“Thirty seconds is enough.”
I quietly lifted the Unicorn Dagger.
The sound of the undead I dragged here from everywhere breaking apart filled the air.
With that as the background music, I started amplifying all my powers using every means at my disposal.
First, the Divine Bloodline. My heart raced violently, and the blood began to heat up.
I instinctively understood, feeling a strange excitement. My blood itself was imbued with power right now. Thus, I could use all my abilities more easily.
Next, I invoked Basilieus. The Crown of Thorns was already placed on my head, but it was merely the minimal activation to expand my cognitive abilities.
I squeezed that power to the limit. Instead of drawing strength from outside, I cultivated the very thorns that formed the crown.
Crack.
With a twisting and shattering sound, the thorns began to grow from the crown, enveloping my body as a symbol of trials and transforming into a protective armor.
I felt my frail body becoming significantly tougher, yet the more important thing was that my perception had sharpened beyond comparison to before.
The raging Banshee Queen felt as clear as if she were resting on my palm, and I started sensing things that weren’t visible to the eye.
I had locked onto the target; now all that remained was to unleash maximum firepower.
Normally, I intentionally hold back the Avatar of Love just a bit, but this time I fully unleashed it.
Though there were no visible changes like previous powers, I temporarily raised my standing, and I could feel the gaze of all things in the world.
Right now, everything would go the way I wanted. Everyone would gladly heed my requests, and all power would dance at my fingertips.
Because I was currently receiving the world’s love.
Finally, I activated the Goddess Statue’s Sanctuary to amplify my overall abilities and prepared for any possible exhaustion.
There was still a burst of potential left, but that was just the enhancement of physical capabilities through aura, so it wasn’t essential in this situation.
As soon as I completed my preparations, I immediately began the incantation.
“Light, be!”
This was a spell I had just recently learned, practically marking it as the trump card for conquering the Fourth Floor.
That’s right. The Radiance of Purification was a magic that utilized mana.
Moreover, magic is just another fragment of miracles, and mana is a separate branch of Divine Power.
And the Radiance of Purification was created specifically to simulate the classic majesty of gods.
Magic close to its original source is virtually indistinguishable from miracles.
My mana surged within me, resonating with Divine Power and all kinds of abilities boiling up.
In an instant, the swelling power threatened to burst my small frame. However, thanks to the buffs I had prepared earlier, I managed to rein it in just enough to intensify it.
Thus, most of the undead collapsed, and the Banshee Queen’s sharp claws grazed my face as her voice, leading to death, swept around.
Finally, I whispered the completed incantation’s keywords.
“Let there be light.”
Perhaps it was due to the side effects of the voice calling the dead, but my words came out raspy and somewhat awkward.
However, this awkwardness did not affect the power.
With the Unicorn Dagger raised, the blade infused with purifying power glowed warmly and then released its light into the air.
A fist-sized small orb appeared. Although it seemed insignificant, the light sphere was captivating and released compressed light in an instant.
Whoosh-!
In a flash, the immense brightness was blinding. The bright radiance reminiscent of the sun filled the surrounding area.
Perhaps because my vision was effectively blocked. My sensitive ears picked up all the small noises around me.
Clatter. Aaaah! Crack!
The sounds of bones rolling on the floor. Pure screams devoid of transition. And then.
Kyaaaaaaaaaaaa-!!
The last desperate wail of the Banshee Queen echoed thunderously.
It was supposed to guide nearby creatures towards death, but it seemed that effect was nearly non-existent now.
I didn’t know much about the original effects, but I could hear sounds of people holding their breath, though they didn’t seem to be in pain like before.
Thanks to the expanded instincts provided by Basilieus, I felt that the Banshee Queen was rapidly dissolving, indicating the diminished power.
Or perhaps she screamed properly, but that too was melting away in the Radiance of Purification.
However, one thing was clear: the Radiance of Purification was effective.
As the light that had illuminated everything gradually faded, I finally could see the results of what I had wrought.
In an instant, all connections crumbled, and among the remains of white bone shards scattered on the floor, a large violet mana stone peeked through.
The Banshee had long since vanished, leaving only a slight dusting of ashes behind.
