After seeing the state of the Party 6's members, I immediately opened a portal to a large bedroom in the Main Forces lodging.
"Put them on the beds!"
I ordered the people around the square.
"Right away!"
Trudy replied from the crowd.
She was the one who notified me in the first place. It made sense for her to be here.
The Chief Instructor quickly put Quinda on her back and carried the tall girl through the portal.
Halim and Ashni of Party 6 followed her as they brought the Tchakran martial artists with them.
The Tsahanam pair did not seem to have any wounds on them. They were not in pain like their comrades.
Thank the Goddesses.
I crossed over the portal after them, closed the pathway behind me, and opened another one to the alchemy lab.
Jansen, Balma, and the other brewers were surprised when they saw me from the other side.
"Bring three cauldrons of advanced health potions over here! And get all of the Power Potion vials we have ready!"
"Right away, Your Excellency!"
As the brewers scrambled to deliver what I ordered, I went to examine the injured raiders.
['Quinda (★★)' has been inflicted with Dark Essence. All stats decreased by 95%.]
['Haoban (★★★)' has been inflicted with Dark Essence. All stats decreased by 90%.]
['Fangli (★★★)' has been inflicted with Dark Essence. All stats decreased by 90%.]
Dark Essence!
That was one of the most dangerous material existed in Dunia!
A whole army once got wiped out because of it.
A terrible mental disease was also created after a certain cult found a way to harness the Dark Essence.
To think our heroes would encounter such horrible substance…
"What happened in the Exploration Dungeon?"
I asked Halim and Ashni as the brewers and I were preparing the health potion for the injured raiders.
The Tsahanam pair exchanged worried glances before answering me.
"As Your Excellency instructed, the entire Exploration Team journeyed into the mysterious ruin in Seraphold."
Ashni started.
She turned to Halim as the skinny man produced an unfamiliar glowing crystal from his pouch.
"We made it to the end of the ruin, Your Excellency. We found the Advent Stone. But…"
Quinda and the Tchakran martial artists began screaming in pain as the health potion was being administered to their wounds.
"Hold them down!"
I ordered Trudy and the Tsahanam pair.
They immediately went to the three beds where each of the injured raider was laid on and kept them still.
While the patients struggled in great pain, the dark bleeding gashes all over their bodies began to close as the potion took effect.
['Quinda (★★)' has been inflicted with Dark Essence. All stats decreased by 80%.]
['Haoban (★★★)' has been inflicted with Dark Essence. All stats decreased by 65%.]
['Fangli (★★★)' has been inflicted with Dark Essence. All stats decreased by 65%.]
The potions helped. But they did not solve the problem.
The three raiders still writhed and grunted, tortured by the foreign substance in them.
"The voices…"
Quinda sounded under her breath.
"Please… Make them stop… PLEASE!"
At her cry I immediately went to the tall girl.
As Trudy held her down, I placed my hands on Quinda's head and poured my mana into her.
"Dear Goddesses…"
I could not help but sound it as I probed the girl's state.
The Dark Essence had spread all over Quinda's body.
Disrupting every flow, blocking every channel, wrecking all things within her.
But the Dark Essence was concentrated in her head. Puncturing through her brain like a thousand needles. Flooding and eroding the organ like a deadly acid.
This was the ingredient of nightmare.
It was the substance that gave birth to the madness disease!
"Make them stop… The voices… Please, make them stop!"
Quinda cried again.
I poured more mana into the girl.
Using all my knowledge regarding the madness disease and compulsion sorcery, I modified my magic particles so they could counter the Dark Essence.
I spread my modified mana all over Quinda. I tried to fight off the evil energy eroding her mind away.
But the Dark Essence was too powerful.
It had remained in the girl's body for far too long, to the point that the essence had fused with the girl's cell.
The damage had already been done. All I could do was to prevent the internal wounds from getting worse.
"Give her more health potion as well as the Power Potion! Force them down her throat! Do the same for the 3-stars!"
