"So, you need a pure human, huh. One untouched by the power of the Nether?"
Azadin finally understood Arael's intention and groaned.
"Sorry, but I'll have to refuse. I don't even know what kind of medicine it is."
"Then we must kill…."
Indim said, drawing her sword, but Arael stopped her.
"Don't touch Azadin, Indim. Who gave you permission to be so rude?"
"But Lady Arael, if they leak the truth—"
"It's fine. At least Azadin won't sell us out to the Blue Sky Order. Even if he refuses my request. Isn't that right?"
Of course, Azadin had no intention of selling them out to the Blue Sky Order. But having her say it so confidently was slightly irritating.
"Why are you so sure?"
"Because you're my brother."
"It would've been nice if you'd felt that way when you gouged my eye."
"Let's be clear. Where exactly was your eye? You look way better now, don't you think?"
"You little…."
"Well then, shall we move on to the next topic? Azadin, you took pages of the Book of the Divine King from Dimia, didn't you?"
"Oh, that."
"Could you return it? As proof of goodwill between us."
"Nope."
Azadin shook his head. To him, the pages of the Book of the Divine King were an excellent source of white mana. He had been using it to continue his mana training.
Since using it temporarily depleted his mana, the more copies he had, the better. It was that useful to someone like him, who couldn't even properly use magic—so how much more would Arael's group benefit from it? That alone made it impossible to hand over.
"As expected, we should take it by force. Lady Arael, how long will you tolerate Azadin's insolence? If you truly wish to keep him by your side, then subjugating him through strength would be the right choice."
When Azadin refused Arael's request, Indim flared up. But even then, Arael rejected her suggestion.
"My little brother, who was always so timid, is finally finding his footing—I have no intention of breaking that spirit. Alright, Azadin. How about joining me? Fight alongside me against the Elder Council."
"I still can't decide that."
"If you join me, I won't have to dirty my hands as much. I can carry out my plans while killing fewer civilians, Azadin. Even so, will you still refuse? If you do, you're throwing away the lives of thousands, maybe tens of thousands, you could save in the future."
"So you think I'm an idiot? You realize that sounds exactly like a threat, right?"
"It's not a threat—it's the truth. But I get it. You don't like me. Maybe it won't hit you until the moment finally arrives. Just don't regret it later."
Leaving those words behind, Arael vanished into the stormy darkness with Indim.
***
"Amazing."
Once Arael disappeared, Zebeck let out a breath of admiration.
"What is?"
"From what I can see, she really does care about you. Despite being the leader of a precarious organization, she absolutely refuses to violate you."
"She's the one who gave me this scar, you know? She's just enjoying herself. Don't read too much into it."
Azadin dismissed Zebeck's assessment of Arael.
"But Azadin, in my experience, people like her don't speak falsehoods. If needed, of course, she'll lie—but those would be thoroughly calculated lies. Even if only half of what she said is true, it's dangerous."
"..."
Azadin agreed with that part. Arael didn't speak empty words.
"Well, it seems she's pinning a lot of hopes on you as her blood kin. Put another way, Captain, that means you could gain the favor of powerful people on both sides. Isn't that a good thing?"
"Only if I could actually trust either side."
Azadin looked back at Scott, who was once again caught chewing something he had picked up—and was startled.
"Hey!"
Just as Azadin opened his mouth to scold Scott, the world exploded in a blinding flash. Lightning rained from the sky, striking all across the camp.
"Kyaaa!"
"Uwaaagh!"
"…What the hell?!"
Azadin was stunned by the lightning striking repeatedly throughout the refugee camp.
It wasn't rare for lightning to strike open fields—but this many strikes in one place? That was unnatural.
"What's going on? What the hell is happening?!"
"Ugh!?"
Zebeck stood and began adjusting his armor.
"This is…"
Scott, also startled, gulped down what he had in his mouth and grabbed a talisman.
"Holy crap."
Azadin drew his Azure Steel longsword. A cold aura burst from the blade and wrapped around his body.
Tents collapsed in the rain, and monsters appeared.
"Graaagh!"
"F-Father!"
"My son!"
"My daughter!"
The refugees screamed. Their sons, daughters, and families were beginning to transform into monsters.
"This is it, right, Captain?"
"Yeah. Those who took the Blue Sky Order's medicine…"
Azadin scowled.
The ones who had taken the elixir to treat fever, malaria, and other illnesses were now mutating—turning into Nether's followers.
Heads split open, and thick limbs wrapped in bark-like shells, like those of oak trees, sprouted from within.
The human torso dangled, suspended by the limbs emerging from the head, like some kind of monstrous hanged corpse.
"D-Daddy!"
A young girl screamed out toward the monster. But the creature, having lost all reason, extended a limb toward her. That gesture couldn't possibly be one meant for family.
"Get back!"
Azadin rushed in and swung his sword.
