Flames of Purification
That made twice now, counting just a moment ago.
I still didn't fully understand that voice that spoke to me in a world frozen still. But for now, I'd go with what I was feeling.
"Ren?"
"What is it?"
I turned toward Huey and Lucy, both of them staring at me in surprise at the sudden blaze erupting from my wings.
"I'll handle those things. You two protect Jackson and the carriage."
"I don't mind, but are you okay on your own?"
"It's just a bunch of Living Dead. Please."
The corpses shambling toward us were small fry — the kind even ordinary villagers could handle if the conditions were right. And they were worried about those?
Slow, mindless, and barely half as strong as they'd been in life?
"Poison doesn't work on them anyway, so don't worry about it."
The only real problem was that every inch of those bodies was filled with blood saturated with rot-toxin.
"…Alright. Still, be careful."
For people like us who could shield ourselves with mana, or for anyone blessed with a priest's protection, they were nothing more than foul-smelling corpses. But for a normal person like Jackson, they were dangerous enough.
Whoosh!
I sprinted forward and beat my wings hard. Riding the gust, I lifted myself into the air — and the moment time began to flow again, I quietly muttered the thought that had been sitting in my head.
"Baptism of fire, my ass."
Apostle of a god, this and that.
"Just say 'burn them all to death' without dressing it up so damn much."
Every last one of those god-related types loved their needlessly lofty vocabulary.
"Duty? Go to hell. I'm me. Don't you dare decide my role for me just because you're a god or whatever…!"
Fwoosh!
As my irritation swelled, the flames on my wings burned brighter and brighter.
Yeah. This was just me venting. A pure, unfiltered tantrum to dump out all this boiling frustration.
So no — I was absolutely not doing what that damned voice told me to do.
"Just die already—!!"
Whoosh!
With every ounce of power I could muster, I swept my wings toward the horde of Living Dead below.
KRAAAAAASH!
A wave of fire unfurled with the beat of my wings — and with it, the irritation that had been seething inside me seemed to drain away.
…Along with my stamina, incidentally.
This fire burned through energy for no good reason.
"Haa…."
Still, the heat that had climbed all the way to the top of my head had cooled a little. I calmly surveyed the surroundings and found myself impressed.
"I always thought it was a weird fire."
Outside of drying wet wings and clothes, I'd never really found a proper use for it. It was the kind of strange flame that took forever just to set dry firewood alight.
"So it had an effect like this."
I murmured as I watched the Living Dead below turn cleanly to ash and nothing else. Roughly speaking, it seemed to carry a purifying power like holy energy — or maybe it burned away magical effects.
No wonder Frederica hated it.
"Ah, right."
Looking at the ash-scattered landscape around me, I finally remembered there had been more Living Dead coming. I turned around —
"…Peep."
— and locked eyes with a murderous glare aimed straight at me, swallowing my breath without meaning to.
No need to say who that glare belonged to. Yeah.
"Reeeeen—! Stop showing off and get back to work already—!"
I beat my wings toward the barrier of white crackling current surrounding the carriage.
"You're the one who said they were coming from all directions, so what are you doing over there?!"
CRACK!
The moment I arrived, Lucy smashed a Living Dead's head outside the barrier with savage force, fuming.
"…Sorry."
"Just deal with these things already! One freeloading Master is more than enough!"
At that, I turned toward the direction Lucy had been subtly glaring at for a while now.
"What's he doing?"
Inside the barrier, Huey was clutching several yellow papers — talismans, as they were called — and muttering something under his breath, the same kind I'd seen him use before.
"I don't know, so just move!"
Thud! Crunch!
If I kept standing around watching, that blind coffin Lucy was swinging was going to come for me next. I wrapped my wings in flame once more and swept them out.
Fwoosh!
As the Living Dead around us went up in fire, Lucy roughly shook the black blood off her coffin.
"…What is that, anyway? Same as earlier."
"I don't know either. I just do it and it works."
And then —
"Waaaaah! What the hell is this all of a sudden?!"
Huey's panicked voice. I turned to look —
"…Ah."
"Ugh, how do these two manage to be so completely out of sync."
The residual force of the flames I'd just unleashed was eating through the barrier Huey had been maintaining, and Living Dead from the other side were pouring in.
"Oh, for crying out loud!"
Thwack!
Huey flung the burning talismans from his hands, drew the sword at his hip, and smacked away an approaching Living Dead with the flat of the blade.
