“Go!”

As Sera shattered the stone pillar, Fiora immediately issued a command.

At the same time, she unleashed her concentrated fire magic at the wraiths that had appeared in the room.

It was a serious attack, reinforced with 【Dragon’s Lung】.

When Sera sliced through the stone pillar, the black miasma that had been stored inside burst out like sand, and it still filled the ceiling of the room.

Several wraiths had emerged from it, but the room’s function had already ceased. Entering it no longer caused exhaustion, and magic could now be used—so there was no need to fear.

More than that, it was Fiora’s magic potentially causing the room to collapse that was the greater concern… We’d best hurry.

Once we reached Sera, all the Blessed Items that had been activated earlier had now been nullified.

“She’s unconscious. Teresa, carry her!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

Leaving Sera to Teresa, I scooped the remains of the stone pillar—now crumbled into sand—into my pouch.

Whether it would be of any use was uncertain, but it might serve as some kind of reference material.

I’d like to collect everything if possible, but…

“Milady!”

“Yes.”

Regrettably, escape took priority.

Kicking off the ground, I headed toward the passage with Teresa, who was carrying Sera.

Fiora’s magic flew overhead, keeping the wraiths at bay.

Because we were still in the room, she had to hold back her magic’s power, and that’s why they hadn’t been defeated yet.

However…

“…!?”

The moment we exited the room, Fiora ramped up the magic’s power and rapidly fired off a barrage—wiping them all out at once.

From the aftermath, debris began falling from the walls and ceiling.

Even though the magic circle and the stone pillars were destroyed, the room’s reinforcement effects were likely still active. Thanks in part to the Blessed Items, it seemed a skilled mage could ignore all of that if they were determined enough…

The room wasn’t completely buried, but retrieving the stone pillar remnants now seemed impossible.

It was only a small amount, but I’d have to make do with what I had managed to collect.

More importantly…

“How’s Sera?”

That black miasma hadn’t hit her directly, but she had been in contact with the pillar for several minutes—so it wouldn’t be strange if there were some kind of side effect.

Teresa laid Sera on the floor and began checking her breathing and pulse…

“Her pulse and breathing are normal, but her right arm is broken. She must’ve pushed herself quite hard. Treatment should be done on the surface… but we may want to hurry.”

“Her arm? …Ah.”

As I got closer to check on Sera myself… it was obvious at a glance.

【Monkey’s Arm】 and 【Scarlet Bee Needle】 were one thing, but 【Serpent’s Tail】 had been directly wrapped around her arm, and both ends had snapped.

Teresa had tightly wrapped several layers of cloth around it to stabilize it, but as she said, it would be best to treat her back at the estate.

While we did have medical supplies at the 【Hideout】, Sera’s condition made things difficult.

This was exactly why we usually kept her in reserve… Yet the one time she defied that, she pushed herself this far… Perhaps she had her own thoughts about what the church was doing.

“You’re right. We should move somewhere we can treat her calmly. Besides, it’s probably best we don’t stay here too long. I’ll handle the monsters—Teresa, carry the two of them and go.”

“Understood, Milady. Excuse me.”

After completing Sera’s first-aid, Teresa placed Sera onto a nearby 【Floating Orb】 and was about to carry me next, but before that…

“Wait… alright. Please.”

I picked up Sera’s umbrella, which had been left on the side of the passage.

She was always someone who took care of her belongings, but this one she especially liked. If we left it behind and it became unrecoverable, she’d be quite noisy about it later.

With that done, Teresa carried me as well, and I gave Fiora the signal.

◇

The escape route from the underground, unlike when we entered with mostly zombies, was now overflowing with wraiths.

Destroying the stone pillar had stopped new ones from being created, but the ones that had already appeared were a separate matter.

Still, it wasn’t exactly difficult.

Fiora led the way, eliminating the wraiths while we purified the rooms behind her… and so on.

“…Hey, Fiora.”

“What?”

Just a few rooms left before reaching the passage’s exit.

We had just finished purifying another room with alchemical agents when I began to wonder.

This potion was designed for anti-undead use… Fiora had prepared it precisely for situations like this.

It broke down the ambient mana to prevent defeated zombies from possessing other corpses, or from undestroyed wraiths eventually regenerating. Because it could also interfere with the use of magical tools, its manufacture required permission from the local lord or governor.

To be safe, all territories kept the ingredients in stock so it could be made at any time—but actually producing and using it was rare, due to its dangerous nature.

Initially, I thought this potion had just been developed as an anti-undead measure, but after hearing that earlier discussion…

“This potion… is it a product of the research they were talking about deeper in?”

“Exactly. Preparing a countermeasure before beginning the experiment—surprisingly prudent, considering the content of the research.”

Fiora added a sarcastic “How unnecessary…” to her reply.

Certainly, if that experiment hadn’t happened, we wouldn’t have ended up crawling around in this underground pit. But thanks to it, we also developed a means of dealing with the undead—I couldn’t reject everything outright.

Besides, even though the Church had abandoned the experiment, they still acquired the technology and spent years crafting this plan. That’s impressive in its own way.

As an established organization, they’re not to be underestimated.

If there’s any good to come from this event, it’s that now we can officially place the Church in the territory under our control.

Anyway…

“I see… Then this room is finished. Let’s hurry on.”

With that, I took Sera from Teresa’s arms, and Teresa carried me again.

We’d nearly cleaned up everything. Time to get out of here.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Sera – Blessing – 【Hideout】 +1【Prayer】【Mira’s Blessing】【Garment of Wind】 Blessed Items – 【Floating Orb】 +1【Shadow Sword】 +1【Scarlet Bee Needle】【Fairy’s Eye】【Lung of the Dragon】【Amber Sword】【Danrem’s Thread】【Serpent’s Tail】【Ankle Bracelet】【Amber Shield】【Purple Wings】【Red Sword】【Monkey’s Arm】 – 8 cards

Seriana – 【Area Identification】・【】・0 cards

Elena – 【】・【Green Fang】【Amber Sword】・4 cards

Alec – 【Strong Strike】・【Red Shield】【Fierce Horned Trumpet】・10 cards