The Fever Cure (6)

“Then what you need is a pure human, I see. One untouched by the power of the Nether?”

Only then did Azadine understand Arael’s intention and let out a groan.

“Sorry, but I’ll have to refuse. I don’t even know what that potion really is.”

“Then we’ll have to kill you…”

Indim said that as she reached for her blade, but Arael stopped her.

“Don’t lay a hand on Azadine, Indim. Who gave you permission for such rudeness?”

“But Lady Arael. If they reveal the truth…”

“It’s fine. At least Azadine won’t sell us out to the Blue Turban Party. Even if he refuses my request. Right?”

Of course, Azadine had no intention of selling them out to the Blue Turban Party. Still, hearing it said so boldly left him feeling a bit annoyed.

“Why are you so certain?”

“Because you’re my brother.”

“If you’d had that sentiment when you wounded my eye, it would’ve been nice.”

“Let’s be honest here. Where were your eyes again? At least now you look way better, don’t you think?”

“You little—”

“Shall we move on to the next matter, then? Azadine, you took the Heavenly King’s Book of Truth copy from Dimia, didn’t you?”

“Oh, that.”

“Could you return it? As a sign of goodwill between us.”

“Nope.”

Azadine shook his head. To him, the copies of the Heavenly King’s Book of Truth were excellent sources of white mana. He’d been using them continuously for his mana training.

Since using them temporarily drained his mana, the more he had, the better. Even for someone like Azadine who couldn’t cast spells properly, they were that useful. So how much more effective would they be in the hands of Arael’s faction? That thought alone made it impossible to hand them over.

“We should just attack and take it, Lady Arael. How long will you tolerate Azadine’s insolence? If you truly want him, you should force him into submission and keep him by your side.”

When Azadine refused Arael’s request, Indim grew indignant. But even then, Arael turned down Indim’s suggestion.

“My little brother, who always cowered, is finally starting to find some confidence. I’ve no intention of breaking that. Fine, Azadine. How about joining me and standing against the Elder Council together?”

“I can’t decide on that yet either.”

“If you join me, I won’t have to dirty my hands as much. I could carry out my plans with fewer civilian casualties, Azadine. Even so, will you really refuse? Refusing would mean throwing away thousands, even tens of thousands of lives you might’ve saved.”

“You think I’m an idiot? You’re calling that a threat now?”

“It’s not a threat—it’s the truth. Still, I understand why you’d hate me. I guess you won’t truly realize it until the time comes. Just don’t regret it later.”

With that, Arael disappeared into the raging storm and darkness, taking Indim with her.

“Amazing.”

As Arael vanished, Zebec murmured in admiration.

“What is?”

“To me, it seems she truly cherishes you. Despite being the head of a precarious organization, she refuses to violate you.”

“She’s the one who gave me this eye wound, you know. She’s just enjoying herself. Don’t read too much into it.”

Azadine dismissed Zebec’s assessment of Arael.

“But Azadine, in my experience, people like her don’t speak in lies. If they do, it’s calculated deceit, used only when necessary. Even if half of what she said was true, it’s dangerous.”

“……”

Azadine silently agreed. Arael did not speak falsehoods.

“Seems like she really expects a lot from the Captain as her blood relative. In other words, you’re in a position to be highly favored—by both sides. Isn’t that a good thing?”

“If it were something I could take positively, maybe. But you’d have to trust either side first.”

Azadine turned toward Scott, annoyed by his carefree remark—and was startled. Scott had already picked something up to eat again.

“Hey!”

Just as Azadine was about to scold Scott, the sky was suddenly torn by a flash of lightning. Thunderbolts crashed down all across the camp.

“Kyah!”

“Aaagh!”

“…What the?!”

Azadine was thrown into confusion as lightning repeatedly struck the refugee camp.

Though it wasn’t rare for lightning to hit open fields, to fall like this—repeatedly on the same plain—was abnormal.

“What the hell? What’s happening?”

“Ugh!?”

Zebec stood up and began fastening his armor.

“This is…”

Scott, startled, swallowed whatever was in his mouth and grabbed a talisman.

“Holy crap.”

Azadine also drew his Azure Steel longsword. A chill emanated from the blade, wrapping his body in cold air.

Through the downpour, tents collapsed and monsters appeared.

“Aaaargh!”

“F-Father!”

“My son!”

“My daughter!”

Refugees were screaming. Their sons and daughters—their families—were turning into monsters.

“This is it, right, Captain?”

“Yeah. Those who took the Blue Turban Party’s medicine…”

Azadine frowned.

Those who’d taken the Blue Turban Party’s elixir to cure fevers and ague had begun to transform into envoys of the Nether—its minions.

Their heads split open, and from within, limbs encased in thick bark like oak sprouted forth.

