The types of monsters were exceedingly diverse, and among them, plant-type monsters were a particularly tricky category to deal with.
If one compared them based purely on brute force, it was of course easy to find stronger monsters. Even our Wyvern brother here would likely be stronger than most ordinary plant-type monsters.
The true terror of these creatures lay in the fact that their main bodies were usually hidden. Deep underground.
Especially for monsters that disguised themselves as thickets like this, they concealed their true forms even more thoroughly. Moreover, being plants, the deeper their roots extended, the harder they were to eradicate.
"Lady Anelli!"
Xenon, seeing my wrist tightly coiled by the vine, cried out in alarm and tried to rush over. Samuel also immediately drew his sword.
I shook my head at the two of them.
"Don't provoke it."
"But!"
"It reacted because I tried to touch it."
To my knowledge, plant-type monsters, with some exceptions, were generally docile.
Usually, one got attacked by a plant-type monster when they panicked and attacked first, or when they recklessly encroached upon the monster's territory.
So, in this state with my wrist captured, making a commotion would only serve to provoke this thing.
If I remained still as a sign of having no intent to harm, there was a possibility it would withdraw first.
"There's no need to start a fight here from the outset."
With no way to gauge how far we still had to go, it would be a disaster if we exhausted ourselves now and couldn't properly respond when real danger arose.
Xenon and Samuel seemed to understand my words.
However, perhaps unable to let go of their vigilance, both took stances ready to attack at any moment.
I had no intention of stopping them that far. At the very least, it was certain I couldn't snap this vine with my own brute strength.
While we were briefly talking, my body moved slightly. The vine, sensing even that minor movement, tightened its grip on my wrist even more fiercely.
"Ugh."
"It would be best... to tell it to let go of that hand first."
Samuel, with a face that looked ready to swing his sword at any moment, said through gritted teeth.
Xenon also nodded vigorously as if in agreement. Then, he suddenly muttered as if to himself.
"...But is it possible to converse with a plant?"
Indeed. Can one converse with a plant?
Though I've conversed plenty with other monsters, plants have no mouths...
"Hey, monster."
I tried speaking to it just in case, but no answer came back. Was it indeed impossible?
I was about to click my tongue briefly when Mori, who had been poking his head out and carefully examining the thicket, cautiously spoke.
[I will infiltrate!]
"Infiltrate?"
[If I crawl around through that thicket, I can divert its attention!]
It was a resolute proposal from his perspective, but to my ears, it sounded absurd.
"Then we'll just have two people captured instead of one."
[I can dodge nimbly!]
"Besides, you're thinner than that vine."
At my pointed remark, Mori made a sullen face. It seemed my blunt delivery of the facts had hurt his feelings a bit.
But it was the truth. Even if Mori fought in his Dullahan form, he likely couldn't defeat this plant monster. Zigore might stand a better chance.
"I'll just cut it off."
"Rather than wasting time, it might be better to burn the whole thing and move on."
Samuel and Xenon, unable to hold back any longer, spoke up again. Both seemed full of energy, so perhaps it was better to just let them fight.
However, the problem was that without knowing how deeply this plant monster's roots extended, it was risky to provoke it recklessly.
Frowning, I looked at the vine coiled around my wrist.
It was gripping a bit tightly, but beyond that, it showed no other aggressive reaction...
Huh?
"I think I can handle this myself."
"Can you communicate with it?"
"Communication isn't working, but force is."
After giving Xenon a calm reply, I focused a bit more on my palm.
Then, the palm that had only been swirling with a barely perceptible warmth gradually grew hotter.
Simultaneously, the green glow also intensified. The power flowing from my hand, as if alive, seeped into the vine on its own.
"That power, what in the world..."
Xenon, watching this from behind, let out an exclamation. He must have seen it too.
The vine that had been constricting my wrist withering and turning yellow.
Confirming that reaction, I tilted my head slightly.
"Given it's called the key to the castle, I truly thought it was a key to open the castle gates."
The vine withered, twisted, and finally crumbled, falling to the ground.
I stared quietly at the debris fallen at my feet, then knelt on one knee and placed my hand on the ground.
Was it an illusion? I seemed to feel a faint vibration from the earth.
[My, my goodness. To see this sight again...]
[It's the Captain's power.]
Mori and Nadav exclaimed, overcome with emotion.
"Lady Anelli."
"Don't come closer, mage. You're in the way."
Ignoring the surrounding chatter, I concentrated my mind.
I felt something immense flowing out through my palm. My hand, which had been hot, turned cold as ice in an instant.
