The sound of the explosion and metal trinkets that were ringing loudly and repeatedly throughout the place started to decline.
The bodies of the undead along with rampaging monsters that had been laid waste piled up throughout the place.
As Alex had cleared the spawning spots, their number decreased significantly and without the support of miasma carrying power of darkness, their strength pummeled significantly.
The battle was almost over and it was time for the cleanup but this time it was going to be quite strenuous.
"So, we need to purify the whole land after this" Athena asked.
"As you see the soil and trees are destroyed. Nothing can grow here and if left like this, these trees could mutate into monsters and there may be several adverse effects."
"I don't want to take any chances and let this plague spread everywhere due to my slightest negligence. Even if it is burdensome, we have to purify the land." Alex muttered gazing over the place filled with a corpse devoid of blood.
"You can't use light elements, for now, can you?"Athena asked, staring deep into his eyes.
"Hmm! It would take me a few days or months to recover. I pushed myself a bit to get rid of the main source." Alex answered.
"Main source. Is this the place where you went and brought those three bodies?" Christina asked with a frown.
Alex nodded and gave the details while narrating the events and enemies he had faced before while his soldiers were working like dogs.
By the time Alex gave them a brief, the ugly monsters of darkness corpses were placed on one side.
"I will burn these disgusting things first," Alex muttered while moving forward.
"Will you be okay? Don't put too much strain on yourself" Both Christina and Catherine voiced out in an awful voice.
Alex smiled a little.
'How can one not be happy seeing the anxious gaze filled with worry.'
Alex turned his gaze towards Ian and shouted"Hey, Ian can you give me your hand."
Ian who was huffing and puffing after fighting to exhaustion heard Alex's words and his expression hardened.
"Your Majesty!"
A teary scream escaped from his lips which startled everyone.
"Please forgive me, Your Highness, for my mistake. You can whip me all you want, but please don't cut my hands." Ian started to plead with a trembling voice which baffled Alex.
"This guy is so melodramatic, just why does he think that I am after his life."
Alex raised his hand and shouted"Hey, come here. Do you think I am a tyrant who takes pleasure in cutting others' hands and limbs?"
"Are you not?"
A faint murmur escaped from everyone's lips but it didn't go unnoticed by Alex's ears.
"You...."
A thick vein bulged on his forehead and he tried to squeeze out a smile"It seems that I have been too merciful."
"Your Majesty! Please forgive me for my misunderstanding." Ian spoke while bowing his head.
Seeing his low self-esteem, Alex tried to massage his forehead.
"Haaah!Whatever."
"Ian raise your hand and follow the mana flow that I am going to guide," Alex muttered and held Ian's shoulder and his hands.
His and Ian's palms aimed at the piles of courses before them.
"Don't resist and mutter the spell with me at the same time," Alex suggested.
Ian nodded and closed his eyes. He felt a warm mana flowing through his body which started to gather at his fingertips.
It was a hazy feeling at first but a strong burning sensation started to envelop him.
"Now!" Alex shouted.
"Burnedo!"
Swish!!
The area before Ian and Alex unexpectedly started to heat up by a few margins and soon a marvellous pillar of flames expanded from the ground reaching towards the sky.
Swoosh!Swoosh!
The flames tried to spread uncontrollably at first but under Alex and Ian's delicate control, it was concentrated on a single place doing its work of getting rid of the trash.
The entire place seemingly lit up as if it was an occasion of joyous festival giving a glimmer of hope to many.
The brilliant flames burnt for a few moments and then slowly started to disperse into nothingness.
Ian slurped down on the ground drenched in sweat, the burning sensation seemed to still be present making his body hot.
"It might have taken a toll on you. But, it might benefit you in the long run as your mana vessels had been expanded by a bit.''Alex spoke while signalling Athena to take the job.
" Thanks, Your Highness, for bestowing me with such a gift, Your Majesty."
Alex chuckled and dismissed Ian.
The Priest followed Athena and joined their hands to start the prayer but Athena stopped them and asked them to transfer their power to her.
"No, we can't do this, Your Highness, this is going to burden you."
"We can all lend you a hand. We had recovered for a bit. So, please don't do this."
The Priests accompanying her refuted and pleaded with her.
Athena flashed a loving smile and shook her head.
"It will take too much time to finish them one by one. I want to finish it now." Athena spoke while taking a look at Alex.
Alex's face was becoming paler every hour and he started to look sickly. She wanted to finish the job and take care of him.
The Priests resigned their protest and holding their hands started to transfer their powers to Athena.
Athena's body started to shine like a twinkling star in the vast darkness of the sky.
Athena held her hands and closed her eyes.
Light started to condense in her palms slowly and soon she was enveloped by layers of light.
Her hair rose and fluttered in the air with full majesty and her skin glowed with an unearthly aura.
Alex's eyes glistened as he saw Athena sparkling like an angel.No, even an angel may fall short when compared to her.
Athena opened her closed palms and raised them in the air.
A bright golden-coloured lotus shining marvellous materialised out of thin air.
"Wowww!"
The sight was mesmerising but the upcoming scene would be something which everyone presents out there could never forget in their lifetime.
Athena stared at the golden lotus and put it on the ground.
As soon as it touched the ground, roots sprouted from it and soon a bright light illuminated the whole place like day, blinding everyone.
The surge of light spread everywhere like waves that blew away the darkness of the entire land.
The miasma that had polluted the ground and the dark mist that had been hovering in the air was instantly blown away.
The warmth of the light spread for several kilometres bringing new life to the things that were on the verge of dying.
The wilted trees stood up straight and branches grew out from them immediately and soon flowers appeared on them.
The parched land seemed to be filled with vitality and the vegetation of the place had dried out, and grown again.
Alex looked at the petals of flowers and leaves of various colours falling like cherry blossoms and spoke with a smile.
"If winter is here, can spring be far behind?"
