Time Limit

My body temperature seemed to spike all at once.

It reminded me of being bedridden with a cold.

"In cases like this, dealing with the source usually lifts the curse. That's the standard approach."

"The source… you mean that thing? Can we actually do something about it?"

Finn pointed out in response to Elza's words.

The black liquid that had once been a forest spirit.

Could that even be called a living thing?

How would you go about defeating it?

Could it even be defeated?

"Hmm, well, spirits aren't immortal beings. And given how drastically it's changed from its original form, it must be in a rather precarious state. It's destroying the very forest that should be sustaining it, after all."

"Come to think of it, someone did say it would dissipate if it ran out of mana."

"That's an option too. But if we go that route, Master would be in terrible shape by then."

Azu reacted to Elza's words.

"That's not acceptable! Would my sword be able to cut it? This sword seems to be able to cut all sorts of things."

"Possibly. That sword might actually work. But I wouldn't recommend close combat… The Mosquito Monsters are one thing, but I believe the black liquid itself is a concentrated mass of curses. If it weren't, an elf-made golem wouldn't have been dissolved that easily."

"Alexia-san, even so, I'll-!"

"Don't raise your voice. Azu, calm down."

"I'm sorry…"

Azu wilted.

"In any case, we need to buy time. Master, it's going to hurt a bit and be uncomfortable, but you can tough it out, right?"

"Elza, what are you planning?"

"I am a priestess, after all, so I do have means of countering curses. This time, I'll use every blessing I have to forcibly halt the curse's progression."

Elza poured all her remaining holy water over the spot that had gone pale where the Mosquito Monster fed, then held her hands over them.

I felt searing heat alongside a sensation of being enveloped.

Something seemed to flow into me, and then I lost consciousness.

"What happened to sir?"

"His body shut down his awareness to protect itself, I think. In this state, the curse's progression should be significantly slowed."

"… What are you, exactly? I've never seen a priestess wield that many blessings at once."

"Hehe, I'm just that good."

Elza flashed a peace sign.

Evalin didn't seem convinced, but she appeared to lose interest.

"That takes care of him for now, so let's get back on topic. Is there a way to beat that thing? If not, we should get him out of the forest and carry him to a major church or…"

"I can't lift the curse, so taking him anywhere else would be pointless."

"Quite confident, aren't you, Elza."

"Yes. On this matter, you can trust my judgment. Besides, no matter how much time we've bought, if the curse advances while we're transporting him, it's all for nothing."

Tension flared between Finn and Elza.

But Finn backed down, and it didn't escalate further.

"Let's handle this here. That's our best option. What do you think, Alexia-chan? You're our best fighter."

"Let's see… I've never fought a spirit in that state, but if we think of it as an amorphous monster that spreads poison, I think we can manage."

"Can we, really? To me it seemed like an immortal monster."

"If it were truly immortal, we'd be out of luck. But I don't think it is. There are countless tales of supposedly immortal monsters being slain."

Alexia perched on the edge of the desk as she spoke.

"There's nothing left inside the barrier for it to feed on. But it might use the Mosquito Monsters it spawned to self-replicate. We burned most of the Mosquito Monsters in the last fight, so the only ones left are the escorts around the black liquid. Now's our chance. Has your mana recovered?"

"Yes. I meditated to restore it. If I don't have to waste mana on the Mosquito Monsters, I shouldn't run dry."

"How enviable, recovering that quickly… Can you use ice magic?"

"I can."

"Good. Then this might work… Let me explain the plan."

Alexia laid out the strategy and explained it to everyone.

"Freeze it, then have Azu cut it. Sounds more promising than burning it, but… isn't there magic that works directly against curses?"

"There are priestly miracles that work on undead, but…"

"If we've decided, let's go quickly. The sooner we act, the less Master suffers."

Orleans raised her hand during the discussion.

"I'll stay and look after sir. If we're not using fire, I won't be of any use in combat."

"In that case, someone should stay behind as an escort…"

"No, I'll manage alone."

"Then I'll leave this behind."

Evalin pulled out a small doll from somewhere and tossed it.

The doll quickly grew until it was about a third of Puppe's size.

"Puppe Mark II. She can handle the monsters around here."

"Thank you very much."

Orleans bowed deeply.

Puppe Mark II waved her arms in acknowledgment.

"My mana is at about eighty percent, but with an elf on our side, we have a shot. Let's do this."

At Alexia's signal, they headed back toward the barrier.

Beyond the barrier, there was nothing.

The black liquid seemed to have moved elsewhere.

"The ground's turned to desert."

"Is this how it ends up? At least it didn't become a toxic swamp, I suppose."

"True. Sand won't slow our footing."

"I'm opening the barrier. Stay alert."

Evalin opened a path through the barrier.

After everyone entered, the barrier closed behind them.

That was when Evalin noticed something.

"What is it?"

"… The desertification has half-destroyed the barrier's anchor symbols. At this rate, the barrier will dissipate on its own."

"You can't be serious!? If that thing gets out… No, even letting it escape at all would be unmanageable."

Azu felt the weight of multiple time limits pressing down on her all at once.