I Was a Sword When I Reincarnated (LN) - Volume 12 - Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

Blood on the Streets

WE MANAGED TO DEFEAT the flesh golems, thanks to Eiworth’s reckless measures, but we weren’t out of the woods just yet. Though the paralysis had long since worn off, there were still plenty of wounded.

Eiworth approached Fran, ignoring our injured allies.

“You cast a grand spell!” he said, as soon as she left her Awakened state. His eyes were gleaming, but I didn’t sense an ounce of jealousy from him. He was far too inquisitive for that. “I didn’t think you reached the pinnacle of Thunder Magic!”

“Hm.”

“And you controlled it all by yourself,” he mused. “Are you using any special equipment?”

“Trade secret.”

“Please! I must know!” 

For once, Eiworth clasped his hands and asked nicely. His curiosity was begging to be sated.

“No.”

“Oh, all right,” he groaned. “So how does it feel? How much mana do you use? How much effort do you put into controlling it? How much mana do you spend compared to a regular spell?”

Eiworth wasted no time with his interview, but Fran only gave him vague answers. Still, it wasn’t like she was being evasive. Her vocabulary was just limited to words like ‘a lot’ and ‘tons’ when it came to describing things. Eiworth needed more precision than that, so after a while, he gave up. Just as well, since Fran was exhausted. She usually acted by her feelings, but the tiredness made her even more vague than usual. Someone who also operated the same way would probably understand her. Probably. In any case, that was all the conversation we could afford for now. There was still trouble afoot.

“Hrm?”

“Oh? Something’s closing in on us. Was there a spell cast on the golems?”

Fran and Eiworth turned their attention to Main Street, where an unnatural amount of mana was forming. It was coming out of the defeated flesh golems and was probably set to trigger after they died. People started destroying their corpses, but it was too late. A giant magic circle hovered over Main Street. A bright glow lit up the area, and more mana swirled around. It concentrated further until it was on the level of a grand spell.

Fran tried destroying it, but her attacks were deflected by the sheer concentration of mana. The spell was past the point where we could stop it. I put up a powerful barrier, just as the circle glowed to its brightest point. I wish I could protect all the adventurers around me, but it was hopeless.

Huh?

But the explosion never came.

It’s not an attack?

I thought the spell would raze everything around us, but everything was still standing. Instead, something strange appeared on top of the magic circle. It was…summoning something.

What is that thing?

“A coffin?” Fran muttered.

Actually, it’s more like a sarcophagus if we’re being precise…

A gigantic stone coffin fell onto Main Street. It was five meters tall and three meters wide. Back on Earth, this size coffin would’ve been reserved for nobility, but here, it could just be an ordinary coffin for the larger races. The sarcophagus stood upright and started emitting ominous mana. Whatever this was, it wasn’t just for decoration.

“Is that a necromantic seal on its cover? I can feel something inside.”

“There’s something inside that thing?”

“Indeed. And the seal is keeping it there.”

Was there an undead monster inside that box? Was this sarcophagus being used as intended by its summoner? If so, then the undead inside must be pretty big. Fran, Eiworth, and some of the stronger adventurers all readied their weapons, but the coffin got the drop on us. Its heavy lid fell on the ground with a thud, revealing its contents.

“What is it?” Fran asked.

“Looks like meat,” Eiworth mused.

Either way, it’s gross!

We couldn’t tell what it was—all we saw was a salmon-pink mass, crammed into the coffin. It was slick and shiny like a mollusk, and the sight of it was enough to terrify the already tense adventurers.

Suddenly, something that looked like an eye blinked open. It was clouded over like a dead fish, but it was definitely glaring at us. Then, blood vessels pulsed all over its surface. This thing was a mass of flesh that had somehow been packed into the coffin.

“Aaaarrgh…”

The thing produced a low growl, which echoed down Main Street. It was emitting undead mana, and slowly wriggled itself free from the coffin using the two meat clubs hanging down its sides to pull itself out. The meat clubs had five meat sticks to grip the side of the coffin. These were its arms and fingers, of course.

“Aaaagh…”

A head poked out of the flesh lump, announcing itself to the world. It had two bulging eyeballs now, but no nose or mouth yet. Perhaps more organs would be revealed when the rest of its head came out of the meat bag.

Looks like we’re in for some trouble.

This thing must be some kind of fail-safe in case the flesh golems were wiped out. In that case, there was no reason to wait around then. Seemingly, Eiworth had the same idea.

“Surely we don’t need to wait for it to complete itself?” he asked. “Let’s kill it before it is born.”

“Hm.”

Fran was in full agreement, and both of them started charging up their spells. The other adventurers followed suit. Fran and I were the first to fire a No-Cast spell.

“Flare Blast!”

Flare Blast!

It was a low-level Flame spell, but it was still powerful if you charged it enough. Highly effective against both the living and the undead. Our spell headed straight for the fleshy lump and…suddenly disappeared.

Mana nullification?!

“Hrm.”

“All that mana gone in an instant!” Eiworth laughed. “Let’s see how you handle this.”

He fired off some spells of his own, despite knowing that they would likely get nullified too. Still, fighting a strong opponent was a research opportunity as far as this old man was concerned. Attacking his research subject was all part of the process.

“Frost Jail!”

A spell that would freeze its surroundings. It killed weaker opponents, while stronger ones would be frozen in place for a time. However, before it could reach the sarcophagus, this was nullified too. The other adventurers tried pelting it with more spells to no avail. This meat mass might also have a Fanatix replica stuck in it somewhere.

Finally, the creature made its full appearance. It looked like a skinless undead giant, standing four meters tall. Its salmon-pink skin was peeling off, and the sight was gruesome enough that some of the adventurers struggled to keep down their lunch. Apparently, the giant was actually a huge beastman.

“Aah, is that an elephant’s trunk on its head?” Eiworth asked.

“Hm. It does look like an elephant beastman.”

Large floppy ears, long trunk, sharp tusks. Definitely an elephant head. We saw some elephant beastmen back in the Beastman Nation, and that must be what this thing was made from. A pink elephant might sound like a cute fairy-tale creature, but this bipedal monster with his bulging veins came straight out of a nightmare.

Considering his head, and his size, I think he’s Awakened.

The beastmen we’d met were about three meters tall with heads like a human. Apparently, Awakening increased their size and made their features more elephantine.

“Hm. He’s Awakened.”

“Really? And here I thought it was an ordinary undead. It must have been created through special means.” Eiworth chuckled. “Very interesting!”

Is research the only thing you can think about?!

I was more worried about the undead elephantman having mana nullification abilities, but Eiworth wasn’t the only one who got pumped up at the prospect of fighting a strong opponent.

“He looks strong.”

Fran, not you too!

Considering how much Fran enjoyed battle, I guess her excitement was inevitable.

“OAAAAAAAAARGH!”

The undead elephant let out a roar laced with Intimidate. It sent fear down the spines of ordinary soldiers, but Fran and Eiworth simply shook their heads at the volume of it. The elephantman wasn’t that much stronger than them and, even if he was, the difference in strength wasn’t overwhelming. However, most of the other adventurers were frozen in fear, further reducing our numbers. Were Fran and Eiworth doomed to fight the undead elephant alone?

The elephantman looked around and opened his mouth. I braced for another roar, but he started talking instead.