The sight of a human torso dangling midair, suspended by limbs growing out of its head, resembled a monster hung at the gallows.

“D-Dad!”

A young girl screamed desperately toward the monster. But the creature, having lost its mind, stretched out an arm toward her. It was not a gesture meant for family.

“Get back!”

Azadine dashed forward and swung his sword.

Though the arm, covered in thick oak bark, could deflect most blades, it was cleanly severed by the blue swordlight Azadine wielded.

At that moment, black blood gushed from the severed limb.

“Groooaaaarrrgh!”

The monster writhed in pain.

“D-Dad!”

“Get her out of there, Shati!”

“R-Right!”

As Shati rushed to protect the child, Zebec charged forward. Instead of drawing his sword, he grabbed an axe embedded in a nearby tree stump.

“Kraaa!”

The minion kept pulling up oak roots, targeting Azadine.

Azadine deflected each attack with his Azure Steel longsword while observing the situation.

When Zebec targeted the creature’s torso—the part that still resembled a human—the minion used oak roots to shield that human portion.

“The human part is the weak point!”

“In that case!”

At that moment, Scott sent something charging forward.

Giant rats, each the size of a human forearm, raced forward with red light gleaming in their eyes, crawling up the oak roots toward the human torso.

“Corpse Burst!”

One of the rats exploded, and the minion’s torso was blown apart.

“Kieeeek!”

The oak branches trembled violently, and just like a chestnut or sea urchin cracking open, the brain matter inside the trunk spilled out and shriveled to dust.

“So that’s the weak point. But…”

Azadine and Zebec turned in shock—the girl had fainted from witnessing the horror.

It was only natural. These strangers had burst the body of what had once been her father, spilling his brain onto the ground.

And she wasn’t the only one. All around, people were howling in grief.

The cries of children who lost their parents. The anguish of parents who lost their children.

All of it pierced through the thunderclaps and overwhelmed Azadine.

‘I don’t have anything I’d call family…’

Azadine had no traditional family. For him, family meant Arael, Aldis, and Kazas.

Even so, the sound of such grief tore at his heart. The heart-wrenching voices of people howling in agony made Azadine groan.

“O Archangel of Benevolence!”

At that moment… countless pieces of corpses moved with grotesque propulsion toward the minions and exploded. Scott had used necromancy to eliminate the minions.

“Pretty good, right, Captain?”

“……”

Before Azadine could say anything, Scott stabbed a branch into one of the girl’s father’s remains and cast necromancy.

A severed forearm, with the branch stuck into it like a leg, crawled on the ground. The sight of a branch jammed into a bloody stump was horrifying.

“Scott…”

“Go!”

In front of grieving families, Scott modified pieces of shattered corpses and cast necromancy on them, sending them charging into the enemy.

As the oak-bark monsters roamed around killing people, Scott’s corpse-vehicles crawled under them.

“Corpse Burst!”

Another explosion sent a torso flying, the brain spilling out, and the minion collapsed. Scott began modifying the scattered pieces again.

The watching bereaved screamed, tore at their chests, and collapsed, rolling in the mud.

‘This guy is very capable… but his methods are just revolting. No wonder necromancers get burned at the stake on sight.’

Even Azadine, who was less prejudiced against necromancy, felt a surge of disgust at the horror.

Zebec was trembling, barely suppressing his urge to cleave Scott down with his axe.

But if Scott didn’t fight, those minions would keep killing people.

The Priest was trembling.

“W-We’ve been tricked! It’s a trap!”

Oak branches were still sprouting from his ears, and antler-like twigs had grown from his head.

Unlike others, who became mindless monsters, he was still in control of his mind.

However, most others who had taken the Blue Turban Party’s elixir and joined their cause had become Nether minions.

Luckily, the Priest could control the nearby minions and prevent them from committing meaningless slaughter, but the very fact that this had happened meant he had fallen into a trap.

“Incredible. Are you a higher-ranked minion?”

“Pfft, hardly. I’m just barely maintaining my sanity.”

The people looking down on the Priest were wielding strange bows.

They were the four members of the “Flowers, Birds, Wind, Moon” under Arael—Dimia of the Flower, Seraph of the Bird, Aleph of the Wind, and Dimia’s younger sister, Janis.

“Y-You’re from the Messenger Clan! Do you even realize the atrocity you’ve committed?!”

“Haha. Atrocity, you say?”

“Enough. You’ve got the key to the Emperor’s treasury, right? Hand it over.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! Never…! Do you even realize how many innocent people you’ve killed?!”

“Nope.”

“Excuse me?”

“Didn’t really care, so I didn’t count.”

Janis muttered, filing her nails against the bowstring.

They didn’t bat an eye at the people dying in the refugee camp around them.