Chapter 94

After Panz left for the East, Pahomel opened a black-magic space where the souls of those killed by the plague had gathered. But the amount of souls was far less than expected, and Pahomel’s face hardened.

Even if the saintesses purifying the East prevented him from gathering souls in the east, the souls from the south and west alone should have filled at least half the space by now.

Not even a third had gathered.

Pahomel’s expression went icy.

He suddenly thought of Enria — the only one other than the great sanctuary’s saintesses capable of purifying plague. He had focused on killing her child after realizing the child was the prophesied “Oracle of Absolution,” but Enria herself was clearly not someone he should have left alive.

‘But there’s no way she could purify such a vast region that quickly.’

Even if she did it alone, the process should’ve been slow.

Which meant there had to be some other reason souls weren’t gathering — for instance, the plague simply being weaker than expected, leaving more people alive and suffering rather than dead.

‘I should have tested it before spreading it.’

Rushing to gather souls without verifying the plague’s intensity had been a mistake.

Estimating the number of gathered souls, Pahomel decided to inspect a village that should currently be in the midst of the plague. Limping toward the door, he threw on a gray cloak and stared at his twisted leg.

The leg Caldeon had mangled could not be healed. Bodies wounded by black magic could be disguised with illusion, but never restored.

Which was why Panz’s damaged leg could not be healed either.

As Pahomel headed south, he wondered whether the god of evil possessing Panz could heal Panz’s injured leg once he awoke.

***

“Panz is moving again,” Blizzan murmured, staring into both palms. The fire attribute Panz ruled surged inside him again — a sign Panz was doing something through fire.

At that, Silri asked if he knew where Panz was, and Graum responded that whenever Panz resurfaced, he should be completely erased. The other spirits’ faces grew tense.

“I don’t know where. But he’s definitely fighting using fire.”

Caldeon immediately grabbed the communicator.

Lonn’s expression twisted the moment he saw it. He assumed Caldeon was once again calling Enria in the middle of this crisis.

But Caldeon did not ask for Enria. He gave Rahar rapid instructions.

“A fire spirit allied with a black-mage may be attacking the eastern saintesses. Contact the sanctuary, confirm the situation, and send support.”

Caldeon added that Hayden was currently purifying an entire village at once by spreading holy power over it, and told them to leave the purification to Hayden and stop the rampaging Panz instead.

Lonn felt a little guilty for misjudging Caldeon — until Caldeon’s next words destroyed that feeling instantly.

“Put Enria on. I miss her. It’s been too long.”

Of course. His ultimate goal was to see Enria again.

[Hayden is purifying an entire village with holy power?]

“Mommy. Mama!”

Enria appeared in the communicator, eyes wide in shock, and Hayden reached his arms toward her from Caldeon’s arms.

Their matching black eyes softened in the same tender way as they looked at her. Lonn suddenly understood just how precious she was to both father and son. Their overprotectiveness made a bit more sense.

“Yes. He’s spreading holy power thin and wide, covering the whole village to purify it.”

[So it works that way. I should try it too.]

“But it’ll take a lot of holy power. And a lot of focus.”

[Hayden is doing it.]

“Hayden surpassed genius long ago. He controls black magic better than I do. You don’t need to push yourself that far. The fire spirit is killing the saintesses — you should join them and protect them.”

Caldeon summoned Tearen next.

“Tearen, protect Enria no matter what.”

Repeating yet again that Enria’s safety came first, he would not stop. Even after they acknowledged him, he kept repeating it, until Roseanne finally lost patience and snatched the communicator.

[We’re here, and my brother’s here. Focus on your work. And stop opening the communicator!]

“Don’t block Enria’s face, Lady Kaznaren.”

[Her face won’t disappear just because you don’t see it for a moment!]

“Fine. Then point it at Enria. I didn’t call to see you.”

[Excuse me?!]

[Caldeon, we’ll move to the East. Hayden, keep going, okay?]

“Mm. Okay.”

Enria pushed her face beside the furious Roseanne and asked the two to take care. The father and son nodded like obedient dogs.

After she ended the call herself, both stared at the blank communicator with drooping expressions. Lonn grimaced. Their fussing really was excessive.

***

When Pahomel arrived at a southern village, his eyes widened — everyone was healthy. They should’ve been infected.

Between the saintesses’ purification and Enria’s, his soul-gathering plan had failed. His teeth clenched.

He should’ve killed Enria and Hayden from the beginning.

‘Fine. Once the god of evil awakens, I’ll convince him to kill the Oracle-Bearer and its mother first.’

He wasn’t sure the god would listen, but the god’s destructive nature meant it wouldn’t object to killing the one chosen by prophecy. In fact, it might desire that even more than Pahomel did.

Once the god revived, he could eliminate every thorn that interfered with his plans. And with Panz preparing to become the vessel, even a partially unsealed god would be unstoppable.

With those thoughts, Pahomel gathered black magic into his hands. Black smoke seeped across the ground, re-infecting villagers. Rotting flesh spread from those touched by the smoke, quickly passing the plague to others.

The village plunged into screams and terror.

He strengthened the plague — bodies fell like dominoes. High-quality souls required slow, painful deaths, but there was no time for that. Enria’s ongoing purifications were delaying the revival.

The priority was quantity, not quality.

At that moment, Panz was burning eastern saintesses alive. Massive fireballs rained down relentlessly. Their barriers barely held — then shattered.

Saintesses fled in terror as their companions turned to ash. Panz hunted them one by one. If a fireball missed, he shot flaming arrows into their skulls. Bodies ignited and crumbled into cinders.

It was a cruel game of hunting. The living saintesses went pale as death.

Dozens died. Barely six remained when Enria’s group arrived.

Their eyes widened at the charred remains, then again at the sight of Panz playing executioner.

“What in the world…”

“This is horrific…”

Forcing down their emotions, Enria cast a holy barrier around the six survivors. Roseanne, Rahar, and Undy launched offensive magic.

Panz sneered at Enria’s barrier and threw a fireball at one of the saintesses — only to be blocked. Annoyed, he dodged the incoming attacks and retaliated with a storm of flaming arrows.

At last, the battle between Panz and Enria’s group began.