Chapter 130: Striking at the Root Cause
“I-it’s, it’s, it’s a disaster!”
The young elf shouted, his face pale with terror, and bolted off in a frantic sprint.
We had just stepped out of Shifa’s grandfather’s house, and instinctively, we exchanged bewildered glances. What on earth was happening?
“Towards the square. Let’s go check it out.”
It seemed the youth was racing toward the village square. Following him, we found him there, desperately trying to convey something urgent.
“T-there’s a dragon! A dragon appeared deep in the forest! And it’s… it’s a terrifying dragon that spreads this horrible miasma… Everyone who was with me got hit by it… ugh…”
The young elf collapsed to his knees.
Looking closer, a dark, smoky vapor was rising from his body. Could that be the miasma?
“A-are you okay!?”
“Hey, don’t get too close! You’ll be hit by it too!”
“Someone, bring a potion, quick!”
The elves around him panicked as they listened to his story. We dashed to his side immediately.
“Here—potion!”
We poured Merlin-san’s specially-made potion over him. Slowly, the young elf’s labored breathing began to stabilize, a small relief in his eyes.
But the miasma clinging to his body did not vanish. His suffering soon returned.
No… the potion alone can’t dispel the miasma.
What to do… ah, that’s right!
I retrieved some holy water I had stored with my Harvest Preservation skill.
Maybe this could work…
Splash!
I poured the holy water over him without holding back. Holding my breath, I watched as the blackened vapor clinging to him began to dissipate, slowly purified by the sacred liquid.
“It worked… it actually worked!”
“The… miasma…?”
The young elf froze, eyes wide with astonishment at the vanishing haze. Then, snapping back to reality, he urged us with desperation.
“I-if this continues, the forest will be in chaos… And everyone hit by the miasma will collapse before they can even return to the village…!”
“Calm down. We’ll take care of it.”
The situation was urgent. We quickly asked the youth for the direction to head, then immediately sprinted forward.
Entering the small garden we had placed outside the village, we took no chances and sprinkled holy water on ourselves. The suffocating sensation that had lingered vanished instantly.
“So it was the miasma affecting us,” Sheena observed.
Her poor condition earlier must have been caused by just a trace of the miasma, slowly infiltrating her body without her noticing. The elves in the village were naturally resistant, which is why only Sheena-san, being half-elf, had been affected.
“The miasma shouldn’t penetrate the barrier,” I said.
I guided the garden toward the direction the youth had fled. Along the way, we found an elf collapsed on the path.
Bringing him into the garden, we doused him with holy water as well.
“Ugh…? Wh-what happened to me…?”
“You’re awake? The holy water’s effects should last for a while. Head back to the village while you can.”
“Y-yes!”
Confused but obedient, the young elf ran toward the village under the influence of Shifa-san’s Empress’s Aura.
As we rescued a few more elves and ventured deeper into the forest, the scenery around us began to change alarmingly.
“The trees… they’re dying…”
Surely this was the miasma’s doing. Watching leaves wither and fall at a frightening speed, it was clear that without the garden’s protective barrier, we wouldn’t survive the miasma’s intensity.
Worse, the taint was spreading rapidly. If left unchecked, the entire forest would succumb to the corruption, swallowing the elf village along with it.
“We have to strike at the source.”
Shifa’s eyes burned with determination as she stared into the forest’s heart. From there, a malevolent-colored smoke billowed toward the sky.
I hesitated. Even with the barrier, is it safe to go there…? But there was no turning back now—we had to trust the barrier.
Moving further in, the forest was completely decayed, reduced to a toxic wasteland.
At its center was a single, enormous dragon. Its scales were gray, its body nearly twenty meters long—astonishingly larger than the Red Dragon we had encountered before.
It spewed miasma-laced saliva, scattering it across the area. Some of it hit the barrier, and we braced ourselves, but thankfully, the protection held firm.
“C-could it be… the evil dragon, Fafnir…!?”
“Sarassa, you know it?”
“They say it’s an S-rank threat… an incredibly dangerous dragon!”
S-rank threat!? That’s… impossible for a single adventuring party to handle!
Maybe we should just run… For now, thanks to the garden’s concealment, Fafnir hasn’t noticed us.
“Sarassa, use your magic.”
“W-we’re fighting…?”
“Of course. We’ll save the forest and the village.”
“U-understood…”
Shifa-san was resolute—there was no backing down. Sarassa-san began chanting her signature lightning spell.
“Geo, get us closer to it.”
“Y-yes!”
I obeyed Shifa-san, moving the garden steadily forward. The closer we got, the more we were drenched in miasma, but the barrier continued to shield us.
“Shhaaaahhh!”
Fafnir turned toward us, growling menacingly.
It noticed us!? We should be concealed by the garden… wait, the miasma droplets bouncing off the barrier must have tipped it off!
This dragon might be smarter than we thought.
Fafnir advanced, but just then, Sarassa-san’s lightning magic erupted.
“Pshhhhhhhh—BANG!”
…Did it hit!?