I sprinted through the dense forest, chasing that cry for help. Branches scraped across my face, but I didn't care. I kept running until I finally spotted an orange light glowing in the distance.
A campfire!
"It's up ahead!" I shouted, assuming Aqua was close behind.
"Wah! Don't run so fast! You didn't even give me time to put my boots on!" the archpriest wailed. "Besides, have you even thought of a plan?! This could be dangerous!"
"AAAAAH! HELP ME, PLEASE! I DON'T WANT TO DIE! AAAAAH!"
"I don't think that person can afford to wait!" I gripped Kronos tightly. "Let's go!"
"And why do I have to go too?! I was just about to…! I was just about to…!" The goddess let out a frustrated scream. "WHYYYY?! BUAAAAAH!"
"This isn't the time for that!"
I kept running until I finally came across a young man backed up against a large rock. He was surrounded by what looked like people—except they were groaning and stretching their arms toward him. The boy was desperately swinging his sword back and forth to keep them at bay.
As I got closer and saw their disfigured, rotting faces, I immediately realized they weren't normal people.
They were zombies.
Reanimated corpses, usually brought back through some kind of dark magic, turned into puppets with the sole purpose of attacking the living.
But… in a forest? How? It didn't make any sense.
I guess now wasn't the time to think about that.
I raised Kronos and, taking advantage of the fact that their backs were turned, thrust it through the one closest to me. The creature was so decomposed it was basically skin and bones, making it easy to lift into the air and toss aside.
The rest didn't even react, so I had no trouble cutting them down one by one.
"Hey, are you okay?" I asked the young man. "You can get up now. It's over. You're safe."
Ah, I've always wanted to say that since I became a paladin!
"I-is it really over? F-for real?"
"Of course! As long as I'm around, you have nothing to fear."
"Hey, Kaizer," Aqua piped up, "sorry to ruin your little hero moment, but… are you sure you should be saying that?"
"What do you mean?"
She simply pointed behind me.
When I turned my head, I saw dozens of zombies emerging from the trees. They were all dragging their feet and stretching out their rotting arms, strips of skin dangling off them.
There had to be forty or fifty of them.
"Impossible! How can there be so many?! Where the hell are they coming from?!"
"I-I have no idea!" Aqua said, her voice frantic.
"Aaaah! I'M GOING TO DIE ALONE IN THIS FOREST, EATEN BY ZOMBIES!" the young man screamed.
"Hey! Saying that after we came to save you is really rude!" Aqua scolded, even though she hadn't lifted a finger so far.
"Ah, sorry… In that case… I'M GOING TO DIE IN THIS FOREST ALONGSIDE TWO STRANGERS, EATEN BY ZOMBIES! I-is that better?"
"Perfect!" The goddess gave him a thumbs up.
"Don't encourage him!" I shouted at her. "Better yet, stop assuming we're going to die!"
Without thinking, I charged into the horde of undead and started swinging my sword. Severed limbs and rotting guts flew in every direction. But there were too many enemies. For every three I cut down, another three latched onto my back.
The other young man, who had somewhat regained his composure, grabbed his own weapon and joined the fight.
We kept attacking and attacking, but the army of zombies seemed endless.
Until Aqua stepped in front of me. Her smile was overflowing with confidence.
"Alright! Looks like this is a job for the goddess Aqua! Turn Undead!"
As she shouted those words, a huge magic circle materialized on the ground, followed by a blinding blue light that spread through the trees, devouring the darkness of the forest.
It was the same spell she had used on Wiz at the shop, but on a much larger scale.
The zombies clinging to me started disintegrating one by one, letting out agonized groans before finally disappearing in small white flames.
She's purifying them!
"Fallen creatures who had the misfortune of crossing paths with me!" Aqua exclaimed, completely drunk on power. "Be purified and receive eternal rest!"
She was fully in character, huh?
"Are you okay?" I asked the boy again once everything was over. He was wearing ostentatious armor with embedded gems and a sword that didn't look cheap at all. During the fight I hadn't had a chance to really look at him, but now that I saw him up close, with his blond hair and blue eyes, he gave every impression of being the son of some noble. As for his age, I'd say he was a few years younger than me.
"Y-yeah, I think so. Thank you so much for saving me, sir."
Sir…?
"Err… it was nothing."
"Hey! Aren't you going to thank me?!" Aqua grumbled. "Let me remind you that I was the one who purified all those zombies!"
"Ah! Yes, you're right. Sorry. Th-thank you very much."
"My name is Kaizer Prester, by the way. I'm an adventurer and my class is Paladin. This is my companion Aqua. She's an archpriest."
"Mine is Dikon. Dikon Gloryuss. N-nice to meet you." The young man turned to Aqua. "Excuse me, did you say your name was Aqua? Like the goddess that is worshipped by the Axis Cult?"
"Oh! Am I standing before one of my faithful followers? Kaizer, we did very well in saving this boy."
The boy quickly shook his head from side to side.
"N-no! Absolutely not! My whole family worships the goddess Eris!" The young man reached under his collar and pulled out a pendant. It seemed to have the symbol of that order engraved on it. "See?"
"Kaizer, we did very badly in saving this boy. We should have let the zombies eat him."
"Can you make up your mind already? Corny behavior aside, don't you think it would be pretty cruel to abandon someone to such a horrible death just because they have a different religion than yours?"
The goddess crossed her arms and turned her face away, offended.
"And besides that," Dikon said, "no matter how much the Axis Cultists have a reputation for being complete lunatics, I don't think one should impersonate their goddess like that. T-that's blasphemy, you know?! Their own goddess could punish you!"
"Hmph! As if I would punish myself."
"Huh?"
I let out a deep sigh.
Saying anything would only make things worse, so I simply led everyone back to the camp.