21
When I carried Cooper to the edge of the camp, it was already in complete chaos.
Although there were also dwarves and orcs in the group “escorting” me, most of them were elves, who weren’t very good at defensive warfare. Fortunately, the camp was built in the dense forest, and the elve’s nature magic aided them, turning the place into a labyrinth of obstacles that made it difficult for the monsters to form large-scale attacks. The downside was that the elves lacked experience. The obstacles created by nature magic also hindered their allies, especially at night, where what the elves could easily see and avoid became deadly traps for other races.
So, the current situation was that the elves were simultaneously beating up the monsters and their own allies.
I didn’t rush in but first found a high vantage point to observe the battlefield.
The attacking monsters were around level 30-35, while the camp defenders were mostly level 35-40. The elves were mainly archers, their combat prowess undeniable, but they lacked someone to command the battlefield. Selena should have been that person, but she wasn’t here, which meant there was a monster so powerful that Selena had to abandon her command to confront it directly. Meanwhile, the savior I had placed high hopes on was standing on a tree, shooting low-power light orbs with illumination effects onto the battlefield. These little light orbs floated around in an orderly manner, helping the allies who were getting pummeled by the elves to finally see the battlefield. The chaos was greatly alleviated…
As expected of the main quest that must be completed by the savior. At this rate, the Liberator’s Alliance could indeed hold the camp.
But heavy casualties were inevitable.
As the various bits of information on the battlefield converged, I started thinking about how I could reduce the casualties—the most efficient way, of course, would be to take command of the battlefield. But the Liberator’s Alliance clearly wouldn’t listen to me. If I fought as an individual, relying on the bonuses from [Dawn], I could control a certain area of the battlefield, but that wouldn’t make much difference—so the best course of action would be for me to find Selena and replace her in fighting the monster leader, allowing her to return and command the battlefield.
As I thought about it, something suddenly seemed strange.
As a beginner’s guide, I didn’t seem to need this level of battlefield judgment, nor did I have any battle-related information in my memory package… In fact, in my initial memory data, besides knowing that “I” am a Paladin and that I was in the outskirts of Xun Shou City looking for the savior, there was nothing else about myself.
Even random NPCs have their own names and backstories.
I used to think this was just another example of lazy programming, but now it seemed I actually did have those things, after all. Combat and command seemed to be part of my core data, yet I couldn’t consciously recognize it. There was only one explanation for this—
—I have a bug.
So, it wasn’t that the developers had time to design four skins and three models for me but didn’t have time to update my data panel. It was my own bug that caused the data issue?!
—Unfortunately, now was not the time to think about this.
I turned my gaze behind me. The camp was empty; it seemed that everyone had gone to fend off the monsters. But that was impossible because the camp wasn’t just full of warriors. Selena had once been the leader of the Paladin Order, so even if she wasn’t here, basic arrangements would have been made. On the battlefield, besides defeating enemies, the most important task was to protect civilians and the wounded…
I remembered something and looked up towards the camp. The treehouses were hidden in the darkness of the night, their outlines neatly arranged. Only one spot had a moving shadow, and even though I couldn’t see clearly, I was certain that a group of people was peeking out from there.
I found the tree the treehouse belonged to and, sure enough, saw a tent made of vines below it, with many wounded lying underneath.
Among the elves, I spotted a familiar face and quickly called out, “Lili?”
The young elf girl, busy tending to the wounded, turned around in shock and exclaimed, “How did you get out?! Where are the guards?! Where did you get that sword?!”
There had indeed been elves guarding the cage earlier, but Luke must have found a way to lure them away. I hadn’t seen any guards on my way here. Given the current chaos in the camp, I had no idea where they had gone. As for the sword’s origin, that was too complicated to explain in a few words… Time was of the essence, so I didn’t have time to explain everything. I could only try to sound as sincere as possible and said, “I mean no harm. I’m here to help. Do you know where Sel…?” I paused, then switched to a more familiar term to lower her guard, “…my teacher is?”
