Praxius was focused; attentive. He could feel the chains running beneath the crowd, and shifted them slightly, experimentally, like a runner stretching his legs. In an operation involving so many people trying to do things at the same time, something was bound to go wrong.

When the first spell went off; Derek's spell causing a cluster of over a dozen men to just collapse; some of the others started to move; the docile infected almost immediately trying to move away from the cluster, from the younger wizards trying to help them; and in one case, an infected trying to tackle a young woman and charge right over her to escape.

A quick jerk of the chain; and they stumbled back into each other just in time for the local hedge wizard to hit them with a withering spell; and the group to drop, groaning in pain. The number of things he could do at once was limited, unfortunately; and while he nabbed the one trying to tackle a young caster, several managed to dive out of the way of their own spellcasters; and started shrieking; trying to drown out the sound of Lord Rockson giving his cover speech, to alert the rest of the infected.

As the one who was almost tackled managed to complete her spell, and nail her own target, the final three were abruptly yanked back, wrapped up in a chain.... and amidst the horrific sound of dozens of people vomiting at once, he dragged them over, holding them still, so the remaining youth could finish their own spells... and leave the whole courtyard still.

A few of the uninfected looked concerned, and were slowly backing away, watching events; seeing that the work was done, as the guards, and Praxius, dragged them all together for the healing ritual the two Priestesses of light were now starting... the noble changed tacts; and ended the amplification spell.

"My apologies for the deception, my citizens. An infection of a terrible fungal parasite has spread among our brethren, and appears to not want to be stopped. We're going to have to do this a few times; at least a few hundred people are infected, mostly good, hardworking men of Rockdale. It'll be a while before they're back on their feet, and I'd like to ask for your help in getting them taken care of. I'll be telling the rest of town you're off doing some work for the baron, and calling a smaller meeting in tonight at dusk; our priestess of darkness will be conducting a ritual to help the victims we purify then."

Most of the men on the ground were just lying there, limp, unmoving, or groaning. A few struggled to their feet, looking around in confusion, or praying.

One of the uninfected looked at the ones still recovering, and stepped forward. "Apologies, my lord, but I didn't think I would be gone for long. Its just my kids, alone, at home, and they expect me to come back to cook dinner after whatever we do here."

Lord Rockson gave a slow nod. "That's.... fine. We'll have the second cleansing just before dusk. You can go home after. Just promise not to tell a soul, not even your children."

"Of course, milord! Thank you!"

He glanced to one of his guards. "I doubt it'll be a problem, but keep an eye on him just in case. He seems normal enough."

***

As Kylie joined the local priestess in the ritual; not something that could be done in battle, the sort of low-grade mass-healing that was generally done in the aftermath; she watched Terra moving from patient to patient; pouring a bit of an unknown, dark, liquid into each man's mouth. She seemed to be hurrying; wanting to get it done before Kylie finished the ritual; and while Kylie wanted to hold off for the sake of this test... the ritual had to be done at dawn, during sunrise... and this was already stretching that definition well past the breaking point.

Thankfully, the goddess was forgiving of their lapse; and a faint golden light filled the entire courtyard when they finished. It wouldn't bring back the dead, or restore a lost limb; but the Rebirth Ceremony would cure aches and pains, minor wounds.... and hopefully help keep the infected alive.

Some of the uninfected seemed to move a bit better afterwards; possibly old, unknown injuries they hadn't noticed or bothered to inform the priestesses of; but as some walked out under their own power, and others received a dose from Terra before walking out, Kylie moved through them, one by one; checking for more serious injuries alongside the other two priestesses. All of them seemed a bit sickly; even the ones still sufficiently mentally there to move; but none of them seemed -too- badly off... physically.

She stopped beside the first man who Terra had dosed. He was twitching, spasming on the ground. The fungus was still oozing from his pores, from every orifice, but this was different from the others... after a minute of what looked to be a seizure, the man stopped, and just went limp; unconscious or asleep, but breathing normally instead of staring off into the void.

Kylie had no idea what the substance was, or how it worked... and apparently there were three different recipes of it, as Terra had asked the guards to separate the men who got each, to see which worked best.

She sighed, and helped the locals get the men into the keep; there were beds for soldiers, in the event the Kingdom mobilized, and they could be re-purposed for the locals. It took better than an hour to get everyone moved in... and by then, all of them had been dosed with the mystery concoction.. and were sound asleep.

They were able to relax for a bit, after. The locals cleaned up the fungus; piling it up and torching what was left; and the lord had a few pigs slaughtered for a grand meal; helping cheer up the men trapped inside the keep, unable to go about their business, with the smell of bacon and honeyed breads. Kylie participated a bit; but spent most of her time watching over the sleeping victims.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

It was getting close to dusk, when the first one awoke. Most of the uninfected were hiding out in the barracks; the guards had left to start gathering the people who would be on the next 'work assignment' supposedly heading out for the baron.

The man was young... perhaps no older than Kylie herself... and when he jerked awake, he held a hand to his head, looking around. When Kylie arrived at his bedside, he looked at her... and smiled. "What... whats going on? I feel... awful. And I had the most terrible nightmare...

Kylie breathed out a low sigh. It worked. The madness was gone. The poor soul didn't remember the nightmarish months of the fungus's control.

