captured the Mage Tower earlier, he spared their lives and handed them over to Seahyton to mentor. Knowing that Li Qinwu's offensive would result in massive casualties, Seahyton had assigned the mage apprentices to Miss Hana, organizing them into a battlefield rescue squad to treat the wounded.

These young mages didn't possess much mana, nor did they know many spells, but every single one of them was skilled in using the Healing Spell. It was the very first spell every mage apprentice learned upon entering the academy, with strict requirements to master it as quickly as possible. After all, knowing a healing spell could truly save lives in critical moments. Thus, on their first day of school, the apprentices did nothing else until they had thoroughly mastered it.

With the addition of these young apprentices, the rescue effort became much easier. Spheres of healing light were channeled into the severely burned goblins one after another, stabilizing their injuries and granting them a chance to live. After arranging the rescue assignments, Miss Hana went to find Li Qinwu; as the leader, he naturally required special attention. At this moment, Li Qinwu lay on the ground, completely blackened like a chunk of charcoal and suffering from extreme burns.

Were it not for the subtle rise and fall of his chest, no one would have believed this heap of charred flesh was still alive. Miss Hana knelt before Li Qinwu and immediately prepared to cast a healing spell, but Li Qinwu reached out to grab her small hand and pushed her away.

"Don't... don't waste your mana on me. Hurry... go save my soldiers!" Li Qinwu's voice was extremely faint, making him sound as if he might pass away at any moment. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

"B-But... you..." Miss Hana wanted to say more, but Li Qinwu opened his bloodshot eyes and glared at her sternly.

"Obey my orders immediately!" Seeing the fierce determination in Li Qinwu's eyes, Miss Hana didn't dare disobey and instantly did as commanded. Li Qinwu coughed up a mouthful of blood and lay quietly on the ground to adjust his breathing. Though he currently looked like a piece of rare meat scorched on the outside, his refusal of Miss Hana's treatment was by no means a theatrical display.

Having stripped himself bare to lie directly on the earth, he could feel the Blessing of the Earth Goddess taking effect—a continuous stream of soothing power surged from the ground straight into his entire body. This power was delightfully cool, dispelling the agonizing pain brought on by the burns. Lying on the ground, he felt like an infant cradled in its mother's embrace, feeling extraordinarily at peace. This made him realize that he didn't need external healing at all.

So long as he remained lying down like this, injuries that would normally kill others via sepsis were nothing more than a minor inconvenience to him! Therefore, it was far better to save Miss Hana's mana so she could rescue more wounded soldiers. Those soldiers couldn't regenerate on their own like he could; every life saved counted! As Li Qinwu quietly awaited his recovery, footsteps sounded in his ears once more. It was Kanda.

"Is it done?" Kanda nodded, holding out a teardrop-shaped pendant in his palm.

"Boss, just as you ordered, I chopped the dead dog of the False God into pieces and burned her to ashes. There shouldn't be any chance of resurrection. I found this pendant on her corpse—it seems to be a special item." Li Qinwu gently opened his palm, and Kanda placed the pendant into his hand. Li Qinwu stored the teardrop pendant into his inventory. Taking a look at its item description, his breathing instantly quickened.

Name: Tears of Purity Weapon Rank: Artifact Description: A pendant formed from the tear of the Goddess of Life, bestowed upon the First Saintess by the Goddess 4, 000 years ago. Effects: Wearer's Charm +20, Spell Amplification +300%. Can only be equipped by pure females.

"Hehehe..." Li Qinwu parted his dry lips and chuckled. The Saintess of the Church of the Goddess of Life was dead, the choir was wiped out, and they even lost an artifact. Tsk tsk tsk, talk about bleeding out big time! He looked up at Kanda.

"Soldier!"

"Sir!"

"Pass down my orders: cremate the corpses of our fallen warriors on the spot to prevent the outbreak of plague. Preserve their ashes properly—we are taking them home. Leave 2, 000 recruits here to collect the spoils of war. Everyone else is to return to Poloya to rest and reorganize. Manning the walls, lock the city gates tight, and stay vigilant against any enemy surprise attacks. As for the Security Army...

Reward each of them with 20 silver coins and send them to garrison Cheeseburg, Ortosburg, and Kurofield Castle... Have them await new orders there." They were currently very weak and desperately needed rest. The Security Army consisted of turncoats, after all; if they caught wind of their weakened state, they might harbor treasonous thoughts. It was far safer to send them away first to avoid trouble. Kanda voiced his assent and went to dispatch the orders.

Meanwhile, a battlefield settlement notification echoed in Li Qinwu's mind. VICTORY! Enemies Killed: 3, 481 Enemies Captured:... Loot Obtained: Grain x480... Shattered Tears of Purity x1... Denars Earned: 25, 890"Huh? An artifact dropped?" Li Qinwu's eyes widened as he stared at the Shattered Tears of Purity. He pulled out both Tears of Purity—one looted in reality, and the other dropped by the system. The system-dropped Tears of Purity was dull in color, with visible cracks across the main body of the teardrop.

Its system description read: Name: Shattered Tears of Purity Weapon Rank: Artifact Description: A pendant formed from the tear of the Goddess of Life, bestowed upon the First Saintess by the Goddess 4, 000 years ago. The main body is fractured, and the magic array inside is severely damaged. Effects: Wearer's Charm +2, Spell Amplification +20%. Can only be equipped by pure females. Li Qinwu felt like he had hit the jackpot.

Although the Tears of Purity had strict restrictions and its exact use cases were unclear for now, it was an Artifact after all—an actual Artifact! He would keep it for now and study it later. Li Qinwu then opened the troop management interface. Out of the original 310 soldiers, only 128 remained, but every single one of them was now eligible for an upgrade! With a series of clicks, out of the 128 survivors, 58 were upgraded to Tier-5 troops, and 70 were upgraded to Tier-4 troops.