Chapter 27 - Song of Water and Fire
Chapter 27 - Song of Water and Fire
"Camilla... there will be many difficult things in this world. It is okay to struggle. But never give up... If you do not give up... God will not give up on you either."
That was the story from the day before the assassination incident.
That day, Camilla decided to leave the Imperial Palace for a while to receive training at the Magic Tower.
Young Camilla was just excited that she would be able to learn magic, and watching her, the Empress said those words to her.
Young Camilla did not understand the meaning of those words back then.
But now, Camilla felt like she understood.
Her mother knew better than anyone her daughter's weakness of giving up easily in moments of crisis.
And of all people... it was this man, not even her brother, who made her realize that.
"Are you coming to your senses?"
Edric looked at Camilla with a worried gaze.
The light of reason slowly returned to her red eyes, which had been blurry.
She touched her swollen, red cheek with a trembling hand, then stared at me with a cold and firm expression.
"...I showed you an ugly side of myself. I apologize, Sir Edric."
"Not at all. Rather, I apologize for committing such rudeness, Your Highness."
As expected, a slap is the best medicine for mental instability.
The Princess, with her gaze returned, no longer clung to my clothes.
Hmm... the Princess from a moment ago was quite tasty too, so it's a bit of a shame.
"So... do you have a way to defeat that monster?"
At the Princess's words, I looked at the snake monster.
The snake monster was crushing the church and pressuring Jiren.
I furrowed my brows as I watched the snake monster.
I do have one weapon that might work on a Worshiper of the Dead King... but the problem was those hard scales.
Jiren and his guards' Silver Crossbows all bounced off those hard scales.
I need to do something about those scales...
As I was thinking that, I looked at Princess Camilla.
In the original work, she appeared as a 2nd-class mage at first and eventually grew into an Archmage.
Yes, if I borrow her power, I might be able to do it.
"Your Highness, I need your help."
"My help?"
At that moment, Jiren was having the worst moment of his life.
"Sir Jiren! Dodge!"
Bang-!
"Kuaaaagh!!!"
The snake monster swung its tail and head, pressuring Jiren.
The Silver Crossbows and swords prepared as exorcism weapons were useless.
He couldn't get close with a sword, and the Silver Crossbows just bounced off the snake monster's hard scales.
The thought of catching the snake monster had already vanished from Jiren's mind.
All that was in his head was surviving.
"Shieeee, you all tried."
"Shieeek, why don't you rest now."
But even that had its limits.
The sword was broken, and the crossbows were all out of ammo.
Edric, his only hope, showed no signs of coming out.
Damn it... did he really abandon us?
Just as the snake monster opened its mouth wide to swallow Jiren—
"Pyro (Fire Magic)!"
Kwa-bang—!
A massive fireball struck the monster's flank, causing a huge explosion.
Jiren thought as he watched the giant flame erupt before his eyes.
"Did I get him!?"
Suddenly, Edric's sigh was heard.
Edric said, "He's busy casting a resurrection spell, for fuck's sake," but Jiren didn't understand what that meant.
A resurrection spell? He wasn't a mage.
At that moment, the snake monster revealed itself, parting the smoke.
The monster's scales were slightly burnt, but it hadn't taken any significant damage.
The bizarre, mixed voice of Albinus and Lumiel rang out.
"Shieee, well, well... you've come to your senses, Your Highness."
"Shieeek, how unfortunate. We had some old affection, so we were going to send you to the Dead King's embrace without pain."
"You say such horrific things so casually."
Camilla stood her ground, her eyes burning with resolve as she confronted them directly.
She gathered her mana and began her incantation, and then flames began to rise from both of her hands.
"This is all I can give to you fallen heretics. Burn to death and repent for your sins against my faith! Flare (Firestorm Magic)!!!"
Whoosh—!
She combined the flames from both hands and began to spew fire.
A giant vortex of flame swirled and blasted toward the snake monster, where the Cardinal and Lumiel had become one.
Chiiiik-!
"Shieeeee, to think you still had this much mana left!?"
"Shieeeee, impressive, Your Highness."
The vortex of flame, which had continued for over 20 seconds, died down.
Have we finally defeated it this time!? Jiren thought to himself.
And the sight that was revealed was desperate.
The snake monster's scales had burnt to ash and fallen to the floor, but the monster's bizarre laughter hadn't diminished at all.
"Shieeee... you cannot burn this body I received from the Dead King with mere child's play like this, Your Highness."
The Cardinal was certain of his victory.
The Princess's magic was very threatening, but it was at a level that could be endured by the regenerative power of a body blessed by the Dead King.
The scales had burnt, but they would regenerate in 5 minutes.