"The carriage is too close. Let's put some distance first."
"Following Master's suggestion would be wise."
"Hmm. I don't think that'll be necessary."
At the same time, I watched a certain golden-haired drunkard rise on the far side, clutching her head — and stopped Lucy mid-dash as she tried to run to Huey's side with her wings half-raised.
"Ugh, my cheeks… What on earth is going on?"
Jackson must have slapped her a few times in his panic. Chloe rubbed her bright-red, puffy cheeks and looked around with half-asleep eyes.
"…I'm late, but I'll help."
The moment she spotted Huey dancing frantically against dozens of Living Dead, a deep blue-black holy power began to radiate from Chloe.
"O most exalted Lord. Those who wander still, unable to find rest even in death, are here before us now."
Listening to Chloe's prayer, I leaned in and whispered into Lucy's ear — she was staring at Chloe with the same baffled expression I was wearing.
"…I think she's still half asleep."
"Is all of this… really holy power?"
Huey, still hard at work shoving Living Dead back, finally noticed the holy energy and spun around in shock.
"Please grant that I, Your agent, may bestow upon them eternal rest."
Chloe's prayer reached its climax.
"In the name of Deneb, God of Darkness and Rest — let there be peace upon this land."
An amount of holy power so excessive the word barely covered it exploded outward in a flash of deep blue-black light.
When the light faded —
"WAAAAAAAH!"
"Why is Huey screaming like an idiot."
"He's my Master, and I'm still embarrassed."
I clicked my tongue at Huey, who was frozen in some ridiculous pose mid-scream, then quietly stepped away from Lucy.
"Chloe."
Fortunately I wasn't the target. Lucy called Chloe's name and approached her at a measured pace. Jackson, sensing the dangerous atmosphere, quietly fled back to the carriage.
"Ah, Sister Lucy… Kyaaaaah?!"
"No more alcohol until we reach our destination."
Standing on tiptoe, Lucy pinned the back of Chloe's head with one hand and jammed a chunk of Living Dead flesh she'd been holding into Chloe's nose with the other. I clamped both wings over my mouth without thinking.
"…Why is that still around? Wasn't everything purified?"
Huey had sidled up beside me and asked quietly. Instead of answering, I just shuddered.
I remembered Lucy peeling a scrap of flesh off herself right before the holy power detonated and quietly clenching it in her fist.
"Kyaaah!! The smell!! I'm dying—!!"
"If you'd gotten up properly the first time, this wouldn't have happened."
Even if priests were immune to Living Dead rot-toxin thanks to the holy power in their bodies, I never thought there'd actually be a lunatic willing to do something like that without a second thought.
We were holding our breath through Lucy's reign of terror when —
"Ren. Master."
"Peep?!"
"Yes ma'am!"
Lucy suddenly called our names.
"Isn't it nice, fighting without having to smell anything from a distance?"
Crack.
She rolled her neck with that same blank expression while flexing her hands, and even I found it a little terrifying — so I'd really prefer she stop.
"So unfair. You both know perfectly well I hate the smell."
Then she puffed out her cheeks in a full sulk and whipped her head away from us. Huey and I quietly locked eyes.
"…I'll take the whole night watch alone tonight. Take one for the team."
"What do I get out of it?"
"Every meal for a week, cooked by my hands."
That was a pretty good offer. I nodded silently, then carefully approached Lucy.
"Um, Lucy?"
"…What is it."
"Well, as an apology, sort of… if you're okay with it, would you maybe want to sleep under my wings tonight…?"
"Hhk."
She clearly hadn't expected me to play that card. Her eyes trembled like an earthquake had hit, and her mouth fell wide open.
"Well, if you don't want to, that's fi— mmph."
Thinking it might not be enough, I started to speak again — only for Lucy's hand to clamp over my mouth at incredible speed.
…This isn't the hand that just touched that flesh, right?
"I-I wasn't even angry, you know? Ren said she'd do it! She's offering, so I'm accepting!"
Saying that with a bright red face didn't make it any more convincing.
"Uwaaaah… my nose… I think my nose is paralyzed…."
"Then at least wash your hands first…."
Ignoring Chloe, who was rolling on the ground clutching her nose with tears in her eyes, Lucy urged us to hurry up and get ready for bed. I stroked her head with a wing, then met Huey's eyes. We both nodded at the same time and thought the same thing.
…Thank god we somehow got through that.