Lili didn’t answer but instead spread her arms defensively in front of the rope ladder, shouting loudly, “There are no little elves in the treehouse who are staying up late! They’ve all gone to bed like good children!”
Instinctively, I looked up. In the treehouse, the little elves who were being protected had all been peeking out anxiously from the platform, but after meeting my gaze, they all lay down and pretended to sleep. I even heard sobbing that sounded like someone trying not to cry.
Me: “…”
What kind of terrifying bedtime story did Selena tell them…
Luckily, a clear-headed elf next to her answered, “Lady Selena went to the east! There are high-level monsters over there!”
High-level monsters, often above level 60, were indeed enemies that the camp’s defenders couldn’t handle. But as long as there weren’t more than three of them, I could rely on [Dawn] to fight them in Selena’s place.
I nodded at him, asked him to help take care of the unconscious Cooper, and ran towards the east.
22
Thanks to the white fire effect that came with [Dawn], I was able to follow the trail Selena left behind. Her fighting style was always bold and aggressive, which didn’t work well in the dense forest, but it did create an obvious path for me to follow. As I examined the elemental traces she left behind, I was surprised to sense the presence of dark elements mixed in with the fire elements.
—In the game’s setting, humans can only use the five elements of earth, fire, wind, etc., while other races can use natural elements. Light and darkness are two special elements that require joining the corresponding church and undergoing a baptism to use. These elements can enhance and cover over one’s own elemental power. For example, my attribute is actually fire, but with the light element’s enhancement, it manifests as white flames. Selena, like me, is also a fire-attribute. After she became a heretic, her light power was stripped away, leaving only pure fire elements.
As for monsters, they don’t have elemental powers.
So where did these dark elements come from?!
I became more cautious as I continued to follow the trail until I finally arrived at a charred clearing. Selena stood in the center, her right hand holding a lance pointing at the ground, her left gripping one of the short spears slung across her back. Her four hooves were sunk into the scorched earth, her eyes closed, and her head hung low, unmoving.
The moment I saw her posture, I realized something and immediately stopped moving, but it was too late. Almost as soon as I spotted her, Selena abruptly opened her eyes. I didn’t have time to block; all I heard was a dull thud, and my health bar instantly plummeted to the bottom. At the same time, I heard another sound of something tearing through the air, followed by Selena’s muffled grunt—a pitch-black arrow had pierced her right shoulder, and black electricity danced across her arm, paralyzing her and preventing her from lifting her right hand.
I suppressed the sudden pain and looked in the direction the arrow had come from. There was no wind, no sound—everything was eerily quiet. Yet, a figure slowly emerged from the darkness: red hair, snake-like eyes—it was Asa.
—Selena was a berserker, and fighting an archer in the dense forest put her at a disadvantage. She had originally intended to throw her short spear at the moment Asa attacked, but my arrival had disrupted her judgment, allowing Asa to seize the opportunity and disable her attack ability.
Asa still had that suspicious-looking outfit on, his rain-soaked red hair clinging to his pale face and shoulders like strands of blood. His bright red lips curled into a smile as he raised a hand in greeting, “Captain, it’s been a few days. How have you been?”
“Al?!” Selena glanced at me out of the corner of her eye, her face immediately showing a look of horror. She ignored Asa and ran over to me, her legs buckling as she knelt down. Her eyes were wide, her lips trembling, and she futilely covered my chest with her left hand, desperately calling out again, “…Al?”
I looked down at the battle damage on my model: “…”
With the [Dawn] boost, my health had already broken into the four-digit range, but Selena’s attack had done five-digit damage… Fine, whatever, it’s not like this was the first time my poor model had been pierced by an ally. But her aim was too accurate; this short spear had gone straight through my heart!
And the most unfortunate part of this whole situation was—this wasn’t part of my death scene, so I was still alive.
23
Now, the most awkward scenario I could have imagined had finally happened: I didn’t die from a fatal blow.
