While I couldn’t see the demon lord or anything like that, I was looking at the armies of deranged knights walking forward.
“What is wrong with them?” I asked.
“Miasma,” Astria spoke up. “The same thing that turned me into a dark fairy has infected these men. That is the risk one faces when using miasma as a weapon. It’s a powerful weapon, but it also corrupts the mind and body. It warps people until they are barely recognizable as people. I had once let it happen to myself.”
“Is miasma so dangerous? Should I be worried?”
I had never realized just how deadly it was. I had always wondered why the people of this world stayed away from the stuff. If it could just be used like any other mana, why was it so heavily vilified? I had a karmic soul constructed from miasma, and several of my girls used miasma. Were they going to end up ?
“You don’t need to worry.” Astria shook her head. “This is simply what happens to most normal people. Miasma rots the soul and body. If your soul is bound to your body, and the miasma enters your body and does its damage, you will rot from the inside. You don’t need to worry about this happening.
“Your karmic soul protects you from this, as does Salicia, Elaya, and myself. As for Shao, demons seem to have an unusually high resistance to miasma. It’s part of why they’ve been so successful up until now. Well, even before you had a karmic soul, that blessing would have protected you as well. That’s why you can stand jobs like Dark Priest and Demon Knight without losing your mind.”
“Even Dark Priest would have caused problems?” I cried out in surprise.
I had gotten the job, Dark Priest, before I had protection against miasma. The first time I had used it was against Shao, and shortly after I had gained the blessing that protected me from miasma.
“Yes… if you had been leveling it and using those skills, yes.” Astria sighed. “It is well known that Dark Priests tend to be eccentric and crazy. Calypso might have even been a normal woman once.”
I let out a light laugh while wiping my forehead of sweat. I had come dangerously close to making a fatal mistake. Thankfully, I hadn’t spent any major time on Dark Priest.
“Then again, you’re a white mage. You’re also extremely resilient toward miasma. Paladins are as well. It allows them to fight in dungeons for very long periods. It is well-known dungeon divers need to be purified regularly. It likely never would have been an issue for you.”
In the end, it seemed like I had many protections against miasma. For me, the path I had taken felt like an inevitability, but for the people of this world, dungeons were difficult to handle.
“Master?” Shao asked.
“Close the image. Come home.”
The image of the marching army disappeared, and a minute later a portal opened and Shao appeared in front of me. This had been her spying on the approaching army.
“Shao… what’s the report?” I asked.
“Master, they are about a week out,” Shao announced. “Their forces are about twice the size of our own.”
“I see… good to know.”
“Does this change your mind?” Astria asked.
“Master… if we teamed up with Deek…”
Although I had ordered them to spy on the army and let me know the size and distance of their army, that didn’t mean I didn’t have my own plans. They seemed to think I would drop everything just because of this looming threat.
“This has only told me we need to take care of Deek quickly before they arrive. We have one week.”
The girls looked at each other but didn’t say anything. I began to give out orders as we prepared for war.