The Divine Hunter Chapter 19: Not worth it
The long walls of Maribo are looming over the green fields.
The gathering clouds blocked the setting sun high in the sky. In the evening breeze, dusty and tired, Arzu came to an old wooden house in a civilian area on the east side of the city.
A ragged old woman was lying dying on a wicker chair in the yard in the cold winter evening.
The lanterns hanging under the eaves flickered.
Under the patched linen dress, the woman's body was as thin as firewood, and her withered cheeks were bloodless, like someone who was terminally ill and about to die.
Arzu knelt down in front of her and stared at the face he had seen every day since childhood.
Memory reversal.
At that time, she was young, beautiful, kind-hearted, and took the best care of herself among all her aunts. Although she always liked to laugh at her reckless and stupid chivalric behavior, she was the most like her mother.
After more than 20 years of separation, we were tortured by life and turned into human beings!
The shiny black hair is as white as frost and snow.
"Aunt Odell?" He called softly to the old man sitting on the wicker chair who seemed to be dying at any moment.
"You, who are you?"
The old woman woke up from her light sleep tremblingly, looking at the handsome and mature face emerging from the darkness with surprise.
"Don't you remember me? The big fool of the Burns family."
"Casillas!? How is it possible! That brat never came back after leaving with Master Cosimo. It has been more than twenty years, how is it possible!"
"I'm back, I have another name, Arzu."
Arzu felt slightly guilty. For a long time, he devoted himself wholeheartedly to the Demon Hunter Order.
Ignored my former relatives.
She stared blankly in disbelief for five seconds before looking up at him cautiously.
"The mage who summoned the giant centipede on the battlefield of the Dagger War a year ago?"
"It's me."
Last year, when the Witcher Order was flourishing, he returned from Liliana's tombstone outside the city and passed by the city of Maribo after decades of absence.
Suddenly, it was discovered that the dagger war launched by Prince Maribor and Archduke Elland to compete for the position of King of Vizima was still continuing and getting more intense.
Countless people in both countries were forced to go to the meat grinder of war, and countless people died.
The people are miserable.
Arzu, who regarded saving the common people as his own duty, couldn't bear it.
In front of the world, he performed the Double Cross Summoning Technique for the first time.
Put a terrifying monster into the battlefield, ending this long and **** battle.
"So it was you who helped the prince of Maribor seize the throne of Vizima."
The old woman looked at him with complicated eyes. No one could have imagined that the stupid boy he once was would turn into such an amazing big shot!
He was in his forties, but he looked like a handsome young man in his early thirties.
"Yes." Arzu nodded tiredly. He was born in Maribo and subconsciously helped Prince Maribo defeat Elland.
"Aunt O'Dell, how did the family get to this point? I went to see it before and the Burns family mansion has been reduced to ruins? Where are the other uncles, aunts, and Orric?"
The old man sat up straight, covering his face with his withered palms in silence, his voice was sad,
"The Burns family died years ago..."
"Your cousins Orik and Tashik, who were young and strong, were signed by the Archduke to join the army, but died in the battle before the war was won."
Arzu looked solemn.
Those two naughty playboys vaguely flashed before my eyes.
I often bully myself.
But looking back now, he didn't have any resentment at all, just emotion.
He's just dead.
"As for our big house, it was ransacked by a group of 'thugs' during the carnival night last year when the Grand Duke of Elland announced his surrender, and then burned to ashes with a fire."
"Your two uncles and aunts were burned alive. I and five other people barely escaped, but we had no money, so we had to move to this shabby house."
The woman's voice was choked,
"Your three uncles and aunt were used to living a life of fine clothing and fine food, but they could not survive the miserable life without enough food and clothing for a few months, and they fell ill and died one after another. Only Zenina and I were left to depend on each other. ”
"Sheriff, didn't you catch the murderer?" Arzu looked miserable.
Although no one in that group of relatives regarded themselves as their own, they supported themselves!
"Carnival night. Two centuries of war are over. The whole city is enjoying themselves. Who can notice the security problem. I heard that several families were in trouble that night. I reported the case but No news came back, and finally nothing happened."
Maribo clearly won the war, so why did this kind of human tragedy happen? !
Arzu's heart quietly tightened, and a sadness filled the air.
"After that, in order to supplement her living expenses, Zenina went to work as a volunteer in the medical room on the outskirts of Meriteli Temple, treating the injured, getting some food, and coming back almost once a week."