This was an unexplainable lock-health bug, and I had no idea how to face Selena’s utterly devastated expression, thinking she had just killed her own disciple. After catching my breath with great difficulty, I quickly grabbed her arm: “Cough… I’m fine.”
Selena let out a sob but forced herself to hold it back, muttering as if trying to convince herself, “You’re fine, right, you’re fine. I can heal this, Teacher will take you back to camp right now…”
Me: “…”
I was so awkward I didn’t know what to do. After hesitating several times and before I could even say anything, Asa’s laughter suddenly echoed. He was sitting cross-legged on a high tree branch, leaning on his hand, laughing heartily as he said, “Don’t worry, our strong captain won’t die~”
I looked at him in shock.
—My lock-health bug is supposed to be a bug! How does he know about it?!
Selena finally sensed something was wrong too. She moved her bloodstained palm aside, staring at the hole in my model that the spear had pierced through, then looked back up at me. Her face was twisted with too many emotions, her lips trembling as she asked in a voice that seemed to float in the air, “…Why?”
I honestly didn’t know how to explain it, nor could I think of an excuse, so I just stayed silent.
Selena stared at me for a long time, then turned to look at Asa, mechanically repeating, “Why?”
“Hmm… The Lord once gave the captain a chance to die, but unfortunately, he didn’t take it~” Asa’s bow rested on his knees as he leisurely stroked the ring on his hand. His gaze fell on my face, and he added with a grin, “A body so weak that even a small bump would cause severe injuries, combined with a curse that prevents death no matter what… Isn’t it an interesting combination?”
24
The forest was completely silent, except for the sound of pouring rain.
Selena froze, and so did I.
—I never expected my pitiful stats and lock-health bug could be explained like this. Could it be that the true form of the God of Darkness is the game’s developer?! And what is the Dark Holy Son who speaks the words of the gods, a forced notice that bugs are a legitimate part of the game?!
Though, this explanation did make sense…
I glanced at the [Curse] buff below my health bar. The three question marks had quietly changed, revealing a line of small text—[Curse of the God of Darkness: The cursed one is permanently afflicted with Weakness, Immortality, and ???, three effects.]
That remaining question mark indicated that this curse had one more effect, besides the two Asa had mentioned.
I wanted to ask about it, but just as I lifted my head, Selena suddenly pulled me into her arms. Her arms trembled with tension, yet her embrace was gentle, as if afraid that holding me any tighter would crush me—though, given her strength, that could very well be true. The burning heat of her body shielded me from the cold rain, and I shifted uncomfortably, when suddenly, I heard a small sob in my ear—“I’m sorry…”
“…”
I was stunned for a moment, and Selena had already let go of me. She carefully propped me up against a tree, stood on her four hooves, and turned to face Asa.
Flames flowed along her body, covering her back and hooves like a suit of bright red armor. The black arrow lodged in her shoulder burned away in an instant. White steam rose, and her breathing became deep and low, like a bellows, as she slowly raised her flaming lance, lifting her head to look at the archer perched on the treetop.
At that moment, even I, standing behind her, could feel the violent anger surging through Selena.
Night, rain, dense forest—all of these factors were unfavorable to a fire-type berserker and advantageous to a dark-lightning archer. Yet, I could clearly see Asa’s expression change. The amused smile on his face vanished instantly, replaced by a stern look. His snake-like eyes narrowed into slits, and he gripped his longbow tightly without making a single move. Even the black mist around him seemed to feel threatened and clung closely to his body.
The next second, Selena suddenly disappeared from my sight.
The trees crashed down with a roar, black lightning crackled, and red flames followed closely behind. The two figures tore through the earth, and the pouring rain quickly washed away the splattered blood, leaving only deep scorch marks engraved into the muddy ground.
