-Purification Magic
Crack, crackle! Crack, crackle!
Zzzap! Zzzap! Zzzap!
When Thor’s hammer struck the empty air, blue lightning poured down like a rain of arrows and flew toward the chimeras.
Since the chimeras had already torn down the walls themselves while going on their rampage, there was no way for them to avoid the bolts coming straight at them.
Only magic could pass in and out of the space pocket; the chimeras had nowhere to run.
The blue lightning flew with precision and pierced the chimeras’ hearts.
It seemed Thor had already grasped the strategy I had briefly explained to him.
Then the blue current flowed along the path of the black magic, revealing the core situated at the center where the hearts were connected.
“Okay, so that’s where it is!”
Thor struck the air with his hammer once more, and this time an even more powerful bolt of pure white lightning surged forth, flying straight into the chimeras’ core.
“Kieeeek!”
“Kieeeek!”
“Kieeeek!”
The chimeras’ screams rang out in all directions, accompanied by the crackling sound of them burning away.
It did not last very long.
Soon, the ashen clouds surrounding the chimeras gradually shrank, then vanished without a trace.
Next, the chimeras’ bodies, made up of zombies, shriveled as if collapsing inward, and likewise disappeared without a trace.
In the end, even the cores vanished, and the chimeras were completely annihilated.
“Oh-ho! So that’s how it works. I’ve got the hang of it now!”
Thor turned around and spoke cheerfully.
At that, Balder and Heimdall each slapped palms with Thor and praised him.
“As expected of Thor. That was impressive!”
“To finish them off in one shot—very clean! But are you really going to take them all down yourself without giving us a chance?”
“Ah, sorry. I’ll leave the next chimeras to you.”
The three of them were perfectly in sync.
Even so, Thor looked at me with an expression that said he still wanted more praise.
“That was impressive. You learn remarkably fast.”
When I said that, only then did Thor grin broadly and reply.
“See? I’ve always been a quick learner. Still, if you hadn’t figured out the strategy first and taught it to me, I wouldn’t have been able to deal with them in one shot like this. It’s all thanks to you.”
“Enough. Let’s hurry up and look around. I think we’ll have to purify the entire school.”
“I suppose we will. The ashen energy has already spread, so we’ll need to check every single person.”
Thor said, wiping the smile from his face.
“But why haven’t the mages who went to find the people who ran from here earlier come back yet?”
Heimdall asked.
“Exactly. I’m worried something may have happened to them. For all we know, residents may have already turned into chimeras somewhere. Let’s move out and look for them.”
“The situation isn’t good. To think something like this happened in a place where people were deliberately evacuated. Let’s stop it quickly before the disease energy spreads any farther.”
“I’m going to divide us into two teams and search from here. Mage Heimdall, Mage Balder, please tell me your specialties, even briefly.”
I said that and looked over the group.
If Thor carried a hammer, Balder carried a shield. Heimdall also held a horn in his hand.
European mages preferred to carry magic tools related to their own specialties. They liked them so much that the magic tools almost seemed to have become part of their bodies.
They were said to be symbols passed down through mage families for a long time.
‘A shield and a horn, huh…….’
Asking mages to tell me their specialties could, in truth, be considered an unreasonable request, but it was also necessary if we were to tackle this together.
Fortunately, they did not seem to take offense.
Thor stepped forward and answered in their stead.
“Balder is good with light and flame, and he’s excellent at making barriers too. Heimdall is skilled at scouting and is pretty good with mind magic as well.”
As Thor spoke, he pointed to Balder’s shield and Heimdall’s horn. It seemed the shield was useful for creating barriers, while the horn was effective for mind magic.
“Good. Then Thor, Balder, and Cheon Danbi will form one team and circle the eastern buildings to check whether there are any people consumed by disease energy and purify them. Mage Heimdall and Gil will move with me to the western buildings.”
The Chinese school being used as a residents’ shelter had four buildings of various sizes each on the east and west sides, centered around the playground in the middle.
The place we were in now was the largest building on the eastern side.
I didn’t know which way Yu Jaeseon and An Guktae had gone, but it seemed they were not in this building.
And if chimeras had already appeared somewhere, there was a high chance it was in one of the western buildings. At present, nothing was being detected nearby.
In any case, we had to purify the entire school. To do that, it would be more efficient to split into two teams.
“Okay. Then let’s get moving, team.”
When Thor said this, Balder turned around without complaint and followed him, but Cheon Danbi looked at me in confusion and asked.
“Huh? How is your team going to purify anything? Should I share some herbs with you?”
“It’s fine. I can do it.”
I had never particularly revealed it before, nor had I used it in actual combat, but the truth was that I could use purification magic.
At strategy sites, I usually had to handle the combat, and since Cheon Danbi was beside me, I had left purification to her.
