Chapitre 231: A Goddess Decends
Roughly an hour after he left Alex returned to the Dukes castle to find a manservant waiting for him. Showing professionalism at not being shocked from seeing the four new people behind him, the manservant said,
"The Duke has escorted your friends to the place where the affected people are being treated after verifying that the method worked on his family. I'm to show you to him and he'll take you to the oasis from there after your new friends get settled." Alex nodded and gestured for the man to lead the way as he followed along behind him. They were taken to what seemed like a nearby warehouse that had been turned into a temporary treatment center, where there was already a group of people praising the efforts of the ones healing their loved ones.
First was Anne who making the slowest progress as her healing magic was actually able to completely cure those she treated, but she was only able to do so one at a time and her magic power was quickly draining because of the rigorous demands of sky dragon slayer magic. This was being assisted by Kaori who was unable to actually cure the rampant magic power in the people's bodies, but was instead drawing it out into magic crystals that were provided by Hajime, though this didn't cure people but simply extended the time they had left. He had found these crystals that could store magic power in Orcus during their stay there, but they hadn't been used until now since none of the girls needed them or wanted to accept gems from someone besides Alex, until Kaori joined them. Now they were being filled by Kaori when she drew out magic power from her patients, and then taken over to Anne so that she could use the same magic power to heal those brought to her. Once drained of magic power, the crystal would then be taken back to Kaori to be refilled once more. Then there was Kuroka in the back of the warehouse who was sitting on a comfortable looking cushion with a large magic circle behind her blowing cool air while she treated her patients. Everyone was stupefied that the demihuman cat girl was impossibly not only able to use magic, but was using it to cool the temperature while also medically treating dying patients, but no one was going to mention it since the cool air felt nice in the warehouse. As for Shizuku, Shia, Hajime, Grayfia, Yue, and Tio, they were spread out somewhat helping direct people while waiting for Alex to return, meanwhile the duke was busy fighting back tears as after all of their efforts were met with despair a small group of people had turned everything around instantly. Alex walked up to him and announced his return,
"Duke Lanzwi, I've returned with more people to help fight the illness." The duke turned towards him to express his sincere gratitude, but stalled when he saw the four people behind Alex. Standing behind Alex was the blonde pure looking Asia who was dressed in the gowns from her time at the church, and Koneko who had her ears and three tails visible while also dressed in a white kimono. Almost every eye however was on the other two that were standing behind him, Gasper and Valerie, or more specifically Gasper. The reason was because Valerie apparently wanted to dress up to help everyone and so she changed into a cosplay nurse outfit before leaving, and somehow forced Gasper to wear one. This created quite the image as Gasper was in his male form due to him wanting to man up for Valerie, which apparently didn't stop her from wanting to dress him up. As the silence awkwardly dragged on Alex coughed slightly and said,
"They came to help, this is Koneko and she can use the same techniques as Kuroka, and both Asia and Valerie can use their own forms of healing magic, Gasper came to help Valerie." Understanding that this was Alex's way of moving the topic forward the duke simply nodded and everyone went to start working on their respective jobs, with Kuroka summoning an extra soft fusion and making Koneko sit next to her. She then spent the next five minutes fussing over her little sister before Koneko almost yelled at her to keep focused on what they were doing, and not on her condition. Seeing everyone get settled and increase the rate of people getting healed increase once more, the duke tried to promise himself not to be surprised anymore and said to Alex,
"If you'll follow me I'll lead you to the oasis so that you can take a look for anything suspicious there." Alex gestured for the duke to lead the way while Hajime, Yue, and Grayfia filed in behind him, to which the duke asked,
"Will they assist you in investigating the source of our oasis's pollution?" Alex nodded and said,
"Hajime is unrivaled in thinking and problem solving, and Yue and Grayfia can both use very powerful magic that may be of use if needed." The duke was thoughtful at Alex's claim and wondered if the magic they used would be even more amazing than what he had already seen, before deciding it was probably better if he didn't ask. It wasn't long before they arrived at a massive expanse of water where the oasis surfaced and provided the city with almost everything it needed to thrive. As they approached the duke started explaining,
"We already tested and confirmed that the water was tainted, and we even tried deep water tests but were unable to determine the source of the taint." Alex nodded at the Dukes words, but before he could say anything Hajime asked,
"How deep did you investigate?" This caused the duke to look at him curiously, to which Hajime explained,
"I can see something shining down there in the deep water, did the people who examined it drop something?" This alarmed almost everyone present while the duke checked with those who came with him, before saying,
"No, all magic tools were accounted for last we checked." Hajime smiled as it was confirmed that he did indeed find something, but before he could say anything Alex said,
"Let me dive down first, take a closer look before you do something like bombing the oasis or something." Hajime clicked his tongue as he was thinking of doing exactly that to determine what he saw down there. Before anyone could stop him Alex stripped off his shirt and dove straight into the tainted water with his wings out to propel himself forward, after seeing this the duke was starting to wonder if he should just give up trying to get answers from Alex about himself and his comrades. It didn't take long for there to be some kind of reaction, as the water suddenly seemed to come alive and form tentacles that flailed around aimlessly.