Compared to Cooper, who was also a berserker, Selena’s attacks were faster and fiercer. She didn’t utter a single word, only releasing a rough, roaring breath that revealed the extent of her unleashed fury. Her combat rhythm was like a violent storm, leaving no room for her opponent to catch his breath. This was a side of her I had never seen before. In my memories, the female swordsman always smiled brightly, effortlessly fending off attacking monsters like a proud banner that everyone looked up to…
But for a moment, that black lightning was finally overtaken by the flames and slashed down from the sky, crashing heavily into the muddy water. Asa’s already pale face was drained of all color, and the black mist, whatever it was, stretched downward, covering his leg, which had been pierced by the lance. He struggled to push himself up from the ground, looked up at me, and his snake-like pupils suddenly expanded. He lifted his face and smiled at me, pure and innocent like a shy boy.
He reached out a hand to me, his brows furrowing in pain, whimpering as he called out, “Lord Alvin, please help me…”
I froze, unable to swing the sword in my hand, and he grabbed my wrist instead.
In that instant, the rain seemed to reverse, and I heard Selena’s furious shout, along with Asa’s laughter. My view suddenly shot upward, and I saw Asa taking the opportunity to slip into the dark forest, while Selena had no choice but to stop her pursuit. She circled around me once, the flowing flames covering her body extinguished, revealing her face filled with lingering fear.
She anxiously called out, “Al, are you okay?!”
“…I’m fine.”
—Indeed, I wasn’t injured. All Asa did was latch a hook onto my wrist. Now I was hanging from a tree branch, swinging like a piece of cured meat. It probably looked pretty funny.
Selena didn’t laugh. She pressed her lips together, bent her knees slightly, and used both her front hooves to push off, standing upright. With one swipe of her lance, she severed the rope. She caught me in time, but when we landed, she staggered and nearly fell. I quickly turned around to support her, but suddenly, something felt off. I looked up and found that the centaur was gone, replaced by a wounded adult woman. Her health and mana bars were both down to less than a tenth, clearly showing she was in a weakened state after the berserker outburst.
My first thought was that it was a good thing Asa had escaped. If he had stayed even three more minutes, he would have realized that Selena was already at the end of her strength…
“Al, Teacher’s fine. Don’t push yourself…” Selena struggled a little and weakly said, “Come on, Teacher will carry you back to camp.”
I glanced at Selena, who had somehow returned to human form. She was now shorter than me, her loose braids covering half her face, with tiny red droplets of blood oozing from the bowstring cuts on her skin, only to be washed away by the rain. Her pale lips were tightly pressed together, and she reminded me of that fateful rainy night twenty years ago that changed everything.
Selena didn’t seem to have noticed the changes in her own body. She kept insisting, “Hurry, climb on. Hold on tight, Teacher runs fast. We’ll be back in no time…”
“…”
I took a deep breath, pushed back whatever feeling had surfaced, and bent down to grab her arm, hoisting her onto my back.
Selena fell silent. A few seconds later, she murmured in confusion, “I… Al…?” She suddenly realized something and hurriedly said, “Put me down! You’re hurt…”
“It’s fine. I won’t die.”
She struggled on my back, “No, you need to put Teacher down. Let me carry you!”
“If you move again, I’ll only get hurt worse.”
Selena immediately stopped all movement.
After a while, the hand she had been pressing against my chest moved up to lightly cover the hole in my model. She stammered apologetically, “I’m sorry, it’s all Teacher’s fault. If I had known it was you, I would never have attacked…”
I tried to comfort her, “It’s okay, it’s not the first time.”
—Cooper’s hole in my model last time was even bigger than this one.
Selena: “…”
This time, she stayed quiet for a long while.
It wasn’t until I could see the campfire in the distance that she spoke again, her voice almost drowned out by the rain.
“Al, stay.”
I didn’t understand her sudden, cryptic words: “What?”
Selena chuckled, but it sounded bitter. “I know you hate me for being a coward who ran away… But there are some things that, once done, can never be undone. While you still have a chance to escape, leave the Church of Light.”
“You wouldn’t want to end up like me one day, having to kill Helier with your own hands, right?”
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