By the Grace of the Gods (LN) - Volume 14 - Chapter 4

Chapter 8, Episode 21: Pandemonium

The screams had come from the direction of the tower in the center of the city. Even at a distance and in the dimness of the night, I immediately spotted the origin. The Undead were scurrying in all directions, making a clearing in the sea of them. In that opening stood a small group of Undead, fewer than twenty, wearing ancient but well-made gear that contrasted with the tattered rags worn by most Undead that had any clothes on. The group was pursuing the other Undead, chasing them off with batons and whips.

“Are those the wardens you mentioned?” I asked.

“They worked for the prison in life,” Sever said.

While they were very small in number compared to how many other Undead monsters swarmed in the city, they still acted like punitive wardens, aggressively attacking the others as if to torment them. The other Undead—the former inmates—showed some sign of resistance, but were mostly fleeing like they had in life. Yes, the wardens’ equipment and position in life played a part in them overpowering the absolute majority, but there was something more.

“The wardens move more fluidly than the other Undead,” I noted.

“They must be ghouls or skeleton warriors under their armor,” Remily said.

Ghouls were an advanced species of zombies, and skeleton warriors of skeletons. The anatomy of both advanced species was similar to that of a human corpse, which made them more dexterous and dangerous. Another difference I noted was a form of black mist that seemed to cling to them. Even though they were still far away, I felt a strong distaste for them, more so than I had with any Undead so far. The black mist must be the concentrated cursed energy we’d discussed earlier.

Remily’s expression had darkened, as if to confirm my theory.

“Are they that troublesome?” I asked.

“They’re just annoying,” Remily answered. “Cursed energy is like a cloud of poison. It’s dangerous to get too close, and any Light magic gets canceled out, which means extra work. Their combat capabilities aren’t too different from other advanced species. They’re slightly more violent, if anything, but that doesn’t matter too much to us. Normal Undead are so unwieldy that they’re barely as nimble as the average human.”

“We were fairly certain of their existence, and it doesn’t change what we have to do. The quicker we eliminate them the better,” Sever said.

The wardens had sent all the Undead into a frenzy, so it didn’t seem like any of them would find peace as long as their tormentors remained.

Will my spell work on the wardens? I wondered.

“Let me try,” I said, and added more food to a bowl. I could feel the heat of the roaring flame as I prayed for their souls and sent the smoke slimes to the wardens. As close as they could comfortably get, anyway. Something told me that it wouldn’t be wise for the slimes to get too close.

The scattered smoke converged, passing through the inmates and down the central stairs like a gray river that concealed the feet of the Undead. When the smoke reached the wardens, they did show a sharp reaction, but...

“I don’t think the spell affects them, beyond irritating them,” I said.

They let out another scream, and I sensed that their wrath was now pointed at me. Ignoring the inmates they had been incessantly tormenting, the wardens began parting the crowd. Although, they were slowed down by the sheer number of Undead.

“Apparently, the spell doesn’t work on all Undead,” Reinbach said.

“I agree... I’d attribute that to the difference in their cause of death or to their aggressive tendencies. The spell is merely an offering, so I can’t picture forcing it upon anything. Perhaps it only works on those willing to accept it...” I admitted.

“It’s possible that it won’t work on Undead that feel the urge to torture and kill,” Sebas offered.

At the very least, getting rid of the wardens wasn’t going to be as simple as it was for the other Undead. That attempt hadn’t produced the desired effect, but I’d gathered good data from it.

Based on the results I’d observed, I decided to change my goal. It was only natural to take a different approach against a different enemy. I’d designed this spell to quell the insatiable hunger of the common Undead. With the right concept in mind, I could probably craft a spell that would do the trick against the wardens.

“There’s no sense appeasing their hunger if that doesn’t work...” I muttered to myself. “Something that will calm them, or cleanse their cursed energy... If it’s like a poison, I’ll give them some kind of disinfectant... That could work.”

Smoke did have disinfectant qualities. Smoking meats, for example, used that property to preserve the food. There were many methods of disinfection and insecticides that used smoke too. But at the base level, smoke could make you choke and sting your eyes.

Ash generated from a fire had disinfecting and cleansing properties too. Some theories state that the first form of primitive soap used ash left over from burning meat. Fire in and of itself was a method of disinfection, not to mention that fire emitted light.

This time, I’d focus on the disinfecting properties of fire and smoke. Instead of an offering, I was performing an exorcism. My prayers would be to see them freed from the cursed energy and weaken them. Adding the liquor lees that elicited the best reaction from the other Undead, I prayed for the wardens’ purification...until another scream came from their direction.

“It worked... I refuse to be shocked by it anymore,” Sever said.

“You sounded confident when you were talking to yourself,” Remily said. “Does this spell get rid of cursed energy?”

“I worked with the image of smoking out insects and cleaning with ash. What specific effects do you see?” I asked.

“The cursed energy around them has thinned out. If you keep smoking them out, we’ll be able to get close to them pretty soon. They seem irritated by the smoke in their eyes too. That’s slowing them down. It’s affecting the Undead around the wardens too,” Remily explained.

