Forget it, let her drown in her obsession with that skysoar dragon!
That mage was great in every other way, but her abnormal fixation on the dragon race was truly exasperating.
I walked toward the area where the knights were resting.
Although this world seemed like a game, reality was reality, and my senses wouldn't deceive me.
This wasn't some virtual world where outfits stayed perfectly clean no matter what happened.
This was genuine reality.
After a massive battle, the once-bright silver armor of the knights was now covered in dents and scratches.
Every piece was stained with the dark blood of the demon race and coated in thick layers of dust and sand.
The knights no longer possessed the elegance of nobles, but their faces, weathered by wind and sand, held a rugged, raw beauty instead.
A massive bonfire had been built from the trees cut down in the surrounding area, its flames soaring into the sky and illuminating the wide clearing.
Still clad in their heavy armor, the knights moved with a certain clunkiness as they sang and danced before the fire.
Every face was filled with the joy of victory. Though traces of sorrow flickered across some of them, those feelings were largely washed away by the thrill of their success.
Seeing me, the knights stood up from the grass one after another and bowed respectfully.
Looking at their haggard appearance, I could only imagine how much they had sacrificed on the battlefield.
After all, I had walked through that battlefield myself.
"Your Highness!"
"Your Highness!!"
Almost all the knights knelt as they greeted me. In their eyes, I saw a spark of hope and trust.
Facing the demon race twice, being outnumbered twice, and achieving perfect, overwhelming victories twice.
This allowed me—a saintess who was insignificant only a month ago—to completely win over these soldiers in this moment.
Seeing me approach, Cain hurried over. He had a wound on his shoulder deep enough to see the bone, though it had already been bandaged, and he had removed the upper portion of his armor.
"Cain, you're injured?"
Seeing my knight so severely hurt, I felt a genuine pang of distress, even if they were technically my sword and shield.
"Your Highness, it is of no importance."
Cain shook his head, a rare smile appearing on his face.
"How could it not be important? Every one of you is my most precious treasure. Come here."
Cain shook his head again, refusing directly.
"Your Highness, there is no rush for me, but the camp for the severely wounded..."
"This is an order!"
"Yes, Your Highness."
Seeing my persistence, Cain said no more and stepped in front of me.
"Heal."
I raised my hand and lightly touched Cain's wound. A warm current welled up from within my body, quickly tunneling through my palm into the injury. In the blink of an eye, the deep wound had mostly closed up.
"There. I'm going to the camp for the severely wounded now. Carry on."
I gave Cain his instructions and was just about to turn and leave when I heard his voice behind me.
"Your Highness, would you please say a few words?"
Hmm?
Say what?
I paused, looking back at the eyes of the thousand-plus knights behind me.
That's right... I was the commander. At a time like this, I should say something, but I was never very good at these situations.
I hesitated for a moment, then looked at them.
"There is no need for formality! Don't hold back. Do as you please. Dance! Laugh! Today's victory belongs to us!!"
"Ooh—!"
More than thirteen hundred people raised whatever they held in their hands at once. Some raised chicken legs, some raised cups of water, and some who had nothing simply drew their knightly swords and thrust them into the air.
Their shouts echoed through the night sky!
I didn't quite understand why a single sentence from me could make the atmosphere explode like this.
But looking at the burning faith in their eyes, my heart felt much more at ease.
With knights like these, what did I have to fear?
A smile tugged at the corners of my mouth involuntarily as I turned and walked toward the camp for the severely wounded.
Hilda followed by my side. Listening to the even more boisterous bonfire party behind us, she whispered with a smile,
"To receive Your Highness's recognition is a supreme honor for them. Thank you, Your Highness."
"No, I'm the one who should be saying thank you."
I looked back at those clumsy, dancing figures silhouetted by the fire. In that moment, I suddenly felt a genuine fondness for them.
Of course, it wasn't romantic, but rather a deep human connection.
These knights were actually quite foolish. To my modern eyes, the honor they valued so much was practically worthless.
To put it bluntly—honor? How much is that worth?
Aside from a reputation, it provided nothing.
Yet, because of that, these knights seemed almost endearingly simple.
