Chapter 33 – The Hand of the Looming Dead – Part 2
A large amount of pale blue flames appeared around the temple.
However, it was the elite lineup that was ready for battle at the temple.
Clarice shouts in front of the dozens of pale flames attacking her.
“Magic gun– fire!”
The troopers who had been holding their magic guns behind her opened fire at once.
The magic power emitted from the magic stone in the magazine is released as second level magic by the magic circle engraved inside the barrel.
They hit the pale flames without aiming too hard, but the power was too weak to completely extinguish them.
However.
Clarice picked up the sword that was strapped to her waist and swung it.
The sword, which had a bellows-like blade, extended all at once and sliced through several pale flames – astral bodies – as it twisted like a whip.
Instantly, an electric shock from the sword sweeps away the astral bodies that had swarmed around her.
“Ensign Fourestier! We should increase the power of our magic gun.”
“No! If we miss our target in the city, we’ll just cause more unnecessary damage. Keep the power to a minimum and only think about shooting through the ghost bodies! I’ll take care of the weaker ones.”
Claris instantly returned the holy sword he shad in her hand-Seps Eclair to its original length.
The holy sword that responds to her consciousness is a family heirloom passed down from generation to generation in the Forestier family.
It is a magical item. It increases the owner’s magical power and allows her to handle lightning techniques with greater precision.
She knew that the day would eventually come when she would have this holy sword in her hands, and now it was time to use it.
The holy sword moved freely, slicing through the astral body as she willed, and the lightning technique made it disappear.
However, as she said earlier, she can’t handle large scale techniques in the city.
For this reason, after attacking with the magic gun, she has been daring to annihilate the astral body with a low-powered blow.
Clarice turned back to the people waiting behind her.
“No one is injured, is there?”
“Yes! No problem!”
“It’s all right, Ensign Fourestier! The Second Lieutenant immediately detected the astral presence, so we haven’t been burned.”
As Private First Class Ilaria said, Clarice focused her nerves on the perimeter.
She instantly sensed the presence of the astral body drifting in the air and gave the platoon the order to attack. Thanks to their swift action, there were no casualties so far.
However, the enemy was not only a pale flame. There were more than a few people who had already been taken in by the astral body and had become the living dead.
She guess they couldn’t handle it anywhere else. No wonder. Most of them were not prepared to fight the dead.
On the other hand, none of the people in the vicinity of this temple had suffered any casualties other than the platoon led by Clarice.
At that moment, the loud voice of an old soldier rang out.
“Don’t be afraid! Though they may be unseen, these ghosts move slowly! As long as you remain vigilant, they are not a threat!”
Major General Karsati slashed at the approaching ghost with his sword, saying as if to inspire those under his command.
The sword, infused with sacred power by the holy water, can cut through even astral bodies, which normally nullify most physical attacks.
Even in his old age, he seemed to have the strength to live up to his rank of Major General.
–and at the entrance to the temple.
There was a blonde general standing there, loosening the power of the hand that held the divine sword Revisistra. With his eyelids closed, he looked as if he was meditating, which at first glance seemed like a gap in his life.
The pale flames that had sprung up from the ground just beside him instantly disappeared.
That’s all Clarice could see.
When she came to his senses, the great hero, General Claude Duras, was standing as if nothing had happened, wielding lightly the divine sword that had just sliced through the astral body.
(…… When., when did he wield the sword ……?)
Clarice, who was watching the whole thing, couldn’t even see Claude’s slash.
The astral body instantly disappeared, and he lightly swung his divine sword as if he was trying to get rid of the blood. If he hadn’t made the shaking motion, it would have seemed like he was just standing there.
Even Clarice, who was absolutely proud of her power, couldn’t help but feel an inexplicable emotion.
As she swallowed a gulp of spit, a cheerful voice rang out, changing the atmosphere of the place.
“Come on, come on, what’s the matter? Toto is not so weak that she can be caught by you slackers! Come on, Mare Viper! You’re up!”
A stream of water erupted from the blue blade of the sword called the Mare Viper, which turned into a spear and skewered the pale flames one after another.
A tremendous flow of water easily penetrated the hard cobblestones, slaughtering the pale flames one after another.
The blow came within sight of the troopers led by Major General Karsati, and the terrified ones began to back away.
“Young lady there, you’ve gone too far!”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Toto is not very good at holding back.”
The girl with the braided purple hair put it without seeming to take offense at all.
When the old soldier let out a sigh, the previously outnumbered pale flames huddled together.