On the flip side of being able to affect a wide area, the smoke seemed to affect all Undead monsters indiscriminately. I felt a little bad that some inmates were roped into the attack, but they’d have to bear it a little longer.

“In any case, it made it much easier to fight them,” Sever said. “Now, I can handle them alone. I’ll take them on just outside the border of our base. Continue with what you are doing, Ryoma.”

“Got it. I’ll keep the smoke away from where you are,” I said.

With a nod, Sever stepped out of the Holy Space. Apparently, the wardens were nearly at our base too, because Sever jumped right into action.

The ghoul closest to him raised its metal club, which Sever parried with his halberd. The other wardens growled, shrieked, and muttered things like “Kill... Kill...”

“You will all have to go through me. Give me your best shot,” Sever called as the wardens came to a halt, bumping into the Undead around them. Sever pulsed with more magical energy than I had seen in any of the previous battles.

A skeleton warrior took one step in front of the horde, and its head was smashed to smithereens by Sever’s halberd that cracked through its helmet and skull. The next instant, Sever slammed the end of the shaft into the skeleton warrior’s torso, sending it flying. Then he slashed with the halberd in one fluid motion.

With every swing of his weapon, at least one body part of an Undead was blown to bits and scattered with a gust of wind. Even the Undead could not be revived from being ground to dust.

While Sever’s fighting style might have seemed reckless, it wasn’t. His control of the halberd was delicate and precise. The gusts of wind only blew away the wardens, leaving not only us but the inmates alone.

“He’s very excited,” Remily said. “Let’s hope he doesn’t run out of strength in the middle of it.”

“I can hear you!” Sever shouted back. “I haven’t been so out of practice as to misjudge my own strength!” Still, he showed no sign of slowing down.

We weren’t really concerned about him for the moment, as he worked his way through the wardens until there was only one left.

“Punish... Punish... Traitors...” it sputtered.

“You are the last one standing. Find your peace,” Sever said as he cut down the final warden, who stood immobile with its weapon in its hands as if it was terrified.

As soon as the final warden hit the ground, the other Undead went wild, like a bunch of extras cheering that the villain of an action film had been defeated. Something like a satisfied laugh at a bully who’d met their comeuppance spread through the sea of Undead.

“Thank you for doing that,” I said to Sever when he returned. “Would you like some water?”

“I’m all right. Thanks to you, I saved plenty of stamina and magical energy today. I’d like you to continue your ritual, though... Hopefully, those wardens can find their way to the gods too.”

“I will.”

I switched my mental image back to making offerings, and the Undead that had been fleeing the wardens began closing in on us again to bathe in more smoke. They still weren’t violent, but their movements were more exaggerated with a sense of excitement or freedom now that the wardens were gone. In a strange way, they seemed full of life.

“It’s like they’re dancing...” Remily noted.

“What?”

“Look at that skeleton there. Or the zombie over there. Even the wraiths. Some are diving into the smoke, but others aren’t. There’s no pattern in their movement, so they may just be wandering,” she pointed out.

“Some are sitting or lying down... Almost like a party,” Reinbach said.

Sure enough, the Undead sitting or lying on the ground to feel the smoke flowing low looked like people sitting on the ground and enjoying a meal, or someone who had too much to drink. The ones frantically moving around were goofballs dancing. It really did look like one big party.

I’d used the concept of a religious ritual, but this spell was an improvisation at the end of the day. It wasn’t meant to be solemn or too dignified. It was even easier for me to imagine a fun party rather than a strict performance of a ritual.

“Maybe we should play some music.” I took out a guitar from the Item Box and plucked its strings to make sure it was tuned. Since I didn’t know what was an appropriate song for a party in this world, I tried out a song I’d learned since coming here.

“Oh, I’ve heard the Semroid Troupe play that song,” Sebas said.

“Yes. I met them during a festival in Gimul, and learned it from them.” Surely, a song they played during a festival wouldn’t be inappropriate for a party.

Like a dance tune played during the summer festivals in Japan, I strummed the upbeat melody, letting the notes carry to more and more Undead, inviting them in.

“Do you think we’d be okay if the grave slime barricade thinned a little bit?” I asked the group.

They reassured me that they could handle that, so I ordered the grave slimes to split. Leaving about ten percent of them to continue blocking the entry points, I sent the others to spread through the city, using Attract Spirits.

“It’s quite beautiful with them lined up like that,” Reinbach said.

Glowing grave slimes lined the central stairs like guiding lights on a runway. They weren’t as bright as the lanterns hung in festivals, but the grave slimes would serve as an effective guide to the Undead in the more distant parts of the city.

Pouring magical energy into the guitar, I imagined calling the Undead to me with music. Gather around, gather around. There’s fun times and good food. 

Ideas from my previous life, slime farming, Fatoma liquor, the song I learned from the Semroid Troupe... All of these things that I’d experienced came together in a harmony that formed a new magical ritual. Even though it was still rough around the edges and could be refined, it was beginning to take a definite shape.

And that was the fun part. If the Undead souls found peace in it, I could ask for nothing more.

Feeling that sort of fulfillment, I watched the Undead depart one after another. Soon, the moon shone brilliantly in the sky as the night darkened softly around us.