Chapter 1112: How to Use Evil Energy

We were searching for the spirit’s core while dodging and deflecting a barrage of attacks. Then Marle, who was supposed to be sleeping inside Fran, woke up and began exerting her powers.

『Fran, what’s going on?』

（Marle is guiding me!）

Fran fixed her eyes on the Great Spirit’s upper body. It seems Marle’s assistance allowed her to sense spirits more strongly now.

Perhaps this will allow us to find her core sooner or later.

But unfortunately for us, the Great Spirit seems to have detected Marle’s mana. After recognizing this new threat, she took action immediately.

「Gah…!」

『Fran!』

「…!」

Fran let out a muffled scream, as the blood drained from her face. She put her hands on her throat and attempted to move her mouth, but no words would come out. It’s almost as if she was choking on something…

『So that’s how it is!』

I quickly invoked a wind spell to send wind into Fran’s mouth. Immediately after, Fran regained her voice while coughing violently.

「Cough! Cough! Hah… Hah…」

I can’t say for sure if the lifeforms of this world breathe oxygen, or if oxygen even exists in the atmosphere. However, they definitely breathe in some sort of substance necessary for life. The Great Spirit must have manipulated this substance to make Fran suffocate.

Fran may be used to taking cuts and getting smacked around, but choking was a first. She could resist such an attack.

Naturally this meant she was no longer helping me intercept the Great Spirit’s barrage of wind, which came rushing in right after.

『Uroooooh!』

I invoked a huge number of spells and scattered them around us. Damn, I’m starting to feel chills, which means I’ve gone over the limit of my magic usage. Yet it still wasn’t enough to cover for Fran.

Several blasts of wind reached Fran, splattering her blood everywhere.

Come on, think! What else can I do?! Teleport out and escape? No! If we run away now, I doubt she’ll ever let us come this close again! But we can’t even defend ourselves right now! Is running better than taking the barrage head-on? We just need to make it through this last attack, and we can get back on our feet! But how…!

Thump.

For a moment, something stirred within me, as if trying to inform me of its presence. At the same time, evil energy welled up inside me.

Is the Evil God Fragment telling me to use its power? Now that you mention it, I’m reminded of what we saw at the lake in Belioth.

Sierra used the evil energy from the Zelos Reed Sword to cancel out one of Zelyse’s skills. Could I do the same thing if I borrow power from the Evil God Fragment?

All these thoughts flew through my mind in accelerated time, and I immediately took action. There was no time to spare.

Lend me your power, Evil God!

Of course I got no response back, but I did feel a little less resistance when drawing on the evil energy.

Rather than manually having to draw on the Evil God Fragment’s power, it was already flowing my way. Back then, Sierra had transformed evil energy into the form of a chain and wrapped it around his target.

But what I need is something to protect us against incoming attacks from all sides. Rather than a chain, I want a wall. A barrier of evil energy.

『Urooooh!』

And I need to create this evil energy barrier while still maintaining my existing barriers and spells! I know I’ve already exceeded my limit, but I need to go even further!

And just like I had hoped, the wall of evil energy completely canceled out the wind. We found ourselves in a region of calm in the eye of the storm.

But I’m a little surprised, it felt kinda too easy. I had expected creating a barrier of evil energy to be incredibly difficult. It’s almost as if someone was helping me out by sharing the load.

Did the Evil God Fragment really accept my request for help? Could it be…?

（Master?）

『Oh right. Fran, are you okay?』

（Nn. I suddenly couldn’t breathe.）

I knew it.

I’m currently circulating the air around us with wind magic, but we’re up against a Great Spirit of Wind. Aka, someone literally among the best at manipulating wind in the entire world. There’s no way I can defend against that kind of choking attack forever.

（You made this wall of evil energy, Master?）

『Yeah, but the mana cost is pretty insane.』

I’m using Mana Absorption and Magic Plunder as much as possible, but the cost still outweighs the gains. At this rate, I will only be able to maintain it for another minute or so.

（Keep it up. I’ll find the core in the meanwhile.）

『Roger that, I’ll do my best to protect you. Focus all your attention on finding the spirit’s core.』

（Nn!）

There’s no way I can let Fran down after she asks me directly! I won’t let you so much as lay a finger on her!

I activated Parallel Thought to protect the now stationary Fran. Maintaining the evil energy barrier isn’t enough. I have shield Fran from everything else to allow her to concentrate as much as possible.

Even the slightest breeze might disrupt her intense focus. I also activated Magic Sense and Crisis Sense to detect and intercept any powerful attacks that seem capable of breaking through the barrier.

『Doryaaaaaahhhh!』

The Great Spirit’s barrage began getting more and more fierce. Such force and frequency meant we were now surrounded by several layers of storms on the outside.

Even the earth itself was shaved away, aside from the ground where Fran stood.

While my mana levels were dropping pretty low, the shivers were getting worse too. At this rate, it won’t be long before the pain starts coming. When it gets that bad, I’ll be in serious danger.

Almost done yet? Urgh!

（Master, I found it!）

『Really!?』

That’s my Fran! You saved me!

（I’m going in!）

『Alright! I’ll open up the path!』

「Nn! Let’s go!」