The woman leaned against the cold wall, crying secretly,
Arzu was in a daze, and that bossy little face with flying braids flashed before his eyes, which he hadn't seen for many years.
Zenina, the pampered young lady with a bad temper, actually went to work as a doctor in a dirty and smelly environment, treating illnesses and saving people.
The world is really wonderful.
Temple Physician.
Lilliana’s former job.
The woman took a deep breath and suddenly grabbed Arzu's hand. Her hand was skinny and bones, and her skin was as cold as ice,
"Arzu, no, Casillas, you are a big shot. The army, the Grand Duke, and the priests all have to give you face, right? Please go to the medical room outside the temple and help me... Help Zenina A few kind words to make her job easier and prevent her from suffering again."
"Help me, Casillas," she begged, tears rolling down her dry cheeks, "for the sake of taking care of you before!"
"Don't worry, Auntie." Arzu wrapped the woman's cold palm in his palm and nodded heavily, "Wait for my good news."
……
The Temple Hospital is located in the west of Maribo City. Due to the war that lasted for two centuries and the dangers of monsters, there are a large number of injured and patients every day. It is undoubtedly the largest building in the city with the main entrance. The lights are bright.
Arzu's journey was smooth.
Beyond the magnificent buildings outside the temple, dark tents formed the outer area.
Wandering believers, patients, and priestesses saw his face with black curly hair, brown eyes, and mysterious and expensive rings and amulets all over his body.
Immediately fell into shock.
Bow down and salute, with an attitude of respect, gratitude, and a little fear.
The Dagger War has ended, but the people of Maribor will never forget the scene when their fateful enemy, Elland's army, was destroyed by the wizard's summons.
He is the great benefactor of the entire Principality of Maribo!
"Are you Lord Arzu?!" A middle-aged priestess wearing a white robe with wrinkles on her face came out with an apologetic smile, "What kind of wind brought you here? I'll send someone right away. Go and inform Archduke Flock!"
"Relax, I'll just take a look around." Arzu glanced at her and continued walking to the brightly lit tent area, "Where is the treatment room?"
"Are you injured? Let me take you into the temple. The sisters have better medical skills."
"I want to see someone...Dr. Zenina. She is in the outer treatment room."
The priestess was stunned for a moment, then turned her face away and took a deep breath, "Please come with me this way."
In a wooden house in the center of the tent, Arzu saw a dozen shirtless and bandaged soldiers, young boys, and old people gathered around the table, playing Gwent enthusiastically.
When I saw the priests and warlocks of the temple, I was immediately silent.
"Where does Dr. Zenina live?" Al looked around, feeling an ominous premonition in his heart.
The priestess behind him looked ugly.
"You mean Zenina Burns, the former noble lady?"
A man whose face was scratched by an evil spirit and whose three claws were scabbed turned his attention to the priestess next to him.
"What are you doing standing there, my lord asked you something?" the priestess scolded.
"Ms. Zenina hasn't been here for two days." The soldier with the mole on the left cheek hurriedly turned his head, his back to the warlock, and winked at the other soldiers, asking them to agree on the same message.
"We also felt strange and thought she had resigned!"
"Humph..." Arzu's narrowed eyes shone coldly, "Do you think I am a blind man?"
He turned to look at the priestess, who hesitated and was dumbfounded, as if she didn't know how to express herself.
"Be honest, where did she go?"
His words seemed to carry a magical power that penetrated deeply into people's hearts, and flowed through the entire room with the breeze.
A man with a plaster on his left hand suddenly became stunned, his face was strangely stiff like a puppet, and he opened his mouth mechanically,
"Zenina is dead..."
This moment.
The temperature in the air dropped suddenly.
Everyone's breath froze.
It soon returned to normal.
"Haha..." Arzu suddenly laughed, and this laughter made everyone feel creepy. "Near the Temple of the Goddess Meliteli, a lady of noble character who treated illnesses and saved lives, actually died?"
He looked at the priestess behind him, his eyes as sharp as knives,
"Explanation."
The priestess clasped her hands in front of her lower abdomen, her face pale and dumbfounded.
"Ms. Zenina, you were ruined by two patients..." The old man with a bandage around his head showed a trace of struggle on his face. He looked at the closed door on the left side of the wooden house, and then said intermittently, "For To facilitate the care of the wounded, she sleeps in the room next to this treatment room at night."
