Chapter 374: The Survivors Blame Emberlyn for Everything?!

"Whatever," Luke muttered without much concern, even considering that he could probably deal with all of them together, unless some higher-ranked beings decided to intervene.

After dismissing those thoughts, he looked around the devastated battlefield, only to hear several cries of grief coming from deeper inside the Orc outpost.

"AAAH!"

"No! That devil killed my sister!"

Hearing those desperate cries, Luke turned toward their source and took a step forward, instantly appearing within the inner section of the outpost.

There, he discovered numerous beings who resembled demi-humans, possessing snake-like features, although their bodies also carried certain draconic characteristics, including patches of scales covering different parts of their skin.

However, their current condition was anything but pleasant.

Fragments of bodies lay scattered across the bloodstained ground, while several snake women were being held in the arms of their male companions, their bodies covered in wounds and cracks that continued bleeding.

Judging by their injuries, Luke could tell that some of them wouldn’t survive much longer, especially since several other snake women were already in similarly terrible conditions.

"You shall live happily without me..." One of the dying women whispered to her lover, who was desperately holding her bloodied body, although despite her worsening condition, she still managed to maintain a gentle smile on her face.

"Why did this happen to us?! We were just living our normal lives!" The man gritted his teeth as tears continued streaming down his face, unable to understand what they had done to deserve such suffering.

At that moment, Emberlyn also appeared beside Luke, and upon seeing the miserable condition of the surviving prisoners, her usually calm expression remained unchanged, although a faint trace of sadness appeared in her icy-blue eyes.

Naturally, the appearance of two newcomers immediately attracted everyone’s attention, and the surviving snake people turned toward them, only to experience an instinctive urge to lower their heads upon noticing Emberlyn.

It was an instinct originating from their bloodlines, making them feel as though they were standing before a being belonging to a superior species.

"A pure dragon..." Someone muttered in astonishment, causing several others to immediately recognize Emberlyn’s identity.

However, rather than feeling relieved, the expressions of many survivors turned ugly, while several of the men even looked at her with undisguised hatred.

"You were supposed to protect us!" One of them suddenly shouted, his voice trembling with anger.

"Weren’t we your subjects?! Why did you allow those monsters to do this to us?!"

Hearing his accusations, the dying wife in his arms hurriedly reached for his hand, looking at him with obvious worry, because provoking a pure dragon could easily result in their deaths.

Unfortunately, after witnessing his wife’s condition and everything that had happened to their people, the man had already lost his composure and no longer cared about the consequences.

The expressions of the other survivors also changed, and although they didn’t openly accuse Emberlyn, the resentment in their eyes made it clear that many of them held her responsible for failing to protect them.

"Sigh..."

Seeing their reactions, Emberlyn could only release a quiet sigh, since she understood why they were so angry, although there was little she could do about what had already happened.

After all, she had only arrived in this region some time ago and had already discovered that the invading Orcs were capturing members of the surrounding demi-human races, even personally rescuing several prisoners during her explorations.

Unfortunately, the Orcs were spread across too many locations for her to eliminate every group by herself, especially since her father had already refused to let her assist her elder sister in dealing with the invasion.

Still, before Emberlyn could say anything in response to their accusations, a loud voice suddenly interrupted everyone.

"Shut up!"

BOOM!

Luke released a portion of his aura along with those words, causing the surviving prisoners to immediately fall silent as the overwhelming pressure descended upon them.

Their faces turned pale with horror, and only now did several of them properly notice the twenty-foot-tall giant standing beside Emberlyn, whose entire body was covered in golden-white knight armor.

Realizing that they had been shouting accusations in front of another powerful existence, the survivors hurriedly lowered their heads, while the anger they had displayed earlier was quickly overwhelmed by fear.

Even the man who had openly accused Emberlyn became silent, instinctively tightening his hold around his dying wife as he looked toward Luke with a frightened expression.

Meanwhile, several of the wounded snake women also became terrified, believing that the armored giant had become offended by their companions’ behavior and was now preparing to kill them.

Even Emberlyn couldn’t help having a similar thought, especially after witnessing how Luke had previously slaughtered the Orcs and refined their bodies into Blood Essence Pills.