“AAAAAH! Invaders! I won’t let you have the capital! I will protect this kingdom!”

Apparently, he was intelligent enough to speak.

“He talked.”

“You see this sometimes in specimens with gruesome grudges,” said Eiworth.

“Invaders?” Fran said. “Us?”

“Don’t think too much of it. It’s just the grudge talking. It’s being driven by the same grudges it had in its past life.”

“UOOOOOH!”

The undead elephant turned its fury on us.

Here he comes!

“Ha ha ha! Don’t get in my way, girl!”

“Worry about yourself!”

Fran and Eiworth split up to attack. I couldn’t imagine Eiworth cooperating with anyone, and Fran wasn’t really one for teamwork either, so it was better if they both attacked alone, at their own pace. 

“Come on, boys!”

“On it!”

The insect rangers were still on their feet too. I expected nothing less from these top mercenaries.

“Colbert, evacuate the injured!”

“Got it!”

Erianthe and the others were helping the wounded up and away from the battlefield. Now we could focus on fighting.

“Let’s try this to start!”

Eiworth threw several bottles at the elephantman. I didn’t know what was in them, but the potions surely contained powerful magic. He wanted to exhaust the elephant’s mana, the same way he’d done with the fanatic soldiers, but this time, the bottles were swept up in a whirlwind before they hit their target.

“DIIIIIIE!”

The potions hurtled toward us instead, moving at a deadly pace. They broke against a pavement, letting out a deadly poison gas.

“Ack!”

“My eyes!”

“I can’t breathe…!”

Dammit, Eiworth!

A powerful wind spread the gas everywhere, and adventurers started dropping like flies. The elephantman must have realized what was in the bottles and decided to use them against us.

“Damn thing’s smart for an undead golem!” Eiworth complained, firing off another spell. “Dangerous Play!”

The poison gathered up and snaked toward Eiworth like it had a mind of its own. That spell must have collected the poison in one spot so he could fire it again. While I watched, I healed up nearby adventurers. As capricious as Eiworth was, his strategy had worked against the greater flesh golems. Perhaps it would work here too.

But Eiworth’s poison bomb was dissipated by the wind swirling around to protect the elephantman. Our foe had finer control of Wind Magic than I thought.

An elephant beastman who uses the wind…

What is it, Teacher?

Purple Wind Elephant was one of the Ten Ancestors, wasn’t it?

So, you’re saying that undead is Evolved?

Maybe.

The Ten Ancestors were the predecessors of the Ten Tribes, the strongest of the beastmen. Fran and her tribe could Evolve into Black Sky Tigers. The Beast King and Mea were Golden Fire Lions. The Purple Wind Elephant was one of the Ten too. Awakened, he could probably rival Fran’s strength, and he had mana nullification to boot.

Don’t let your guard down! I don’t think he’s fighting at full force yet!

“Hm!”

Fran nodded, circling the undead elephant and casting various elemental spells to try and penetrate his defenses. Unfortunately, most of them were blown away by the wind, and what few spells made it through were nullified.

It’s like having a steel wall on top of a steel wall!

“BAROOOO!”

The pachyderm blew his trunk. He was occupied with Eiworth before, but now Fran had his attention. Apparently, he judged her to be more dangerous.

He’s so fast!

“Urgh…!”

Fran barely dodged the elephant’s charge. One second more and she would’ve been gored by his tusks. This thing was more agile than he looked. He didn’t even need to crouch before he started sprinting at us. In fact, his posture was mostly upright. He must be accelerating himself with the wind and cutting down on air resistance. Either way, the sight of his gigantic body streaking toward us was ridiculous. We had to be careful here.

Back off, Fran! Gain some distance!

“Hm!”

Getting into a melee with this thing was a bad idea, but we didn’t exactly have the specs for long-range combat either. I thought the greater distance might help us, but spells weren’t the elephantman’s only ranged option.

“BAHROOOMP!”

Wind Wall!

“Was that a Wind spell?”

No! He compressed wind in his trunk and fired it at us!

The elephant’s trunk shot like a cannon as it extended toward us. Its pressurized air took out my Wind Wall in a single shot. It managed to throw off the shot’s trajectory, but Fran would’ve been gravely injured if it had gone through. The wind cannonball broke through several walls before exploding a house twenty meters away.

Teacher, we have to get closer!

That’s not a good idea…!

He’s going to shoot another wind shot if we stay at this range! People might die!

Our surroundings were even more of a mess after the elephant started firing his wind cannon. But as exhausted as Fran was, she didn’t have a chance against one of the Ten Tribes.

I’m going in. Set a barrier for me.

Aaah, fine! You have to focus on dodging though, got it?

Okay!

But someone else got to the pachyderm before she did.

“Don’t forget about us!”

“Actually, it would help me a lot if you did!”

The insect rangers had arrived. They dropped into a battle formation with the armored lobster at the forefront.

Fran, they might be able to handle the elephantman! Let’s switch to support.

Hm.

We cast support spells on the insect halflings after changing our strategy. Most of it was to bolster their defenses. The lobster realized this and nodded his head toward us. The others thanked us too. That would be enough to let them know our plan.

“Let’s not disappoint the young lady!”

“YEAH!”

Erianthe’s trusty mercenaries leapt into action with deadly precision.

“Yaaaaah!”

Their lobster leader took point and attacked the enemy first. A quick Identify revealed his name as Robin. His natural defense from his red shell and elegant movement allowed him to take the elephantman head-on.

The undead elephant wasn’t equipped with any weapons, but his physical prowess, trunk, and tusks were enough to make him a threat in close combat.

Even so, Robin handled himself well. Not a single attack had landed on him so far. He weaved through the undead’s swings and delivered a one-two punch right into his knee—all while evading the trunk that was coming at him from behind. Robin blocked the elephant’s tusks with his hard shell and landed another set of jabs into his leg. His fighting style wasn’t flashy, but it was very effective.

Robin’s teammates weren’t just standing around, either. Each had their role against a physically large opponent.

Hobbes, the grasshopper, expanded his legs and jumped behind the elephantman. Robin was keeping him occupied so he could kick his enemy from the sides and the rear. His bulging legs looked heavy, but they packed a ton of speed and power. One jump was all Hobbes needed to get behind the enemy. There was a loud crack every time he jumped, but he was doing it on purpose. Though it announced his position, the noise was loud enough to break the enemy’s concentration.

“You’re so slow! You can’t catch me with that speed!”

“Get back here you fly!”

“I’m a grasshopper, actually!”

“Gaaaaargh!”

Hobbes kept harassing the undead elephant while staying out of his clutches. His movements were impressive, but he could only move like that thanks to the aid of his party members.

“…Gotcha.”

Effie the mayfly murmured aloud as she stabbed the elephantman with her spear. She specialized in tricky movements and spearplay, but apparently she had another trick up her sleeve. I didn’t notice her at all until she made her attack. She must be excellent at stealth too.

While her attack didn’t do much damage, the back attack forced the elephantman to stop attacking Hobbes to address her.

“Raaaargh!”

“So dumb.”

Effie jumped back with her wings while mocking her undead foe.

“Get back here!”

He extended his trunk toward her, but an axe stopped his attack short.

“And don’t forget me! WHAM!”