No, even without being asked, Cheon Danbi had always taken care of it herself.
But I had the ability to use purification magic.
It was something I had suddenly realized after returning from Danyang, when I entered the magic space to train, after seeing the forest created by the sacred mage’s pure white light.
Unlike ordinary mages, I possessed traits similar to those of a sacred mage.
Perhaps it was because Oudin had trained in magic under Bruno, a sacred mage, when he was young.
Purification magic was something ordinary mages neither used often nor even knew how to use, but for me, it came very easily.
Though I had yet to use it in actual combat.
“Now, let’s go. While we head west, Lord Heimdall, please handle scouting.”
“Understood.”
When I said I could purify, Cheon Danbi nodded and left, and our team also moved out immediately.
I entrusted scouting to Heimdall, and while we moved, I intended to purify the surroundings with purification magic.
Right now, purification was more urgent than anything else. The worst nightmare would be for the residents to become infected by the disease energy, turn into zombies, and then into chimeras.
Almost all the Chinatown residents had been gathered inside this school, so if the disease energy spread here, it would truly be a disaster.
To get to the western buildings, we had to leave the building and cross the playground.
Only after stepping outside did I realize how dark it was.
The school had lights thanks to the generators, but the blackout was still ongoing, so beyond the walls, everything was swallowed in pitch-black darkness.
But now that I looked, the western buildings were dark too.
That was strange.
“Were there no generators on the western building side? It’s completely dark.”
Heimdall asked, conjuring a magical flame in one hand.
His other hand, the one holding the horn, was stretched forward, and thin silver lines of mana detection were extending far into the darkness.
“No. There should be generators there too. I could see lights in those buildings earlier. Something must have happened. Let’s approach.”
I answered quietly and drew up my mana.
It seemed a problem had indeed occurred in the western buildings.
They were sunk in darkness and no sound could be heard, but for some reason, that made it feel even more ominous.
“Gil, you handle our team’s barrier.”
“Yes. Understood.”
I had Heimdall continue scouting while I prepared purification.
We approached the western buildings cautiously, neither too fast nor too slow.
‘Wave of purification, devour the disease energy!’
I gathered waves of mana at my fingertips, drew a round circle, and raised purification energy.
I could not feel any disease energy around us right away, but I spread purification in advance as we approached.
Before long, the ominous darkness burst into sharp screams. People were rushing out of one of the buildings.
Some of those who came running out in a panic approached us, while several others ran toward the wall beside the building.
“Lord Heimdall! Go to the wall and stop those people from leaving the school!”
“Understood!”
We had no choice but to split up.
Since Heimdall was said to be proficient in mind magic, he should be ideal for stopping people.
If people already infected by the disease energy were to leave the school and spread it widely, it would be a serious problem.
Besides, chimeras would likely be roaming outside again. We had not yet dealt with all the chimeras in Chinatown.
Heimdall immediately ran toward the wall.
“Go to the eastern building!”
“It’s safe now!”
I shouted to the people running toward us screaming, covering them with purification energy.
Only then did they calm down a little and slow their steps.
Gil and I passed them and rushed into the building.
More residents were running from the far end of the corridor. Several who spotted us shouted.
“Mages? Please save us!”
“They’re zombies!”
“They’re chimeras! People are turning into chimeras!”
I extended waves of purification toward them and said.
“We’ll stop them, so don’t worry. Go to the eastern building. Do not leave the school under any circumstances!”
Gil and I lit flame blossoms and illuminated the darkness as we went deeper into the corridor.
A wavering light was leaking out from one room.
When we entered, I saw the backs of Yu Jaeseon and An Guktae.
In front of the two of them, zombies were writhing. The room was dark, so I could not see clearly, but there seemed to be about ten of them.
Contrary to what the people fleeing had said, they had not yet turned into chimeras. It seemed they were only just changing from humans into zombies.
“Mage Yu Jaeseon! Why has the power gone out here?”
“Ah! You’re here. I don’t know. It suddenly went out a little while ago.”
Yu Jaeseon and An Guktae turned to look at us.
The faint light was coming from the process of burning herbs.
Yu Jaeseon was burning the herbs Cheon Danbi had shared with him to create smoke in order to purify the people who had turned into zombies.
But without a druid, the herbal smoke itself had only a weak effect.
“Are these zombies the people who ran away from that classroom earlier?”
“That’s right. They disappeared, so we searched for them and found they had come all the way here.”
“Step back. I’ll purify them.”
When I said that, Yu Jaeseon and An Guktae stepped back without another word.
I focused my mind and raised my mana.
Unlike purifying disease energy, this required an even greater purification power. I was trying to return those who had already turned into zombies back into humans.
“Gil, spread concentric circles of mana waves.”
“Yes.”
Gil did as I instructed without asking anything.