“Everyone, careful! This is ……”
As soon as the pale flames came together, the momentum of the flames suddenly became stronger. A human-like object appeared on the surface.
“Uo……uo……!!!”
It is the unmistakable cry of the dead.
It was the anguished cry of one swho had lost their life in agony.
“All personel, stance–”
Before Major General Karsati could give the order, a huge mass of pale blue flames loomed in front of Claude’s eyes. Even Clarice was slow to react to the speed, which was clearly different from the slow movements they had been making.
It was immediately after that that the flames, which had grown huge as an aggregate, were cut into pieces and disappeared without a trace.
While everyone looked at me with a look of incomprehension on their face as to why such a thing had happened.
The blond general, who wielded his divine sword with exactly the same movements as before, slowly opened his eyelids and said.
“Our forces are too concentrated.”
“Yes, ……?” (Karsati)
As the old soldier asked back, Claude continued.
“It is only natural that the temple should be heavily guarded. However, this is the result of the concentration of forces on this spot. From now on, only I and a few others will deal with this situation. All of you should hurry and send reinforcements to various places.”
Isn’t that dangerous? No one dare to say so.
Not even Major General Karsati, a fierce warlord, and someone more powerful than him, the young prophet Ensign Clarice Fourestier, could argue with him.
The girl with purple hair said to the old soldier, who still may not have made up his mind.
“It’s okay here. The Great Hero and Toto will protect it. We don’t need the others. Rather… ……”
Toto smiled wryly.
“You’re in my way. Will you small fry please go somewhere else?”
“What are you talking about, you little ……!”
“I’m just telling you the truth. Besides, Toto said it before. I’m not very good at holding back. It would be fun to destroy everything with you guys involved, though, wouldn’t it?”
Some resented the girl’s provocations, but her excellence had been shown so far to be great.
Despite her easy-going demeanor, she was able to move with great sophistication, far surpassing military counterparts. The girl’s abilities were so immense that some of them could have lost their will to fight.
But Claude chided her for it.
“Watch your mouth, Toto. If you are going to lower the morale of my army any further, you are not needed here. You may leave this place right away.”
“Oops, ……, I:m sorry! Please forgive me if I’m being unintentionally honest! Toto also wants to fight more and more! So please allow me to stay here!”
While the military people were upset, Claude gave orders in rapid succession.
And..
“Fourestier Platoon, proceed to the High Magic Court.”
“What? Why do we have to be placed there…?!”
“I believe in your power, and that’s why I’ve decided to send you elsewhere. That’s all.”
“…Tsk.”
Clarice gritted her teeth.
Will this person still not accept me? These thoughts began to build up.
“Ensign Fourestier. Try to keep the city safe. It is clear from the movements of the dead that that someone is controlling them, but let it go for now. Protect the city, protect the people, that’s what a soldier does. Don’t forget that.”
“…… I know, I know, I know. ……!”
Clarice said only that bitterly, and turned on her heel. A female soldier, who was watching her anxiously, called out to her.
“Huh, Ensign Frestier? Are you okay?”
“…… Private Ilaria, we are on our way to the High Magic Court, as General Duras has requested. Make sure everyone is ready.”
“Yes, ma’am. Oh, um…”
“What’s matter?”
“I’m a lot lower in rank than Ensign Fourestier, and I’m not smart either. I’m not, but I’m older than you. I’m sure General Duras doesn’t think that he wants to exclude you or that he doesn’t care about you…”
“I know, I know! Is that all you want to say? Finish your preparations quickly!”
Private Ilaria’s words were interrupted by Clarice, who shouted and walked away as fast as she could.
Private Ilaria raised her eyebrows sadly in consideration of the heavy responsibility that a girl younger than herself was carrying, but it was only for a moment.
“Yes, Private Eric there! Don’t be frightened, we’ll follow the Ensign!”
“Yes!!”
She blasted at the upset soldiers as they looked at each other and hurriedly followed Clarice.
◆
I let out a sigh as I sat in a ramshackle position on the roof of the High Magic Court.
Thinking I’m full of gaps, I stuck out one hand toward a group of ghosts attacking at a rapid speed and snapping my fingers.
A karma flame technique of about the sixth rank caused the ghost’s pale body to burn bright red.
“Guuuu…… uoooo!!”
I knew that a blow like this wouldn’t be enough to eliminate them. So I immediately released two similar techniques in succession, the ghost body disappeared with a scream of despair.
Boring. It’s boring.
It’s difficult to defeat a durable ghost with a single blow because I’m suppressing my power to avoid causing unnecessary damage to people and buildings in the city.
