Holy Fire (4)
Holy water scattered across the earth darkened to black, bubbling and seething as it boiled.
It was soil beneath their feet, and yet the water refused to soak in—beading on the surface, writhing as it cooked. Veronica watched it with a look of satisfaction.
"Good. Works as advertised."
"...Holy water can do this too?"
"Of course. Water always knows the answer."
Er looked at her with a puzzled expression. It was Jina who answered.
"It means the land around here is contaminated with mana. This spot especially—that's why it's reacting this badly."
"Which means..."
"If we check here, something's bound to turn up."
Veronica lifted her foot as if she meant nothing by it.
KWAANG!!
A deafening roar split the air, and the ground around them caved in.
"Ugh...?!"
Er staggered, her balance stolen by the sudden collapse. She was a heartbeat from falling when—
"Watch it."
"...Thank you, Ahin."
Ahin had caught her against his chest. He muttered under his breath.
"Same as ever. Always the brute-force approach..."
"...Couldn't we have just done this from the start?"
The trembling of the earth subsided enough for them to see it clearly. From the spot where Veronica had stomped, a fissure had split open, peeling back to reveal a passage underneath.
Having seen that, Er's confusion only deepened.
"Then there was no need to use holy water to pinpoint the location...?"
"...No. That. Advanced technique."
"What?"
The one who answered was Haru, who—unusually for her—was staring at Veronica with her eyes gone wide and round.
"A black mage's barrier. Nasty stuff. Touch anywhere but the center... and it gets messy."
"They come pouring out like a swarm of bugs—the monsters the black mage controls."
"She shattered the barrier in one hit. At this level... the alarm won't even go off."
Haru, more attuned to mana than any of the others, had seen it. In that casual motion, Veronica's mana had lashed out like a lightning bolt for a single instant. It had completely destroyed the core of the barrier hidden underground, leaving not even a trace behind. Haru's shoulders trembled slightly as she spoke.
"Can't do that with a rough location. That person is..."
"A monster. A complete monster. Don't even think about trying to copy her. If just anyone could pull that off, the world would've gone to hell already."
"You little brat. You know one thing and miss two."
Despite her disciple's complete lack of manners, Veronica's smile never faded.
"The world already is hell. When things like that wander around like it's nothing, what else would you call it?"
"..."
"Now then, ladies, I'll need your help. I broke the barrier, but I had no way to erase the sound or the shock. The black mages will come pouring out any moment."
"We're not going in?"
"Is there any need?"
Veronica's lips curled.
"Those things will walk themselves right out."
—■■■■■■■!!!!
What crawled out of the pit with that ragged roar was no mere skeleton or zombie. Its body was a patchwork rag—a grotesque assembly of mismatched limbs, different colors, different sizes, stitched together at random. A monster built from the arms and legs of creatures whose original forms were long past recognizing, shrieking something that could only be called a scream as it hauled itself into the light.
And it was not alone.
Chimeras of every hideous shape came climbing after it, thick claws and fangs flashing as they scrabbled up the broken earth. Er drew her shield and sword.
"Haru, cover us with magic from the rear! I'll take the front—Jina, strike whenever you see an opening. And Ahin, support—"
"...That's weird."
"What are you talking about all of a sudden?"
"The three-eyed one we saw in the catacombs last time was different."
The wall that had opened at Ahin's touch. When the three-eyed chimera imprisoned behind it had appeared, it had not been like this. A window inscribed with the words Boss Monster had floated before his eyes.
"That thing should've been way stronger than these... so why...?"
"That's not important right now! At least we have Lady Veronica with us..."
"Ah. That's it."
"What?"
Ahin's eyes went wide, as if something had just clicked into place.
"They're not a threat. That's why no warning popped up."
"What kind of nonsense is that all of a sudden...!"
"Look over there."
Ahin pointed. At the end of his finger stood a woman who had just finished burning a cigarette down to nothing and was grinding the last of it under her heel.
A massive greatsword appeared in her empty hands. A blade of white silver, the exact color of her hair. White light began to flow from the crest engraved along its side.
Veronica closed her fingers around the enormous weapon, her eyes gone cold and still.
