Taming the Dark Lord

Chapter 82 – A Silent Battle

With the urgency of the situation, Amelia treated the little girl with her healing abilities and placed her on a balcony she chanced upon. She placed her there and brushed her hair off her face.

“Just wait here. Okay? Wait for your brother to come get you, understood?” Amelia said sternly. The little girl was still trembling in fear, but nodded all the same.

After making sure that the little girl won’t run off, Amelia turned and looked down from where she stood on the balcony, and saw the chaotic mess of people running for their lives.

She did a quick scan and directed her attention to the swamped crowd, stretching her fingers out as she directed a tremendous amount of magic from her fingertips. Everyone halted from their tracks as an invisible light circled around them.

Then Amelia pointed at her throat, magnifying her voice with a spell as she ordered, “Quiet! I am a Saint of the Light cult. Everyone listen to me and do not move!”

Her voice echoed loudly, so deafening that the crowd stilled in an instant. They looked at each other in confusion. Even people in neighboring areas heard Amelia loud and clear, simultaneously hushing and the noises dwindled down.

Amelia’s tensed shoulders relaxed for a bit. She continued, “Everyone. Please leave in an orderly manner to the direction I’m pointing at. A fine of ten gold coins will be strictly imposed on people who are found to be running and creating chaos. Do I make myself clear?”

Ten gold coins was a hefty price to pay, and it would take them a few years before they could save up for such an amount.

Her imposition was not to be taken lightly and the crowd knew how grave the fine was. As soon as her words were uttered, the masses all calmed down, the complete opposite of the panicked state they were in earlier. They would rather die here and catch the plague than burdening their family with a pricey debt.

The crowd began to leave the market one after the other, obediently carrying out Amelia’s orders.

Amelia let out a sigh of relief and sat on the ground. The magic used up all of her remaining energy.

“Are you here for your sister?” Amelia asked as the vendor stepped forward timidly. She smiled at him and said, “She’s up there on the second floor. Go get her.”

The vendor squeezed his hands together and bowed low to the ground. “Thank you so much!” He beamed and stood upright. He turned around and ran to where his sister was.

Amelia smiled. She could well feel the gratefulness radiating off him.

The crowd was leaving in an orderly fashion, avoiding the marketplace where the middle-aged woman was still holding onto her child. She was calling for the child’s name in agony, “Bell? Bell… Open your eyes and look at mommy… please…”

Amelia crossed the street and jogged towards the woman. She was about to crouch down to check on the child when she suddenly felt dizzy and lost her balance.

She braced herself from the incoming pain with her eyes screwed tight, but the pain never came. She opened her eyes and felt a firm support on her arms that prevented her from falling, a force that was undoubtedly the dark elf’s.

Amelia saw the remnants of dark magic that was floating away as she righted herself. “Thank you.” She muttered and softly patted the small bump on her chest.

The elf shrugged Amelia’s touch off. He could hear his own heartbeat thrumming loudly in his ears. Alfonso closed his eyes in resignation, wondering why his human was troubling herself yet again with insignificant people.

“Put him down and stay away.” Amelia said and touched the middle-aged woman on the shoulder. She placed the little boy on the ground reluctantly. The shallow breathing of the child was loud in their ears.

The woman was unwilling to pry her hands off her child and Amelia had to use her magic to keep her away. She was looking at her child with tears streaming down her cheeks, and both she and Amelia knew that he was already dying.

It was clear that the child was on the brink of death.

The little black spots were deeply etched to the boy’s fair skin, like a stubborn knot engrained on a tree trunk. The center was filled with infected pus, where white maggots were squirming on as they settled in the boy’s skin.

The boy was writhing from pain, and his eyes appeared like it was unseeing as he muttered repeatedly, “It hurts.. I-it hurts..” He cried.

The severity of the disease was evident, already too far deep into the child’s body. Amelia closed his eyes and granted him one, final mercy.

“It’s the plague, and there’s a hint of dark magic.” Amelia said to Debra and the group who had just arrived. She pointed to the middle-aged woman who was sobbing hysterically on the ground. “It’s very contagious. Take her away.”

There were already black spots on the mother’s skin. Spanning on her hands, neck and cheeks and it was alarmingly spreading to other spots as well.