’Is he going to kill them as well and use their bodies for cultivation?’

That possibility made her expression change slightly, although before she could decide whether to intervene, Luke had already raised his right hand toward the injured survivors.

Under Emberlyn’s watchful gaze and the frightened eyes of everyone present, he calmly muttered a few words.

"Seal of Closure."

The moment those words escaped Luke’s mouth, the fourth sealing ability of Sevaroth activated, causing numerous thin silver chains to emerge from the air before spreading toward the wounded snake people gathered throughout the outpost.

Seeing the chains approaching them, several survivors instinctively tried to retreat, while those holding their dying loved ones became even more frightened, believing that the armored giant was about to finish them off.

However, before anyone could react further, the silver chains reached their bodies and began wrapping around their open wounds, forming small glowing seals wherever blood was escaping.

OHMMMM!

Under everyone’s astonished gazes, the bleeding suddenly stopped as the torn flesh began drawing together, gradually closing the wounds until even the deep cuts that had previously exposed the flesh beneath their scales were completely sealed.

The same phenomenon occurred throughout the surrounding area, affecting every injured snake woman, while even the men who had suffered cuts and other external injuries from the Orcs’ beatings found their wounds closing before their eyes.

"Huh? What is happening to my body?" One of the wounded men exclaimed in disbelief, hurriedly touching his chest, where a deep cut had disappeared moments earlier.

Meanwhile, the man who had been holding his dying lover suddenly noticed that the blood flowing from her body had stopped, and when he looked down, he discovered that the terrible wounds covering her body were gradually disappearing beneath the silver sealing marks.

"Darling! Your wounds are healing!" he exclaimed excitedly, his earlier grief turning into disbelief as he watched the last of the wounds close.

The snake woman herself seemed equally shocked, and although her body remained weak from the blood she had already lost, the pain from her open wounds had diminished considerably.

"I... I’m still alive?" she whispered, slowly raising her trembling hand toward her lover’s face.

"Yes! You’re alive!" The man immediately embraced her, although he was careful not to squeeze her injured body too tightly.

Similar scenes unfolded among the other survivors as they inspected their newly closed wounds, and once they finally realized what had happened, their gazes gradually returned to the twenty-foot-tall armored giant standing before them.

After a brief hesitation, the man who had previously been crying over his lover lowered his head toward Luke.

"Thank you, my lord! Thank you for saving her life!" he said sincerely, while his lover also struggled to express her gratitude.

Soon, the other survivors followed their example, thanking Luke one after another, although those who had suffered serious injuries still needed support from their companions.

Meanwhile, Emberlyn stood beside Luke with a slightly changed expression, her icy-blue eyes moving between the surviving snake people and the armored figure responsible for saving them.

She had genuinely expected Luke to kill these people, especially considering the terrifying cultivation technique she had witnessed him using against the Orcs.

Instead, he had used one of his abilities to save people who couldn’t offer him anything in return.

’So he really isn’t killing everyone just because he can...’

Thinking this, Emberlyn’s earlier impression of Luke changed slightly, although she still had reservations about his strange cultivation technique.

As for Luke himself, his expression remained as calm as before, seemingly unconcerned by the gratitude directed toward him, while the remaining silver sealing marks gradually faded from the survivors’ bodies.

"Let’s go to the next outpost," Luke said, turning toward Emberlyn after taking one final look at the surviving snake people.

Hearing his words, Emberlyn finally came out of her thoughts and nodded without saying anything, before her body slowly floated upward and she began ascending toward the sky, preparing to lead him toward another Orc outpost.

At the same time, a pair of wings emerged from Luke’s upper back, and with a powerful flap, his twenty-foot-tall armored body rose into the air before he followed Emberlyn.

FWOOOSH!

Watching the two figures gradually disappear into the distant sky, the surviving snake people couldn’t help raising their heads, while one of the men who had previously thanked Luke suddenly muttered.

"Is that young lord going to save more of our people?"

Unfortunately, no one could answer his question, and after a brief silence, they simply continued watching the two disappearing figures with gratitude in their eyes.