The giant bird, wreathed in malice, bore down on us. It was even more massive than I’d anticipated—perhaps longer than our entire airship. This was… a problem. I’d expected some interference from the Evil God’s side, but I hadn't prepared for a monster of this scale. At that size, a single collision would likely shatter our vessel.
I wanted to land before it could reach us, but its speed made that impossible. Besides, we were directly over Aingurna; descending now would drag the citizens into the fray.
"Golem! Start a slow descent!"
As we lost altitude, I engaged the Air Jets at full throttle, aiming for the city limits. But the bird was faster, and the gap between us was shrinking steadily.
"Halfa, keep singing! Everyone else, defend the ship if it attacks! I’m going to craft a golem to soak up the impact!"
Since it didn't look like we'd make it out in time, I changed tactics, switching to a strategy of pure endurance. I stopped trying to escape with the Air Jets, and the distance between us and the bird vanished in an instant. The creature showed no sign of using long-range attacks; it intended to ram us. Honestly, that was the one attack I wanted to deal with least.
"〈Create Golem〉"
I cast the spell toward the approaching bird. Using the surrounding atmosphere as my material, I poured every ounce of mana into crafting the largest golem I could manage.
"Tort!"
By the time the golem was complete, the bird was right on top of us. Lowell stepped in front of me, shielding me as I concentrated on the spell.
A heavy, dull thud reverberated through the hull.
"Uwaah!?"
"Kyat!"
"Nuaaaa!"
The bird smashed through the Air Golem and plowed into the airship. The vessel groaned and shuddered violently, but the hull held. The Air Golem had acted as a successful buffer, absorbing the worst of the momentum.
That said, I couldn't afford to relax. The bird continued to charge, completely unconcerned about the Air Golem caught in its path. If there was a silver lining, it was that the bird’s sheer momentum was pushing us clear of Aingurna. If we went down now, at least we wouldn't take any innocent bystanders with us.
Wait, the golem's durability won't hold! As the caster, I could feel that the golem's body was reaching its limit under the pressure of the bird's assault.
"Everyone, the golem’s about to break! Brace for impact!"
The moment that "wall" vanished, the airship would take the full force of the bird’s charge. A crash would be unavoidable. We’d dropped a fair bit, but falling from this height would still be fatal.
"I’ve got this!"
Spira volunteered. She manifested Ice Trees from her own body, winding the frozen branches around the entire airship like a protective cage.
Just then, the Air Golem finally shattered. The bird's massive bulk slammed into the airship. The Ice Trees caught the impact, their branches entangling the beast, but they couldn't kill the momentum entirely. An impact far more violent than the first rocked the airship, but Spira's magic kept the vessel from splintering into pieces.
The ship was still on the verge of collapse; several of the ropes securing the gondola had snapped, and the wooden framework was splintering. It was only keeping its shape because of the frozen lattice binding it together.
"The Ice Trees!"
"Exactly! Impressive, right?" Spira puffed out her chest, proud even in the face of disaster.
It truly was amazing. She hadn't just mitigated the impact; she was literally holding the ship together. Thanks to her, we’d avoided a total catastrophe.
But the bird wasn't giving up. It thrashed, thrusting its beak through the gaps in the Ice Trees to reach us.
"Uwaah!"
"Hyaaa!?"
"Nuoh!"
Finally, a section of the Ice Trees gave way, and the bird’s head forced its way inside. Halfa had been singing the Song of Soothing this whole time, but the sudden intrusion finally broke her concentration.
"Nngh…!"
Spira groaned, pouring more power into her magic. She was trying to tighten the Ice Trees around the bird’s neck to strangle it. The monster thrashed in agony.
"Hah!"
Taking advantage of the opening, Lowell lunged, driving his sword into the bird’s eye. It was a cramped, awkward strike delivered from the narrow confines of the gondola, but the blade sank deep into the eye socket. Instead of blood, a thick cloud of Black Haze erupted from the wound. The bird let out a blood-curdling scream and shook itself violently, making the airship creak and groan. Even with the Ice Trees supporting us, the ship felt like it would disintegrate at any moment.
"Guaaaaaaah!"
I didn't even have time to worry about the ship. Lowell had suddenly screamed out in pain. His right hand was being swallowed by the Black Haze, the darkness visibly eroding his flesh.
I looked to Halfa, hoping for a Song of Soothing, but it was no use.
"Halfa!"
"It's no use! She's out cold!"
Halfa was slumped against the side of the gondola, unconscious. Had she been knocked out by the impact, or was it mana exhaustion? The high-output Song of Soothing must have drained her faster than I’d thought.
But what could I do? Without her song, we couldn't purify the Malice. While we could normally absorb Malice and convert it into Destiny Elements, our experience had shown that we couldn't easily decompose Malice that was fueled by such pure, aggressive intent.
The darkness continued to eat away at Lowell. I had to get it off him…
Wait, 'get it off'?
Come to think of it, didn't my Clean spell get upgraded to remove 'unnecessary things'?
Was Malice something the body needed? No. It was unnecessary—trash, essentially. And if it was trash, then Clean should be able to excise it. It was simple logic.
I told myself it would work. I convinced myself. I believed it with every fiber of my being. I couldn't afford to doubt. This was the truth. Therefore, Clean would work!
"〈Clean〉"
I cast the spell with the force of an absolute command. Lowell’s right hand was instantly enveloped in a brilliant light.
When the light faded, the haze was gone. Not a single trace remained.