By Zephyria 
In the Magic Tower, the turbid mana that flowed in from the Magic territory was called Contaminated Mana.
They defined white as right and good, and black as wrong and bad, and taught it as such. Divine Power and Contaminated Mana were strictly separated, and mana in between was carefully selected for use. This was because unrefined mana, not converted into aura, caused great harm to the body.
How many knights and wizards had their bodies harmed by holding mana within them?
It wasn’t just Mage Boulder. Dozens of wizards had been agonizing over similar research, passing it down through generations. I had once reviewed reports of the various methods they had attempted.
Even Hugh Benson, lying there just a short distance away, had once suffered damage to his body from the influence of Contaminated Mana, forcing him to wear a blindfold. If the Mana Concentration within the Sierran Empire wasn’t being regulated by a Divine object, the knights who volunteered for experiments would have turned as black as Owen’s people.
To think that it had gone so far as to cause Wesley Kiadris’s body to explode.
Was he even human?
At this, I once again thought of Nadish Haisan, who had lived with the third god by his side.
What had he thought, sitting in the auction house basement, waiting for his death? The third god had said Nadish Haisan was not human. He said it was a cruel act to love humans while leaving them as humans.
If so, could a god… change a human into something else?
Would Wesley Kiadris’s body also bear traces of Contaminated Mana, like Nadish Haisan’s?
Had Wesley received the power of another god, the power of the Ninth God?
It was speculation.
Like a tree stretching its leaves towards the sunlight, all my thoughts branched out in the same direction.
A gust of wind blew past my back. Thinking it was another Sylph causing mischief, I instinctively shielded Ruben’s eyes with my body.
The child didn’t seem embarrassed or awkward. He merely looked lost in thought with a complex expression before suddenly murmuring,
“…I should have said something a little earlier.”
“No, no. Before, I wouldn’t have believed it either, as I never imagined such a strange thing would happen.”
“Still.”
“It’s alright, let’s sleep. This conversation… we can have it again when we meet that Sun God or whatever.”
“Okay… I will.”
The rustling sound of turning over could be heard from various places.
We all knew perfectly well that everyone had heard our conversation. However, as a matter of etiquette, it was right not to comment on words not spoken directly to oneself, so everyone tried to fall asleep without a word.
Marianne cast glances at me several times, as if she had something she wanted to say. But with few days left to rest, I thought it was best to prioritize sleep. I didn’t bother to get up and initiate a conversation.
❖ ❖ ❖
Even the sound of my bones being scraped away would have been more pleasant to hear.
The squelching sound of zombies rubbing against each other was deafening. Black hordes of zombies covered the entire white desert. Everywhere my eyes landed, it was the same sight.
So many had gathered that some zombies, pushing each other, tumbled into the inner area of the Oasis. Several times, they repeatedly fell over as they tried to crawl out.
Breaking through that gap required great courage. Everyone hesitated, unable to take the first step.
“Seeing this, Ranunculus will probably come looking for zombie bait here too, don’t you think?”
“…If I go into that gap, I don’t think even my bones would be recovered.”
Marianne, covering her face with both hands, whined in a voice full of grievance, and Benjamin immediately echoed her weakness. His words, usually carrying weight as he marched through any situation, sounded weak now, but only I sighed, realizing he was siding with Marianne not out of fear, but because he sensed my hesitation.
Hugh Benson pondered for a moment but did not suggest retreating.
“Let’s try to… make a path first.”
“A path? How?”
Hugh Benson held up a small box containing Mithril thread for everyone to see.
“Once they die within the territory… they melt, right? Let’s kill as many as we can.”
“Oh, it’s good that we don’t have to deal with the corpses.”
“…Well, let’s try. If we just sit here, we’ll be pushed all the way to the Oasis.”
The mercenaries nodded one by one.
Yes, it was not much different from setting up camp and fishing. Except that the things caught were of a horrifying appearance that couldn’t be eaten, the act itself was similar.
Hugh Benson used the Mithril thread to pull the zombies, who were being pushed back and forth at the border of the territory, unable to go in or out. Then, he dropped them one by one in front of the party, as if telling each person to handle their share.
Then, each member killed their assigned zombie.
And the Oasis territory would quickly swallow and clear away the fallen zombies.
Among the zombies were Trolls, Orcs, and Goblins. It was a relief that there were fewer zombies in human form. The fewer times one had to see many corpses, the better. Even if the children said they were fine, I didn’t want to show them such sights.
At first, Hugh Benson fed them to us, but later, everyone caught zombies on their own.