Light surged from the greatsword. It was fierce as flame, so wild it seemed ready to devour the entire blade. From the moment that radiance bloomed, the chimeras' attention locked onto Veronica alone—as if no one else was worth noticing. As if no one but Veronica was worth fighting.
—■■■■■■!!
They charged, slashing wildly with fang and claw. The Holy Knight of white silver, wreathed in Holy Fire, spoke.
And then the world filled with brilliant light.
Kukukung...
At the distant vibration, it lifted its head and looked up.
A robe black as shadow emerged in the faint glow of a mana-stone lamp. The skeletal wrist visible from its sleeve trembled without rest, as if groping after something unseen. Blood-red eyes within the hood gleamed toward the surface—toward the source of the tremor.
"Has the light... reached us..."
Crack!
As it spoke, something beneath its foot shattered. What had it been, again. A chicken taken from a nearby village? Or a puppy. Perhaps a goblin, or a gnoll. It could even have been human.
But it did not matter. It had already taken everything it needed from this place.
If the light had reached them—if it had begun to illuminate this underground—
"Receive... the light..."
It began to move. The long red trail stretching along its path had once been something's boiling blood. Now it was no different from paint, gone cold, reeking of iron.
"Prepare... the ritual..."
The one who painted that trail—there were those who called such a being a black mage.
Veronica's skill was everything her reputation claimed. In an instant she had burned every chimera down to light, then personally bisected those that endured, shaking the blood from her greatsword.
"Mage girl, sorry, but could you give me a hand? Need some ventilation. The smell's foul."
Haru nodded slowly at the request and waved her hand. A fresh breeze unfurled from around her body. The nauseating stench left by the burned chimeras vanished with it, leaving only the faintest traces behind.
Veronica looked out over the plain littered with half-charred flesh and bone.
"The rest of you, collect the mana stones. Ahin, give your companions a blessing."
"Suddenly? You just told me not to use it."
She had been scolding him for flashing his abilities around, and now she wanted a blessing? Ahin furrowed his brow at the contradiction, about to protest, when—
"Would you rather I go pick up mana stones myself?"
"...Forget it. Drop it."
Ahin spread both hands. Golden motes of light gathered around him, then scattered glittering particles over his companions' heads.
"There. Done."
"Slow. Even at giving blessings. How do you expect to play at being a priest?"
"I'm the only one who can do this, you know."
"That's exactly why you need to be faster. You're the only one—so they'll come for you and you alone."
"..."
"Never let your guard down. Not for a moment."
Veronica tapped her disciple on the head as she said it.
"If you understood, get moving. Looks like there's a fair number of them."
"Huh—me too?"
"What, you don't want to? Standing around doing nothing would be boring."
"...Fine."
Ahin headed toward where his companions had gathered. Veronica watched him go with a small smile, then spoke again.
"Well then. Time to start hunting black mages."
She drew her greatsword from thin air once more, gripping it in a reverse hold. As if it had been waiting, the blade ignited at once. Veronica smiled faintly at the pure white flames rising from it—and in that moment, her greatsword drove into the earth and began to vomit white fire.
"Whoa?!"
"Hey! Warn people first, you maniac!"
Ahin bellowed. Veronica grinned.
"Then you wouldn't have stayed away from me, would you?"
"What the hell does that ev—"
"Ahin!!"
A heavy weight slammed into him. Blonde hair filled his vision, and Ahin sucked in a breath before he could stop himself.
The white flames that had been burning all around them vanished in an instant.
This was the flame of Divine Power, wrought by Veronica—the woman called the strongest Holy Knight of the Church. She hadn't even properly controlled it. She had merely let it run. And yet the beings capable of snuffing it out in a single instant were vanishingly few.
Darkness settled over the plain. From the cracks in the earth, black energy seeped and coiled upward. What pressed down on those watching was a deathly aura so thick it threatened to steal their consciousness.
Cloaked in the energy of death, it raised a skeletal hand to cover its face, as if the sun looking down upon it were an offense it could not abide.
"Has the light... come..."
And in that moment—
An unexpected message. On the darkened plain, stripped of every spark of flame, Ahin's quiet voice rang out.
"You've gotta be fucking kidding me."