I ordered the brewers.
Balma quickly came to Quinda's bed.
The Tsahanam medicine woman firmly took hold of Quinda's jaw, forcing the girl's mouth open, and poured a whole vial of health potion into her.
She kept her grip on the jaw and poured a vial of Power Potion in.
Jansen did the same with Fangli.
While Djhotti, who I just realized had entered the room, performed the same act with Haoban.
My party comrades, the other 4-stars, the Chief Servant, as well as Erlin and several other servants had arrived.
"I need the rest of you to keep your distance. We're dealing with something dangerous over here."
I told them.
Quinda's grunt began to soften.
Her occasional mumble and shouts started to lessen as well.
My emergency sorcery stunt seemed to have mitigated her condition slightly.
['Serafina (★★★★)'s Compulsion Magic has levelled up twice to level 4!]
But her actual state did not actually improve.
The Dark Essence had ruined the girl's body and mind.
Even with the healing potion and my magic, we could not seem to restore her internal wounds. The Dark Essence would not allow the restoration.
It was times like these that I wished I knew healing magic.
I had not been prioritizing that sorcery since we had constant access to bountiful supplies of health potions.
Moreover, you ordinarily would need rare talent to even attempt learning it, which was why healers were some of the rarest mages in Dunia, rarer than an elementalist even.
"This is a very evil thing, Great Mage. The thing inside them, I mean."
Djhotti said as he placed his palm on Haoban's forehead.
"Can you do something to it, Keeper?"
I asked him.
The dwarf formed a frown.
"My prowess in this field is limited, Great Mage. But I will try."
Djhotti then began to chant something in a foreign tongue.
Intense energy began to emanate from the dwarf and flow into the injured raiders.
['Djhotti (★★★★)' is sounding a combat chant.]
[Exclusive skill Flame's Blessing is activated!]
['Quinda (★★)'s stats have increased by 50%.]
['Haoban (★★★)'s stats have increased by 50%.]
['Fangli (★★★)'s stats have increased by 50%.]
Djhotti's powerful enchantment had sort of stabilized the injured raiders.
They were no longer grunting and writhing in pain.
But their breaths were still heavy.
The Dark Essence was still inside their bodies, running rampage and wreaking havoc.
The dwarf's enchantment could not eradicate it.
The spell simply made their bodies stronger to endure the essence a while longer.
Of the three injured raiders, Quinda was the one struggling the most.
"Your Excellency…"
The girl suddenly called out.
Her voice was soft and weak.
"Yes, Quinda? I am here. What is it?"
I replied as I continued battling the Dark Essence within the girl.
"We…got it… The Advent Stone… We got it…"
She said.
"That's right, Quinda. You did it. You have completed your mission."
The Dark Essence continued encroaching her mind. Eroding every bit of consciousness away.
But the girl forced herself to gaze upon me.
She continued.
"I now can…join…the Main Forces, yes? I can fight…alongside…you, yes?"
"Of course, Quinda. You are now part of the Main Forces."
The Dark Essence forced itself against my mana.
Threatening to rob the last remnants of Quinda from herself. From us.
"M-mistress… Was I…h-helpful to y-you?"
Quinda asked again.
She strained herself to get every word out.
"Very, Quinda. You were very helpful to me."
My mana began to waver.
The Dark Essence started to claim Quinda into its terrifying abyss.
['Quinda (★★)' is falling into the state of despondency. Her life is in danger!]
"I'm…t-tired, mistress… So…tired."
The girl sounded so weakly.
As my mana dispersed within the ocean that was the Dark Essence, I nodded to the girl.
"It's fine, Quinda. You have done very well."
Despite being heavily tortured by the Dark Essence, Quinda smiled at me.
You would not know she was feeling excruciating pain all over her body.
As I caressed her beautiful face softly, I witnessed the light vanishing from her eyes.
"Rest now, my comrade."
['Quinda (★★)' has returned to the Goddesses' embrace! Her fighting spirit will be remembered forever.]