Chapter 44: The Purifying Blade

“Orcs are creatures of darkness, and our Asante Kingdom has an irreconcilable enmity with them.”

“Then how could there be a city of theirs here? We can’t have flown that far, can we?”

I exclaimed loudly, as the dragonfly-like demonic beasts behind me inexplicably unleashed bolts of lightning-like energy, fortunately missing me by a hair’s breadth.

“I don’t know either. Even if you flew north from the beginning, you shouldn’t have reached the border.”

Sally, much like myself, was thoroughly terrified and utterly bewildered by the situation.

‘Could it be that they snuck in and built this city?’

I could not conceive of any other explanation for our predicament; the events of today had already been peculiar enough.

“Are you joking with me? Whoa—what was that!”

With a sudden, sharp turn, Sally shrieked in terror, her fingers digging painfully into my arm where I held her.

“Hold on tight! We still have enemies behind us!”

I shouted, though in truth, the thick clouds rendered everything above us virtually invisible; I was relying solely on my perception of dark elements to roughly pinpoint the demonic beasts’ positions.

However, the inability to see remained disorienting. I resorted to an S-shaped evasive flight path to dodge their attacks, though this inevitably sacrificed linear speed. I could feel our pursuers drawing ever closer, on the verge of overtaking us!

“Quick, think of something! Can you attack them? I’m about to get hit!”

With a burst of effort, I plunged through the clouds only to emerge above them once more. The demonic beasts followed, and under the moon’s glow, I could finally discern their precise locations.

“Those demonic beasts are Ghost-Faced Dragonflies. You can’t outfly them.”

Sally glanced back, instantly identifying the pursuers. She casually flung a few Holy Light Orbs their way, but alas, they failed to connect.

“Try attacking them with Purify!”

Seeing her attacks had no effect, Sally quickly instructed me.

“Huh? What did you say? Isn’t Purify used for healing people?”

Believing I had misheard, I sought clarification once more.

“Ghost-Faced Dragonflies and orcs are both creatures of darkness, extremely vulnerable to light elements. For them, the effect of Purify should be akin to a cursed poison.”

“Then I’ll try it!”

Understanding dawned on me instantly, and I immediately unleashed Purify upon one of the Ghost-Faced Dragonflies behind us.

A ball of light shot forth from my hand, bearing a striking resemblance to Sally’s light orbs. Yet, unlike hers, it possessed the uncanny ability to curve, much like a magnet drawn to its opposite pole. Even when the enemy attempted to evade it, their efforts proved futile; the orb unerringly found its mark.

There was none of the dazzling spectacle that accompanied purifying humans. Instead, just like my previous failed attempt due to insufficient magic, the light orb simply vanished into the creature’s body.

“Screeech—”

The struck Ghost-Faced Dragonfly let out a grotesque shriek of immense pain, its flight speed plummeting as it spiraled backward into the clouds below.

I sensed that it hadn’t sustained any actual damage, yet I was surprised by the sheer potency of the weakening effect alone.

“Another one!”

With the first hit proving effective, Sally seemed even more exhilarated than I was. It appeared we truly could “take on ten” this time, and I proceeded to unleash several more Purify spells in quick succession.

“Scree, scree, scree, scree, scree, scree…”

This tactic proved incredibly effective, working wonders against creatures of darkness. Each orb found its mark, and not a single one escaped the pursuit of the light spheres.

Soon, all the pursuers were cleared, and we were finally safe, for now.

‘No other demonic beasts will pursue us, will they?’

My heart still pounding, I cast a wary glance behind us, yet dared not cease our forward flight. After the frantic chase and evasion, I no longer knew in which direction we were heading.

“What do we do now?”

“Careful! Dodge!”

Sally, who was beneath me, suddenly cried out a warning. Having just breathed a sigh of relief, I froze, bewildered. Where were the enemies?

The next instant, a searing pain shot through my wing, and a tingling numbness spread throughout my body. I lost all balance in the air, plummeting downward…

“They’re below… Ahh—!”

Sally’s words were cut short as she, still tied to me, spiraled down from the sky alongside me.

This was my first time encountering such a situation; I had always flown without incident before. The culprit was a Ghost-Faced Dragonfly concealed within the clouds below, which I had found difficult to notice while carrying Sally in front of me.

I couldn’t tell if it had been hiding there from the start, or if it had opportunistically concealed itself when I dispatched many of its companions with Purify. Regardless, its ambush had succeeded, and it was now flying directly towards us, tracing our plummeting trajectory.

“Whoaahh—!”

Sally’s shriek reverberated, making my ears ache. More critically, my left wing was throbbing with such excruciating pain that it had become completely useless, leaving me at a loss for how to regain balance.

Although a slight numbness from the electrical discharge now permeated my entire body, the Ghost-Faced Dragonfly’s lightning attack seemed to have inflicted no significant harm otherwise.

“Quick, fly! We’re going to crash!”

As the pitch-black ground spun relentlessly closer, Sally’s voice became choked with fear, on the verge of tears.

“One of my wings has been hit; I can’t move it!” In truth, despair threatened to consume me, the searing pain from my wing dominating my thoughts and severely impeding my ability to think clearly.