But that was it. If I couldn’t kill them with one blow, all I had to do was give them another.
Since a while ago, the pale flames had united to form a giant ghost that was attacking people.
If an ordinary person were to touch that collective, they would be consumed by its tremendous grudge. In the end, they’ll find that their soul will be polluted in no time, and they’ll soon become the living dead.
It was about to become too much for an ordinary soldier to handle, and the number of casualties would be high.
I didn’t care how many people died.
I was only helping people who were being attacked by ghosts nearby, and before I knew it, people were pouring into the entrance of the High Magic Court looking for help.
What a pain in the ass. Even though I was thinking about it, I said to myself.
“If you don’t want to die, you should run inside the building. Because all the staff at the Higher Magic Court should be kicked out and fight.”
In fact, that’s exactly what had happened.
One by one, the evacuees entered the High Magic Court. This High Magic Court in Granden is small. It’s probably less than a third of the size of the one I visited in Mildiana.
As a result, a barrier was set up inside the building, and most of the staff went out and were chased by the ghosts.
However, this collection of ghost cannot be annihilated with just one hit of the 6th level technique.
Even though the staff of the High Magic Court are also familiar with magic, it seems that there are not enough human resources to release the 6th level technique. The current situation was that I had to intervene and somehow hold them back as they became more and more impoverished.
–Where is the mastermind? What is the purpose?
There should be no doubt that the destruction of the temple is the main goal. But with this level of death as pawns, that person won’t even be able to do that.
If it weren’t for me, maybe that person could have gotten this High Magic Court to fall, but …… what would be the point of doing that?
The situation will be temporarily unfavorable, but the temple has those who can spare the strength and priests who can handle the sacred arts.
It’s obvious that they will be overpowered sooner or later. First of all, with that great hero, we may not even need the power of a priest.
Does the mastermind still have some other goal in mind besides destroying the temple? If that person is going to destroy that place, that person will have to deal with General Duras.
But what is the method?
What if they all went well and the temple was destroyed?
I wondered if something related to the fluctuation of space I had felt at that time would happen.
Is that really something that they have to do, even if it means making enemy with the Great Hero?
There is no end to the questions that can be asked …….
As I was thinking about this, my whole body felt a stinging killing intent.
This is the first time I’ve ever felt such a tremendous killing power in my body. This is more than the killing spirit of a higher species of demon.
I immediately turn my eyes in that direction. Instantly.
The outer wall surrounding Granden, which is strong enough to be known as a fortified city, was skewered by what looked like a black spear.
The black spears pierced the walls one after another, and the supposedly solid walls collapsed with a roar in the blink of an eye.
While everyone around me was in a state of panic, witnessing a phenomenon that they had never even experienced before, I laughed.
A shadowy figure walked shakily out of the horrible dust.
It holds a kind of sword hilt in one hand, but the sword is also
It cannot even be called a sword. It was like a deformed tentacle, with multiple blades branching out, each with a strong killing power.
It’s not just the walls, but the cobblestones, the buildings, and everything in between that are skewered.
The tall, thin figure holding the sword suddenly stops and stares at me with sharp eyes.
He was wearing a hood and his mouth was covered by a cloth, so I couldn’t make out his features. The person, who is probably a man, stares at me for a while. I also stare into his eyes.
It’s terrible killing intent.
A normal person could have fainted at the mere sight of those eyes.
The intruder muttered to himself as the people around him fled in droves.
“Ghosts. Keep the “thing” at bay.”
“Oh? So you’re not going to fight me?”
Without answering the question, the man swung the sword in his hand.
The miasma overflowed from a group of black tentacles that looked like sharp spears. A collection of ghosts emerged from them and surrounded me.
For a brief moment, my vision was filled with the dead. The next thing I knew, the person who had been giving off that horrible killing intent had disappeared from the scene.
Oh, man. He seemed like an interesting guy.
I can’t believe you’re going to let me take care of these little guys and then disappear.
With a slight annoyance, I filled my hands with magic power.
“Oh, well. I’ll just need to get rid of them quickly– Come, come, deads. I’ll make all of your grudges and sorrows go away.
Let’s extinguish this flock of dead without any time for pain.
I’ll definitely find that escaped prey and split it into eight pieces.
I felt the destructive urge that had been smoldering in my belly boiling to the brink of its endurance.
If I don’t get this aching urge under control soon, this fortified city itself could disappear without a trace before I know it.
Pathetic deads. You are to be my sacrifices.
I raised the corner of my mouth and released my magic power towards the deads.
