Ch.288288. Aftermath

After completely severing the life of the Demon Legion Commander, Succubus Queen Drakilia.

The first thing I started was, naturally, the cleanup of everything that had occurred because of this incident.

With the death of the Succubus Queen who led this invasion, the portal reverted to nothing more than a contaminated, filthy ring of flesh, and the same happened to the walls and floor of the cave that had transformed into something resembling flesh.

‘Sophia, how are things on your end?’

[The demons have disappeared for now. Currently… I’m working on bringing the humans who’ve lost their minds back to their senses.]

[-THWACK!]

According to my magical communication with Sophia, the succubi attacking the villagers on that side had vanished thanks to the death of their summoner (Han-rang), and judging by the dull impact sounds coming through the magical communication, it seemed the work of restoring those people to their senses was well underway…

‘…Haa, let’s get started.’

For my part, rather than focusing on what was happening over there, I had no choice but to concentrate on finishing the cleanup that needed to be done right now.

First, what I needed to deal with immediately was the body of this high-ranking demon… the Succubus Queen.

Setting aside all considerations about the value of the corpse and its byproducts, from a mystical perspective, the remains of a high-ranking demon left in the material world are, to put it simply, a source of contamination on the level of radioactive waste.

And the contamination caused by this source affects both matter and mind, fundamentally causing corruption.

Just as the bodies of those who make pacts with demons mutate due to contact with the mysteries of the demon realm, creatures near the source of infection naturally undergo similar mutations.

Moreover, since it’s not only the flesh that becomes stained with demonic mana during this process, their souls also gradually become tainted and distorted by the influence of demons and the demon realm’s energy.

Add to this the curse, or lingering thoughts, left behind by the death of a powerful magical creature like a high-ranking demon. Though lacking clear direction, the indiscriminate influence of this power on surrounding things is quite significant.

Stories of an entire village turning into a cult den after drinking lake water contaminated by a single drop of high-ranking demon blood—honestly, from my perspective, these couldn’t be dismissed as mere legends or folklore.

What’s more, the blood mentioned in these stories refers only to that of a projected false body, not the original—yet such incidents occurred without even the toxic influence contained in the corpse of a high-ranking demon that has gained material substance.

The danger of leaving such a corpse unattended would be more terrible and horrific than anything else.

Therefore, the contamination treatment I performed on this body was carried out with almost pathological thoroughness.

Not a single drop of its blood or bodily fluid could be allowed to leak outside.

I couldn’t miss even one piece of flesh that had fallen from its body during our battle, nor a single strand of hair that had broken off and fallen to the ground.

I ruthlessly dug up the surrounding soil to somehow remove the blood that had seeped into the ground, while I chopped the corpse itself into pieces with a primitive magical beast bone axe and placed the parts into consecrated silver containers, filling them with holy water.

Even if it seems like overkill, considering the potential impact of this creature’s corpse and the worst-case possibility of its revival, these measures are essential.

Surprisingly, in this world, demons are not entities that can be easily killed.

They are metaphysical beings formed from the condensation of concept-based essences (souls), not actual living creatures. Even if you shatter their physical form and destroy their soul, if the corpse remains, the possibility of resurrection cannot be ruled out.

It’s not uncommon to find cases where the lingering thoughts generated at the time of death enthrall nearby humans, inducing human sacrifices, and then using the energy gained from this process to resurrect.

This resurrection is, in fact, the “emergence” of a new demon with a “different soul” but “identical memories” as the previous one—aside from this minor issue, this problem definitely falls into a realm that cannot be overlooked.

Anyway, as mentioned earlier, the process of disposing of a demon’s corpse is conducted somewhat grotesquely to eliminate the influence the corpse might have on the surrounding environment and to prevent the birth of a new demon inheriting memories from the corpse.

Using a magical beast bone axe that can cut through a high-ranking demon’s flesh but is too fragile for practical combat, I dismember the entire body… mainly at the joints. Then, these dismembered parts undergo a sealing procedure using sacred objects I carry around.

I create containers from silver, which has antimicrobial properties and the mystical quality of repelling impure beings, and enhance their sanctity through consecration by a formal priest, then place the dismembered corpse inside to strengthen the sealing effect.

After filling it with officially sanctioned holy water, I add a few universal faith holy symbols from the Pantheon Temple just to be safe, and the basic sealing procedure is complete.

Of course, it’s undoubtedly true that over time these measures will become meaningless, so once I return to the mainland, I’ll need to immediately hand over the corpse to the Pantheon Temple.

While Sophia might easily purify and use the essence of a mid-ranking demon, when it comes to high-ranking ones, it’s already beyond what can be handled at an amateur level.

And after somehow dealing with the most important matter of the high-ranking demon’s corpse.

‘How on earth am I going to purify all this….’

Although feeling somewhat overwhelmed, I still had to proceed with cleaning up the cave and its surroundings, which had already been contaminated.

As mentioned earlier, a demon’s corpse, its mana, and by extension the mysteries of the demon realm, are contaminants that corrupt the souls and bodies of intelligent beings like humans.

Through external mutations, changes in nature, and furthermore, the influence of this demonic mana and mystery, the souls and bodies of mortals are gradually tamed, and those who have been completely tamed become excellent prey for the demon realm and its demons.

Therefore, after eradicating demons like this, if such demonic contamination has occurred in the vicinity, it is necessary to remove that contamination from the area, and as part of such measures… I took action.

First, what needed to be dealt with immediately were the corpses inside this cave.

Those who were once human but had submitted and become subservient to demons who worship “lust” had all been offered as sacrifices at this point, and what remained appeared to be just tattered corpses…

But there’s something we must not misunderstand.

These were beings who had spiritually submitted and offered themselves before their souls were sacrificed. Their bodies had already been tamed, essentially becoming like suits perfectly conditioned for demons to enter and control for activity in the material world.

Having concluded that these absolutely could not be left alone, I began the process of systematically collecting and destroying the corpses.

While the corpse of a high-ranking demon retains its contaminating properties even if burned or damaged to the point of losing its original form, these corpses are not as resilient and can have their properties eliminated simply by burning them once.

[Blazing heat of the sun…!!]

-WHOOSH!

So I threw berries containing oil close to industrial waste-grade, produced by a plant that grows such berries, and used the “Solar Ray” spell to set fire to them, intending to completely incinerate those corpses…

‘This place… can’t be resolved just by burning.’

After directly handling most of the demonic byproducts this way, I finally turned to the most extensive and difficult byproduct to deal with—the cave itself.

This cave, whose walls had transformed into something resembling flesh due to demonic mana, was further contaminated by the spattered blood and flesh of demons—a truly demonic scene.

If left unattended, this space would undoubtedly transform into an otherworld connected to the demon realm, so I decided to resolve these issues with the power of magic…

[…Moon, show your light in this place.]

To that end, I began to weave magic using all means available to me.

Using the holy magic ability gained through my contract with the Original Art, along with Yongyong’s support and my increased aptitude for celestial magic through our contract, I drew the power of moonlight down to earth.

What I would use was the ultimate celestial magic I had seen Sophia cast before—”Rising Moon.”

[…Please, Moon, rise upon this earth!]

No sooner had I finished my incantation, releasing the mana contained within my staff, than a moon emitting a soft light descended into this cave, surrounded by holiness—

-Aaaah—ah—ah——ah———

With an echoing scream that faded like a death rattle, the traces of contamination that remained inside began to gradually dissipate as if being driven away.

The cleanup to remove demonic influence was finally coming to an end.