[Energy reserve: 7 units.]
The shackles were solid metal with no lock. They were put with Psionics—the version of it that demons used. Zemin didn't have the energy to spare to remove them, so he used Psionics to break the chains that connected the shackles together.
Now the prisoners could walk. Zemin ushered them to rejoin his squad.
Jagger met him with a wide smile
"Great job, Esquire! It's not exactly what I wanted you to do, but it worked out even better!"
Zemin tilted his head to the side. "Sir?"
"Doesn't matter anymore. You and the others should leave the Glass Fields and make camp while I interrogate our prisoner."
Despite his position—only the head was visible above glass—Urpize laughed.
"Blind fools! Voluntary slaves to the gilded liars—despair is your only fate! I will tell you everything, sure—I will open your eyes to the truth that will render you mad!"
Danis cringed at the speech, like someone had punched him. Without a word, he turned and began to walk toward the greenery in the distance. After a moment, Citri and Narcisa followed him. Citri was leaning on Narcisa, but walked on her own—except her exo-suit was left lying behind.
"Don't listen to his ramblings, everyone. Monster, you will start singing different songs after I give you some of this," Jagger said. He pulled a faintly glowing white ampule from his belt bag. "Can you feel it?"
Urpize hissed. Zemin blinked, then looked at the ampule—and gasped.
"Liquid positive energy? But only angels can distill it…"
"Yes, Zemin, this is a rare thing—but I have some just for moments like these. For demons, it's the greatest poison of all. When it runs through their veins, the pain is so great that they plead to end their suffering quickly."
Jagger kneeled next to the weakened demon and loaded the ampule into a syringe.
"And I'm speaking from experience."
"Blessed be the warriors who protect us!" a saved civilian exclaimed, crossing himself. "This demon and his imps ransacked our village—make him pay for every person he killed, Exemplar!"
"Yeah!"
"Make him pay!"
"We must not fight with anger," Zemin reminded the people. "This is just what they want. Also, Sergeant Jagger said to make camp, so follow me and let's not distract him anymore."
The people were reluctant to follow—they wanted to see their tormentor suffer—but they wanted to rest.
While Zemin walked, he used the moment to restore his energy reserve. Glass Fields were the first place where he wasn't afraid to open Void Portals—there, the ground was a solid piece of glass for many meters down.
There was no fear that the ground would collapse on a portal, then air would start flowing into the portal, slowly draining the atmosphere itself.
[Energy reserve: 133 units.]
Zemin stopped at that and turned off the direct control mode.
His comrades were already placing bedrolls to lay the wounded down. The first one to take one was Citri, but she still waved at Zemin and grinned when he got closer.
"And here's Zemin! Congratulations on your first battle! You fought beautifully! You aren't wounded, no?"
Zemin blushed.
"Thank you… I'm fine. But are YOU alright?"
"I didn't see corpses so talkative before, but if you doubt my skills, I can poke her a little. If it hurts, the patient is probably alive," Narcisa said, moving her hands over Citri. Her weak Psi-energy worked with extreme care, mending flesh together.
"My exo-suit, though… I will need to replace half of its torso." Citri sighed.
"And I'm feeling great, too. Until painkillers wear off, that is," Danis said venomously. "Thank you for asking."
Zemin huffed. As soon as he saw Danis's wound closer, though, his brows furrowed.
"Your hand looks terrible, Danis."
"No shit, kiddo. I'm lucky it's still attached to my arm."
The molten beam only scratched him, but the burn left red skin and meat charred to blackness. Now that gunpowder didn't overpower everything, it almost smelled delicious. But mostly burned.
Zemin swallowed and turned to the civilians in his care.
"Sit down somewhere, please. I will administer first aid. Start with those who are in the worst state."
The civilians argued for a bit about who should go first, but then one of them organized the others. Zemin pulled out his small field first aid kit and began to clean and wrap their wounds.
Some time later, Narcisa's shadow loomed over him. Zemin raised his eyes and saw her large breasts hanging over him. When he met her eyes a moment later, he knew she noticed him staring.
Narcisa chuckled. "Teenagers… But your bandaging work isn't too sloppy. Take this and keep going—I will be busy with Danis for a while."
She dropped more bandages next to Zemin and left, swaying her hips.
'Did she always walk like that?' Zemin wondered.
'Ah. So it's intentional. Does that mean she likes me, or is she just teasing me for fun?'
Zemin was on his fifth person when Jagger rejoined them. Even from the distance, he could see that Urpize was dead. The sergeant nodded at Zemin.
"Keep going, Esquire. Finish the bandaging, and then we will move a bit farther away."
"When can we go home, Mister Exemplar?" a civilian asked.
"My wife… I have to tell her I'm alive. I have to find her!"
"I have a family, too! I must—"
"Quiet, please! You all will get home—tomorrow. We all are in no state to walk far, and have no transport. But I already requested a car from the nearest garrison to pick us up—it will arrive tomorrow morning."
The people quietened down again.
"When you finish here, Zemin, join me with the others. I will tell you what the demon said."