“It can’t heal on its own, yet it doesn’t directly kill the patient either…” At the border of Addus, inside a quarantine facility for the afflicted, Vania, clad in the Church’s professional protective attire, frowned as she murmured while observing the patient writhing in agony on the bed before her. She then stepped forward to personally examine the patient’s condition more closely and asked her attendant. “Have all treatment methods been tried?” “We’ve tried everything, but at most they only relieve the symptoms. They don’t improve the overall condition. Sister Vania, this illness is highly unusual—standard approaches have no real effect.” So said the nun accompanying Vania. The Church’s delegation had brought a wide array of rare and precious medicines to North Ufiga for relief efforts, and their medical personnel were significantly more capable than Shadi’s revolutionary forces. Even without mystical methods, their conventional medical standards were far superior—yet still, they were unable to alleviate the illness. “If a plague of this magnitude broke out in one of the major nations of the main continent, it would cause catastrophic damage. Mundane medicine would be useless… But if something like this appeared on the main continent, it would surely draw the immediate attention of Holy Mount…” “Then… has anyone attempted mystical healing?” Vania continued to question the nun beside her. “I and a few others have tried. There’s some effect—but it takes a long time, and we still can’t eliminate the pain entirely…” “No short-term effect, even with mystical healing?” Touching her chin, Vania muttered softly. Then she reached her hand toward the patient before her, hovering it above their body. She began to channel her spirituality, activating her powers of the Holy Mother Path in an attempt to heal them. As Vania stirred her spirituality, a soft glow emanated from her hand and bathed the patient’s body. But under the light, the patient continued to thrash and moan, showing little sign of relief. Seeing this, Vania’s brows furrowed even deeper. She then increased her mystical output, pouring more spirituality into her healing effort. As the gentle light from her palm intensified, the patient’s reaction also escalated. With Vania’s deeper intervention, the patient began to struggle more violently, clearly in greater pain—but this intense reaction only lasted for a few minutes. Gradually, their thrashing calmed, their breathing slowed, and their expression softened. From a state of confusion and constant groaning, the patient slowly drifted off to sleep, visibly improved. “They’re better…? Incredible—just what we’d expect from Sister Vania!” cried one of the attending nuns in excitement. The other members of the delegation and even some of the revolutionary guards at the shelter voiced admiration. For many, this was their first time seeing someone directly cured of the illness. “Make sure they get adequate rest and nutritional support…” Vania instructed after wiping a bead of sweat from her brow. It was evident that healing had taken a toll on her. After issuing a few more instructions, she left the quarantine tent and returned to the Church’s camp—to her own tent. There, Vania knelt on a pre-prepared cushion and assumed a prayer position. During her silent meditation, she initiated contact with Dorothy, who wasn’t far away. “You look… exhausted. That illness takes quite the effort to heal, doesn’t it?” came Dorothy’s voice through their mental link. “Yes, Miss Dorothea. This plague is no ordinary sickness. The pathogenic entity entrenches itself deeply in the human body and is incredibly tenacious. Forget mundane treatment—even using mystical power from the Holy Mother Path is strenuous. That something like this can resist a body empowered by Holy Mother’s grace… it’s not something ordinary pathogens could possibly do.” Dorothy frowned slightly as she sat in her own tent, recalling Vania’s earlier explanations about how Holy Mother Path healing worked. The Holy Mother Path was based on physical regeneration and bodily enhancement. It allowed one to rapidly regenerate their own or others’ tissues using spirituality, and to enhance biological functions to extraordinary levels. When treating externally caused illnesses, the usual approach was to fortify the body’s natural defenses, allowing it to fight off pathogens itself. From Dorothy’s modern perspective, those “external pathogens” referred to bacteria, viruses, and other microbes, and the “natural defenses” were the immune system. The Holy Mother Path’s mystical powers could strengthen the body as a whole or target specific organs or systems. For instance, muscle enhancement yielded superhuman strength; heart and spleen enhancements improved blood circulation; liver and kidney enhancements accelerated detoxification. And of course, enhancing the immune system improved the body’s ability to destroy bacteria and viruses. Immune reinforcement was the primary strategy used by Holy Mother Path Beyonders to fight infections. With spirituality, they could stimulate the immune system, doubling its efficiency and activity to rapidly cleanse the body of illness. They could also guide the immune response to avoid collateral damage to healthy cells, ensuring only pathogens were targeted. Under high-level healing from a Holy Mother Path Beyonder, the enhancement and guidance of the immune system could be performed with remarkable precision. These mystical abilities allowed for the destruction of pathogens with minimal collateral damage to healthy tissue. Even in the face of severe infections, Holy Mother Path Beyonders could facilitate rapid recovery without triggering excessive inflammation. Naturally occurring plagues and epidemics stood no chance against such power and were typically cured with ease. “You needed that much effort to eliminate all the pathogens… These pathogens really are extraordinary…” Dorothy murmured in Vania’s mind. Vania paused in thought, then replied. “This plague is indeed no simple matter, Miss Dorothea. These pathogens are extremely resilient. Against the body’s own resistance—or as the knowledge from Aka would term it, the immune system—they show incredibly strong defenses. The viruses are almost completely