"Get back!" The Dukes guards shouted as they pulled him back away from the water, while Hajime, Yue, and Grayfia simply stood there as they waited for Alex to return. The tentacles continued flail around for another few seconds, before they shuddered and fell back into the water. Everyone stared at the oasis while holding their breath as they waited for the water to come alive once more, when Alex suddenly walked out of the water with a giant monster core gripped in his hand.
"Word of advice, it isn't easy to fight a slime while a few dozen feet under water." Everyone was dumbfounded at how casual Alex was about the situation, before the duke and those following him just chalked it up to yet another thing about Alex that didn't make sense. He then said,
"Well that should be the source of the contamination in the oasis, now we just need to find a way to purify it." After hearing his words the Duke looked at Alex somewhat dejectedly and asked,
"Are you unable to?" Alex smiled bitterly and replied,
"Even we have our limits." The Duke looked slightly disappointed at his confirmation, but decided not to mind it too much. Alex and his group had already guaranteed the survival of his city and removed the source of the problem, it would be too much to ask if he demanded they fix the oasis itself as well. Alex was also slightly disappointed in himself since they needed regeneration magic to be able to turn the oasis back, as since the majority of them were Devils it was a given they were unable to purify something that was tainted, but for an archangel it was a simple matter. This was the reason for the next part of Alex's scheme.
"I believe there is a small chance of being able to purify the oasis, but we have to hope that the goddess Gabriel will listen to us." This caused the Duke and his men to look up suddenly as he asked with sharper eyes,
"Are you saying that you can call upon a goddess to do your bidding just like that?" Alex however shook his head and explained,
"The goddess Gabriel is the mother of all sentient life and considers each member of each race her children, unlike the church that follows Ehito who encourages war and conflict with the other races. It's for this reason she might answer us and help her children in order to prevent their demise and further conflict." After hearing Alex mention the conflict with other races the Duke realized something that he might have overlooked, which was that the recent information about the demon race was that they were now able to control monsters, and that the thing that polluted the oasis was a slime according to Alex. While the Duke believed co-existence with the other races would be impossible, Alex and those with him had easily made the impossible possible several times within the couple hours he met them. This was why he didn't hesitate to say,
"I see, after everything today I'll have a church built for her and do everything I can to honor her wishes for peace." Alex nodded and turned towards the oasis before bowing his head and said,
"Goddess Gabriel, your champion pleads for your power to cleanse these waters and ensure prosperity for your children. Please, answer our cries!" Everyone followed Alex's example and bowed their heads as they hoped for yet another miracle that day. The minutes dragged on as they waited, but as everyone started to get look around to see if anything was different they were blinded by a dazzling light. Cries of astonishment rang out as everyone gathered and those still healthy in the city looked towards the source of the light, and saw something that would stay with them the rest of their life. An unbelievably beautiful woman with long flowing blonde hair descended towards the ground while surrounded by a curtain of golden light, and those who could use magic were able to sense the extreme amount of holy power coming off of her body even though she was simply floating there. The thing that caught everyone's eyes however was the twelve majestic golden wings that extended from her back and the ring of light floating above her head as she looked down at them with sadness in her eyes. Then, the most melodious of voices rang through the skies,
"My children, you have suffered so much in the past days; I mourn the loss of those who did not make it, and celebrate those who have pulled through. Let me now ensure that this horrible event is truly behind us." As her voice faded the goddess raised one of her elegant hands and a shower of light fell towards the tainted oasis, before it suddenly shined blindingly as if it contained the sun. After several long yet short seconds the light started dying down before fading completely looking completely unchanged. Though several people wanted to confirm if the water was indeed clean now, they felt that doubting the goddess before them would be the greatest of shames they had ever experienced. Gabriel then turned her attention towards everyone around her before speaking clearly once more,
"Now that I have removed the taint that induced such illness in all of you, I have but one request. Similar to the water that now flows clean I would ask that you try and cleanse your hearts of the taint that has been long present within them, and remove your anger against your brothers and sisters. Humans, demihumans, demon race, dragon race, and vampires, all are my children and it breaks my heart to see such bloodshed and hate among them. If not for me, then think of your own children who would grow up in a tainted world and would live only to fuel more hatred, anger, and death; think of those you have lost already due to reasons you have yet to truly understand. I ask only this of you." As the last words of her desperate plea faded, so too did the goddess as the same blinding light she arrived in before she disappeared altogether. Many of those who witnessed this were speechless until one of the men the duke brought hesitantly went to the water line and checked it, before declaring,
