Chapter 819: 819: Continued Erosion

After cutting our way through the swarm of antidemons, there was an even fiercer battle taking place in front of us.

The other antidemons surrounded the area from a distance, probably to avoid getting caught in the middle of it. This caused the formation of a wide circular arena, as if it was a coliseum.

And in the middle of that arena, two entities were engaged in a battle to the death.

In the center of them was the antidemon that was most likely the commander. He looked similar to a knight-type, but a thick, twisted horn emerged from his forehead. The horn was three times as large as those of normal knight-types, and rose as if to pierce the heavens.

Surrounding it were jet black knight-types that appeared to be his escort party.

A woman who had half of her body transformed into an antidemon stood in front of them.

That was Nadia, after the continued erosion of the Golden Devourer Sword, Overgrowth.

Her gaze turned toward us for a moment.

「Fran... why did... you come?」

「To save you, Auntie!」

Nadia's words were filled with clear rejection, but the reason behind her actions was just as clear. She only wanted Fran to stay away in order to keep her safe.

Fran shouted back at Nadia while looking her straight in the eyes, ignoring her rejection.

Both of them had their own reasons. And it was because of those feelings for the other, that they could never reach an agreement.

I'd love for them to be able to talk it out and fully understand each other, but the antidemons would never allow that.

「Yeeeeeeeeee!」

「Out of my way!」

『Fran, we can't rush these guys! They're pretty strong!』

「Grngh......」

Frustrated and impatient, Fran slammed me into the antidemon blocking our path. However, it was not so weak as to be defeated by such an unfocused strike.

It used its shield-like armored arms to block me, then slashed back with its long sharp claws.

Compared to the red dragon, it was slower but perhaps more vicious in melee combat.

Its techniques were at a level similar to Colbert's. But since it had the physical strength to take Fran's attack head-on, and the speed to react, its stats must be far superior to Colbert.

Although it was difficult to make a simple comparison, these jet-black knight-types were probably weaker than the red dragons. However, it was still stronger than the black horned or red horned knights.

『I'll stall their movements!』

「Nn!」

I activated morphing to use my ornamental strings for an attack. The knight repelled my strings with its claws, but was eventually overrun by the sheer number of them. Like I thought, they didn't have an ability as nasty as the red dragon's scales.

It desperately tried to escape from the threads, but ended up entangled in less than five seconds. Immediately after that, Fran sliced it in two with an full power slash.

We managed to kill it quickly, but both Fran and I had been forced to use a significant amount of mana for the short exchange of blows. Rather, this would be such a troublesome opponent that we had no choice but to defeat it as fast as possible.

There were still five of these clawed knights left.

And their boss stood further in, emitting a ridiculous aura. Nadia, who was still holding her own against the boss, must have an extraordinary power to match.

Without giving another look to the clawed knight she had slain, Fran rushed to Nadia's side.

「Get away from Auntie!」

「Gyiiiri?」

The clawed knights probably sensed Fran as a threat, and spread out to surround her. As we got closer, we could see the terrible transformation Nadia had undergone.

「Fran......」

The entire left half of her face was covered with a black and silver shell. Her eye on that side was replaced with a glowing green orb.

The same was true of her body. Even through the loose-fitting robe she wore, I could see the left half of her body had been bloated and hardened.

The mana that surged from her body was not human, but practically that of an antidemon.

If anyone saw her now, they would think of her as an antidemon with human characteristics rather than the other way around.

She had no injuries or wounds at all. Since it was impossible for her to be unharmed after all this time, her regenerative power must have been enhanced tremendously.

The shape of the Golden Devourer Sword, Overgrowth, had also changed considerably. The basic features were the same, but the blade had grown larger and took on more antidemon-like features.

Overgrowth's quick evolution was probably what caused her to rapidly turn into an antidemon.

But in the end, her mind had not yet been taken over.

「Why...... are you here?」

「My friends gave me their help!」

「Master!」

Nadia glared at me, as if scolding me for not stopping her.

『Sorry, but a hundred people actually showed up. How was I supposed to stop her after that?』

「......Dammit all. I was hoping to end this before Fran got back......」

Nadia lamented as she glared at the antidemons. She had not expected Fran to return so soon.

『Now is not the time for regrets! Let's get out of here first!』

The chances of Nadia's body returning to normal may be slim, but it was crystal clear that further erosion would put her in serious danger. We need to get her out of here before even her mind gets taken over.

But Nadia shook her head.

「That's impossible!」

『We'll be fine if we use teleportation!』

「No, we won't! Once they have their eyes set on their prey, they will chase it down or die trying! There's nowhere we can run!」

『Seriously......?』

So even if we manage to escape, they will hunt us down. No matter how great the distance, these unique antidemons never lose sight of their prey.

That makes sense considering how we are in the belly of the Abyss Eater, the source of antidemons. We might as well be under constant surveillance.

If we try to run into a town, they will just attack that town too. Not that Nadia can enter a town in the first place. She also can't escape outside the continent because she can't pass through the barrier.

「After getting targeted by a Unique, your only two options are winning or losing. Right now, he still considers me as it's pray, so――」

「Fine, then we'll defeat him.」

Nadia was about to tell us to run, but Fran interrupted her beforehand, as if to say the option wasn't even on the table.

「What are you talking about! This is a combat-specialized Unique here! I've never even seen an antidemon as strong as this one!」

She's never seen one this strong despite wielding Overgrowth on this continent for many years? Looks like luck was not on our side here.

But Fran simply smiled.

「Don't worry. With me, Master, and Auntie together, we'll win for sure.」

Behind those words, we could feel her determination not to run away by herself.

Nadia's remaining right eyebrow furrowed lightly, but her expression soon changed to a wry smile.

「......That stubborn face... just like Framea's. Fine......」

「Then...!」

「Yeah, we can continue this talk after we destroy these guys!」

「Nn!」