Chapter 464
Well, we got ourselves a valuable source of information.
Leaving Heliel out in the rain like this might kill her, so I quickly tied her up and threw her over my shoulder.
"Guess I'm getting used to this world."
Saying that myself, but I only felt a little disgust looking at the carnage around me. I did it, and considering what they did and what they were about to do, it's just how things work here.
"Man, Second Sister's really letting loose."
The destruction over there made this look tame.
Golems acted as giant shields, protecting the kids from lightning. Two girls standing in front of them.
They appeared out of nowhere. The kids were confused. Then lightning went wild.
Literally. Lightning. Going wild.
Against Azhdaha, the so-called final boss of this continent, she'd been on the defensive. Bad matchup. Level difference too.
She's usually a crafting type. Compared to other high spirits focused on combat, she's a step below.
But right now, she was venting raw magic. Uncontrolled. Brute force.
She'd basically become a natural disaster. Lightning given form, descending on the earth.
The Church members facing that dropped one after another. Electrocuted.
I walked up to one of the charred bodies. Still breathing.
"W-why... a spirit..."
Heliel on my shoulder, I crouched down. He couldn't understand why a spirit was here.
"Maybe 'cause you threw away a kid's doll?"
He wasn't listening. I wasn't really talking to him. Just felt like answering. He passed out.
"At this rate, it'll be over soon."
Even while I watched, Second Sister kept wiping them out. Careful not to start a forest fire. Still, lightning is faster than any person.
The Church members fought back. Desperate. She dodged. Shocked them. One by one.
Not a fight. A slaughter.
One tried to run. Lightning cut him off. He dropped. Reminded me of an RPG where you choose 'Run,' but the game says 'You were cut off.'
"So this is what a 'quick' fight looks like."
'...It wasn't that quick.'
And just like that, they were all down.
We waited. Second Sister stopped the lightning. Went back to normal.
'I didn't need to wait, did I? They were nothing.'
"No, no. That's how you get careless. You rush in, save the day, think 'we're safe,' and then they take a hostage. Then you get to yell 'coward!' That's how it always goes."
The fight ended too fast. From Heliel's perspective, it was a natural disaster. She was whimpering in pain, but I could feel her fear.
The Church's usual playbook is a surprise attack. Overwhelming force. No fair fights. No need to be serious against heretics. That's the mindset.
So their common sense isn't common.
"Besides, you wouldn't have gone that hard unless something set you off."
'...Some idiot thought offering the kids as sacrifices would calm me down.'
There was no reason for Second Sister to go this far. Or Nell. They were on the front lines.
Something happened. They did something.
"...Sacrifices to a spirit. Worst possible idea."
'Tell me about it.'
Of course. The Church stepped on a landmine.
Offer sacrifices to a spirit. Appease its anger. Sounds plausible. They missed one thing.
That's for fallen spirits. Spirits that turned against nature.
Normal spirits get magic from the world itself. They don't need sacrifices.
But a spirit that stops preserving and starts destroying becomes a corrupted spirit. Exiled from the spirit world. Cut off from the world's magic.
Then what? They rampage more to stay alive. Vicious cycle.
Panicking as their life drains away, they lose reason, lose morality. The process of a spirit becoming corrupted is painful for other spirits to watch.
Sacrifices are a way for them to regain power. So offering one meant they either mistook Second Sister for a corrupted spirit, or they thought all spirits are the same.
I'd bet on the latter.
Either way, it was a good way to make her angry.
"Forget them. Let's check on the kids."
'I'll stay here. They're scared of me.'
"It's fine. I'm the one carrying a broken woman over my shoulder. They'll be more scared of me."
'So neither of us should go.'
I pointed toward the kids. They were staring. Terrified.
Second Sister thought it was because of her rampage. No. It was me. Masked guy carrying a woman with her limbs bent the wrong way and a gag in her mouth.
Looks matter.
Beautiful Second Sister vs. masked villain carrying a broken woman.
No contest.
"No good?"
'No. Look at them.'
"Maybe without the mask."
'No. And do you want that woman over there seeing your face?'
"No good, huh."
So we stayed put.
The kids were safe. With Second Sister backing off, the rain would stop soon.
Now we just wait for Shalia and the others.
"Liberta-kun."
"What's up?"
"Everyone's hungry. I was thinking of making soup."
"They can eat?"
"Yeah. Something light."
We needed to get their strength back. Food.
The Church barely fed them. And they'd been marching through the woods all night. Low on calories.
Good thing the Church had food. Cooking gear too.
"We'll keep watch. You and Nell cook."
"Okay!"
"Don't let your guard down. Even with the kids. Could be Church spies. Keep a spirit close."
"Got it."
Soup. Simple. Would take time.
"We'll watch the perimeter."
'With her?'
"...Tie her to a tree."
'Knock her out?'
"Might as well."
We started walking. She pointed at the woman on my shoulder. We tied her to a tree. Second Sister gave her a jolt. Out cold.
Safe. Nell and Amina started digging through supplies. I gathered the Church survivors. Tied them up. They were groaning. Not waking up. I tied them tight anyway. For the temple.
'What are you doing?'
"Gathering information."
Found a man who looked important. Went through his bag. A little scorched, but not everything.
"There. A letter."
'What does it say?'
"Orders. Where to send the kids."
Nice paper. I unfolded it. From someone higher up.
"Ugh."
'What?'
"Close one. We were going to save them anyway. Good thing we did."
'Don't mumble. Tell me.'
"Zulunbe Valley."
'What.'
The Church never does anything good.
'No way.'
"Way. See for yourself."
Zulunbe Valley. People stay away from that place.
Reason: one of the worst undead hotspots on the continent.
'Why take kids there? What are they thinking?'
"A hideout? Or something else."
That place makes this forest look like a picnic. Undead everywhere. Status ailments everywhere.
Poison mist in the air. Just being there hurts you.
The temple set up barriers to contain it. Didn't clean it up. Too big. Not enough people.
"Taking kids there is insane."
'Being insane is normal for them, right?'
"Right."
I could think of a few reasons. Nothing certain.
"This tells me one thing. This isn't about recruitment."
They weren't gathering believers.
That place isn't good for a base. Even for the Church. A hideout, maybe. Do something there. But living there? Too many problems.
'Right. Kids wouldn't survive there.'
"Maybe they have a setup we don't know about... No."
The land is that bad. Players trying to fix it would lose their minds. Kill all the monsters. Land stays poisoned.
Restoring it? I gave up on that.
Even the Church wouldn't pick that place to hide.
"...Still. Can't assume."
That's just what I know. Maybe something I don't.
We had to go. Just in case. I sighed. Second Sister tapped my shoulder.