It was Ann the bull ant. Between Robin, Hobbes, and Effie, the elephantman was completely defenseless. Ann took advantage of the situation by concealing herself before attacking. She landed on the ground and used her dual axes to work on the elephantman’s legs. Identify revealed that she didn’t have any Stealth Skills. Shingen the clam probably helped her with that.

Ann’s axes tore chunks of flesh off of the undead and broke his knee. It was the same knee Robin had been working on from the start. The mercenaries made a coordinated effort to focus on the same body part. The elephantman was already regenerating, but he couldn’t move until then. This was a huge opening. However, the mercs huddled into a defensive position. Shingen took point here, using his big body to protect his allies.

Just then, the undead elephant released powerful gusts of wind.

“BAHROOOOOO!”

The move prevented the mercs from exploiting the opening. I was impressed that they could stop their attacks and immediately go on the defensive. Maybe their instincts and intuition were better because of their insectoid blood. All of them had the Intuition Skill as well. Back in Ulmutt, Elza managed to sense that I Identified him with Intuition.

Wait, does that mean they sensed me Identifying them? Maybe I should apologize later.

Teacher?

I-it’s nothing. Did you see that?

Hm. His mana dropped when he started healing himself.

Apparently, he’s not as good at regenerating as he is at attacking.

I didn’t know whether mana nullification used up the elephant’s mana. It must be hidden really well because I couldn’t even sense its presence.

All I knew was, the mana surrounding the elephantman decreased when he healed himself. For some reason, attacking and mana nullification didn’t use up much mana for him, but regeneration did. Forcing him to keep healing himself might be the key to this battle.

“What should we do?”

Hmm.

Melee was our only option since all our spells would just be nullified. But getting up close with that thing? The elephantman was now on the counterattack, charging toward the insect rangers at a great speed. The charge was enough to blow away Robin and Shingen. Shingen managed to block it with his back, but the attack still took away half his stamina.

A melee attack was a bad idea, but Fran was determined to get in.

“I’m going.”

I knew that look in her eyes. There was nothing that could stop her when she was like this. They’d only fought together for a few moments, but Fran considered the insect rangers her friends now. And she wasn’t going to stand by and let her friends remain in danger.

All right! I’ll handle defense!

“Hm! Haaa!”

Fran nodded and dashed in at the first opportunity she got.

She drew the elephant’s attention away from the insect rangers by attacking him from behind. The undead’s eyes were filled with hatred and disgust when he saw that a small black cat girl was the one cutting him.

“DIIIIIIE!”

“Too slow.”

Watch out for the wind!

The elephantman kicked Fran and she avoided it easily, but that was exactly what he wanted. A wind spear came right at her afterward. It wasn’t very powerful, but Fran was wide open and had no way of defending herself. The undead’s brains hadn’t rotted away, that was for sure. Fran managed to dodge both the wind spear and the elephant’s trunk before using a Pressurized Quickdraw on his knee…but my blade couldn’t land on the elephantman.

“Oooorgh!”

The winds again!

So hard!

The layers of wind on top of the undead’s skin were so dense that I couldn’t penetrate them. Fran pushed and strained, but it was no use. The elephantman must have known what she was going to do and switched to defense. The winds weren’t this thick at the beginning of the battle.

Get back!

“Ah!”

The trunk came after her again. She jumped to the side as it came plunging down on her from above. It smashed right into the ground, leaving a hole behind. The trunk then came after Fran like a whip with unpredictable angles.

How flexible could a trunk be?!

The elephantman’s trunk snaked around her like an anaconda. But Fran managed to avoid all of it.

This is nothing compared to Amanda’s whip.

Of course!

The sparring match we had with her back in Alessa was finally paying dividends. The A-Rank’s whip was much livelier than this trunk. Fran managed to strike at it a couple times, but it was covered in tough muscle.

“Hrm.”

Fran grunted, annoyed. She knew that she lacked power because she wasn’t Awakened. She then collected herself and jumped back from the elephantman.

I’m sensing a lot of mana from Eiworth!

“Hm!”

Eiworth had been concealing his presence so far and we only detected the mana he was charging up. I thought he had been content to observe Fran and the others fight, but the old man wasn’t out just yet.

He cast his spell just as Fran moved away—then again, maybe she just happened to move out of the way when he was finished casting. Eiworth was never one to be considerate. Or maybe he was showing Fran courtesy for being a rare Black Sky Tiger. 

Either way, Eiworth fired his spell when Fran moved out of the way.

“Blizzard! Giantsbane!”

Different elements—frost and deadly poison at the same time. Fran could only manage to cast two spells if they were of the same element. The old man was not to be trifled with.

Blizzard blew a miniature snowstorm around the target while forming blades made of ice to cut them. Giantsbane, as the name implied, produced a poison gas strong enough to kill giants. The two spells complemented each other perfectly. Blizzard covered the opponent with Giantsbane’s poison gas, while the poison festered the skin enough for the ice to freeze them.

What’s more, his spells weren’t getting nullified.

Eiworth grinned when he caught her staring. Still, he looked a bit exhausted—probably because he cast two powerful spells at the same time. It was the first time the old man looked vulnerable.

“I saw how you beat those fanatics earlier with your grand spell. They can’t completely nullify a spell past a certain point. In fact, the nullification perfectly tuned the area of effect for me.”

Blizzard was supposed to have a wider area of effect, but the nullification shrank it to encapsulate the undead elephant. Eiworth had taken this into account when he overcharged the spells.

“I wasn’t sure if it would work but it did! But I only would’ve hit the bugs if it didn’t.”

Dammit, Eiworth! You had my respect for a second there!

“Ooooorgh!”

Eiworth clicked his tongue. “These compound spells are enough to lock a dragon down. To think that it could still move after that…”

The mage used to be part of a party with Dragon Twist Dias, Dragon Hunter Phelms, and Dragon Hammer Gammod. He himself was known as Dragon Bind Eiworth.

The elephantman was stronger than he expected. He unleashed powerful winds from his body, dispelling both spells. Patches of his body were blackened by frostbite, but they soon healed themselves.

Eiworth chuckled. “Very interesting!”

He was in a tough spot, with his magic and potions rendered ineffective. Did he have other tricks up his sleeve? We kept watching him, in part so that we wouldn’t get caught up in any of his attacks. In the end, Fran determined that magic wasn’t going to be useful in this fight and tightened her grip around me.

We’ll attack from above.

All right.

A falling attack from the sky. It was actually pretty good in her exhausted state, since she could leverage gravity to add to the attack. This aerial attack was also our specialty. I teleported us up into the sky. The insect rangers saw what Fran was trying to do and started redoubling their offense to keep the enemy’s attention on the ground.

Fran’s eyes met Robin’s for a moment. The lobster leader looked stunning when he grinned. The bits of red shell covering his arms and face didn’t detract from his looks. If anything, they only added to them!

Fran took a deep breath and started concentrating her energy. We wouldn’t be able to take our opponent down in one hit. Fran couldn’t Awaken now, let alone use Flashing Thunderclap. Meanwhile, my durability and mana were still shot from fighting Aschtner. We were in no condition to slash our enemy in two like we usually did.

Even so, we had to do this.

“We have to protect them all.”

Yeah.

Garrus, the adventurers, everyone. Fran was ready to put her life on the line for them, and as her sword, I was ready too.

