After waking up and eating breakfast, I head upstairs to get ready for the castle. Just to be safe, I put Gleipnir under my jacket and my gloves in my pocket before heading downstairs, where I wait for everyone to finish getting ready.
After an hour of driving and talking about post-tour plans, we reached the bottom of a small hill on the property. We all got out and started to walk the rest of the way, but as we crossed the property grounds, I felt a sudden shift of magic in the air. Then, as Mom crossed the property line, the area suddenly shifted, and it looked like we were in a dome of purple energy with dead trees. And I'm not the only one who noticed. After the change, Mom tried to cross the line, but as she did, she appeared again, running into Dad before she started to cough.
After a minute, I notice a large amount of miasma rising from the ground, and as the sky grows darker, the coughing stops. When I turn around, I see all three of them passed out on the ground, surrounded by a barrier created by the underworld goddess. "Don't worry, dear, I will not let anything happen to them, but you will have to go and deal with the monsters that created this domain," she said as she used the barrier to lift all three off the ground. "So this area became a domain of powerful monsters?" I asked as I put on my gloves and pulled out Gleipnir.
Yes, dear, a pocket dimension is created when powerful spirits or monsters congregate in one area for an extended period. Additionally, when a god-level spirit like myself discovers a region we favor, we can create one for ourselves; however, most of these dimensions are typically located in nature, away from humans, and are completely inaccessible to them unless they receive an invitation or perform the correct ritual to act as a key," she said, showing me an illusion of how it works.
"So, in this case, the spirits were more likely monsters that either acted sloppily or intentionally left it open to attract more humans?" I asked. "Correct. If I had to guess, this portal was left open to absorb the life force from humans and create more monsters, as I can sense a large number of undead in this domain," she explained.
"So this domain is similar to the zombie field spell; to collapse it, I will need to kill the most powerful monsters, after which the weaker ones will either leave or die along with the domain?" I asked to make a plan. "Correct, killing the monsters that made the domain will collapse it and kill all monsters made in it. She said,
Without wasting any more time, I started to make my way up through the woods. As I moved through the forest, the trees got thicker and darker. I heard a loud BOOM as I got halfway through the forest! A spine-tingling scream followed the sound. I looked up to see the source of the sound. A large skull-shaped ball of energy is flying toward me from the top of the hill where the castle was. Without wasting any more time watching it, I started to run to the left and toward the hill. A minute later, I heard a loud explosion from my location. Glancing back, I saw the trees that had atomized me. As I continued to run forward, a few more projectiles hit the ground; eventually they stopped coming as I arrived at the remains of a desecrated village.
Most of the village houses have caved-in roofs and the air smells of decaying flesh. I decided to look through the few houses that were still in good shape. In the first house, there was a stone oven, but nothing else of use. On my way out, I saw a skeleton lying against the wall with multiple burned arrows in its chest. Taking a closer look, I noticed a cross around its neck and a ruined Bible. You are one of the priests who came to investigate the castle, but I must be careful because there are monsters nearby.
Walking down to the next house, this one had a small chest hidden under the straw bedding with a small sack of silver along with a small medallion on a worn leather necklace. I left them both and went to the last house in the village.
As I approached the house, three flaming arrows landed around me. I saw my attackers: one was in the building's doorway, one was on a nearby roof, and one was behind a fallen wall. Each one was a skeleton shrouded in purple cloaks and wielding a bow that converted their magic into arrows. Without giving them a chance to unleash the next volley, I reached my left hand out and shifted the gravity on the one on the roof, pulling it off the roof and slamming it into the stone wall, smashing its skull. I then, with my right hand, launched a bolt of lightning, turning the one behind the wall to ash. I then pulled the other one towards me, ripped its skull from its body, and crushed it under my foot as soon as it got close enough.
After the last one was killed, all three turned into purple dust. The first two did not leave anything behind, but the last one left behind its bow. Bending down and picking it up, I found it light, but the metal frame was covered in runes and felt quite sturdy. Pulling the string back to test the draw weight, I could feel it was similar to the one I used in my past life when I went hunting with my dad, probably around 120 pounds (54.4 kilograms) as I put it over my shoulder.
I move into the building. It appears to be the main area where the villagers would gather. After looking around, I found nothing really worth taking or that could help me, other than a map showing a secret passage into the castle on the hill just past the graveyard and a small marsh. 'Best to enter that way, hopefully avoiding that thing from firing on me,' I thought as I got up and made my way to the side of the village where the path that leads to the graveyard is.
After walking out of the village for about half an hour, I arrived at the graveyard. The sky had grown darker, and the graveyard was full of fog. From what I remember on the map, it seemed the marsh was on the southwest side of the graveyard. As I was making my way through the graveyard, I was attacked by two red-skinned, bat-like monsters, both of which were killed with the new bow, turning them to ash.
Halfway through the graveyard, I heard a bird-like cry of sadness. As I walked over to see what was making the noise, I saw a giant bird monster sitting on a thick branch of a dead tree. It had sharp talons on its clawed feet and hands, and it was crying into them. Its wings were half rotten, and its feathered skin was slowly rotting off. "Oh, a living human, please do not mind me; I don't want to fight. Please, I just want to be put to rest. I can't stand being like an abomination anymore." It bleated as it spotted me.
"If that is what you want, I will grant your wish. Just stand there, and please, if you are to be put to rest, may I know your name?" I asked, "Yes, my name is Vulcarrion." I was once a noble Phoenix, but the miasma of this realm has corrupted my ability to reincarnate myself. "Nodding my head, I think about joyful memories while also trying to imbue the fire with the thoughts of purification that it has represented throughout history before lighting the tree and Vulcarrion ablaze. As they burned he was not screaming in pain but instead looked like he was smiling, but as his body broke down, he said, "thank you human for granting my wish know this if your goal is to reach the castle, be prepared to fight all of those bastards' troops and monsters, but if you take the wand in the tomb to the south of here, you should have a better chance of stopping him," he said as his body finally burst into particles; half flew into my pocket and the other half scattered into the air purifying the area I was in.