Purity

Tightly closing her eyes, somehow the deafening sounds of battle faded away as the communion with Erena began...

Azure ribbons of light danced past Annette's floating form as she hesitantly re-opened her eyes. Looking down, she saw her pristine naked body, cleaner than if she had spent the entire day in the bath house. Processing the change, her focus quickly changed to the weightlessness of her body as she gazed into the arcane void stretching infinitely beneath her. Slowly rising from emerging from the never-ending depths, a huge feminine form of pure light towered over Annette, looking down with uncanny resemblance to the statue her true form kneeled before. Her beautiful face smiled at the Priestess, as her hands raised her up to the Erena's level before speaking.

"I'm very proud of you, Annette. You are Farfield's beacon of hope. their light in the growing darkness."

"Before me now, you are proof that the shadows cannot break through the aegis of faith."

"While using admittedly cunning methods, Hoxlous' cult foolishly believed that they could sever our connection by subjecting you all to carnal acts."

"Unfortunately... some fell hopelessly to lust, but you, my ever loyal disciple, have proven your ability to withstand Hoxlous and have warded off his corruption from your heart."

"Through you... we will bring salvation to all."

Barely a quarter of the way through Erena's kind and reassuring words, Annette's emotions got the better of her and openly wept, bringing both hands to cover her face.

This never ending nightmare.

The undead **** the women.

The spreading flames engulfing buildings.

The deaths of her friends.

It was finally over...

*sniffle*

"Goddess Erena... I don't know how I... - Thank you... Thank you so much. I owe you my life... We all do."

"How do we bring your salvation to our town?"

Erena offered her hand to the redhead.

"Let me in, Annette. You will be my conduit to the mortal realm. Steady your thoughts and keep your faith unyielding, for we together will dispel this vile, malevolent magic with enough **** to shake the trees far beyond the provincial capital."

With a determined nod, Annette reached out, placing both hands against the finger of the towering Goddess before shutting her eyes.

Back in the town square, Annette's eyes and mouth shot open expelling rays of blinding light. Her fiery red hair billowed violently behind her as she slowly rose from the floor. A beam of matching white light blasted down from the night sky, catching Annette's floating form and sending forceful winds slamming into the ground below her.

Tempestuous winds blasted across the square, knocking combatants away, sending rotten bodies flying into the destroyed barricade, skewering them on the damage the horde itself inflicted. The Captain, gazing up at the rising Priestess in a mixture of horror and hope, yelled out to his men...

"HOOOOLD FAAAAST! ANCHOR YOURSELVES AS BEST YOU CAN!"

Heeding the orders as best they could, the militia men latched onto anything nearby, signs, light posts, some even dug their weapons into the cracks in the ground or through sewer grates as they withstood the raging winds.

The female zombie found herself on her stomach as her claws struggled to find purchase against the cobblestone. It wasn't long before she was sent hurtling backwards through several crates, shattering them before catching herself on the edge of the stone well. Annette screamed out towards the heavens as the statue opposite her erupted into blue flames. The circling winds caught the azure embers as it began to twirl a firestorm that quickly grew in intensity. Godlike magical forces reaching an apex, Annette slammed her soles back into the ground at speed, sending deep cracks through the stone. Her scream harmonised with a deeper feminine voice as the combined bass-filled, rumbling shout of rage released a wall of blue flame as it engulfed the entirety of the square, before flowing through the alleyways and carrying across the surrounding countryside until an azure glow disappeared over the horizon.

Farfield's defenders braced through the raging fire as it passed clean through them, before catching the undead, melting the rotten flesh instantaneously, leaving nothing but charred bones behind. Every zombie caught the full blast of the divine wrath as the purple light from their eyes was snuffed out before they were incinerated completely. Every zombie but one.

Looking out from the back of the well, a pale hand released from the stone blocks as a slim woman, eyes masked behind long black hair emerged from cover. Her teeth clenched in fury as she processed the bitter defeat dealt to her. In her true form, she faced the piles of blackened bones where an army of the dead once stood.

With no remaining choices available to her, she balled her hands into fists before sprinting away between the maze of Farfield's houses.

Sprites of energy dissipating from her body, Annette slumped to the ground unmoving.