Just a few words were enough to make them this jubilant.
Perhaps there are benefits to being simple.
At the very least, I liked this kind of simplicity, and it made me even more certain of my desire to change the Kingdom of the Moon.
Only by changing the Kingdom of the Moon and dragging those filthy nobles off their thrones could I ensure these knights received the treatment they deserved.
I arrived at the camp for the severely wounded. Clearly, the situation here was much grimmer than at the bonfire.
The moment I stepped into this part of the camp, I was surrounded by the sounds of groaning and the occasional scream.
A powerful physical body brought strong vitality, but it also meant that people in this world had to endure much more pain before they finally died.
The situation here was not optimistic. I doubted I could treat this many knights on my own.
"Hilda, go call Ligeia. Send someone immediately to the nearest city and summon every nun and priest, including alchemists and doctors."
"Your Highness, I have already sent for reinforcements, but at the earliest, it will take two days for them to arrive."
Hilda responded quickly. Her reaction was correct. Under these circumstances, the forces within the knight order alone couldn't handle this many casualties.
Still, Ligeia needed to do something. At the very least, she could minimize their pain as much as possible.
"You did well. Go get Ligeia. Even if she's unwilling, drag her here by force if you have to. Go, quickly."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Hilda took the order with a solemn expression and sprinted toward the area where the skysoar dragons were resting.
As for me, I headed straight into the makeshift tents.
The moment I entered, many knights tried to reflexively sit up and salute, no matter how badly they were injured, as long as they were still conscious.
"Stay down. Don't move. I permit you to skip the formalities."
"Thank you... for your concern, Your Highness."
"Thank you, Your Highness..."
The knights thanked me one after another. Seeing them remain so respectful even now, I didn't know if I should thank the demon race for giving me this influence or thank the so-called God.
I inspected their wounds; they were all very severe.
In fact, unless it was a lost limb or unconsciousness from blood loss, someone with the physical constitution of a person in this world—especially a knight—wouldn't even be in this camp.
Treating these injuries one by one would be incredibly difficult. I had to find a way to perform large-scale healing.
"Your Highness, she's here."
Hilda's voice came from behind me while I was performing my check.
I turned around to see Ligeia, who gave me a slight smile upon seeing me there.
"Since Your Highness summoned me, I assume you want me to lessen the pain of these knights?"
"Yes. I'll leave this to you for now. Find a way to help their wounds heal and reduce their suffering. I'm going to find another way."
"Your Highness certainly knows how to put people to work~"
"Ligeia, just go."
"Yes, yes~"
Ligeia looked at me with a playful smile. The disrespect she had shown before the Dragon King didn't reappear. As long as she wasn't around the dragon race, Ligeia's intelligence quickly reclaimed the high ground.
But the moment she came into contact with dragons, this woman's IQ instantly dropped into the negatives.
Maybe... I should issue a 'dragon-free zone' order for her in the future?
I shook my head, pushing the thought aside, and walked toward the Saint's Carriage.
The Statue of the Angel was there, and I could view my attribute panel. After a major battle, I should have gained a significant amount of experience points, which ought to be useful.
Back in the Saint's Carriage, I closed my eyes before the statue as usual and prayed devoutly.
The information interface appeared before my eyes once again.
Ignoring the rest, my gaze immediately locked onto my level.
As expected, I had leveled up.
In fact, I had broken past the level ten barrier in one go, officially stepping into a realm beyond human limits!
At this moment, my five attributes had completely moved up a tier.
...
Level: 11 (Awaiting Class Change)
Attributes: (Adult average is 5, human limit is 10)
Strength: 14
Agility: 16
Endurance: 16
Recovery: 26
Mana: 48
Free Attribute Points: 47
Free Skill Points: 65
...
I hadn't spent any of my previous skill points because every point for both attributes and skills was incredibly precious in the Saintess state.
In truth, even if I had the Witch state, it was difficult for me to use in my current situation. Therefore, what I needed most right now was strength in my Saintess state.
This forced me to carefully consider the use of every single point.
From my current stage, the skills and attribute preferences of this Saintess role were basically those of a standard super healer and support.
