1024: Stall for Time

Calling upon the heroic spirits of past wielders wasn’t the only thing Necronomicon was capable of.

「Come forth, come forth, come forth! Ghosts stirring in the twilight! The legions of undeath!」

Now Jayne summoned over 100 High Ghosts. Each of them was capable of high level magic and a phasing ability to nullify physical attacks. They could even perform ritual magic under Jayne’s command.

They were further enhanced by Necromonicon as well as Sophie’s magic song. It seems each one might be able to reach Threat Level B.

Sophie apparently had no intention to hide her abilities anymore, so she activated Oratorio without holding back. Izario’s appearance meant this was the turning point, and she knew it. Meanwhile, Mea, Hilt, Zefmate, and Colbert were positioned to protect Sophie. It seems all of them managed to survive the terrible collision from earlier.

I was always certain of their survival, but it’s always good to see them healthy.

Izario’s flames, Jayne’s High Ghosts, also the ordinary soldiers and adventurers backed by Sophie’s enhancements. Together, we chipped away at the giant antidemon’s body. Even without unleashing any super powerful attacks, the collaboration of three divine swords was enough to outstrip the antidemon’s regeneration.

Particularly vicious was Izario’s flame blasts. His sheer offensive power was slowly turning the entire antidemon into ashes.

However, he didn’t look to be in peak condition.

（Did Izario’s level drop a lot?）

『Probably. He’s moving way more sluggish now.』

Overuse of the divine sword seems to have drained Izario’s level quite a bit. If he pushes himself any further, it might seriously kill him.

And I’m worried about Jayne too.

「Ahahahaha! Crush them with all your might!」

Though she seemed to be in high spirits at first glance, her face was pale. Jayne was already pretty pale to begin with, but she was like deathly pale now.

「Jayne, are you okay?」

「Yeah, for a little bit longer! But this guy’s tougher than I thought, a slightly big miscalculation.」

Slightly or big, which is it? Either way, it’s true that the antidemon is really damn sturdy.

Jayne brushed us off, but I know how hard wielding a divine sword should be.

「In that case, I will――」

「Come now, be patient. I told you before, didn’t I? Leave it to us adults. I can’t keep calling myself the Demon Lord if I let another child sacrifice themselves for me.」

Ajisai tried to ready Berserk again, but Jayne stopped her.

「Just sit back and watch. Behold, the depths of Necronomicon, my country’s greatest treasure! Well, give me a bit of time though.」

It seems she has some sort of last resort, similar to Adol’s Evil God Slayer. Necronomicon’s aura of divine energy was getting stronger and stronger.

It’d be great if we can save Ajisai, but Jayne’s death would sadden Fran as well. I can only hope she doesn’t do anything too reckless, although maybe that is unavoidable.

The mana supply from the Abyss Eater was steadily increasing, even as we speak. As a result, the creature’s regeneration speed was also getting faster.

The giant antidemon was still gaining power. Even with its body shattering under our assault, I could sense the mana levels increasing. Retreat was no longer an option because that would give it even more time to grow.

「We’re going in too.」

『Yeah.』

「!」

Fran ran out with determination, before interrupted by a scream. It wasn’t us under attack though.

「Izario!」

It was Izario. The giant antidemon had been playing dead the entire time while charging up its power. All in order to deliver a sucker punch to Izario, the most dangerous of our forces.

We saw one of the magic bullets shot out from the giant antidemon’s eyes smashing right through Izario’s defenses and sending him flying.

Fran sensed that this was only the beginning of the antidemon’s assault, leaping in to save him. Without even touching the ground, she turned into black lightning and appeared right in between Izario and the antidemon.

「Kah!」

『Fran! Ugh, damn!』

As expected from an attack capable of sending Izario flying!

Fran and I got sent flying too, our barriers easily penetrated. We only blocked a single hit, and my blade got cracked wide open. Fran took serious damage too, with both her arms broken.

But we couldn’t afford to stop moving.

『Fran! The next wave is coming!』

「Nn……!」

Fran landed on the ground and dashed straight ahead, with me healing her all the while. She grabbed Izario in midair without any reduction in speed, before twisting her body to avoid the next magic bullet. However, it still scraped her cat ears and took plenty of blood along with it.

As magic bullets flew out one after another, Fran dashed carrying Izario under her arm. Just like I worried, the antidemon had no intention of letting Izario escape.

『Izario! Izario!』

「……Sorry! And thanks! I was conserving my strength for a big one, which delayed my evasion a bit……」

It looks like he’s still okay. Izario must have let his guard down since he was focused on charging up for an attack. I can still sense the vast amount of mana being maintained inside him.

That was exactly what the antidemon was afraid of. The barrage of bullets got more and more dense.

Without Izario’s flames there to damage it, the antidemon began redirecting the mana used for healing to offense.

「Fran, you can drop me! I’m fine now!」

「Nn!」

After leaving Fran’s hands, Izario rolled on the ground to kill his momentum before dashing off in the opposite direction.

He must be trying to keep his distance from Fran to avoid putting us in the line of fire.

However, it seems rescuing Izario also made us one of the antidemon’s priority targets. It kept blasting us as well as Izario. No wait, considering Izario and Jayne both needed time to prepare, maybe this was a good thing? Still, this is too intense!

Fran just barely managed to avoid direct hits, so we were in a really dangerous spot. Both Fran and I were extremely worn out from the extended battles. Our movements got much more sluggish than usual.

Even so, Fran kept her eyes on the rain of magic bullets. Some she avoided with hair’s breadth, some she used me to slice through.

However, the sheer condensed mana contained in the antidemon’s barrage exceeded our expectations. After cutting through a few of the magic bullets, my blade snapped in two.

「Master!」

『I’m fine! Focus on dodging!』

「Kaaah!」

『Fran! Never do something that dangerous again!』

「Kuh…… I’m… fine.」

Fran had hesitated to parry with my blade to avoid damaging me any further. Instead, she forcibly redirected the bullet by smashing her right arm against it, which was now missing from the elbow down.

I flew through the air with her severed arm, activating my restoration magic as fast as I could. Thanks to the regeneration, her wound healed instantly. However, the damage caused Fran to stumble. She could no longer dodge in this state.

『Uroooogh!』

I slid in to shield Fran with my body, but how long can my barrier hold?

Fran’s face contorted in grief. However, the terrible outcome she imagined never came to pass.

A woman appeared in between me and Fran, putting up a barrier of her own. Through injuring her arm, she managed to block the magic bullet. No blood spilled from her wound.

She didn’t even seem to feel any pain. Well, that’s not surprising. She is a golem, after all.

「Beginning flight.」

The silver-haired woman leapt with Fran in her arms, glided through the air by releasing mana.

「Why are you here?」

「I have left Nadia-sama in the hands of the merchant Mulsani. As for my reasons, I came to make the best use of myself.」

She was the humanoid golem created by divine blacksmith Zechs, known as the Silver Lady.

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