Benjamin, exhausted, only managed to cut off the head of a Troll zombie but was almost caught by its body, which could have been disastrous. It was only thanks to Giselle’s quick response beside him that nothing serious happened, but I reiterated the order to properly sever all limbs to prevent them from moving, as zombies were not living beings.
Three hours passed.
“Are we even making a path? It feels like we’re just… just chipping away at the edges?”
“Save me… save me… save me…”
“Even the Withrow monster dissection team doesn’t push this hard…”
“…Huff… pant…”
The mercenaries’ grumbling mixed with the sound of ragged breaths.
Everyone’s gaze quickly turned to Ruben.
Severing the limbs and heads of Steel Corpses was difficult for Ruben, who could not yet produce Sword energy.
Marianne cast spells effortlessly, and when she got tired, she would sit and rest, or wipe her cheeks and neck with a wet towel to cool her Circle. Knowing her physical limitations better than anyone, she rested diligently.
Benjamin, whose strength allowed him to cut through zombies with just a swing of his sword, showed no signs of struggle beyond losing concentration from the repetitive task. He simply swung his sword, as if practicing Swordsmanship, focusing on the movements of his arms and waist as he cut down the zombies.
But Ruben didn’t need to worry about his Circle overheating. He didn’t possess Benjamin’s brute strength either.
Although I stayed by his side to look after him, I was busy trying to kill many zombies at once, believing we needed to defeat more to advance.
Aware of this, Ruben, alone, relentlessly pulled zombies towards him and bit his lip, his strength completely drained from cutting them down.
No matter how many he had cut down, sweat beaded on Ruben’s perfectly straight forehead. I stared blankly at his flushed cheeks, heated by exertion, and frantically searched my pockets for a handkerchief. Seeing my state, Ruben smiled wryly and shook his head once.
One by one, everyone lowered their swords and looked into the distance.
Hundreds, thousands of zombies still swarmed before them.
Lost for words, Leon leaned against his axe, swallowing a groan. The white, pristine sandy beach, devoid of any black blood, felt like a dream.
Each person had long since cut down over a hundred Steel Corpses. What was the point of this?
Elvin was the first to lie down flat on his back. The others, staring blankly at his action, also let out a sigh one by one and sat down.
It was only then that I realized the mercenaries, treating us as superiors, had not sat or lain down. Ruben, who had been leaning against his sword, also slid down to the ground.
The day was extremely hot. Perhaps due to its proximity to the Sanctuary of the Sun, the ground temperature was high even in midwinter.
Even with the Artifact regulating body temperature, the limits were evident. Running on the heated sand and swinging swords incessantly had caused a hot steam to rise from our entire bodies.
“…We need to think of another method.”
I stated the obvious, a fact everyone already knew.
“Yeah. At this rate, even if we just swung our swords for four or five days, it wouldn’t end. No, we must have killed half of them by now, so where are they still coming from?”
Hugh Benson irritably ran his hand through his hair and replied immediately. His hair, soaked with sweat, stood up like horns. The sight was quite comical, but no one laughed.
Ann, who had been chanting “save me,” groaned, hugging her knees.
“My throat tastes like blood.”
“Stop exaggerating.”
“No, usually you don’t use Sword energy this many times in a row…”
That was true.
An ordinary mercenary would never face such a large-scale enemy. Such tasks were usually handled by the nation’s military, the Sierran Empire’s Knights.
Of course, if an immediate crisis had arisen, they would have dealt with it without complaint to survive, but to repeatedly expend energy producing Sword energy from a safe position, it was understandable for them to grumble.
Then, Marianne, who had been drinking water with gulps while sitting in a corner, raised her hand.
“I have a suggestion!”
“…What is it?”
“Remember when Mika split the Sandworm in half? Do you want to try it again?”
“…Huh?”
Was that even possible? I was dumbfounded, unable to speak, while Marianne beckoned with the hand she held over her shoulder. Her voice was even cheerful as she continued.
“I watched it quite closely because it was so amazing then. It might be a bit dangerous up to about 8 meters behind Mikael, but if we follow about 10 meters behind, it might work? If we put Elwin Seonbae and Leon-ssi as shields right behind Mikael, and then follow in a line?”
“…Uh…”
“I don’t know how many times that can be done consecutively, but we’ve tried breaking through paths before.”
“…Hmm, uh…”
“…Right. Can it be done?”
No. Back then, we could pass by simply cutting off the arms of the Troll mutants. The zombies crowding us now required their heads and limbs to be completely severed before we could move past them. They needed to be crushed so they couldn’t move anymore, and I lacked the confidence.
I didn’t want to disappoint the children. I was greatly at a loss as to how to explain it.