“Huh?”

It’s the blue light.

The light connecting us started glowing again. Apparently, it wasn’t restricted by our exhaustion or durability values. Our heightened resolve must have triggered it.

“Let’s do this.”

You got it!

Fran kicked the air with Air Hop and used a variety of skills to accelerate herself further, focusing all her energy on a single point for a piercing attack. She held me close to her side, pointing me straight down. Soon, she became too fast for the naked eye to see.

Enveloped by the blue light, Fran looked like a spear cast from heaven to destroy the undead elephant.

“Yaaaaah!”

“Raaaaagh!”

How did he see that?!

A barrier of wind protected the elephantman’s head even as he fought the insect rangers. The winds whipped and whirled, stopping me in my tracks. An ordinary barrier wouldn’t have stopped me—this thing was using his winds to grab me by the blade. I didn’t think an undead was capable of such fine movements.

“Hngh…!”

Fran gritted her teeth and pushed but my cutting tip wouldn’t go deeper.

But we had foreseen this. We figured that our initial attack probably wouldn’t go well—it might even be blocked. I didn’t want to do this, but…

Fran, are you ready?!

“Hm!”

Here goes!

I transformed myself into something without decoration or guard. I looked like a drill and started spinning myself like one using Mana Thruster. Fran had to hold on to stabilize me and her hands were beginning to bleed. Her own blood splattered as I advanced the attack. I didn’t know how much her palms must hurt but I wasn’t about to tell her to let go. We both knew that taking down this elephant would need extraordinary measures.

“Aaaaaaaaah!”

Yaaaaaargh!

I then exploded with the full force of Fanatix’s mana thrusters and my own telekinesis. My mana thrusters swirled in a spiral and the explosion broke through the wind barrier. But the explosion also blew Fran away, and she flew in a tailspin toward the buildings. I was worried, but I couldn’t stop now.

Haaaaaa!

Fran wouldn’t get injured from that. If anything, I needed to finish our opponent here for her sake!

I plunged into the elephantman’s right shoulder while still being wrapped in that blue light.

Dammit! He altered my trajectory!

I narrowly missed his head. The elephantman settled for changing my trajectory when he knew I was about to break through.

Fine, I can still do this! I’ll just burn you from the inside!

I cast a Flame spell while inside him. You could have the toughest hide in the world, but no one would get off scot-free after being incinerated from the inside.

But my spell didn’t go off—it was completely nullified. Apparently, even his insides were under the protection of the Fanatix replica.

I’ll just have to find that replica!

I didn’t know where it was, but I was sure I could find it if I kept digging with my blade.

“Nuooooh! Damn yooooou!”

I turned myself into a thin needle and started poking through the elephantman’s body. He hardened his body with mana, making his flesh as hard as steel, but I took my time and prodded through the cracks with my tip. The undead elephant howled in pain and grabbed at me, trying desperately to pull me out. But I wasn’t leaving that easily…

“Raaaaagh!”

…especially not when I had backup.

“All right guys, pile in on him!”

“Got it!”

The insect rangers took advantage of the distraction and started attacking. This time their attacks were less coordinated as each took to unleashing their hardest-hitting attacks on the elephant.

“Lead Fist!”

With his hips low to the ground, the lobster unleashed a straight attack. It must’ve been one of the Martial Arts Skills. What differentiated it from a regular punch was the hardened fist. It was several times more powerful than a regular martial artist’s punch, and powerful enough to stagger the undead elephant when delivered to his right thigh.

“Ooooorgh!”

“Shadow Flash.”

“Rargh?!”

Effie used another stealth attack—a Phantom spell which struck at the elephantman’s weak point right as she came out of a shadow step. The tip of her spear was charged with mana, and it stabbed the creature’s heart. It wasn’t enough to kill the undead, but it would’ve been lethal against anyone else.

Meanwhile, Ann the bull ant’s attack was ridiculously simple.

“Yah, yah, yah!”

She used her twin axes and chopped away to her heart’s content. That’s probably what she was going for, anyway. She used the opening Effie gave her to close in on the elephantman and hack away at his trunk. I think she struck him ten times over the span of a few seconds. Still, the elephantman spat blinding poison as his trunk flew away. He certainly wasn’t going down without a fight.

Shingen the clam was up next.

“Hraaaagh!”

The big man, who occupied the strange slot of mage-tank, came at the enemy with his bare hands and started throwing them. The elephantman hadn’t regenerated his legs and had no way of defending himself against the attack.

Shingen’s strikes landed, but he wasn’t doing much damage to the undead. But this was all part of the plan. He just needed to keep the enemy occupied so his teammates could get a clean hit in.

Hobbes finally made his move, and it was very clear-cut.

“Eat this! Blast Kick!”

First, he took some distance from the opponent and then broke into a dash. Using the momentum, he jumped to deliver a fast and powerful kick. It was simple, but the lack of complex motions meant the move preserved all of its force.

A grasshopper who delivers a flying kick…

Hobbes’ rider kick broke through the wind barrier and hit the elephantman right in the chest.

“Gaaaah!”

The undead elephant staggered and fell, making a booming sound when his gigantic body landed on the ground. It was the first time in the fight that a physical hit had dealt significant damage.

“Cursed invaders! I will chase you out! BAHROOOO!”

The elephantman shouted hatefully as he used the winds to get back on his feet. The winds around him reacted to his voice, wrapping around him like a whirlwind, destroying anything that came near.

Melee was now out of the option. We would get torn to shreds if we tried.

“Violet Whirlwind!”

Violet Whirlwind?! That’s the Class Skill of the Purple Wind Elephant!

“FROOOOOMP!”

The hurricane had a purple glow to it, and the smoke and light made it possible to see the flow of the usually invisible wind. Though the winds lost the advantage of being invisible, the deadly concentration of mana more than made up for it.

The elephantman lifted his arms to his sides, unleashing powerful gales of violet wind.

“Guaaah!”

“Kyaaaa!”

The wind pressure blew the insectoid halflings away—even they were helpless against it. The purple winds then formed spheres before flying out in all directions. Houses were immediately destroyed.

No! Stop that!

Fran wasn’t back yet, so she was either unconscious or couldn’t move. I didn’t want to imagine what would happen if one of these winds managed to hit her.

“You will not defeat me!”

How are you so lively for an undead?!

“I am the shield of the kingdom! Guardian of the people! Protector of my allies!”

I respect your noble motivations, but I can’t afford to lose this fight either!

I have to protect Fran!

“Gaaaaaah!”

I put all my effort into Transmogrify, extending my blade like roots into the soil. But the elephantman struggled, focusing his purple winds around my hilt. I thought the winds were going to attack me, but they were pulling me out instead. They almost succeeded too.

Hrngh!

“Guooooh!”

No wonder he’s one of the Ten. I can’t beat him in a test of strength!

My hilt hovered for a moment, and I was running out of mana to maintain my foothold.

But I can’t lose now!

I wasn’t at a complete disadvantage. The undead elephant’s mana was draining away little by little. The Class Skill of the Ten Tribes took a lot of mana out of its user, be it Fran’s Flashing Thunderclap, the Beast King’s Golden Flame of Extinction, or this elephantman’s Violet Whirlwind. He would’ve used it from the start if it didn’t exhaust him. The longer he maintained the skill, the more mana he would expend.