“Aren’t you four-winged? You still have another pair!”

Sally’s words instantly jolted my memory.

The movement of my wings was much like the pattern of ordinary breathing, capable of both autonomous motion and deliberate action guided by my will.

I immediately commanded my injured wings to cease their flapping, and swiftly, the remaining pair instinctively regained balance, sweeping us back into the sky.

That was close! I could vaguely perceive the rocky ground hurtling past below, and cold sweat erupted on my back. Yet, the pursuing Ghost-Faced Dragonfly had not given up; it remained hot on our heels, poised to strike again.

‘Still coming?’

I would not allow it to unleash that lightning again. In a surge of anger, I fired another Purify orb. There was no need to aim; the creature was struck and plummeted to the ground, utterly devoid of any chance to evade.

‘That’s for ambushing me!’

A wave of satisfaction washed over me. Just as I prepared to fly away, Sally abruptly interjected.

“Finish it off quickly! This is our chance. Purify only temporarily incapacitates it; it might still pursue us.”

‘She wants me to finish it off? My brow furrowed. This was a colossal, dragonfly-like monster; I couldn’t guarantee I had the stomach for it.’

“Perhaps we should just leave? Fly far away, ah…” I suggested to Sally, hovering in place.

Changing my aerial posture seemed to jostle my injured wing, and a piercing pain immediately flared, making my words falter.

“If we fly far enough… it shouldn’t be able to find us.”

“It’s no use. Not when you’re injured,” Sally retorted, pointing at my wing.

“These creatures of darkness are highly sensitive to light elements. They’ll track you by the light element aura in your blood.”

‘Bloodstains?’ Hearing her words, I finally noticed the wound on my injured wing was glowing, a patch of it scorched, continuously oozing crimson blood.

‘So, angelic blood is red too.’ This was my first injury since arriving in this otherworld. However, this crimson blood differed significantly from human blood, for it continuously emitted a white glow. Yet, after only a moment, it seemed to rapidly evaporate, dissipating into the air without a trace.

Of course, this was merely what the eyes couldn’t perceive; through my senses, I could still detect the blood entirely transforming into a dense aura of light elements, lingering in the air.

‘In that case, leaving that demonic beast alive truly wasn’t an option!’ Steeling my resolve, I gripped the longsword at my waist with one hand and flew back towards where the Ghost-Faced Dragonfly had fallen.

Illuminated by Sally’s light magic, the demonic beast lay sprawled on the ground, its six limbs flailing wildly in the air, eerily reminiscent of a dying fly.

To be frank, seeing this half-human-tall monster lying on the ground, it was utterly impossible not to feel a chill of dread. It appeared to be in considerable agony, continuously emitting “scree” noises, while its membranous wings thrashed ceaselessly, kicking up a whirlwind of dust and pebbles around it. Approaching felt incredibly difficult.

I landed directly beside its head, which was one of only two accessible spots; the other was its tail, equally unreachable by its wings.

Since we would soon be departing, there was no immediate need to untie the rope binding Sally to me.

“Chopping off its head should kill it, right?” I asked Sally for confirmation. Usually, that would be the case, but in this world, nothing was certain.

“It should, but try it quickly!” Sally couldn’t guarantee it either. I had half a mind to ask her to do the deed, but considering the beast’s size, I doubted a priest’s strength would be sufficient, and she might even mock me for asking.

“You’re not scared, are you?” Sally’s suspicion was evident as she watched me hold my longsword aloft without striking. Since she was still tied in front of me, she couldn’t see that my eyes were tightly shut.

“N-no, of course not!”

Being provoked, I swiftly angled my body and brought the longsword down, piercing the Ghost-Faced Dragonfly’s head.

Hmm, not quite dead? There was no gush of blood as I had imagined, and its wings still fluttered, albeit slower and weaker, as if it were nearing its end.

“Give it another stab!”

I moved to its tail and thrust my sword into its insect-like abdomen.

“Szzzz—”

This time, a jet of green liquid spurted from the creature’s body. I reflexively dodged, resulting in all of it spraying onto Sally, who was still bound in front of me, while only a few drops splattered on myself.

“Whoa! Flora! Was that intentional?!”

Sally, splattered across the face, frantically wiped herself, her expression undoubtedly a sight to behold.

“No! I really didn’t mean to!”

I quickly explained, genuinely having forgotten she was in front of me and would act as a shield. However, I would never, ever admit to the flicker of dark satisfaction I felt within!

“Ugh, bleh! This tastes so much like dark elements!”

Apparently, some of the liquid had gotten into her mouth, and Sally was spitting continuously. Between spits, she fiercely threatened me.

“You mark my words, you scheming angel! When we get back, I’m definitely reporting you to the Bishop! I’ll expose your wicked deeds, and your coins will be gone! Bleh!”

“Don’t! I’ll help you clean up later.”

I couldn’t help but protest. It seemed there was still a chance to earn those gold coins, so I absolutely had to salvage my image.

The Ghost-Faced Dragonfly now appeared to be thoroughly dead, its wings finally still. Eager to leave, I immediately took off with Sally, flying into the distance.