What remained of that once-mighty Banshee Queen was like ice cream left out on a summer day, with 80% of its body melted away.
The remaining piece, struggling with its head and some part of its neck and chest left, dripped ashes like blood.
Yet, even without a mouth to scream or sharp claws to swing, this monster stared at me with eyes full of malice.
I was so scared that I shot an already loaded crossbow bolt straight through the Banshee Queen’s eye.
Thunk!
It seemed like she no longer had the strength to maintain her incorporeal form as her neck bent back helplessly. However, it still twitched, showing its undead persistence.
Thus, I took a step forward, intending to completely obliterate it.
“Cough!”
At the same time, one of my supports, Basilieus, crumbled instantly.
The thorns, which had withered like dead plants, fell apart and touched the ground, vanishing completely.
There was no particular reason; I simply had exhausted all my energy.
The only reason I could still move like this was due to the Mini Sanctuary working hard today, constantly restoring my stamina and mana.
With trembling hands, I downed mana potions one after the other while slowly moving forward.
The Banshee Queen, still showing no signs of recovery, was just trembling… but for some reason, the gazes around me felt overwhelmingly intense.
Curious, I squeezed out what little power I had left, looking around to find the reason.
Astonishment, admiration, confusion, desire, and worship.
“Ah.”
It seemed that the impact of the Radiance of Purification I had just seen was more significant than I thought.
Moreover, given that I was fully utilizing the Avatar of Love, I could understand these reactions to some extent.
Recognizing that this was close to goodwill directed toward me rather than a problem, I felt more relaxed and stood before the Banshee Queen.
An ugly woman draped in a bloodstained white veil. Despite most of her body being gone, the mana stone was nowhere to be seen.
Ghost-type monsters are like that, after all. They tend to hide their weaknesses like mana stones due to their incorporeal nature.
But this wasn’t an ordinary situation.
Maybe because she was on the verge of disappearing, a transparent shimmer was visible in the spot where the Banshee Queen’s chest had been.
I quietly brought the Unicorn Dagger closer to it.
Tap.
Fwoosh!
At the same time, the Unicorn Dagger, responding to the evil, shone brightly several times in a flash.
Its light was weak compared to the Radiance of Purification but had enough strength to sever the last breath of the waning Banshee Queen.
Ultimately, after the dagger met the translucent shimmer, only a large mana stone remained as the Banshee Queen completely dissolved.
…The undead monsters on the Fourth Floor are a bit ambiguous to describe as insane.
Because originally, the undead are always crazed due to the rage of the living if there’s no one to hold their reins.
Thus, it’s more accurate to say they are those who ride along with madness rather than being swept away by it.
So, how much experience must a person undergo to naturally descend into madness? And how insane must one be to become a being like the Banshee Queen when resurrected as undead?
In that moment, a fleeting sense of pity surged to the forefront. Perhaps I had been a little drunk on the gazes around me.
Unconsciously, I found myself praying for the Banshee Queen, making the sign of the cross and briefly going into contemplation. And then.
“Holy, saint….”
A voice that shouldn’t have been heard slipped through the jaws of the amazed adventurers.
“Um, uh.”
This is awkward.
One day, I won’t mind revealing that I’m a sort of saint, but right now is absolutely not that time.
Without the Sanctuary, I felt like I might collapse any moment, but I forcefully straightened up, stowed the dagger into subspace, and lightly clasped my hands.
Although I had exhausted my mana, leading to some exhaustion, my mental strength and divine power weren’t lacking.
With the mindset of this being the final, ultimate last dance, I squeezed my divine power and mental strength amidst the dizzying turmoil.
I caused the thorns of the thorn armor I had just dropped to suddenly grow large again.
Thus, what was completed was simply a gigantic tree that had swelled in body size, neither sturdy nor endowed with special strength.
While the base was made of thorns, it looked a bit ominous, still, being massive itself stirred a sense of awe.
And right now, I was cloaked in the Avatar of Love and Mini Sanctuary.
With an air of something significant being induced, I shifted the direction of the attention toward me.
“Hey there, brave adventurer! How about we trust in the World Tree together?”
“….”
The reverent adventurer’s expression began to sour. It looked as if they had seen a cult or something.
…This is irreverent.