The other soldiers' weapons were all gone, and now all they had to do was eat them.
It was his victory.
But at that moment...
"If fire doesn't work, how about water?"
Edric walked out from behind the Princess.
He didn't even draw his silver sword, which had exorcism effects.
He aimed at the monster with a strange posture, clasping both palms together with his bare hands.
What is he trying to do?
Is he going to destroy this body of the Dead King, which even fire couldn't burn, with mere water magic?
At that moment, Edric shouted.
"Heavenly Piercing... no, it's Holy Water Shower!"
Pshushushuuuuk—!
My skill <Drinking Bird> was an ability that allowed me to create substances I perceived as poison.
And the most lethal poison to the Worshipers of the Dead King was Holy Water, which contained divine power after completing sacred rituals.
In other words! It meant I could create Holy Water with my skill.
I fired high-pressure Holy Water from between my hands, using the stance of that skill I saw in the Jujutsu Kaisen.
The Holy Water, fired at super-high pressure, didn't quite cut the snake monster... but it began to spray onto the burnt scales.
It seemed my strength wasn't enough to create water pressure capable of cutting things.
Damn it, what a shame. I really wanted to try that once.
But the effect was sufficient.
Chiiiik—!
"Kieeee! My body! My body is melting!?"
"Kieeeeek! H-how do you possess the 'Holy Water of the Sun'!?"
Holy Water of the Sun? What is that?
Judging by the situation, it seemed the Holy Water created by my skill was damn strong.
The Holy Water melted the snake monster's body where the scales had fallen off.
"Sir Edric! I believed in you!"
Believed my ass, shouted Jiren, who had been wearing an expression that we were completely doomed just a moment ago.
Suffering from the Holy Water spraying from my hands, the snake monster began to be pushed back.
I didn't stop, spraying high-pressure Holy Water and aiming for the monster's joints and head.
The bastards writhed in pain and rolled on the floor.
Good, let's finish this!
Feeling the limits of my mana, I desperately squeezed it out and didn't stop the Holy Water spray.
Perhaps judging that they couldn't die like this, the snake monster lunged toward Camilla as a last-ditch effort.
"Kiek!! I cannot... I cannot die like this!"
"The Dead King's mission must be completed!!"
The snake monster charged toward Camilla while its body was melting, as if it intended to do something to her.
The bastards had overlooked one thing.
That right now, I, whose loyalty was maxed out by the 72 billion mansion buff, was by her side.
I became a retainer shield, not a friend shield, and jumped in front of the Princess to act as a barrier.
At that moment, the monster's two heads bit into my side and shoulder simultaneously.
Puuk-!
"Edric!!"
"Kuaaaagh!!!"
I screamed at the unimaginable agony.
I could feel the snake's fangs piercing through my muscles, and the snake monster shouted.
"Tch! If it's come to this, I'll just switch into your body!"
"Not yet! Not yet! We are not finished."
"...No, you guys are finished."
I smiled bitterly even while bleeding.
At that moment, the radiance of the sun exploded from deep within my body.
[Protection of the White God activates.]
Buuuuu—!
"This is the Sun God's!?"
"How do you possess!!!?"
The Protection of the White God is a protection that shields me with the power of the Sun God.
For a normal human, it would just be a physical force pushing the target away, but to the Worshipers of the Dead King, it was a destructive light, like radiation.
Pure white, divine light poured into the mouth of the snake monster that was biting my body.
The monster, filled with the power of the Dead King, couldn't even scream as it was scattered into black ash by the divine power erupting from within its mouth.
"Kieeeeek!!!"
"Dead King! Dead King!!!!!!"
With Holy Water on the outside and the Sun God's power erupting from the inside, even a monster fused by a Worshiper of the Dead King couldn't withstand it and disappeared into ash.
As the situation ended, the tension released, and my knees buckled.
"......Hoo."
Blood was streaming from my side.
It was my fault for delaying the activation of the protection by 1 second to make sure I hooked them.
Damn it... I should have delayed it by 0.5 seconds...
The Princess ran to me.
She looked at me with a pale expression and worried eyes.
"Edric! Are you okay? Oh no! You're bleeding too much!"
Camilla ran over and supported me.
Seeing the tears welling up in her eyes, I smiled faintly.
There were so many things I wanted to say, but... my head was starting to spin.
"Your Highness...... I think I'm about to pass out, so please handle the cleanup."
"Edric? Edric!!"
I couldn't finish my sentence and collapsed into Camilla's arms.
Even as my consciousness faded, I thought the faint scent and warm embrace from her arms weren't bad at all, and I let go of my consciousness.