Chapter 815

A new enemy, the black horned knights began to appear before us.

I secretly checked our antidemon card and found that the number of points had increased by 600 just by defeating one of them.

That's almost half of the points of the cannon-type and the commander we had defeated before.

Moreover, we were not fighting solo this time. We were in an army.

I've heard the antidemon points were distributed not only to one who defeated it, but also to the surrounding antidemon card holders. If it didn't work that way, only the attackers would get any points.

In other words, the black horned knight was so strong that we would get 600 points even accounting for splitting points between 100 people.

Since it had horns on it, I thought it might be the squad commander for the antidemons in the area, but……

Within a few minutes, a entire swarm of black horned knights appeared in front of us.

「So many!」

『Does this mean we've finally reached their main army?』

Just like the small fry antidemons we had defeated so many times before, the black horned knights attacked us in droves.

It must mean we've broken through the layer of lower class antidemons surrounding the perimeter and were approaching the center of their army.

「The enemy is strong, but we are stronger!」

「「「Yeah!」」」

Fran said these words to inspire her comrades.

Was that the first time she's done something like that since the battle started?

Perhaps unconsciously, Fran's battle instincts may have told her this would be a critical moment. She somehow knew they would need the boost in morale.

After the sudden words from Fran, who had been leading the group silently up until now, everyone seemed more excited than usual. The looks on their faces were different from before.

「Hilt, follow me.」

「Got it!」

Fran and Hilt have stepped up a gear as well. In fact, these two were probably the most excited.

As expected from the top two players on this team.

Even though their opponents had become a few steps stronger, they continue to strike them down without retreating a single step. However, unlike before, they did not escape unscathed.

Both Fran and Hilt began to take slight damage. They were not only up against the black horned knights, but also the stronger long-range attackers behind them.

The number of screams coming from the adventurers in the rear guard increased as well.

In a sense, this was the beginning of the real battle.

（Master, use your magic as much as you can!）

『Got it!』

From this point on, we must reduce our safety margin and start dishing out everything we've got without thinking about conservation.

However, it's not like we expected rescuing Nadia to be easy.

This hard of a battle was well within our expectations.

「Taaaaah!」

『Doryaaaah!』

We crushed hundreds upon hundreds of the black horned knights to advance forward.

Fran and the other vanguard members formed a semicircular formation, repelling and defeating all the swarming antidemons as if they were a fortress wall. The casters took their places inside the semicircle, with guards, knights, and adventurers protecting the left, right, and rear.

As we slowly inched forward together, another change came to the battlefield.

The black horned knights disappeared and now knight-types with red horns appeared in front of us. At the same time, swordsman-types and archers-types clad in pure black also began to show themselves.

「Kuh! They're… strong!」

『Give me a break, don't spring this on us all of a sudden!』

The red horned knights were so strong that they made the black horned knights look like small fry. Even Fran took a hit from one after misjudging its speed.

The surrounding black antidemons were also very fast. A few of them together would have made a good match for the black horned knights.

This could be their real main force.

Moreover, it was not only the strength of our enemies that was unusual.

On the opposite side of the horde of antidemons, a tremendous aura flared up. The commander of the antidemons had just entered the fray.

And there was only one person he could be fighting, Nadia.

《Estimated 13 minutes and 26 seconds until the individual named Nadia is fully antidemonized.》

（Master, I'm gonna go fully serious now!）

『Go for it.』

Fran held me up with a look of determination. She wanted to save Nadia, even if it killed her. I could see it on her face.

「Haaah! Brilliant Lightning Rush!」

「Garuda!」

Without hesitating at the risks, Fran and Hilt buffed themselves before plunging into the antidemons again.

They outmaneuvered even the super-fast red horned knights, destroying them with blinding speed. And it wasn't just Fran and Hilt.

「Water Dragon Form!」

「Awakening!」

Chelsea went on a complete rampage, her entire body covered with blue scales. Meanwhile, Diggins activated his Awakening to blow away the antidemons.

This was when Sophie jumped in action. We had told her she could decide when to begin her performance, and that time was now.

「Magic Concert - The Back of the Distant Hero.」

What Sophie chose was not any normal performance.

A beautiful voice rang from Sophie's mouth and echoed through the battlefield, without being drowned out by the intense sounds of battle that had dominated the scene.

Her voice was not loud, but still clear enough to be heard by all of us. It felt as if she was singing right next to our ears.

The combination of singing and playing created a beautiful and majestic concert.

「Amazing!」

『Yeah, I didn't expect anything like this……』

So this is what Sophie was capable of. Fran was clearly moving much faster than before, so this was nothing like the minor enhancement we had received during our march.

And it wasn't just Fran, each member of our army started moving a magnitude of level faster. Not only that, but their strength, vitality, and magic resistance had also increased.

《All stats have increased by an estimated value of 200. A minor magic barrier can be detected as well.》

I wouldn't be surprised if she could do this for one person, but for an entire army of one hundred? Could Sophie be capable of winning a war by herself?

However, I could see that Sophie's mana had been considerably reduced. That didn't happen after her previous performance during our departure.

Even Sophie had to pay a price for this great of an enhancement.

I kinda felt relieved, her power was just that immense. Who the hell is she even?

「Let's go in and save Auntie!」

『Yeah, let's do this!』