"But three days ago, two men saw that she was beautiful, and they were not priestesses of the temple, so they were not protected by Meritelli, so they had evil intentions. They secretly opened the door late at night, insulted her, and then secretly opened the door. Sneaked away."
"She was so ashamed and angry that she hanged herself in the ward the next day."
……
There was a long and uncomfortable silence in the treatment room.
"Where's the body?" Arzu's tone was unusually calm, so calm that it made people palpitate.
"In the morgue." The priestess stammered, "You know, several people die in the hospital every day. After the war, most of them died of serious injuries after being attacked by monsters."
"Someone injured a doctor near the temple. Why was no news about such a major accident leaked out?"
"I..." The priestess was illuminated by his burning brown eyes, and she spoke on her own, "The priests are worried that the matter will spread and affect the reputation of the Meritelli Temple, so...but the Sheriff is still Under investigation, no results yet."
"Still investigating? Your doctor is dead, so you just sit in the room and play with peace of mind?" Arzu grinned with an indifferent arc, and his sharp eyes swept over the dozen or so patients in the field one by one. He lowered his head and said, "With so many of you, lying in the same room, with so many pairs of eyes, didn't any of you notice the atrocities? Go and stop those two beasts!?"
A patient whose chest was smeared with purple potion murmured, "Those two guys are as strong as disgusting mutants... They also served in the army in Maribo. They threatened me with their eyes and used knives on me." , warn me...I'm scared, I dare not say..."
Arzu tilted his head back and closed his eyes.
The soldier I helped killed a doctor.
"Lord Arzu, I, I can't help it..." Another young man with a wooden board fixed to his left leg carefully glanced at the angry warlock, "I don't want the other leg to be broken as well."
……
"Stop talking and bring Zeni's body back immediately."
"Ah, my lord, it is too late today, how about it be early?" the priestess asked.
"Immediately, immediately."
……
Half an hour later.
Arzu saw Zenina’s body as he wished.
She is no longer young.
But her pampered life in the past made her look better than most poor people.
At this moment, this smooth and pretty face turned black abnormally, condensing the panic before death.
Bruises all over the body and muscle spasms.
Obviously treated cruelly.
"Has she treated your injuries?"
Arzu asked slowly.
Everyone bowed their heads and acquiesced, twisting their bodies as if on pins and needles.
"Are you worthy of her treatment? The savior was so insulted that he didn't dare to help? Is there any humanity and conscience left in his chest?"
No one answered.
"Do you know that condoning crime is an unforgivable sin?"
The men swallowed hard, and the room was completely silent.
The mage stared at the priestess.
"Is this the dogma of the goddess Meriteri?"
"I'm sorry, Master Arzu, but I can't help it. I'm a man of little words."
The priestess turned pale, with an expression of shame, and squeezed out a tear.
"But with your respected status, as long as you tell the Grand Duke personally, the investigation will be results immediately! He will definitely hand over the two prisoners to you immediately! I heard that he will also want to beg you Continue to take action and conquer the city, and he will continue to rely on you!"
Arzu stared at Zenina in a daze, as if he saw another face.
The same temple physician.
It was also a very painful death.
The person they risked their lives to save also abandoned them.
How similar.
Vaguely, Zenina's bruised cheek overlapped with the pretty face in Arzu's memory that had gone away for decades.
The patients in the treatment room looked at each other in shock.
The noble mage actually knelt down in front of the female corpse, gently held her cold and stiff hand, and put the back of his hand against his forehead.
"Liliana, is it worth saving such a group of people? Is it worth creating a safe world without monsters for them?" Arzu stared lovingly at the face in the fantasy, with a firm tone and shook his head. This time he finally The negative answer is "Not worth it, they don't deserve redemption!"
A slow, long, heartbreaking pain took over his entire body and mind.
He held his palm in the air, and a worn-yellow lily medal appeared in his palm.
"I'm tired, let's finish it."
He murmured nervously, and everyone in the treatment room was silent. Unknowingly, his back began to feel cold, and the strange energy surrounding the man in front of him created a strange hallucination
The sounds of a series of mourning birds became louder and louder, and the intertwined reverb seemed to swallow everything up.
"Decades have passed, and I finally understand. The number of humans killed by monsters is less than one percent of those who die at the hands of our compatriots."
"Master," the priestess shrank her shoulders and asked tremblingly, "What are you talking about?"
"Endless wars, greedy desires, ugly crimes, and selfish hearts... are the biggest cancers in this world."