And then backup finally came.

“Let’s go!”

Robin and the rangers were back. They still hadn’t lost their will to fight after being blasted by the powerful attack. They huddled up and got into a strange circular formation. Shingen was at the front, crouching as if he was about to sprint, while the other four readied themselves behind him. One by one, they used him as a launchpad to jump into the air. What’s more impressive was that Shingen helped them take to the skies. The slightest misstep would’ve spelled failure.

Effie and Ann went first, and they whirled in the air. Robin and Hobbes came next, and they planted their feet on top of the women’s shins to kick themselves further above. They were now close to a hundred meters in the air, all without a Wind spell. It really drove home how strong and coordinated they were. But they weren’t done just yet.

“Come on, Hobbes!”

“Try not to die, Robin!”

Robin pulled his knees to his chest and curled up into a ball. Hobbes pulled his leg back and kicked him like the protagonist of a soccer manga.

“GATE CRASHER!” they both shouted as Robin hurtled toward the ground like a meteor.

He shoots!

Robin was enveloped in the glow of mana, making him look even more like a soccer shot in a manga. Judging by the speed he was going, the attack would do tons of damage both to the enemy and to Robin himself. The attack’s name suggested that it was a move reserved for breaking down a castle’s gates.

“BAHROOOO!”

Purple winds blew in Robin’s direction now, but they were helpless to stop his momentum. Still, the undead elephant was no mere undead. He immediately moved to avoid the attack once he knew he couldn’t disarm it. He blasted purple winds to where the attack was going to land and shifted away.

He’s going to miss!

Or so I thought. But Robin wasn’t done yet. There was a burst of mana, and the red ball of death suddenly changed course. Robin was chasing the elephant down with mana thrusters. He broke through the undead’s wind barrier and rammed right into the side of his head. There was a loud crack as the creature’s head exploded. There was nothing left of him from the neck up.

“Gaah…!”

Robin didn’t come out of the attack unscathed. He had cracks all over his shell and his right hand was blown to bits. His bones were probably broken too. But in hindsight, he was fortunate that this was all he had to pay for an attack that powerful. His training and skill usage must’ve reduced the damage enough for him to survive.

I used a bit of my mana to help him. I couldn’t heal him completely, of course, but it would be enough to prevent him from dying. I then realized how they were able to quickly understand what Fran was going for earlier. This attack was their trump card, and they knew what to do in case anyone else attempted something similar.

But we couldn’t celebrate just yet.

Bone and muscle were already forming on the elephantman’s neck to replace his destroyed head. Robin’s desperate attempt to kill him had failed. The purple winds came at my hilt and they were as strong as before.

However, I could feel that particularly disgusting mana coming from his center now. There was a Fanatix replica buried inside him after all, and it was probably fused to his magicite. No wonder all that mana nullification didn’t exhaust his mana. He had a backup mana source.

But now, the elephantman was finally out of mana, and he was forced to tap into the crystal and Fanatix replica. Robin couldn’t kill him, but at least I now knew his weak spot. The replica was located somewhere in his core instead of in his back. I redoubled my efforts into transmogrifying myself, but the elephantman picked up on it. The violet winds picked up even while he was still bloodied and beaten.

Let go of me, you big lug!

“Raaaagh!”

I braced myself with mana, putting every ounce of power I had into staying inside him.

Aaargh…!

A dull, familiar pain ran through me. Was I falling apart again? Right after Aristea fixed me?

No… This pain is nothing if it means I can protect Fran! I have to keep going! I need more power!

—thing…

Yaaaaah!

Everything… 

Huh? Who’s there?

There was a voice, and it sounded like it was pretty close too. It probably wasn’t the elephantman, though.

But there couldn’t have been a voice because I wasn’t sensing anyone in the vicinity. Was I hearing things after that intense pain?

Just a little more! I’m almost to his gut! That’s where the replica is so please! Just give me a little more power!

I clenched my teeth and felt power flow through my body. I kept extending myself to find my target.

…cher!

Another hallucination?

Teacher!

Fran? You’re okay!

Hm. I’m coming to get you!

It was Fran’s voice, and I wasn’t imagining it. Maybe Fran was the one talking to me too. I could’ve been concentrating so hard that I didn’t hear her. I hadn’t had to focus on telepathy in a while—we would usually just talk to each other in our heads.

“Haaaaa!”

Fran shouted as she charged the elephantman. She was completely defenseless and without a barrier.

Careful, Fran!

I’ll be fine!

It sure didn’t look that way to me! Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to protect her, I was in no position to do anything. If I teleported to her side, I would waste this once in a lifetime chance of taking down the elephantman.

The undead elephant saw Fran from the corner of his eye, breathed in, and pointed his trunk at her. A moment later, he fired an air cannon at her—with violet winds this time. This was much stronger than before.

If that thing hits her, she’s—

“That won’t work this time!”

Huh?

“Broomp?”

The elephant and I were both equally confused. A sheet of ice emerged in front of Fran, blocking the wind’s advance. Eiworth was backing her up. No wonder she was so confident!

Fran had entrusted her life to Eiworth, the winner of Most Suspicious Person in the Capital Award. His strength definitely made him useful, but his attitude left much to be desired. But now wasn’t the time to be choosy about allies.

God, Buddha, Eiworth! Please protect Fran!

I prayed earnestly, I didn’t know whether they would be answered or not, but Fran managed to close in on the elephantman without a scratch. But now, the undead elephant unleashed a gust of wind which covered an impressive amount of ground in front of him.

“Teacher, your strap!” Fran reached out to me and shouted. I immediately extended my strap into her hand, still badly wounded from our earlier endeavor. She batted away the violet wind and brought her left hand to her mouth. There was something small and black inside it.

What is that?

Fran bit into it before I could Identify it. It must’ve been some kind of drug.

Suddenly, black lightning crackled all over Fran’s body.

“Awaken! Flashing Thunderclap!”

What?! But I thought you were still exhausted!

“Haaaaa!”

“Raaaargh!”

Fran let the black lightning flow through me to burn the elephantman from the inside. The Fanatix replica reduced its power, but the direct current of black lightning was still powerful enough to stun an elephant. Or, in this case, an undead elephant.

Now’s our chance…!

I had so many questions for her, but they would have to wait.

With the elephantman incapacitated, I resumed my search for the Fanatix replica and pierced through him. My cutting edge was now ripping through his body like butter.

You’re done for!

I felt my blade cut something in half.

“RUAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!”

The undead elephant let out a ghastly wail as the familiar sensation of mana absorption came over me.

We did it…

Even as an undead, a member of the Ten Tribes was still powerful.

Teacher, are you all right?

Yeah… Somehow.

Fran came over to the undead monster’s corpse to pull me out of its flesh. She grunted as she tried to dislodge me, but getting me out was easy once I turned off Transmogrify. Once I was out, she rinsed me off with some water and scrubbed me down.

You turned black earlier.

Wait, what?

Hm. Your mana turned black and hazy before I called out to you.

Black and hazy…?

Never heard that one before. Was there something wrong with my mana? I was so focused on staying inside the enemy that I didn’t know what was going on…

I’m worried. Are you sure you’re okay?

Hang on, I’m the one who’s worried about you! What was that about?!

