/
1108: Great Spirit of Wind
A pillar of light rose from the east side of Alessa.
「Alessa…!」
『That’s coming from near the lord’s mansion!』
A tremendous vortex of mana inflicted heavy damage to the surrounding area.
（I hear a voice.）
『A voice?』
（It’s screaming…）
But I don’t hear anything? It seems Fran managed to clearly make out the voice, so maybe it belongs to a spirit?
The pillar of light gradually changed shape, as a fierce squall covered the town. Meanwhile, we could do nothing but watch.
Then, three minutes later.
「It turned into a woman.」
『I remember hearing that only greater spirits can take human form…』
The light became huge and humanoid, yet surrounded by a storm. Given this many clues, it was easy to guess her identity.
（Klimt’s Great Spirit?）
『Yeah, I’m sure of it. That must be the Great Spirit of Wind. But why did she pop up in the middle of town?』
Even if Klimt was under attack, he would never attempt to fight back with the Great Spirit. Doing so would only cause a “Calamity” to befall the town, quite literally. Half the noble district was getting wrecked before our eyes.
Did he run into some sort of dangerous situation that forced him to summon the Great Spirit?
（What now?）
『Can we even do anything…?』
The Great Spirit remained still, with no signs of movement. However, her mere presence caused intense storm winds, which were wrecking more and more of the town.
I can still sense Klimt and the others, they were at the Great Spirit’s feet. Was something preventing them from running, or did they have to stay for some reason? And more importantly, is the Great Spirit actually under Klimt’s control?
（Let’s go.）
『Yeah, Klimt is the only one who can do anything…』
Fighting the spirit isn’t going to solve anything. The moment she gets serious, Alessa will be wiped off the map. We need to make her settle down peacefully.
「Urushi, wait here.」
「Woof.」
Leaving Urushi in charge of the prisoners, we decided to head for the lord’s mansion. No clue if it actually helps against spirits, but we cloaked our presence and moved slowly down the main street.
『I don’t think she’s noticed us yet…』
（Nn…）
The Great Spirit wasn’t looking in our direction, but I’m not sure if that’s actually a good indicator of awareness. Do spirits even perceive things with their eyes?
We approached with utmost caution, considering the possibility of a sudden attack.
As it turned out, that was probably for the best.
『Fran!』
「Nn!」
Fran suddenly jumped to the side, and a wind bullet gouged out the ground where she was standing. We’re already under attack despite the huge distance separating us!
『Tch! So she really did notice us! No more hiding, run as fast as you can!』
「Nn!」
Fran pushed forward with all her might, having lost the need for stealth. A barrage of countless wind bullets came flying at us, but Fran weaved through all of them on her way down the main street.
As usual, the spirit wasn’t even looking at us, yet all her magic was aimed with precision. Moreover, she now added invisible blades of wind to her repertoire.
To be honest, the safest approach would be taking cover in an alleyway, but doing so would likely expose civilians to harm. Thanks to the spirit’s precise aim, only the main street where Fran was located took any damage.
Fran understood this too, so she continued avoiding the barrage with minimal movement, as well as deflecting them with her barriers.
『Almost there!』
「Nn…」
『Fran? What’s wrong?』
「The voice is getting really loud.」
『You mean the spirit’s screaming you mentioned earlier?』
「Nn.」
Despite me being unable to hear anything, Fran grimaced. Apparently, the screams she heard were deafening. I have the Spirit Perception skill, right? While I do sense the Great Spirit, that’s only due to her enormous amount of power. Any decently strong adventurer should be able to sense the same thing.
We drew closer to the lord’s mansion, or rather, the place it had once stood. Even at this distance, we could tell it was reduced to a wreckage.
The high velocity winds had practically leveled the entire building. Well, the same could be said of the other mansions in the noble district.
I guess the good news is that the civilian district seemed rather unharmed.
Some nobles attempted to flee, but it seems the spirit was attacking them too. I sensed their vital signals extinguished one by one.
（Master, over there!）
『Klimt and the others!!』
We found Klimt at the remnants of the lord’s mansion.
The knight captain Urth and the town’s lord Zenos were both safe. Klimt, however, was collapsed to the ground with his robes stained red with blood.
The two were trying to treat Klimt’s injuries, but it seems they did little more than basic first aid. Why aren’t they making any attempt to evacuate? Are Klimt’s injuries so severe that it’s too dangerous to move him?
Just as we were about to reach the site, the spirit launched an even more powerful attack. Two huge tornadoes appeared out of nowhere, closing in on Fran to pincer her from the sides.
『Fran, we’re pushing our way through! I’ll handle the defense!』
「Okay!」
Our barrier alone won’t be enough. Instead, I created two tornadoes with wind magic and sent them forward on a collision course with the Great Spirit’s tornadoes.
My tornadoes were much smaller than the opposition’s, but complete neutralization wasn’t my goal in the first place.
『Yes, they’re weakening just like planned! Hurry!』
「Taaah!」
Even if I managed to weaken it, Fran still had to force her way through a tornado. The barrier I set up got shredded pretty quickly. However, Fran’s leg power allowed her to push her way through the storm and escape.
We’ve reached our destination.
「Klimt!」
『Damn, this isn’t good! He’s seriously dying!』