The sensation was cold, heavy, and somewhat sticky. As if using adhesive, my hand stuck firmly to the ground. Every single sensation in my palm became acutely heightened.
From the center of my hand, a green light spread faintly outward. The vines touched by the light rapidly withered.
"The goddess's power..."
I heard Samuel's murmur mixed with a sigh. Yes, this was the goddess's power.
「You are the Hand of Repose, the proxy of death.」
That's what the ghosts at Febrin Monastery had said. The Hand of Repose.
They were right.
"Good heavens."
Following Xenon's astonished voice, I raised my head.
The slope, once so densely overgrown with thickets that approaching seemed impossible, had vanished. In its place, amidst the parched, crumbling plants, dry earth was revealed.
The ground was black as if scorched by fire. I didn't know if that was its original color or due to my power.
But what was certain was that the scope to which this 'key' I had obtained applied was broader than I had thought.
Staring intently at the ground revealing its dark underbelly, I moved my lips.
"This entire mountain range is a giant lock."
A lock to hide the castle of sinners, or...
A lock to seal the castle of sinners away forever.
* * *
As climbing the rugged mountain range on horseback was impossible, Nadav entered the subspace.
Though I didn't fully trust the cracked bracelet, it was better than dragging around Nadav in his Dullahan form, so there was no choice.
After that, I seriously began burning away the plant monsters blocking our path.
The plant monsters, which had been obstructing intruders, obediently surrendered their lives before the power of death.
As if that were the sole mission given to them.
"Entering the mountain range from the start was something only the goddess's proxy could do, it seems."
"What, you didn't know either? You knew about the key."
"The key I spoke of was clearly the key to Veladia Castle. ...I simply had no way of knowing that something had changed after the final power went awry."
"You grandly took on the role of my guide, but your limitations are starting to show."
At my indifferent muttering, Samuel tightly pressed his lips together.
Seeing his sullen face, he seemed a bit wounded, but what could I do?
He claimed to have regained all his memories, but they were old memories, so he wouldn't know recent changes—how plausible was that?
And of all people, the one who stepped forward to guide me?
Clicking my tongue, I shifted my gaze. The large leaf that had been blocking the path instantly shriveled and crumbled away, revealing the stem hidden behind it.
"Is that power usable indefinitely?"
"Hmm, perhaps?"
Raising my head while still crouched with my hand on the ground, I met Xenon's eyes, who wore a subtle expression.
"This power is related to that repose you mentioned, Lady Anelli."
"Correct."
The light extending from my hand stole the life force of any monster it touched blocking our path.
'So I really did go around killing all things on behalf of the goddess.'
The ghost at the monastery acted so disgusted, calling it undignified, that I thought it was some terribly noble task. But it was just killing everything like this.
Noble and great, my foot. This was just being a slaughterer, wasn't it?
"There's a path."
After clearing the surroundings to some extent, several paths appeared. Without any hesitation, Samuel chose one of the forks and took the lead.
Seeing him trying so hard not to lose his role as guide made me feel a bit sorry for him.
What he was clinging to was clearly something already dead and gone, now merely a trace of the past.
Grunting, I stood up and roughly brushed off my knees. After also dusting the dirt from my palms, I was about to move when Xenon approached closely and spoke.
"Aren't you tired from using your power?"
"Not particularly?"
"Counting the monsters Lady Anelli has killed so far would easily take half a day. And yet you feel no fatigue?"
"That's right. As you can see, I'm perfectly fine."
Well, to Xenon, a mage, my power might seem a bit strange.
Even the magical power granted to a mage is finite, and if it's exhausted, one faces a threat to their life. The circumstances for paladins or priests are similar.
In that sense, this power I was now lavishly using was of a slightly different nature.
"I am the goddess's proxy."
"The goddess."
Even when I abruptly mentioned the goddess, Xenon showed no sign of surprise at all.
Glancing sideways at his complexion, I nodded calmly.
"Yes. Turns out there were two gods in the world, or so they say. One of them is lending me her power."
Personally, I had my own inferences regarding the infinite emission of power, but as they weren't certain, it was difficult to speak of them.
Instead, giving an easy explanation, Xenon let out a low, dry laugh.
"You speak of the world being turned upside down with such nonchalance."
"And you, hearing such talk, are standing there perfectly fine?"
Abruptly, Xenon stopped.
Because of that, I, who had been walking beside him, also halted my steps. Looking back curiously, there wasn't a trace of a smile on Xenon's face.
"Well, my world was already turned upside down a few days ago."