Chapter 25 – Egido Purification (Top)

This is the worst, Syltina thought.

Numerous demons were lined up in front of her.

Behind her, was the child whose face crumpled up from crying.

This is the worst, Syltina thought again, as she saw no change in her situation any time soon.

“Ahhh, this is really the worst……”

The moment she finished grumbling, Syltina kicked the ground.

ーーーーー

ーーー

ー

The party was able to see the town of Egido during the time that the sun rose directly above it.

The outer walls that surrounded the town, which stretched for several kilometers along the river, had cracks in places and was probably caused by the people trying to collapse the walls as they fled. The outer gate which led to the outside was also destroyed, which made no sense at all.

“Uwah, there’s such a big swarm again!”

They destroyed the demons outside of the town first and stood in front of the former outer gate after they established a barrier around them.

Alhart grumbled with a lifeless voice that the number of demons he caught with his eyes alone already surpassed 30.

“Neither Sylti or I could use composite magic this time. It’s very troublesome, but, we don’t have any choice, but to steadily exterminate them……”

“Wh—why can’t you use it?”

“The space occupied by a village and a town is almost the same, but the number of structures and the intervals between them are different. Since there are as many buildings as there are towns and the intervals between these buildings are very narrow, even I have to consider some damages if I were to use composite magic.”

“Well, I don’t really mind it too much, but it’s such a pain to be told off by the hysterical Saintess, so I’m really sorry, but it’s going to be troublesome from here on out.”

Kreutz agrees with Alhart, who laughs, saying that if he escapes to another place, then, he might hit him again this time.

“It would be nice if we could say that the demons broke, but the funny thing is, they don’t have any interest in anything, but humans……”

“The…then what about Alhart-san’s composite magic?”

“Ah, it’s even worse for me. I’m not as good as Syltina when it comes to magic control, and I don’t have as much power either, so I’m going to cut down everything that I can see from here and sleep for 5 days after that.”

“There are a variety of reasons, but I will be going for a straightforward approach this time.”

“Tyr and I will be doing the extermination from the back of the town, okay?”

“Roger.”

Well, then, Syltina released a breath as she saw off Alhart who was headed to the back of the town by passing over the rooftops after equipping wind magic on his feet.

“Kuro will be protecting the Saintess. Milliane-sama and I will exterminate the demons together. Saintess, please don’t stray away from Kuro and be obedient.”

“Understood.”

“U-understood.”

“Yuto’s here, so I don’t really need you to protect me. Right, Yuto?”

“That’s right, Akari. I will protect you.”

“…… do whatever you want, but for now, please behave over there. As for Yuto-san, you can do what you want since it’s no problem either if you want to protect the Saintess, but please don’t get in the way.”

Syltina draws her sword at the lame farce being played out by the demons who noticed Syltina and her companions as they continued to close the distance.

A single demon who was cut down as it lunged at them signaled the attack.

The monsters who attacked one after the other were met with either magic attacks, or physical attacks that resulted in being punched through and beat up, that by the time they finished, not one demon was left.

“Fuu……I’m going to look around from inside the town, so Kuro, I’ll be leaving the Saintess to you.”

“Ah, if that’s the case, then I’ll patrol the opposite side.”

“Yes, please. Be very careful.”

“Yes.”

Syltina and Milliane nodded at each other and headed into opposite directions.

At the same time, a tornado, which was believed to be caused by Alhart and Tyrtinkle, appeared from the back of the village.

“Good grief, their numbers are uselessly large…… I wonder if it has anything to do with the population? Hmmm, there’s not much information about demons after all……”

Syltina complained while cutting down the attacking demons as she ran along the inside of the town.

The only thing that is known about ‘demons’ is that when a country falls into ruin, it will appear in a place where humans dwell, harm humans, and spread miasma.

From there, the tainted land turns into a place where no living beings could thrive for decades.

Having said that, as long as there are demons ‘in’ the land, the corruption (of the land) isn’t complete, and living beings could still step foot inside the area with no problem.

On the contrary, if there are no demons present in the land, humans who step inside it would immediately die due to the taint.

“Even though they’re scattering the miasma, I feel like I’m only suppressing the taint if I hear something like that. Haaah, it would be nice if I could catch even one.”

Syltina doesn’t forget to cut the demons even as her breathing becomes rough.

Syltina shook off the demon’s blood that looked more like black ink from her blade and observed the demon she had recently cut down as it dissolved from the edges, confirming her suspicions.

The demons abruptly appear. And, then, disappear just as fast.

The living ones seem to appear from thin air.

The dead ones seem to disappear from the edges of the body.

Even the blood that stained the blade scatters along with the demons.

“So, that’s why there are only a few documents.”

A pillar of light ascended from the direction opposite Syltina.

“As expected of Milliane-sama. She’s usually timid, so it surprises me that she’s this aggressive when it comes to combat.”

Syltina continues to advance while blowing the demons away with her wind blades.

“Fuu, so all that’s left is the center of the town no—- ehh!?”

A small shadow passed Syltina’s peripheral vision as she scouted for a place where she could clearly see the town square.

“…………. You’re kidding, right?”

If Syltina wasn’t mistaken, that shadow belonged to the boy who Akari took in the previous day.

“Why are you here!?”

When I left Kreuz, he was definitely hiding behind Akari.

So why is he here? Or, is he running ahead of us to the back of the town?

“Haaa, I don’t know anymore…… I’ve already said that I won’t take care of that kid, so in case something happens to him, both of them are just getting what they asked for.”

Akari who brought the child to such a place even when she claimed that she would protect the child.

The child who went alone to such a place even when he knew the danger that awaited him.

Both are getting their just desserts.

A cry of terror reached Syltina’s ears just as she focused on the demons in front of her as if switching her thoughts.

“…………Ahhhh, geez!! Give me a break!!”

Syltina annoyedly screamed as she turned towards the direction of the voice.

Without forgetting to cut the demons in her way, Syltina confirmed that one of the demons had just peeled off its fangs from the boy who had followed her with all his might.

This is the worst, she thought.

Each and every single thing.

Including the next moves I’m about to make, everything is the worst.

“Stop fucking with me!!”

Expletives unconsciously left Syltina’s lips as she forcibly aimed her strike at the demon who attacked the child and cut it down.

“……”

Syltina calmed her irritation by taking deep breaths as she once again thought,

This is definitely the worst.