Chapter 835

『Fran, listen to me here. Even if they’re black market slave dealers, you can’t just kill them in cold blood, okay?』

「I know.」

『Are you sure you really understand? If you try something reckless and make enemies with the whole organization, we could get completely screwed.』

「Nn.」

Urushi was carrying Fran while running across the moonlit plains.

Our destination was the illegal city of Sendia, a town built by outlaws and said to be a haven for slavers.

However, it’s apparently not as evil as it sounds. The vast majority of the people living there earned their daily bread by hunting antidemons, having never committed any serious crimes.

There’s a branch of the Adventurers Guild, patrolling guards, and everything you’d see in a normal city. The laws of the city have some quirks, but they shouldn’t be much different from other cities.

Even if criminals originally founded the illegal city, it must have been transformed over the centuries.

Well, I did hear about Yakuza-like criminal organizations holding a lot of power, so I doubt everything is normal.

Today marked the fourth day since the battle at Castel.

Fran was still not in perfect physical condition because of the backlash of her skills and the brutal fight.

I would have preferred her staying in bed for a month or so, but she insisted on going to Sendia.

Fran actually wanted to go the day right after the battle, but that was far too reckless. I barely managed to convince her to rest until she was at least able to use magic without difficulty.

Not that three days was anywhere near my preference. Either way, Fran refused to sleep peacefully.

I had no choice but to have her slowly recover on our way to Sendia.

Besides, there might be some advantages to not being fully recovered.

This way, Fran wouldn’t be able to do anything too flashy in the illegal city.

In a normal town, we could go around crushing criminals with impunity. But if we tried that in Sendia, the whole town would turn against us.

That must be avoided at all costs in our current condition. We wouldn’t go down without a fight of course, but the average person was just much higher level on this continent.

And there’s no reason these criminal organizations wouldn’t have powerful members working for them.

Fran was obviously not suited for stealthy operations. To be honest, I had my doubts this would work.

But I knew that Fran wouldn’t do anything reckless in her current condition…… She wouldn’t, right?

「Hmm. Master.」

『A bunch of antidemons? Like a hundred or so.』

「Nothing too strong, just enough for exercise.」

「Woof!」

Fran was still recovering and wanted to go wild. Meanwhile, Urushi was frustrated because he hasn’t been able to hunt for a few days. Both looked at me eagerly.

But I had something I wanted to try too.

『Wait. Can you let me go first? I want to test my new skill.』

「The one you got from beating Overgrowth?」

『Yeah. Mixed Slayer.』

I haven’t had the chance to test the Mixed Slayer skill yet, so now’s a good chance.

『So let me have those guys.』

「Nn. Okay.」

「Woof.」

Fran and Urushi nodded their heads, albeit reluctantly.

『Okay, heading out then. You two hide out of sight.』

「Good luck.」

「Woof!」

『Thanks!』

I hid my presence while approaching the antidemon horde.

It’s a swarm of about a hundred lesser antidemons. Perfect for a trial slice.

『Okay, first up is an attack in my normal state!』

After increasing my speed with telekinesis and wind magic, I pierced through several antidemons at once. Then I cut down a few more, but I didn’t notice any major changes.

I also checked my stats, but there was no difference in attack, mana, or magic stone points.

However, it did feel like my damage increased. It’s hard to tell against such small fry, but I was dealing more damage to the antidemons than before. After running a few more tests, my feeling turned into certainty.

There was no ability to drain power from antidemons like Overgrowth, but it seemed to give a bonus against antidemons, though this bonus was very weak.

I’d say less than 10%.

Next, I’ll try focusing on the skill. In this world, even passive skills are more effective if they are used manually. The consumption will be heavier for sure, but how much will it change?

『Mixed Slayer, activate! Doryaah!』

Whoa! This is amazing!

As I thought, the effect was way stronger when used actively! The mana consumption was heavy as expected, but I wouldn’t have to worry about it unless it’s active for an extended period of time.

『But that absorption ability is still gone.』

No matter how much mana I poured into Mixed Slayer, I wasn’t able to absorb anything from the antidemons. It only had the effect of increasing damage to them.

That’s a little disappointing, but also reassuring.

We saw what happened to Nadia, who turned herself into an antidemon after absorbing too much of their power. Considering the risk of Fran becoming like that, I can say the absorption power was completely unnecessary.

『Guess I’ll make quick work of the rest and get back to Fran.』

While I was finishing off the other antidemons with some slashes and magic, I noticed that I could slightly predict their movements. I also managed to sense their position more easily.

It seems Mixed Slayer had an effect on detection-based skills too. I guess you have to find your enemies first before you can “slay” them.

『We’ll be in Sendia for the time being, so we might not get the chance to fight antidemons any time soon.』

That said, this skill seems pretty useful as long as we are on this continent.