Fran was no longer in her Awakened state, but she definitely used Flashing Thunderclap earlier. That shouldn’t have been possible.

I’m fine. That was one of Eiworth’s medicines.

That was what?! What were you thinking?!

Apparently, the drug temporarily restored you to peak vitality for a short period of time.

A-and there are no side effects?

I feel fine.

Are you sure?

Hm. I’ll just get sleepy later and sleep for longer than usual.

You’re not fine! How much longer are we talking?!

Uhhh, a lot?

Fran didn’t know, either. If I had a mouth, I would’ve given Eiworth a piece of my mind. I wanted to ruffle Fran’s hair so bad, but the old bastard in question came over.

“You won, somehow.”

“Hm.”

“That final blow,” Eiworth said. “There aren’t many people who can control their sword like that.”

He scanned her up and down. It must’ve looked like Fran was controlling me when I killed the elephantman. Even Eiworth couldn’t imagine a sword with a will of its own.

“And you’re a C-Rank? How is that possible…? Has the guild gone senile?”

He recognized her unnatural strength. Fran was so strong for a C-Rank that it bordered on fraudulence.

“Ah, but maybe it’s because you’re young. Which guild do you belong to?”

“What?”

“What, are you a wanderer? Do you know Klimt or Amanda then? Or anyone in Alessa?”

I wasn’t expecting to hear familiar names from this old man. I didn’t think Eiworth and Amanda were acquainted with each other. I wouldn’t have been surprised if they tried to start killing each other if they were ever in the same place.

“I know both of them,” Fran said. “I became an adventurer in Alessa.”

“That must be it,” Eiworth nodded.

“What do you mean?”

“Amanda and Klimt are heavily opposed to sending children out onto the battlefield. And they are quite influential with the government of this country. Being under their wing would deter people from forcing promotions on you.”

While the two of them probably did nothing to stop people from promoting Fran, the mere association was enough. A young adventurer who signed up in Alessa and was good friends with Amanda. No guildmaster was ignorant enough not to recognize her.

“The nobles get annoying once you hit B-Rank. They were the reason I quit.”

Apparently, they were annoying enough to even ruffle Eiworth’s feathers, and he was the very picture of insolence.

“That bad?”

“Indeed. You mustn’t underestimate their network of information. They seek to recruit B-Ranks every chance they get. Some are modest, while others apply more direct pressure. But they all want the same thing: a strong adventurer working for them. They won’t leave you alone until they have you.”

“And if I refuse?”

“They’ll act like they didn’t get the message.”

That sounded an awful lot like an old legendary mage. I guess Eiworth didn’t like his own kind much. Still, he continued, ignorant of his shared faults.

“It’s the same in any town in any kingdom in the world. There will always be nobility there,” Eiworth said. “And when you make a name killing dragons like I did… Well, the invitations only get worse. Nobles will fight over you if they know how strong you are.”

“I don’t wanna have anything to do with them,” Fran said.

“Doesn’t matter. They’re nobility, after all. In the end, you can’t refuse them even if you try. If you do, they get offended and throw a tantrum.” Eiworth scoffed, “What a load of nonsense.”

For Eiworth, the daily dealings with nobles irritated him to the point of quitting the Adventurer’s Guild. He could’ve become a guildmaster like Gammod and Dias, but he refused.

“I wouldn’t have time for my research then.”

These weren’t the only options, of course. Amanda and Forlund dealt with nobles every now and again and even worked for them to protect them from other nobility. But Eiworth wasn’t the type to make that kind of relationship work, and Fran fell in the same category. She might cause problems by punching her employers in the face. Maybe she would learn to deal with it better when she was older, but for now, I wanted things to remain as they were.

What surprised me was Klimt’s alleged clout. He was strong, but he didn’t feel that strong for an A-Rank… Maybe he had accumulated respect for his long years of serving as guildmaster.

Fran asked Eiworth about Klimt and he smirked.

“You can’t judge a sorcerer by his stats alone. A powerful sorcerer can control hordes of invisible beasts, you know.”

I didn’t quite understand what sorcery was. I’d seen the spirits that Klimt and others like him used, but they didn’t seem that strong or stealthy to me. Eiworth explained that the spirits sorcerers used could be hard to detect, granting them protean strategies. Now Klimt was one of the greatest sorcerers in the continent, let alone the kingdom.

“Do you know what people call him? Calamity Klimt.”

“Calamity?”

That sounds violent.

“He’s a walking calamity that brings down destruction on friend and foe alike.” Eiworth shrugged, “It’s not true, of course, but that’s his nickname.”

“What’s more, his abilities far surpass the average A-Rank. Ah, but I suppose he’s retired now so he would be a former A-Rank… Either way, he could give S-Ranks a run for their money in battle.”

The guildmaster was that powerful? There might’ve been more to this Spirit Magic than I once thought.

Now that I thought about it, Alessa was surrounded by dangerous environments. The Demon Wolf’s Garden, an A-Rank haunt. Dungeons. Raydoss. You had to be strong to be the guildmaster of that town.

“But enough talk about old Calamity. You are far more interesting than he is.”

Eiworth looked intently at Fran.

“All that power at such a young age. Very interesting indeed. What say you let me perform an autopsy on you? One million gauld, and I’ll guarantee your safety.”

“No.”

“Two million! Come on, now. It will only take a little while. I just want a peek at your magic circuits!”

“Not happening.”

“I-I suppose I can’t persuade you?”

“Hm.”

Erianthe came to our side as the ridiculous conversation carried on.

“We’ll be fine for now, Fran,” she said. “Can I trouble you to head to the palace?”

“The palace?”

“Yes. I can’t get a hold of the knights there, but I’m sure they need help evacuating people.”

There was a huge surge of mana coming from the direction of the palace. Things were probably worse there than anywhere else in the capital.

“Okay.”

Fran wouldn’t be able to fight, but she could still look for survivors. I really wanted her to rest, but she was as driven as ever. The adrenaline probably made her forget about her exhaustion.

“I’m coming with you!”

“No. You’re staying at the guild to help the mages.”

Erianthe stopped Eiworth before he could get another word in.

“We don’t have enough of them, and I would like you to teach our mages how to deal with the fanatic soldiers.”

“Then get the court mages if you’re lacking manpower!” Eiworth said, and then paused. “Wait, is it that time of the year again?”

“Yes. Aschtner must’ve planned around it.”

“What are you guys talking about?”

“The haunt hunt.”

The reason why the ranks of knights and mages were only at half strength was because they were being sent to deal with the nearby haunt. The haunt itself was only a C-Rank, so it wasn’t inherently dangerous. However, once every four years, there would be an outbreak of locust monsters and the king’s men would be sent there to deal with them. Marquis Aschtner knew about this, and so he planned to launch his coup at this season.

“As a reward, I’ll remove the bounties from your head.”

“Bounty?” Fran asked. 

“You’ve seen how he behaves. It’s only natural that he would gather up some bounties over the years.”

“I see.”

Fran and I nodded at the same time. It would’ve been strange if Eiworth didn’t have a bounty of some sort.

“I can even give you an actual reward from the guild.”

Eiworth scoffed, “I’ve never even noticed I had a price on my head. You can keep it on there. But if you insist on rewarding me… How about you give me the samples you’ve captured after all this is over?”

