Chapter 12

After re-investigating, it was indeed confirmed that the domain of evil spirits had expanded.

The sacred area established by the church had vanished, and the evil spirits were now free to enter at will.

"Those damn church bastards! They made us pay a hefty donation and did a half-assed job! What the hell do they mean by 'a sacred area that will never disappear'!?"

Rondait slammed his fist into the ground.

It seemed he was furious with the church, which had been relied upon for measures against evil spirits.

However, the situation was not that simple.

The disappearance of the sacred area that kept the evil spirits at bay meant that they were now free to enter.

Even the areas of the plain that were previously considered safe were now being roamed by evil spirits, making them unsafe.

But would it end there?

With the barriers that had previously held them back now gone, it was only a matter of time before the entire plain was overrun by evil spirits.

Eventually, even the towns where people lived...!?

As long as their ecological purpose remained unknown, the worst-case scenario could continue to worsen.

"This might be a worse situation than I thought."

I had only come out for training as a new adventurer, but I was suddenly faced with a situation that threatened the survival of the town.

"We can't leave this as it is. We need to take immediate action, or the town itself might be attacked by them."

Rondait nodded in agreement with my concern.

"If the sacred area is no longer effective, we need to act quickly. We must hurry back to the town and report the situation... In this case, we have no choice but to get the country involved. We need to send out the knights to directly protect the town...!"

"No."

I interrupted Rondait's muttering.

"I'll go. I'll advance and exterminate the evil spirits. I'll eliminate every last one of them from this plain."

"What!?"

Rondait's voice cracked in surprise.

"Are you an idiot!? If that were possible, it would have been done long ago! The reason we had to bow our heads to those useless church people and set up an ineffective sacred area is because it couldn't be done!?"

"You're really bitter, aren't you?"

"The technique you used just now was indeed impressive! But it's unrealistic to think you can eliminate all the evil spirits in the plain with that! There are far too many of them, and more keep appearing even after you eliminate them!"

According to Rondait, the church's holy clerics had once attempted to exterminate all the evil spirits using sacred magic, but they gave up due to the endless number of evil spirits and switched to containing them with a sacred area.

"No, what I'm going to do is cut off the source."

"Cut off the source!?"

"While touching the evil spirits directly, I received an image. There is a boss-level evil spirit residing in this plain."

This entity was summoning more evil spirits, creating a situation where they kept appearing no matter how many were eliminated.

"You must be kidding. We had no such information at all..."

"If we can take care of that entity, the evil spirits will naturally disappear from the plain. I'm going to eliminate the source. So, I'm heading out now."

"Now!?"

"Virtue is urgent."

Though it wasn't a quest, the situation threatened the survival of the town.

It was worth taking action.

Aiming for the leader of the evil spirits that had taken root in the plain, we moved forward.

◆

When we reached the depths of the plain, an object that seemed fitting for the situation awaited us.

"A castle...!?"

I couldn't believe there was a castle here.

A large and sturdy castle stood before us.

"But wait, that's strange. I've never heard of a castle being here! A castle is an important stronghold, so it would have definitely come to my attention as a guild master...!?"

Rondait was puzzled.

"By the way, why are you following me?"

I could handle the evil spirits on my own.

I had wanted Rondait to return to the town with Noem, considering the danger.

"But I have pride as a guild master! I can't just tremble when the town is on the brink of destruction!"

"But...!"

Thanks to this, Noem was inevitably dragged along as well.

I couldn't leave her behind, and now she was trembling like a little mouse, the evil spirits' miasma being the strongest here. Poor thing.

"I'll go with you...!"

Despite her chattering teeth, she still managed to say this.

"I don't want to be separated from you, Ryouya. I'll always be with you. Please let me come...!"

What was the reason for her strong dependence on me?

But now that we were here, there was no choice. No matter what happened, I would protect both of them with my own hands.

"If the boss of the evil spirits is here, it should be in that castle. It looks fitting."

"Are you saying it built its own castle? An evil spirit? That's ridiculous...!"

"We'll find out the truth by confronting it. Look, the welcoming party is here."

Semi-transparent, eerie entities emerged from the castle gates.

They were evil spirits.

The Legion was once again charging towards us.

"Ha!"

By releasing a large amount of life force, I instantly eliminated the evil spirits.

I was used to it by now.

We had been attacked by evil spirits multiple times on our way here, but I had repelled them all this way.

"If Ryouya wasn't here, we would have been killed long ago. What is he? Are evil spirits really that easy to eliminate without any skills?"

"Ryouya is amazing~!"

While firmly protecting Rondait and Noem behind me, we entered the castle.

"If the important one is here, where do you think it would be?"

"Probably upstairs, right?"

Following Noem's advice, we kept climbing the stairs we found...

◆

"Oh, visitors are rare."

There it was.

It really was there.

"However, this is a realm of death. It is a place where living beings should not enter. If you insist on staying, it would be polite to stop the noisy beating of your hearts."

In a room that looked like a throne room, a... well, a white woman was waiting.

Her skin, hair, and even the dress she wore were completely white, without a single stain.

It was a lifeless white.

Moreover, her body was hazy, and her feet were floating off the ground.

Or rather, she didn't have feet?

"You look like a typical ghost... Are you the boss of the evil spirits that have overrun this plain?"

"Evil spirits? You are impolite and disrespectful from the moment you arrive. Do not compare me to such lowly creatures."

"Then what are you?"

"Good question. I am one of the transcendent beings that rule this world, one of the eighteen demon spirits..."

The white woman, despite being a spirit, emphasized her ample breasts and said,

"I am the demon spirit Abinion. You should fear and revere me."

"Then can you disappear from here?"

"Rude! Why are you so heartless and merciless from the start!?"

Because the evil spirits overrunning this area are your fault, and I know it.

"It is none of my concern. As a transcendent being, my miasma attracts countless lowly spirits. When they gather, they form the vicious Legion, but that is their own doing, not my fault."

No, it is your fault.

"The evil spirits are causing danger and trouble for the nearby towns. If you are the cause of their appearance, the best solution would be for you to move far away from the town."

"I refuse."

Her response was blunt.

"I like this place. I will settle here. Humans do the same thing, so why should I be blamed?"

"That may be true, but..."

"If you find it troublesome, you should be the ones to move. Relocate your town to a place where my influence does not reach."

Don't be ridiculous.

The people of the past spent generations making the town a comfortable place to live. It can't be so easily abandoned.

"Since ancient times, the unbreakable rule has been that the weak must obey the strong. Weak humans should yield their place to the stronger me, or they will be destroyed. That's all there is to it."

"If that's the case..."

There was no point in continuing the conversation.

It seemed that talking had reached its limit.

"If I am stronger than you, you will obey me."

"How presumptuous...!"

The air around us became tense.

The killing intent from the ghostly woman was making the atmosphere boil.

"Do you think a mere human can match me? Your ignorance and arrogance are worthy of death. I will make you suffer in hell and kill you slowly to ensure that no one like you ever appears again."

It seems it has come to this.

I had tried to resolve the situation through conversation, but it was in vain.

It appears that things cannot progress without bloodshed.