Chapter 23 - Battle Behind the Orphanage ③
Although they had retreated inside the gate, Katherine and the others were forced into a difficult battle.
The gate was wide enough for a cart to pass through easily, and two or three individuals would try to enter at once. They intended to pin the Revenants with spears from the left and right as they came through the gate to stop their movement, but it wasn't that easy. Even if an iron spear pierced them, they kept moving forward, and the tips simply sank deep into the rotten bodies as if being swallowed, becoming stuck. Because the pierced Revenants kept advancing while thrashing about, the spears they held had already been broken.
Although Katherine swung her silver spear and broke the bodies of the individuals one by one, she was forced to retreat bit by bit by the momentum of the Revenants trying to enter the gate as if being pushed from behind by those following.
The guards on the left and right were each working in pairs to somehow stop the movement, but their weapons had already changed from spears to the chairs they had used for the barricade. Chairs were more effective at stalling because they didn't sink into the bodies, but because the material was fragile, they were being pushed back, and it was clear they would eventually be breached.
The holy water drawn into buckets from the bathroom by one of the priests who fled from the church was carried to Jennifer by the other priest waiting outside the window. By splashing it together with Jennifer, they were able to break several at once, but intervals inevitably opened up, and they couldn't overturn the disadvantage.
Mounds of dirt created by the crumbled Revenants were also gradually starting to form inside the gate. Eventually, so many might enter that Katherine alone wouldn't be able to handle them. She was already out of breath.
Suddenly, Jennifer's voice of prayer ceased.
"It can't be helped. I will use magic."
Katherine had never seen Jennifer use magic. So she thought she couldn't use it. In fact, Katherine herself couldn't use it, and although few, there were other priests who couldn't use magic.
Jennifer began an incantation behind her. Katherine, whose thighs were screaming because she had kept a low posture, slapped her right thigh, regripped her spear, and somehow returned to dirt the two Revenants the guards were barely holding back.
"Katherine, duck! Close your eyes!"
As told, she knelt on one knee and closed both eyes.
"Stop!"
In an instant, light burst from the outstretched hands and illuminated the area.
"It's alright now."
Jennifer let out a sigh.
When Katherine opened her eyes, a Revenant with both hands thrust toward her was attacking... or not?
"For now, I've stopped the enemy's movement. Let's reorganize while we can."
Pardon?
Katherine couldn't understand what she had just heard. Certainly, the Revenants were stopped. Moreover, many individuals had one foot lifted off the ground in a forward-moving posture.
"Oh dear. I've stopped the guards too."
Looking over, the four guards were frozen like stone statues, holding chairs and facing the Revenants on both sides of the gate.
With a sudden shove, Jennifer knocked over the Revenant in front, which hit the Revenant behind it, which hit the Revenant behind that, and they fell one after another.
"Katherine-sensei. Don't just watch, please help. I can only stop them for about the time it takes to count to fifty."
"Ah, yes..."
For now, she poked the two Revenants facing the guards with her spear to break them, and then noises came from the back of the Revenant crowd. As far as she could see, about a quarter of the Revenants seemed to have stopped, and it appeared a traffic jam was occurring as the Revenants that hadn't stopped crashed into those that had.
Jennifer stood behind Katherine.
"They'll start moving soon. I can only use this about two more times, so don't let your guard down."
"Ah, yes..."
Jennifer began the incantation for the [Chant of Exorcism] again.
This is cheating, isn't it...
Katherine thought while regripping her spear and joining the chant.
As if stopped time had begun to move again, the Revenants started moving. The individuals that had been knocked over were piled on top of each other, so they couldn't easily get up. The individuals behind that kept moving tried to step over the stopped and fallen ones, but then those suddenly started moving and trying to get up, and the ones that did get up tried to move in the wrong directions. As a result, they were crashing into each other everywhere, in a state of extreme confusion.
The guards standing by the gate had their eyes wide and were tilting their heads because the Revenants that were right in front of them had suddenly disappeared, but they thanked Katherine, thinking she had finished them off. While almost bursting into laughter, she somehow endured it and swung her spear while continuing the chant, easily piercing and breaking the Revenants that finally managed to reach her.
Apparently, the magic Jennifer cast was truly like time stopping for those it was cast upon.
Though it was only a short time—about fifty counts—Katherine was able to catch her breath. After returning the wriggling, fallen Revenants to dirt, she advanced to the edge of the gate and thrust her spear wildly, thinking herself lucky if it hit.
Several Revenants whose legs were blown off lost their balance and fell forward. The following individuals continued as if stepping over them, but the ones who had only lost one leg tried to get up, tripping the ones behind and starting the confusion again. When holy water was splashed on them, they crumbled while still entangled.
The Revenants are likely being controlled by very simple instructions.
Having fought them until now, that's what Katherine thought. The Revenants' actions were monotonous. The Revenants Katherine had faced in the past were, so to speak, monster-like existences that moved more flexibly. They were fast, dodged her attacks, and counterattacked. The enemies before her were likely just being manipulated.
She had been thinking of them the same way as the opponents she faced in the past and had been spending too much time on a single one.