Erianthe was silent for a while. Eventually, she said, “I’ll try to acquire some for you.”

“Excellent. Very well, I’ll make good use of your mages.”

“Don’t go too crazy out there.”

“I know.”

“Doesn’t seem that way to me,” Erianthe sighed. She had to gather whatever support she could for the guild. She didn’t want Eiworth’s help, but she couldn’t deny the old man’s strength on the battlefield. She had to make it worth his while.

“We really are counting on you.”

Eiworth chuckled, “Yes, yes, I know.”

He definitely didn’t.

I guess that’s the last we’ll see of Eiworth for a while. Can’t say I’m going to miss him.

Hm. We need to check in on Garrus.

Yeah. We have to get the guild to take care of him.

Fran entered the guild building. It looked like a field hospital now, with how many injured people were inside. Stellia was the first to notice her.

“Thanks again, Fran! We couldn’t have made it without you. Garrus is inside.”

“Hm. Thanks.”

“No, no, the pleasure’s all ours!”

Stellia called one of her subordinates to take Fran to him. Garrus was still unconscious, but there wasn’t a scratch on him.

“I want you to take care of Garrus,” Fran said. She explained that he was unconscious because of the drugs they gave him and that he would need further treatment to improve. The enemy might also try to take him back.

Stellia knitted her eyebrows. She wasn’t sure the guild could take care of the blacksmith with all the other injured people lying around.

“Just accept her request. Is there any reason to think about it?”

Eiworth suddenly joined the conversation. Apparently, Fran was now the subject of his curiosity. Not good.

Stellia glared at the rude old man. Stellia-versus-Eiworth was going to be the match of the century.

“And who the hell are you?” Stellia started. Her voice made it clear that she didn’t trust this newcomer. To be honest, I hoped they wouldn’t come to blows in the middle of all these people…

“I am Eiworth. I used to be an adventurer.”

But Stellia’s attitude soon did a one-eighty. Her frown was replaced by a look of admiration. The look of a girl in love. The old lady still had it in her.

“S-Sir Eiworth? You mean you’re Dragonbind Eiworth?”

Her voice was at a higher pitch now. Sweeter too. Eiworth paid it no mind and took something out of his pocket.

“Yes. Here’s my old guild card.”

“S-scanning now!”

Stellia accepted Eiworth’s guild card with trembling hands. She scanned it to confirm its authenticity.

“I-it’s real! You really are Sir Eiworth! I knew you were in the capital, but I never thought I’d get to meet you in person!” Stellia squealed. She stared at the card for a few moments in disbelief before returning it to him. “I-I’m honored!”

“Indeed.”

Stellia went from a lady of iron to an fangirl over the course of a few seconds. There were stars in her eyes as she stared at her longtime idol. Her voice was still a pitch higher compared to before. The other receptionists stared at her, shocked at the change in personality.

“So, can you take care of the dwarf?” Eiworth asked.

“Y-yes! Yes, of course!”

Eiworth’s less-than-polite tone didn’t bother Stellia in the slightest. She must’ve really looked up to him. I still wasn’t sure whether the guild would be up to it though.

“Are you sure?” Fran asked. “The enemy might come for him.”

“We’ll be fine. You can count on it. I used to be a B-Rank in my heyday myself, you know! I’ll start calling the high ranks who aren’t here immediately! And some alchemists and mages to treat Garrus, as well!”

Is she going to ask the high ranks for help again?

Stellia chuckled and continued. “How many years do you think I’ve been a receptionist? I know enough about adventurers to pull some strings. I’d never loan them out to some random noble, but for you, Sir Eiworth, anything!”

Apparently, Stellia was the secret boss of the capital’s guild. She should be able to handle this.

Leaving Garrus under the guild’s care was probably the best option. I got nervous thinking about what would happen if we handed him over to the government. Like it or not, the blacksmith was implicated in the production of Godsword replicas, perhaps even the restoration of a broken Godsword. People in power could just enslave him to have him go on producing more replicas.

The Adventurer’s Guild was a safer place for him, in that sense. Fran returned to the counter to add one last bit of insurance. A bag of coins hit the counter with a thud. One million gauld in all. Stellia looked surprised at the gesture.

“I’m issuing a quest. Get Garrus back on his feet and keep him safe. Don’t hand him over to anyone other than me—especially not the government.” Fran pointed to the money bag, “This will cover the reward and expenses.”

“I’ll sign my name on the quest too,” Eiworth said. “Don’t want the government blindsiding us.”

“I’ll make sure your quest is fulfilled, Sir Eiworth! Shouldn’t be too hard to find takers, considering the hefty reward.”

Now it was an official Adventurer’s Guild quest. If anything happened to Garrus, the guild would have to answer for it.

“So what’s the situation?” Fran asked.

“Oh, right,” Stellia said. “Well, you see—”

As expected, the noble district was a warzone. However, Fran was not listening to Stellia’s explanation in the slightest. She was duking it out in her own battle with sleep. She nodded awake once, but that was all she could do. Eventually, she drifted off to sleep as Stellia was still talking.

“Black Lightning? You listening?” the receptionist asked. All she got from Fran was the rhythmic breathing of sleep.

Whoa!

She almost fell back in her seat, but Stellia grabbed hold of it in the nick of time. There was a loud thud as the chair’s feet hit the ground.

“Oh, dear. I suppose there’s no helping it.”

Stellia wasn’t mad, not at all. On the contrary, she picked Fran up with a gentle smile on her face. She was like a grandmother tucking her granddaughter to sleep. She really was a good person.

“She looks like every other kid when she’s asleep,” Eiworth chuckled.

Meanwhile, this old man is still looking at her like she’s a test subject!

“Wh-what shall we do?”

I don’t think you should ask Eiworth about what to do here. Whatever he says, don’t do it!

“Hmph. Let the runt rest. She’s not much good on the field the way she is.”

“All right.”

Huh.

I wasn’t expecting that at all. I thought for sure he was going to ask Stellia to lay Fran down on the table so he could dissect her. Then again, I guess Eiworth was one to play by the rules. I was worried that I was going to have to protect Fran from him, so that was one bullet dodged. I was ready to reveal my true identity if it came to it.

“I’ll be off then. She is a valuable subject whom I wish to observe. Don’t kill her.”

“U-understood! Good luck out there!”

“Indeed.”

It felt like there was a budding romance between the middle-aged woman and the old man…except Eiworth was completely uninterested in her. Whatever unreciprocated crush was going on, it made me uncomfortable.

Soon, the room was empty. The able-bodied had headed back to the field while the ones taking care of the injured were making their rounds.

Fran continued to sleep.

I need to get to the root of the situation if I want to keep Fran safe.

Fanatix, the Godsword, had been controlling Marquis Aschtner. Someone had to deal with the lunatic Godsword, but as much as I wanted to stop it, I couldn’t leave Fran by herself. Its fanatics could attack her at any moment. She was probably a high-priority target now, considering how she defeated the marquis.

What to do…

Conflicting voices raged within my mind.

That Godsword must not be allowed to exist!

You must destroy it!

Wipe out its very existence from the world!

For some reason, part of me hated Fanatix so much that I was beginning to hear things. Was it because I was also a discarded Godsword? Maybe this was the source of my revulsion for the replicas.

