"Lowell, how does your arm feel? Any lingering discomfort?"
Visually, I had managed to purge the haze, but only Lowell could say for sure how he actually felt. When I asked to confirm, he looked completely bewildered, his eyes darting around as he tried to process the situation.
"A-ah... There’s no pain, and that heavy, oppressive feeling is gone... but what on earth did you do?"
"I used Clean," I explained. "That black mist was clearly something your body didn't need. I just focused on throwing away the unnecessary filth to make you spotless, and it worked out."
"It 'worked out'?" Lowell repeated, looking at me as if I were some kind of freak.
Wait, is he judging me? Isn't this the part where he’s supposed to praise me for a job well done?
I wanted to press him on it, but we were still in the middle of a battle. Even though it was currently pinned by the Ice Trees, the giant bird was still very much alive. From the right eye where Lowell had wounded it, jet-black haze was slowly oozing out again, as if the monster were watching for an opening to strike.
Well, I might as well clean that too. I already knew that Clean was effective, so there was no reason to hold back. Activating the spell with the mental image of wiping away the rot gushing from its socket, a brilliant light enveloped the area. A moment later, the haze vanished without a trace.
"KIGYAAAAAAHHH!!!"
The moment the haze disappeared, the giant bird let out a shrill cry. It sounded less like a roar of anger and more like a scream of agony. In fact, the beast writhed its body as if trying to escape an invisible force. The impact sent shards of the Ice Trees crumbling away with a series of sharp cracks. It wasn't exactly good for my heart.
Now that I thought about it, the black aura covering the bird's entire body was the same substance as the haze seeping from its wound, just at a different density. This creature might very well be an entity formed from the embodiment of malice itself. If I could clean the eye, I had a feeling I could scrub the whole bird. Its sudden thrashing was likely because I’d caught part of its main body in the previous purification.
If that was the case, Clean could actually be a viable offensive spell against monsters clad in malice. Only one way to find out.
I cast Clean again, this time visualizing myself washing away every speck of black filth from the bird’s entire frame. The instant the magic took hold, I felt a massive surge of mana being ripped out of my body.
My head spun, and my vision went dark for a split second. I nearly collapsed, but I managed to steady myself and fumbled for a potion to recover my mana. That was a close one—I almost fainted. Compared to a standard casting, the mana consumption was astronomical. Consumption is usually determined by the surface area being purified, so a spike was expected given the bird's size, but this was different. Even if I were cleaning a room of the same volume, it wouldn't have drained me like this. It seemed the mana cost varied significantly depending on the "intensity" of the target.
So, how did the bird fare? I’d used enough mana to leave myself on the brink of exhaustion, so I hoped for some kind of result. I moved to glare at our foe, but... the giant bird was nowhere to be seen.
『What happened?! The big bird's gone! Did you kill it?』
Shiroru barked and looked around restlessly. I hadn't noticed because I’d been on the verge of blacking out, but it seemed the bird hadn't fled—it had simply ceased to exist. Given the massive mana drain, the purification must have been powerful enough to root out the creature's dark aura entirely. Still, I hadn't expected it to vanish so completely.
The bird must have been composed almost entirely of that black mist. Once its core was erased by Clean, it could no longer maintain its existence.
"Who knew Clean was its secret weakness..." I muttered in a daze.
"I suspect that’s only the case for your Clean, Tort," Lowell remarked.
I guess he had a point. My version of the spell was already something entirely different from the common utility magic. That said, the fundamental requirement—the mental image of making something spotless—remained the same.
Regardless, I was glad we’d repelled such a troublesome opponent. No other monsters seemed to be approaching, so I could finally breathe a sigh of relief. However, we were all in tatters. With Halfa still unconscious, it was definitely time to regroup.
"Everyone, let's temporarily—"
I was about to suggest returning to the city when a sharp snap echoed from the Ice Trees supporting the airship. And it wasn't just one.
"Oops, sor-ry! I think I'm at my limit. I used way too much power pinning that bird down," Spira said, sticking her tongue out playfully.
Her tone was light, but the situation was anything but.
"Waaaah! Spira, hang in there! Golems, max descent speed! Get us down!"
Fortunately, the bird’s initial ramming attack had pushed us away from the airspace directly above Aingurna, and our altitude had already dropped considerably. Before the airship could fall apart entirely, we somehow managed to make a safe landing.
Airships are incredibly convenient, but I’m going to have to think long and hard about safety measures for the next one.