They Wanted a Hero. They Made a Monster: Born at the Bottom
Copyright© 2026 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 25: The Choice to Leave
Fenrad Church.
Ever since the village residents had been relocated, the church had served as a shelter for the wounded. A group of patients afflicted with Bloodblight had been restrained in separate rooms.
The priests had not abandoned them. Instead, they had notified the patients’ families in the hope that one or two might still be saved.
Today, the smell of blood in the church was many times stronger than usual.
The wounded kept arriving, and a large share of them were gravely injured.
“Graaah! Let me go!”
Without Holy Light to suppress the Bloodblight for so long, the afflicted patients were becoming increasingly violent.
Acolyte Marvin struggled to hold one of them down while his companion tightened the ropes.
“This won’t work. We still need Holy Light to suppress it. Where is Priest Glenn?”
His companion glanced at the snarling patients around them and shook his head.
“Still outside treating the wounded. Two more critical cases just came in. The priest may not have enough strength left to help these people.”
“I’ll ask him.”
Marvin went outside. Sure enough, he found the priest pushing a soldier’s intestines back into his abdomen with one hand while casting Healing with the other to keep the man alive.
Only after the soldier’s condition had finally stabilized did Marvin step forward.
“Priest Glenn, we have to suppress the Bloodblight patients with Holy Light. I’m afraid they won’t last much longer.”
Glenn turned around, and Marvin saw that the usual light had vanished from his eyes. He looked utterly exhausted.
It was a clear sign of mana depletion.
Marvin suspected the priest had no Holy Light left to cast.
Sure enough, Glenn spoke with anguish on his face.
“Marvin, take a sword in there. Give peace to anyone who can no longer hold on.
“I cannot abandon people I know I can save for Bloodblight patients who have almost no hope. I will bear the consequences.”
“Yes...”
Marvin took a fallen soldier’s sword from beside the wall and returned to the side rooms.
Several more patients had begun thrashing in their bonds.
His companion understood the moment he saw the sword. Unable to watch, he walked out.
Marvin approached the man struggling most violently and took a deep breath.
He knew this patient. The man had been captain of a patrol squad and had come to this fate after drinking from a stream that had been deliberately contaminated during a mission.
“Forgive me. May Ixion, Lord of Light, deliver your soul.”
The sword pierced the man’s neck and ended the patrol captain’s suffering.
Marvin released a long breath and moved to the next patient.
She was a young adventurer who had reportedly been attacked by bats while completing a commission.
Half of both her eyes had already turned red. That was the precursor to complete transformation, and the most agonizing stage.
Yet she gritted her teeth and refused to cry out, letting only a few muffled groans escape.
Even Marvin could not help admiring her resolve.
What a pity.
The young adventurer smelled the blood on Marvin’s sword. She did not resist. She merely closed her eyes and trembled as she prepared to meet her miserable end.
“May Ixion, Lord of Light, deliver your soul.”
Bang!
The door burst open. The sudden interruption stopped Marvin’s sword in midair.
A figure in a tattered cloak charged over like a madman the instant he saw the young adventurer, knocking Marvin to the ground.
“What are you doing? I was trying to free them from...”
Marvin assumed the stranger had misunderstood. He clutched his aching waist as he rose to drive the man away.
Then he saw what the stranger was holding and froze.
“A Reversion Elixir!”
The cloaked man was Dylan. He had not heard a word Marvin said. All he could see was the pain on his daughter’s face.
With his uninjured right hand, he took out the elixir and carefully helped her drink it.
“Dad?”
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