Chapter 132: Archmage of the Black God (1)
The long night finally ended, and dawn broke. The castle village, the battlefield, had been transformed into a vision of hell. Everywhere, the shattered remains of zombies and monsters were strewn about. Corpses of dead cultists and necromancers littered the village streets.
For all their wickedness as cultists, many of them had been cherished family members and neighbors. Some had died not as perpetrators but as victims of mind control, acting out against their will. The survivors wailed over the dead.
“Father!"
“This can’t be!"
"Oh no, no!"
Yet, those responsible for cleaning up this catastrophe were gone. Most of the county’s retainers had been cultists, and they had all perished, their lives consumed by Hudel. Sasha’s priests, as well as Alius and Belton, took up responsibility in their place. They worked tirelessly to restore some semblance of order.
The count's castle had been burned down, the castle village lay in ruins, and the grand temple of the territory was in tatters. The aftermath was daunting on all fronts. Gathering what food and supplies they could find, the priests managed to prepare meals and began organizing recovery efforts.
Relatively intact village buildings were designated as temporary shelters for the injured, while the homeless were relocated to improvised lodging. But with so many dead and wounded, they were woefully short on hands to help. Serati and Lapicel, exhausted though they were, pushed themselves to contribute as much as possible.
"Are you alright, ma’am?"
"Lapicel, take this child to the temporary shelter!”
"Yes, Sister Serati!"
Karnak and Varos were also busy, though not for the same altruistic reasons. They had no intention of helping the villagers. They weren't quite that human yet. Instead, they rushed back to the inn where they had stayed, determined to secure their belongings.