Although Kang Kai desperately hoped the young warrior before him would "turn back from the abyss," his views were far from mainstream in the world of Faerûn—let alone understood by this fanatic of Tishachar.
Even after Kang Kai took out a potion to heal the captive's wounds, the bloodstained zealot only sneered with grotesque amusement.
"Hahaha! How ridiculous. Playing the good person, bad person routine? Since when do esteemed formal-level professionals resort to such petty tricks?"
His wild laughter echoed across the ruins, growing more deranged with each passing second.
Finally, it morphed into a hysterical roar.
"You know nothing of Tishachar's greatness! Those so-called 'professionals' slaughtered my village for no reason. It was the Goddess Tishachar who saved us wretched souls from death! She alone grants salvation! You want me to abandon my faith? Keep dreaming!"
Before Kang Kai or Bahanger could react, the captive abruptly activated a hidden magical transformation within his body.
His veins bulged grotesquely, dark green blotches spreading across his flesh like a creeping plague.
Then—
BOOM!
A deafening explosion erupted as his entire body detonated, spraying chunks of flesh and acid in every direction.
The ruins were instantly soaked in corrosive sludge, the air thick with the stench of burning stone and flesh.
"Ugh! Disgusting! I hate slimy things the most!"
Bahanger, standing at the epicenter of the blast, emerged unscathed.
A near-invisible layer of battle aura had effortlessly blocked the explosion, but the acidic aftermath left him fuming with irritation. He might be a blacksmith, but that didn't mean he liked being covered in filth.
Kang Kai had already moved before the explosion, dashing away at superhuman speed—so fast that not a single drop of acid touched him.
But his expression was grim.
The power of that self-detonation exceeded his expectations.
A chilling thought struck him.
If the hidden believers in Dolez possessed the same suicidal tactics, the casualties would be unimaginable.
Punk, noticing Kang Kai's unease, rose to his feet and calmly stated:
"If we want to reinforce Dolez in time, we must eliminate these strongholds quickly."
"…You're right. The only thing we can do now is focus."
Suppressing his worries, Kang Kai stepped into the ruins and began methodically slicing through the debris with a sharp dagger, searching for clues—or, more importantly, an antidote.
With no captives left alive, any secrets they needed would have to be uncovered by force.
Bahanger, on the other hand, was far less concerned with the search.
He kicked aside massive chunks of rubble, not out of any real effort to help, but simply as a way to vent his frustration.
As time passed and no antidote was found, his irritation only grew worse.
When Kang Kai finally revealed a piece of forehead-like debris buried under the wreckage, Bahanger lost his patience entirely.
"How long are we gonna waste time digging through this godsforsaken place? What are we even looking for? We should just head straight to the next stronghold and smash our way through!"
"Mr. Bahanger, don't forget our primary objective—finding an antidote to save the innocent people of Dolez. Tishachar can be dealt with anytime, but if an antidote is buried here and we miss it, more innocent lives will be lost."
Kang Kai's response was firm and unwavering.
His foremost goal as a ranger of justice was to locate the antidote, and this so-called "Plague Perfume" factory was their best bet.
If he could recover even a single sample, mass production could be arranged to save the entire city of Dolez.
As for Tishachar?
Like he said—
she could be dealt with later.
The second most diligent searcher was Punk, though his motives were entirely different.
He too believed there was a high chance of an antidote being stored in this facility.
But unlike Kang Kai, he wasn't searching to save lives.
He was searching to destroy the antidote.
If the residents of Dolez and Lord Gorat were cured, then who would serve as cannon fodder in the war?
Who would pressure the priests into self-sacrificial madness?
At this moment, Punk's thoughts were simple—
for the sake of profit, the antidote could never be allowed to fall into Kang Kai or Bahanger's hands.
Bahanger, ever the reckless warrior, only now realized his own mistake.
His dramatic entrance—the "Bahanger Sky Hammer"—had completely demolished the underground facility.
The once-thriving "Plague Perfume" factory now lay in ruins, along with hundreds of workers who had been exposed to their own creation before being crushed into paste.
Even Punk had to rely on prophetic spells to estimate the death toll.
That alone spoke volumes about the sheer destruction Bahanger had unleashed.
After half an hour of searching, the trio came to an undeniable conclusion—
there was no antidote left to be found.
Whether it had been stored underground or not, the force of Bahanger's hammer had ensured its total obliteration.
The only real gain from this attack was confirmation—
confirmation that the Tishachar Church had been using perfume as a vector to spread the plague.
That evidence alone was enough to officially label them a cult.
Once Bahanger relayed this information to Dolez via a teleportation spell, the authorities would forbid all citizens from worshipping Tishachar.
Yet despite this revelation, Kang Kai was deeply disturbed.
He had always thought of Tishachar as merely an instigator, pushing events from the shadows.
But now, standing amidst this horror, he had to accept the truth—
she wasn't just spreading the plague.
She had created it.
As a man devoted to righteousness, he simply couldn't comprehend the depths of depravity some would sink to in pursuit of their goals.
Bahanger, by contrast, remained as indifferent as ever.
He couldn't care less whether Tishachar was actively spreading the plague or merely enabling it.
The only thing that mattered to him was that she had an antidote—
and refused to share it.
And if she wouldn't hand it over willingly?
Well—
Bahanger would simply take it.
All in all, while they hadn't found Tishachar herself in this stronghold, the attack had only strengthened Kang Kai and Bahanger's resolve to eliminate her at all costs.
For Punk, this was perfect.
Standing amidst the wreckage, he observed the steadily rising sun, then turned to address his "companions."
"Time is running out. If we want Tishachar to take us seriously, we need to prove we're a threat. It's time to hit the next stronghold."
"The longer we delay, the more innocent lives will be lost," Kang Kai added gravely.
"Enough talk. My hammer's getting impatient."
Seeing that neither of his teammates had objections, Punk nodded.
He swiftly cast Swiftness on himself and his golem.
With an emotionless—
"Let's go."
The three figures vanished in a blur, leaving behind nothing but the wreckage of fresh corpses and shattered ruins.