Anyway, she would focus on thrusting the spear tip into the individuals trying to enter the gate. Once she decided on that, her mind became easier and her impatience vanished. After all, if they fell into a predicament, a magic that was practically cheating would be used.
Her role was not to deliver the finishing blow but to stall them. The finishing blow could be delivered with the holy water drawn from the bathroom. It would be enough if the spear tip hit somewhere below the opponent's waist.
Katherine began to feel optimistic in a good way.
By the time Katherine was able to swing her spear with composure, Emily's voice said, "Sorry to keep you waiting." Reinforcements had arrived.
"To lay a hand on the teachers after dying once, you're some insolent bastards!"
The one saying something somewhat off-base was likely a man from the vigilante group Emily had brought. Katherine found it funny, thinking it wasn't as if a playboy were hitting on someone in town.
The townspeople called the priests working at the orphanage "Sensei." It seemed to have spread because the graduates kept calling them Sensei forever.
"Everyone, please line up in two rows from here."
Amidst the sound of people talking noisily, Emily was giving some instructions.
While Katherine was still struggling against the Revenants, it seemed preparations were complete.
"Now, Jennifer-sensei, please."
Jennifer began the incantation from the beginning, which she had stopped around the time Emily returned. Behind Katherine, the vigilante group members chanted loudly in unison. A look of joy appeared on the faces of the guards stationed at the gate. Of course, they were also chanting loudly.
Just as Emily's chanting voice seemed to be getting closer, Emily said, "Katherine-sensei, get down."
As told, she threw herself to the ground, and as soon as Emily stood beside her, a bucket passed over her head. Holy water was splashed toward the Revenants that had advanced into the gate. Katherine rolled to the side while holding her spear, then stood up and looked back.
From the orphanage's bathroom, the vigilante group members were lined up in two rows to the gate, passing buckets filled with holy water from hand to hand. Finally, Emily was splashing it on the Revenants. The empty buckets were then carried back to the bathroom by the hands of those in the adjacent row. And again, holy water was drawn and carried to Emily's hands.
In essence, it was like a bucket brigade at a fire. One just had to continuously bring in enough water to quiet the flames. It could be done if there were enough people and a corresponding number of buckets. Every house had a bucket.
The Revenants splashed with holy water by the priest Emily easily crumbled. There was only about a third of a bucket of holy water, but it was enough.
Those who couldn't join the line formed a separate unit, each holding a bucket, and climbed onto the tables where Emily and the others had been firing arrows, splashing holy water toward the other side of the wall. Perhaps because their faith was lacking, the effect was lower compared to the holy water Emily splashed. Still, it served as a deterrent to the surging swarm.
At first, the two priests who fled from the church's back gate were drawing holy water from the tub and passing it to the vigilantes outside the window. Now, the number of people drawing it had increased to three or four, and they were drawing it one after another and carrying it by the hands of the vigilantes. The church priests who were free advanced to the front row and took the role of splashing holy water on the Revenants. That way, the power of the holy water could be fully demonstrated, and Emily and Jennifer in the front row wouldn't run out of stamina.
The children would all enter at a set time. The bathtub was large enough that even at a third of a bucket, it would hold two thousand portions. They could supply as much as needed. There were also those who dipped their arrowheads in the buckets to fire arrows.
Nearly two hundred vigilante members, men and women mixed, chanted loudly in unison with Jennifer's incantation, purifying the Revenants while singing the [Chant of Exorcism].
Though they had been gathered by the sound of the bell, since the opponent was Revenants, they had been helplessly guarding the refugees and patrolling the town. They had been asked by Emily to help because they were going to defeat the Revenants. Those with buckets in hand were arriving one after another, happily helping as if to vent their previous frustrations.
Eventually, buckets filled with holy water began to line up inside the gate. And by the time multiple people began to advance outside the gate to splash it, more than ten archers began firing arrows from atop the wall, and they generally had a handle on things. Some got carried away and went to douse them, but perhaps because their faith was lacking, it had almost no effect and they came fleeing back in a panic. However, when it was dangerous, Katherine would help, so not a single person was injured.
Eventually, perhaps the caster gave up, as the Revenants' movements lost their unity and they began to come toward nearby people blindly. Some individuals were just wandering around. When that happened, the crowd that had gathered in front of the gate dispersed, and they became able to purify each one reliably.
Jennifer prayed, and everyone chanted loudly in unison. Katherine looked at that sight and thought, "This is a good town."
"Sensei, you should rest soon."
She was spoken to by one of the vigilantes. Looking over, it was the elder of the children who had come to this town with Katherine.
"In this outfit, I'm hardly a 'Sensei'."
"To us siblings, Katherine-sensei is that outfit."
Katherine smiled at his words. It seemed what Catherine had been saying daily was correct. When she asked about his sister, he said she was looking after the children at the evacuation site.
The Revenants, which were no longer such a threat, were almost being suppressed. Katherine said her thanks and sat down near the gate, cradling her spear. Seeing that, the man said, "Well then," and left. He likely went to sprinkle holy water.
She looked at the tip of the weapon she had fought with. The blade of the [Bane of Evil] didn't have a single nick.
"How about that? Impressive, right? Nowadays, I'm called 'Sensei'."
Smiling as she stared at the faintly white glowing tip, she whispered to herself.