I felt like these voices had gotten louder after we defeated the undead elephantman. But even so, my mind was made up.

I have to protect Fran!

The revulsion within me was so strong that it was beginning to torment my mind. I was worried that I might go crazy. Once I started being aware of the hatred in my heart, its strength multiplied.

Even so, I couldn’t leave. I was Fran’s sword. Her safety was my top priority.

I can’t just leave her, but…

Suddenly, the mana in the room shifted. Mana was gathering in a dark corner of the room where the sun didn’t shine. Teleportation. I watched and kept my guard up.

“Urf…”

Jet came through the portal. I remained calm, but…

Y-you’re hurt!

“Woof…”

There were deep wounds all over his body, and he looked like he’d lost a lot of blood. I started healing him.

What happened to Frederick and Velmeria?

“Ruff…!”

Jet barked pitifully. They had failed to save her, it seemed. He used Brain Trick, a Shadow spell which allowed him to reveal his memories to someone else.

No… Velmeria…!

“Woof.”

And Frederick stayed behind to buy you time.

Fanatix was controlling Velmeria now, and it was far more powerful than before. She was wielding a broken sword, probably the genuine Fanatix, so the level of possession she was experiencing must’ve been a cut above the rest.

“Woof!”

Jet took out a piece of metal the size of a hand from the shadows.

And you found this while you were there…

It was the tip of a sword. The mana coming from it was strange. It wasn’t particularly strong, but it felt familiar somehow. I felt drawn to it, and just looking at it calmed me down. This metal shard had the opposite energy of the feelings which emerged when I thought of Fanatix and its replicas.

What is this… No way!

“A-arf?”

Sorry for shouting, boy. Apparently, this thing is the tip of Holy Order.

“Woof?”

Yeah, seriously.

The Holy Spirit Sword known as Holy Order. It was said to have been destroyed when it fought Fanatix to a draw. Though not much was known of its powers, it was created by the first Godsmith specifically to combat Fanatix.

What was a piece of it doing here? Fanatix was apparently excavated out of some ruins, so maybe this shard was excavated along with it.

What are Holy Order’s powers anyway…?

I Identified it but its name was only listed as Holy Order Shard. If we could utilize its powers, we might have a shot at beating Fanatix.

Hang on. That’s not out of the question.

Cannibalize. What if I could use it on the Holy Order Shard? Would I gain some of its powers? Even an ounce of it would come in handy right now. If nothing else, I would be able to recover some of my own strength. It was worth a shot.

Can I have this shard, Jet?

“Woof!”

All right, here goes!

I lifted the shard and cut it in two, and a tremendous surge of power immediately rushed through me.

Aaaaaargh!

“Bark! Woof!”

I’m…fine…!

I didn’t feel like throwing up, unlike Fanatix. I was just overwhelmed by the sheer amount of power the small shard gave me. It was the power of a real Godsword. A weapon far stronger than I could hope to be.

It gave me a lot of my mana back!

The shard recovered most of the mana I spent fighting Aschtner and the elephantman, but it didn’t give me any new skills or increase my powers.

Unfortunate, but having more mana is always a good thing. I’m feeling strangely good too.

I might be able to take on Fanatix now. The fight wouldn’t be completely one-sided, at least.

I scanned the city for the Godsword and picked up several mana signatures of interest. Apparently, I could sense the Fanatix replicas’ mana better than before. It was probably because I had just absorbed Holy Order’s power. I focused on the one I suspected of being Fanatix itself and found that it was located near the palace. This one’s mana signature was the biggest too.

I think this is the one.

Someone came into the room then, probably Stellia. Her footsteps were rushed and erratic.

Did something happen?

“Who’s there?!” she said, and then sighed. “Oh, it’s just Black Lightning’s familiar. You had me scared there for a second.”

Jet whined apologetically. I guess it was only normal for her to freak out after suddenly sensing a monster in the building.

“I’m glad you’re here though. We’re about to evacuate the injured and non-combatants to outside the city. I’m sure I can leave the princess in your paws.”

“Arf!”

“There’s a good boy.”

“Woof?”

“What’s that? You want to know what’s going on? Aah, if only our meathead adventurers were half as smart as you are! Here’s the deal.”

Stellia gave Jet a rundown of the situation. A drake girl was rampaging near the castle, decimating the knights trying to stop her. She was so powerful that nothing they could do could stop her. Forlund was present at the site, but he had been gravely wounded in the battle against the drake.

Hundred Blade Forlund, an A-Rank adventurer. He could summon and control countless swords at will. Every time I saw him fight, it reminded me of how he was at the top of my “People I Don’t Want to Fight” chart. Frankly, he was so much stronger than we were that we couldn’t possibly beat him. And yet Forlund couldn’t last five minutes against Fanatix.

But that wasn’t all.

An S-Rank adventurer had suddenly appeared and began fighting the drake.

S-Rank? Are there S-Ranks here?

Jillbird was home to Dimitris, Colbert’s former master and an S-Rank adventurer. He was a genius martial artist and founder of the Dimitris Combat Arts. The only thing was that he wasn’t in the capital at the moment.

“You ever heard of a man called Friendly Fire?”

Friendly Fire? You mean Urslars is here?!

“Arf? Woof, woof!”

So a young drake who easily took out an A-Rank… That had to be Velmeria, being controlled by Fanatix. The fact that she was fighting Urslars didn’t bode well for the city. The destruction of nearby property was a given, but Urslars had a certain condition which caused him to lose control of himself if he fought for too long. The guild was well aware of it.

“You know him too? Then I don’t need to tell you how terrifying he is. He might end up destroying the capital.”

Because of that, the guild decided to evacuate the wounded. Would that work? He was restricted by the confined space of a dungeon last time, but this time we wouldn’t be so lucky. A berserk Urslars could certainly level the capital, and its surroundings wouldn’t be spared either. Could they even make it out of the capital while carrying the injured?

The best-case scenario would be if everyone were evacuated and Urslars defeated Velmeria without losing control or taking her life. The worst that could happen would be him losing control mid-fight. There would be a huge amount of collateral damage with how strong those two were. Even Fran and Garrus might be in danger.

So what now? The easiest course of action for me would be to put Fran on top of Jet and leave the capital behind, but Fran wouldn’t like that when she woke up. Even worse, she might get upset and retaliate. Even if I managed to convince her to escape, she wouldn’t be able to forgive herself for abandoning Erianthe and the others.

Which means we somehow have to beat Velmeria as quickly as possible to minimize the chance of Urslars going berserk.

I didn’t even know if I could handle Fanatix on my own. Confronting two monsters at the same time was going to be tough. I was basically at half strength, and about the only thing I had going for me was the element of surprise.

Stealth was going to be critical here. I wouldn’t be able to take Velmeria head-on. I could sneak into the battlefield, deal significant damage to Velmeria, and then support Urslars for the rest of the fight.

The palace plaza…

I could feel the tremendous mana signature.

Jet, I’m going to take care of Fanatix. You take care of Fran for me.

“Arf!”

If things go really bad, you take Fran and run. Got it?

“Woof!”

Jet barked and nodded. I wouldn’t have to worry about them. He really was a reliable familiar.

I’ll be off then.

Fran continued her peaceful sleep, and I intended to keep it that way.