Furthermore, from the perspective of controlling the overall situation, my position was vital.
So, the direction of my development was essentially set. If I tried to choose a different path now, I would be wasting too many attribute points.
Rather than wasting time and energy developing a direction that didn't suit me, it was better to continue down the path I was best fitted for.
Because no matter which path I took, it would eventually become powerful.
Regarding skills, not much had changed. I hadn't added any before to save them up.
I glanced at the skills. Once I broke the level ten barrier, a notification for 'Awaiting Class Change' appeared after my level.
In the Witch state, there was only the path of slaughter to choose from, but the Saintess was different. The Saintess state had multiple paths available.
Perhaps the Witch state only had one because my level was too low to choose others.
But strictly speaking, the Saintess had more development directions.
The Witch, on the other hand, was more specialized in killing.
Scanning the newly available skills, it was easy to lock onto the ones I wanted amidst the wide variety.
The first was the healing skill.
Above the healing skill, at the level ten threshold, there was a branch for the healing art with two options.
One was Chain Healing, and the other was Collective Healing.
Chain Healing, as the name suggested, meant linking to a person for continuous healing. This healing was fast and could be linked to anyone within sight.
The maximum limit was two people.
It consumed five mana per minute, with the cost doubling for each additional person.
This was equivalent to being a combat medic; I only needed to stand in the middle of the battlefield and oversee the situation.
The other, Collective Healing, was for large-scale treatment, though the cost was massive.
The healing power provided in a single cast was comparable to single-target healing, but once the healing was complete, it would consume all mana.
Furthermore, this skill was linked to the Sacred Treasure branch 【Moon Banner】.
It could be considered a semi-special class skill.
Both skills were extremely useful and exactly what I needed right now!
I looked at the requirements for these two skills. The basic healing art had to be maxed out before they could be learned.
Say no more. I put points into the healing art until it reached level ten.
Then, I maxed out both of the new skills as well.
My free skill points instantly dropped from 65 to 37.
But I had gained two new skills.
Chain Healing (Linked healing, max 5 people, consumes 5 mana per minute, cost doubles for each additional person) — 10/10. 【I'm just a brick, move me wherever I'm needed!】
Collective Healing (Large-scale healing, consumes all mana per cast, cannot be cast if mana is below 50. The more mana, the fewer people, the stronger the recovery, and vice versa.) — 10/10. 【Look, a super healer is born!】
Since Collective Healing couldn't be used with less than fifty mana, I had to increase my mana to fifty first.
My free attribute points dropped to 45.
As for the class change, now wasn't the time to think about it.
After finishing all the preparations, I hurried back to the camp for the severely wounded.
With Ligeia's help, the groans and cries of pain in the camp had lessened significantly.
But a few could still be heard faintly.
I took a deep breath and took out the Moon Banner, planting it firmly in front of the camp.
The moment the Moon Banner was revealed, the sounds of celebration from the distant bonfire instantly vanished.
Clearly, every knight possessed an unparalleled faith in the Moon Banner.
This was an incredible stroke of luck for me.
With so many people who believed in me and were willing to give their all, what could possibly stop me from restoring the glory of the Kingdom of the Moon!?
I looked up at the night sky. The crescent moon seemed to brighten suddenly, as if reflecting the full moon on the banner.
I began to chant the incantation.
"O holy light, I beseech you in the name of the Saintess of the Moon. Take away their suffering and soothe their pain—Moon Banner, light up the brilliant night!"
A flash of light vanished as all the mana was drained from my body. A sudden wave of weakness hit me, nearly making me collapse to the ground.
I quickly grabbed the Moon Banner for support as the light flowed from my palm into the banner itself!
The light emerged from my body and manifested on the surface of the Moon Banner. Though there was no wind, the massive banner seemed to flutter as if caught in a breeze.
Then, from the tip of the flagpole, the light suddenly erupted, shooting straight into the clouds!
Moonlight—scattered across the earth like a dusting of stars, and the painful groans ceased instantly.
Hundreds of knights emerged from the tents. With expressions of deep gratitude, they dropped to one knee and shouted in unison.
"We thank Your Highness for the grace of your healing!"
Rate on N.U.