undetectable by the immune system. They appear to suppress the body's alarm signals from the infected tissue, meaning the immune system can’t even recognize the presence of the pathogens. “It takes my direct intervention—manually activating and guiding the patient’s immune response—just to get the immune system to locate and eliminate the virus. “And even then, it’s not easy. These pathogens have formidable defensive mechanisms. Even after enhancing the immune cells, they can't wipe out the virus in one go. It takes significant effort to slowly grind them down. “These viruses… seem specifically resistant to immune cells that have been empowered by Healing Prayer Priests. It took considerable effort for me to help the immune cells break through their defenses. These viruses are far too powerful—there’s no way something like this evolved naturally.” Vania’s tone was serious. Dorothy paused briefly, then replied thoughtfully. “Not a product of natural evolution, huh… Then it’s very likely our earlier guess was right. This virus is a mystical creation—probably made by one of the three Afterbirth sects, specifically the Filth Coven… or more properly, the Longevity Church.” Dorothy speculated aloud. Busalet, after all, was located in the central-southern region of North Ufiga, geographically closer to South Ufiga than Addus or Kankdal. If the Longevity Church was expanding northward, it wouldn’t take long for their influence to reach Busalet. “The Afterbirth Cult again… What could they be aiming to accomplish by spreading a plague like this in Busalet?” Vania asked, frowning. “That’s still unclear,” Dorothy replied gravely. “Busalet is remote, chaotic, sparsely populated… Would it really be worth it to spread such a powerful plague here? If they wanted to start a pandemic, they’d go straight to one of the major population centers on the main continent. For them to suddenly target Busalet… it just doesn’t add up.” Unable to draw any clear conclusions, Dorothy shook her head and changed the topic. “So with your current ability, how much effort does it take to fully cure a single infected patient?” “With my power… the spirituality needed to heal one patient isn’t overwhelming, but it’s certainly not negligible either. Let me think… For a typical Black Earth-rank Healing Prayer Priest, completely exhausting their spiritual power and stamina would let them heal maybe five or six patients at most. I could manage a bit more—around twenty, maybe a bit higher with experience. At most, I could reach thirty in one stretch.” As Vania thought aloud, Dorothy replied somberly. “I see… If I remember correctly, the Church only assigned twelve Black Earth-rank Healing Prayer Priests as assistants. Even combining the full strength of your entire delegation, you’d only be able to treat around a hundred people in one go. That’s not even enough to handle the patients in one shelter… “So instead of wasting spiritual power here, we should press on—head to Busalet as planned.” 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂 Hearing that, Vania hesitated, her expression softening. “You’re… asking me to abandon these patients? They’re suffering terribly… so pitiful. Healing prayer is the only viable treatment right now. If we leave them here… is that truly right?” Vania was clearly shaken, moved by compassion. Dorothy recognized it at once—she was overwhelmed by empathy and couldn’t bear the sight of suffering. So Dorothy spoke plainly. “Staying here to heal them one by one is completely futile. Do you know how many people are infected by this plague? And how many you can realistically heal? “This shelter alone has nearly three hundred patients. Along the Addus border, there are at least twenty to thirty similar shelters. That’s over ten thousand patients already. And those are just the ones who made it to Addus. We still don’t know how many in Busalet itself are infected—hundreds of thousands? A million? “You’d never reach them all. Even if you exhaust yourself, it wouldn’t be enough. We need to get to Busalet, find the source of this plague, and defeat it. That might be the only way to eliminate it and save everyone.” “To defeat the culprit… and save everyone…” Vania echoed. A spark of light flickered in her eyes. Dorothy then added. “Exactly. That’s why time is the most precious thing we have. The sooner we identify the source of this mystical plague, the sooner we can find a real solution. You can’t let yourself be blinded by what’s right in front of you, Vania. The Holy Mother’s love isn’t about saving a handful of people—it’s about all of humanity.” Vania stood frozen in place. After several seconds of silence, her expression gradually turned resolute. She let out a deep breath and responded in her mind. “Haa… I understand. I’ll make arrangements for the delegation to depart immediately. Thank you, Miss Dorothea. I’m ashamed that I needed you to explain such a simple truth to me… I let my emotions cloud my judgment. That only proves I still don’t fully understand the Lord’s will… “True love should be decisive and rational—not swayed by fleeting emotions. Just now, I was selfish. I focused only on saving those right in front of me while ignoring the many more suffering beyond my sight. That’s a selfish love—a forbidden love. Thank you for setting me straight…” “As long as you understand. That’s what matters.” Dorothy responded, a bit speechless. She hadn’t expected her casual advice to spark such a profound realization. Well, she thought, at least Vania has a real talent for moral extrapolation. … Persuaded by Dorothy, Vania gave up on the idea of setting up a field hospital on the Addus border. Instead, she ordered the delegation to move out and continue on toward Busalet. After a period of travel, they finally crossed into Busalet territory. As they pressed forward, they passed two or three villages—each one affected by the plague. In some, the residents were bedridden; in others, they had already fled. As they delved deeper into Busalet, Dorothy, Vania, and the others came into increasing contact with the illness. They soon learned what the people of Busalet called it. Because its most obvious symptom was extreme fatigue and loss of strength, the locals had named it: The Withering Plague.