"ITS REALLY CLEAN!" These words triggered a massive response as everyone who had stood around the oasis burst into cheers, any were even crying in relief and happiness at the miracle they just witnessed. Meanwhile the duke was still staring start struck as his people spread their happiness like the plague around him, before recalling the goddess's final words. He then turned towards the great fields that were near the oasis where he saw several hundred demihuman slaves standing in them. It was that moment that one of his attendants approached him and asked,
"My lord, why do you not celebrate?!" The duke looked back towards his attendant and answered,
"I am thinking of the future. Send a message to every slave owner in the city telling them they are summoned to meeting in a weeks time. This should be enough time to recover from this mess and plan an alternative or two." The attendant was confused at the Dukes words and asked,
"An alternative for what sir?" The duke simply said,
"The goddess requested that we try to end the cycle of hatred that plagues us; so tell me, how can we do that if so many of those she mentioned are chained within our own walls?" The attendant turned towards the same fields the duke was looking at just a moment before and turned serious as well before saying,
"Yes my lord, it will be done!" Satisfied, the duke turned back towards the oasis and those who healthy celebrating the miracle they just witnessed, and continued planning for what he hoped was an era of peace.
***
Meanwhile across the city another person was watching the area where Gabriel had appeared, yet there was nothing but scorn in their gaze. The high priest of Ankaji then turned around and reentered the church to see those who were devout receiving their medicine after reaffirming their devotion to God, reverence in their eyes.
'This is as it should be.' The high priest thought to himself as he recalled the message he had received through the magic communication available exclusively through the church, detailing the description of the heretics that were trying to spread faith in this false goddess. The situation had proved to be annoying as word of this goddess spread, the church was trying to suppress the spread of converted believers in Furhen while the town of Ul was already lost, he even heard they had already built a statue of the goddess with her champion and prophet. The high priests thoughts were interrupted when and elderly woman approached him and begged,
"Please high priest, save my grandchildren!" The high priest adopted a smile and said,
"Of course child, all the faithful of God will be able to weather this condition, this includes your grandchildren as well." However the elderly woman shook her head and pleaded,
"It's not just the disease, it's their whore of a mother! She refuses to bring them to the church and is instead taking them to receive treatment from those followers of Gabriel, even though I said we would face the wrath of God if she did that! I don't care what happens to her, but my grandchildren are all I have left after my son passed!" This news made the high priest frown for a second before he smiled again and said in a louder voice,
"Do you hear that my children? Now people are truly acting against the church in these times of crisis, how far have we fallen?!" There was a cry of outrage from the surrounding people at the high priests words, as they cursed those who turned their backs on the one true God. The high priest then said to them,
"Tell me would you allow your families to become misguided like this poor woman's? To be seduced by lies and promises of an impossible ideal, peace with those who do not share our gods grace?"
"""NO!!"""
The people chanted at the high priests words as they started getting fired up. The high priest smiled at their fervor and said passionately,
"I say let us go and show them the light before they are dragged forever to the darkness! Let us show these heretics that we will not be fooled by their lies, that we will not tolerate their very presence!" There was a great cheer once more as everyone present got fired up and prepared to cast out the unfaithful from their city. The high priest turned towards the captain of the temple knights in Ankaji and asked,
"How many knights are available for us to call on?" The captain smiled and said,
"Two hundred, enough to deliver divine punishment upon those foolish enough to turn their backs on god!" The high priest smiled once more and said,
"Good. The reports from Ul is that this champion is even stronger than the summoned hero party, but what was said seemed so grossly exaggerated that we're not sure." The high priest then laughed to himself as he recalled the report stating that this champion of Gabriel managed to eliminate an army of monsters numbering several tens of thousands with only a handful of people. He then turned serious once more and said,
"Summon them all at once and we'll march on them." The temple knight captain saluted once and turned to do as instructed. The high priest then walked out the grand doors of the church and started walking down the road once the captain returned with well over a hundred Knights already in tow.
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