……
Everyone opened their eyes wide.
The candlelight suddenly went out, and the room suddenly fell into a dark and terrifying silence.
A pair of eyes flashed in the darkness.
A raging flame burned in the fireplace in the house, illuminating the entire cabin.
Boom!
Click!
Outside the gate, dazzling thunder and lightning with silver and purple arcs illuminated the low night sky and Arzu's face covered with tears!
Countless people walked out of the treatment room, Meriteri Temple, and throughout Maribo, looking at the chaos in the dark sky.
The clouds were rolling high in the sky, accumulating thicker and thicker. They were as black as ink, and the city under the dark clouds became increasingly gloomy.
Suddenly, forked lightning cracked the gloomy head above, and harsh thunder followed one after another.
"Gods there!" A white-haired old man was so frightened that he could not speak incoherently. "Is the end of the world coming?"
Pattering rain enveloped the entire city amid strong winds. Dark gray clouds swirled overhead, tearing a large hole in the sky like a tornado, and countless lightning bolts poured out from it like cracks in the dry earth, blooming with dazzling thunder.
"Master Arzu, then," the priestess stared at the sky outside the window and asked with chattering teeth, "Is that your portal? The one on the battlefield a year ago?"
Everyone in the treatment room was stunned, their faces turned pale with fright!
The man in plaster rushed out the door begging frantically for mercy.
Countless people were frightened and ran out of their homes like headless flies.
Outside the treatment room, a cloud of mist exploded, and a cloaked figure suddenly jumped out.
A sword at random.
The sword light is dazzling.
The running man in plaster covered his broken neck and fell to the ground.
In the flying blood flowers.
Roy saw the extremely familiar words.
Kill Akarin, experience value +20, demon hunter lv132000/14500
These humans are not illusions, this is a real world!
He looked to the horizon.
A terrifying creature that covered the sky and sun, like a snake with billions of limbs, emerged from the depths of the tornado, twisted and squirmed in the sky, and finally landed in the city of Maribo. On top of the temple!
The magnificent, sacred and solemn temple was instantly crushed to pieces by the huge beast's body, and was reduced to ruins amid heavy rain, dust and mist.
The earth then trembled, and amid the wails, countless groups of humans as tiny as ants exploded into pulp!
More people could not even scream, so they were crushed by the crumbling stone walls and died.
The cross-shaped crack suddenly closed, and the dazzling lightning suddenly disappeared. Only the dark cumulus clouds, the black city, and the occasional multi-legged beast whose outlines were illuminated by spasms of lightning were left.
It crushed the temple and created a terrifying chasm in the western city, dividing the city in half!
He rushed unstoppably towards the military camp in Maribo~IndoMTL.com~ and the Duke's palace in the northwest!
Every time the lightning flashes, you can see this giant centipede wreaking havoc in the city.
It opened its extremely large jaws, contracted its body, and crushed all the magnificent buildings to the ground.
Emerald venom falls like rain, corroding everything in its path into mud and white smoke.
The most prosperous XC area has been reduced to purgatory.
Arzu dispelled his protective shield and walked on the cracked Maribo Street, surrounded by rich chaotic energy, wanton lightning, and swallowing demons.
Screams, panic, destruction.
Putting him up as a messenger of doom!
And he himself, with tears in his eyes, walked towards the death purgatory created by the saliva demon and towards destruction.
"Come back, Arzu..."
A figure of Roy with fluttering white beard, his sleeves fluttered, and the invisible magic power knocked away the broken rocks that hit the disciples!
Cosimo fell behind Arzu and grabbed him by the shoulders!
Arzu turned his head, and lightning illuminated his painful and twisted face.
"Teacher, the efforts of the past few decades are meaningless!"
"The witcher can cleanse the monsters. But he cannot cleanse the dark side of people's hearts."
"Those deep-rooted selfishness, greed, cruelty, and disregard...are more harmful than countless monsters."
Boom.
Amidst the thunder, he roared!
"Not worth saving!"
"I'm tired, teacher, I'm going down to find her."
"When you are tired, let it go temporarily and throw away the restraints."
"Leave with me, Arzu. The legacy left by my teacher Joffrey Monk may allow you to reunite with Liliana."
The old man stretched out his hand towards him, his cloudy eyes and old cheeks looked just like the way he extended an invitation to him when they met for the first time many years ago.
Arzu's footsteps toward destruction were paused.