They might actually be able to save everyone.

***

Derek wasn't certain about exactly how many infected were in the town. From the guards word, at least a few hundred; and they'd gotten fifty or more just now, all at once. As the guards started guiding in a mix of infected and uninfected, and the baron got his device setup at the podium, Derek frowned. They... were being a bit greedy this time. Over a hundred and fifty men in the courtyard... and most of them infected. The second-circle version of the spell was determined by area, not the number of targets. If....

He quietly walked towards the devil, who'd taken up the same place on the wall as before, unobtrusively standing near the ends of several chains that snaked out into the courtyard. He glanced back at the crowd, then at Praxius. He quietly walked around the crowd until he reached the massive, armored figure, and leaned in close.

"We've got too many. Once we get them split... can you try to use the chains, push them in as tight as possible?"

The devil studied the crowd. "Hmm. A hundred and three infected, I'd say. I've seen how big that withering spell of yours gets. I don't think Terra's version gets any bigger. I can crush them in that close... but some of them are going to get hurt, and some will slip loose. Hmm. Talk to the Lord. Tell him I'd like him to send... about a dozen or so infected home til tomorrow. Preferably thirty to be safe, but we may be able to handle eighty, maybe ninety with three spells without traumatic injury, and the kids can nab the rest."

Derek gave a quick nod... and turned, running back to Lord Rockson and his podium. He gave a brief nod; he wasn't one of the man's subjects, and was likely of equal rank, nobility-wise. "Lord Rockson. The devil feels we've got too many in here. A few people would likely be hurt during the process, and some might slip free. He wants us to send at least a dozen home; but would prefer us to send closer to thirty."

A quick shake of he head. "No. My people are suffering terribly. If you had that thing in you, would you be willing to have a broken leg, maybe a few cracked ribs, to get it out faster?"

"Well, yes. But when it comes to tactics and.."

"No. Just get in position, and get ready. When I start the speech, we'll start it off."

The withering spell was extremely close-ranged. You had to be just about touching the first target. This... could get messy. "...It's your town, and your people. If you're sure..."

An abrupt nod. As Derek rushed off to his spot, calling up the words to the spell in his mind, the guards were gently separating people... a crowd of uninfected, and another of infected, both being neatly organized. They knew what they were doing, now... and would hopefully be doing it a few more times. One of the infected tripped over a chain; and simply rose back to his feet, seemingly unconcerned about his broken nose, his neighbors not noticing at all.

He grimaced. Too many. They'd need to do this perfectly. He hadn't cast enough spells under fire, he wasn't as experienced as Terra at this... but he could do this. Hopefully the hedge wizard could as well; the three of them were the most important parts here. If any of them screwed up this casting, that'd be dozens of infected who they might have to kill to contain.

The amplification had started. Lord Rockson repeating the same speech. Derek stepped closer to the crowd, and started chanting; the chains beneath people's feet abruptly jerking up, pressing the crowd together into tightly packed groups; not enough strength to fight dozens of people at once in the chains, but easily enough to make them slam into each other in their surprise. People were falling. Stumbling over each other.

The infected suddenly seemed aware something was going on as he focused on one merely feet away; a sudden look of anger on the formerly emotionless face. A hand lashing out; and the green-black burst of magic erupted. One moment, they were bound together, starting to struggle. The next....

Most of them collapsed. Three of them, on the far side of the bundle, were still struggling; and slipped beneath the chain; not charging for the guards, or the caster, but the exits.

The other groups... Terra had managed to nail all of them. But there were ten, fifteen running from the hedge wizard. All shrieking. All running towards the barred door, and the guards. The handful of teenagers who tried to nab the stragglers with their own withering spells failed... hesitantly following, too slow to do any good, as first the guards bashed at the approaching men... and then Praxius swept forward.

A heavy flail swept beneath legs; tripping some to the floor, shattering legs of others... and then another. He wasn't trying to kill, or maim... but there was no way to quickly bring them all to heel safely, and the guards had likely already killed a few; one of them having his head torn from his shoulders in a grisly display; after the brief bloodflow, a tendril of glowing green-blue lichen appeared to stretch from his spine... and more disturbingly, the headless body kept attacking, lashing at the guard with his bare hands until the guard shattered his legs with a mace.

The resulting melee was messy. The three more experienced spellcasters moved in, using their own lesser spells to disinfect one here and there, the young teenagers actually managing a couple... but in the end, there were nine corpses; all badly broken, but still obviously moving, squirming towards the guards, the gates... and until their throats were crushed or heads severed, still screaming.

It was a nightmare; and worse than the panic and horror among the uninfected, the deaths, and the chaos....

An answering shriek sounded from further out, in the town. And more. Dozens, scattered throughout the buildings, seeming to grow in volume as Lord Rockson shut down the aplification.

Derek shivered in fear, before bracing himself. He needed to be ready. For Kylie's sake. There were still hundreds of them out there. Even killing the bodies didn't kill them; they needed to be what.. destroyed? Burned out?

Whatever mind might be behind them; whether each was its own sentient creature, trying to take over, or they had a solitary fungal mastermind.... they knew. Time was up. All the magic they had strong enough to cure the townsfolk had been expended until the next day.... and they knew.