CHAPTER 14: PURIFY AND ELIMINATE

Just as the barrier was destroyed by Amaya, what greeted them was an army of the forest fairies and spirits facing them. They were small, yes, the biggest perhaps only as big as an adult's palm, but their power was something to be revered. The backs of the people, even Amaya and Grell, started to sweat even though their whole body felt chilled to the bones.

This was because the fairies and spirits looked wrong. They were supposed to glow with a warm light. Their magic was one of the gentlest because they were born from nature itself and their purpose was to protect nature and maintain the balance between many creatures of nature.

But currently, they were glowing with an ominous red light, shrouding them. Their originally white and lustrous skin was now so pale it looked almost green and with cracks all over their body and face.

Their surroundings, before it was just black and barren, but now, in addition to that, the strong stench of decay and blood also permeated the air, suffocating them. The mountain of animal carcasses was staggeringly tall, almost as tall as the tallest tree in the jungle. It was truly horrifying.

Assuming a defensive stance, the group came face to face with the spirits and fairies who had their weapons drawn. They stared at those little figures floating with some apprehension. So many of them… They didn't know if they could win…

"The Goddess of Salvation," a shrill voice resounded in the air, filled with malice and disgust, "coming here… are you seeking an early death?" the voice asked before it laughed.

The group felt a sudden rush of anger. However, they didn't know where the voice came from. Therefore, they were still vigilantly standing beside Amaya with their weapons held high, ready to attack at the slightest move from the other side.

"Who are you?" Amaya's voice was calm, but her fists clenched tightly. Although she didn't lose her grace, it could easily be seen that she was furious.

"You will find out for yourself," the voice said with a chuckle, "that is if you managed to stay alive until the end," the taunting voice grew farther and farther until it was nothing else but an echo. At the same time as the voice disappeared, the creatures facing them started to move in unison. With a flash of bright red light, they shot towards the group in full offense.

Their light shone menacingly, as they flew over, shooting their magic incessantly, breaking the group as they gave chase, performing their own small groups to deal with them. Amaya flew over to Grell's side as she tried to dodge an attack from a small group of spirits.

"Why is their combat power suddenly so strong?" Grell asked amidst the oncoming slaught of red lights. 

Indeed, spirits didn't actually possess offensive magic. At most they could only manipulate their surroundings, such as the earth, wind, water, and the many plants and animals they lived with. Even then, they were restricted and couldn't manipulate them into something dangerous.

"It is the influence of the black magic," Amaya gritted her teeth as she shot out a series of white balls and knocked down a few spirits and fairies.

"Are they being controlled?" Grell asked, as he too, swung his weapon and successfully fell a few enemies. Looking at the gruesome fate of the spirits and fairies they took down, Amaya's heart felt like it was bleeding.

"I do not know," Amaya admitted, "they could also be brainwashed," she added.

"Which will be even more tricky to deal with," Grell acknowledged the part Amata didn't say  out loud.

Amaya had been looking for clues on whether or not they were controlled by black magic. Usually, she could sense it clearly when a being was being controlled against their will. Especially those possessing earth magic. Earth magic and black magic always collided. Thus usually wreaking havoc if one was to be controlled with black magic. Physically, it would show on their skins. There would be some kind of pattern, Usually in a glaring red color.

"Call the temple for backup!" Amaya and Grell heard Kiin's roar and they looked over and found that one of the protectors had been surrounded by a small group of enemies. Michael's hand was bleeding profusely, and even though his face was still calm, it was deathly pale. On his feet were already a few corpses of the fairies. Amaya's heart clenched painfully as she threw a protective shield in front of Michael before leaping over and helped him deter the enemies. Grell had also flown over to help the other protector, Jake. The two magic users, however advanced their magic was, having to face an onslaught from the feral spirits and fairies, they were bound to be overwhelmed nonetheless. No matter how agile they were. 

The warriors, on the other hand, mostly used brute force to kill their enemies. And their bodies had been tampered with so much offensive magic they had developed resistance, albeit just a little, but it was enough for them to not be flustered when facing magic.

The three warriors were scattered on the huge land, bringing their enemies away from the edge of the forest where the protectors were. Their weapons of choice glint under the scorching afternoon sun. Unlike Amaya who had been trying to subdue the creatures without killing them, the warriors' sole purpose was to kill their enemies regardless of what they were.

Seeing her comrades struggling against the creatures, Amaya couldn't help but to relent and acquiesced when they were going to kill. Only after, Amaya would recite a purification spell so that at least the souls of these poor creatures could go back to mother earth instead of being tortured for thousands of years in hell even after they paid for their sins.

"Grell, cover!" Amaya called out to Grell as she flew even higher from the ground. She could not afford distraction while reciting the purification spell. Grell, along with Kiin, leaped towards her and stood on the ground. They brandished their swords and knocked down several enemies and kept circling below Amaya to guard her.

The purification spell, amongst other things, could also deal with black magic. Although it couldn't completely dispel black magic from the one being controlled by it, it could at least weaken it a little. Enough for her comrades to deal with those creatures with more ease.

During the fight, they have unknowingly moved further towards the center of the dead land. The amount of animal carcasses increased, and the smell almost choked them all. The warriors were surrounding the protectors as the latter kept throwing magic balls towards the creatures, scorching their bodies while the former slashed those who came closer. Their bodies were scorched and mangled. However, it seemed that they didn't feel any pain at all as they kept on charging forward. Only after they were cleanly killed that they fell and stopped moving.

Above their heads was Amaya, silently chanting the spell. Her whole body was enshrouded in gentle white light. The black soil which exuded a terrible stench also started to show a little change. It started boiling, and without being commanded, the rest of the people in the group found a relatively sturdy dead branch and perked on it whilst still maintaining their momentum in killing off the enemy.

The rest of the enemies who had not been killed, were starting to slow down, courtesy of the purification spell. However, it wasn't enough for them to completely cease their attack. It did, thankfully, weakend the magic they were able to use to harm the group.

Grell, having the best skill and the highest confidence, immediately struck a large group of fairies with his broadsword, eliminating all of them in one fell swoop when Amaya's purification spell started to impact their movement. The rest of the people, except for Michael who was injured and was protected by one of the warriors, the others threw everything they had towards the enemy so as to not prolong the battle and risk more injury and time wasted.

When Amaya finished chanting her spell, she opened her palm and made a sweeping motion with one of her hands and an energy wave swept over the land, purifying it to some degree. After she was done, she slowly descended and stepped her feet onto the earth once again with a heartbroken expression. She looked around her and couldn;t help but to shed a few tears for the fallen creatures. No matter what, they were still creatures of the earth. Born by magic and earth itself. They were somehow a part of her, and seeing so many of them die, Amaya was naturally pained. However, she knew that it was not time to mourn yet. They needed to clean up the place and somehow restore it into the previous condition if they could. It will be a hard work but Amaya knew that the land needed to be restored for new fairies and spirits to be able to be borne and reside in it, thus maintaining the order of the ecosystem.