Though the limbs coated in oak-like bark could deflect most blades, they were cleanly severed by Azadin's blue sword-light.
At that moment, black blood burst from the cut.
"Groooaaaaarrr!"
The monster howled in agony.
"D-Daddy!"
"Get her out of the way, Shati!"
"Ah, got it!"
While Shati rushed in to protect the girl, Zebeck sprang forward—not drawing his sword, but instead grabbing an axe embedded in a nearby tree stump.
"Kaaak!"
The follower kept tearing up oak roots, targeting Azadin.
Azadin deflected the attacks with his Azure Steel longsword, observing the follower's movements.
When Zebeck went for the follower's torso—the still humanoid part—the follower wrapped the human body in oak roots to protect it.
"The human part is the weak point!"
"In that case—!"
At that moment, Scott sent something charging in.
Large rats, each the size of a human forearm, dashed forward with crimson glints in their eyes, climbing up the oak roots and reaching the human torso.
"Corpse Burst!"
One of the giant rats exploded, blowing the follower's torso apart.
"Kiiieeek!"
The oak branches trembled violently, and like a chestnut or sea urchin cracking open to reveal its innards, the follower's brain matter spilled from the trunk and shriveled dry.
"So that's the weak spot. But…"
Azadin and Zebeck turned in alarm to see that the girl had fainted at the horrific sight.
It was no wonder. These sudden strangers had just blown apart the torso of what used to be her father and spilled its brain matter onto the ground.
She wasn't the only one. Wails of mourning from those who'd lost loved ones echoed throughout the camp.
The cries of children who lost their parents. The grief of parents who lost their children.
All of it pierced through the thunderclap and swirled chaotically around Azadin.
'I don't have anything I'd call family, but…'
Azadin had no traditional family. To him, family was Arael, Aldis, and Kazas—at most.
Even so, the sorrowful wailing tore through his heart. The heart-wrenching cries of people grieving so deeply that they lost all sense tore at his soul, and Azadin groaned.
"Archangel of Mercy!"
Then… countless chunks of corpses, driven by some grotesque propulsion, rushed toward the followers and exploded. Scott had used necromancy to eliminate them.
"Did good, huh, Captain?"
"..."
Before Azadin could stop him, Scott had already stuck a branch into one of the scattered remains of the girl's father and cast necromancy on it.
A severed arm, with a branch attached like a leg, began crawling across the ground on its own. The sight of a branch stuck into a bloody stump, moving like a limb, was deeply grotesque.
"Scott…"
"Go!"
Scott reassembled the corpse into pieces right in front of the mourning family, cast necromancy on them, and sent them charging at the followers.
While the oak-wrapped followers roamed about, killing people, Scott's corpse-constructed assault vehicles—made from severed human arms—crawled underneath them.
"Corpse Burst!"
The animated corpse exploded again, slicing through the torso, and once more the brain matter spilled out as the follower collapsed. Scott immediately began reassembling more corpse parts.
The grieving families watching this screamed, clutching at their chests, rolling in the mud, and fainting.
'This bastard really is competent—but the spells he uses are revolting. No wonder necromancers are burned at the stake on sight by most people.'
Even Azadin, who wasn't particularly repulsed by necromancy, found himself overwhelmed by disgust at the gruesomeness of it.
Zebeck, barely holding back, trembled with rage, gripping the axe as if he wanted to chop Scott down right then and there.
But without Scott's actions, those followers would have continued killing people.
***
The master of the Blue Sky Order was trembling violently.
"W-We've been tricked! It's a trap!"
Branches were still growing from his ears, and antler-like twigs had sprouted from his head.
Unlike the others, who had lost all reason and turned into monsters, he could still control himself.
However, the vast majority—those who had taken the Blue Sky Order's elixir and become Blue Sky Order members—had turned into Nether followers.
Fortunately, the master was able to control the followers around him to prevent meaningless slaughter, but the very situation itself was proof that he had fallen into a trap.
"How impressive. Are you a high-ranking follower?"
"Eh, high-ranking? Nah. Just barely able to keep a shred of sanity, that's all."
The people confronting the master were holding bizarre bows.
They were the Four of Beauty of Nature who had joined Arael—Dimia of Flowers, Seraph of Birds, Aleph of Wind, and Dimia's younger sister, Zenith—now glaring down at the Blue Sky Order master.
"You, of the Herald Clan! Do you even know the horror you've unleashed? Do you understand what you've done?!"
"Ha ha. What we've done?"
"Enough. You've got the key to the Emperor's Treasury, right? Hand it over."
"Don't be ridiculous! I'll never… Do you even realize how many innocent people you've killed?!"
"Nope."
"What?"
"Wasn't interested enough to count."
Zenith muttered as she sharpened her nails on a string.
They didn't so much as blink as people died all around the refugee camp.