Chapter 1126: Incompatibility

「There it is! The divine artifact belongs in our hands!」

What the hell are they talking about? Were Maleficent and Persona hiding something weird in their pockets? Stop messing up the test if you’re gonna be the examiner!

Wait, then why are they targeting Fran?

（He’s looking at you, Master.）

『Eh? Me?』

（Nn. I’m sure of it.）

So basically, I’m the divine artifact then?

Oh, I guess that might be true. I was forged by a divine blacksmith, and am technically classified as a pseudo-divine sword. No one has ever called me an artifact though.

「Girl, hand over the artifact! The sword! I can feel the power of the Evil God on my skin! That sword is the real deal!」

So they really were after me. They must have sniffed out the Evil God Fragment sealed inside me.

Sorry Fran, and everyone else too! It’s my fault we’re under attack!

「…You want to steal my sword?」

「Exactly! A little girl like you doesn’t deserve to hold such an artifact! Hand it over to us!」

「…」

All emotion disappeared from Fran’s face. Me, as well as all the soldiers recognized this sign, she was about to explode.

The next moment, an intense killing intent spread over the battlefield.

The soldiers had braced themselves for this, yet their only response was yelping and taking a few steps backward. Even the ghouls who had no fear of death could not help but flinch, likely imagining themselves cut up into a hundred pieces.

Her killing intent was that vicious, and yet, she was still holding back to protect the allies at her side.

「Maleficent, you work with the others to take out the surrounding trash.」

「Got it.」

Maleficent and Persona nodded their heads vigorously in sync.

「And I… will crush him.」

The moment Fran muttered those words, she unleashed all the anger she was building up at that single ghoul. If this was directed at one of the soldiers, their heart would have ceased beating instantly.

The ghoul commander who told Fran to hand me over understood her power upon seeing this. No matter how poor his ability to perceive the strength of others was, anyone would realize it after being exposed to such killing intent.

But this pause was short-lived. He quickly broke out of his stupor and leaped at Fran with a maniacal scream.

「UGRAAAAAAAH! Hand it over! HAND IT OVER!」

「Never!」

Fran clashed blades with the ghoul commander.

The ghoul slashed at us with sharp, long claws, which were much tougher than I thought they would be. His claws actually managed to withstand a few hits from me. They broke shortly afterward, but regrew just as quickly.

Continuing the clash like this would be pointless, only serving to reduce the ghoul’s mana levels slightly. He was capable of regenerating his claws endlessly.

Still, Fran was clearly ahead when it came to skill, easily parrying each hit from the ghoul’s claws. Perhaps he managed to exceed Fran in physical parameters, but that only lasted until Fran activated Brilliant Lightning Rush.

The ghoul still boasted higher physical strength, but that isn’t worth much if he can’t land a hit. He soon lost track of Fran due to her overwhelming swordsmanship and speed.

「GRAAH!」

The ghoul pulled out his trump card, spraying a mist of Demon Poison everywhere. A single touch would be enough to dissolve any living creature in range. I must say that such a terrifying poison suited his Genocide Ghoul name well. It might seriously wreck a country if deployed on farmland or water sources.

That said, it had little effect on Fran. She had high status resistance in addition to skills like Restoration Magic, Cleansing Magic, and Poison Absorption.

Even this cloud of incredibly lethal poison acted as barely more than a smokescreen. Well, Fran did have to worry about her allies for a moment, but they were fine too. Maleficent and Persona’s wide-range ward was incredibly powerful, so much that it reminded me of Seliadot. Relieved that the soldiers were safe behind the ward, Fran jumped at the ghoul in front of her.

She dove right into the poisonous smoke, dodging the ghoul’s claws and cutting through his reddish-black rotting body.

「…!」

A single swing, and his head flew off before he could even scream. Fran promptly followed up with additional slashes tearing through his limbs and torso.

Not to mention the black lightning scorching his body from the inside. Smoke rose from the ghoul’s flesh as parts of it began crumbling into ash. The battle should have been over then and there.

Yet this ghoul refused to go down. The highest-tier ghouls naturally have immense regenerative powers, and this one was enhanced with evil energy.

Despite getting blown away by Fran’s combo, he regenerated not only his arms and legs, but even his head, all before even hitting the ground. He landed with his body complete and jumped right back at us as if nothing had happened.

It seems this ghoul was designed to push his opponent into a corner using sheer physical strength and regeneration speed. Throw in his death poison magic and multiple types of poisons imbued in his claws, and we have a formidable foe.

I suppose he might be able to turn the tables if he managed to get one scratch on us.

Yeah sure, tricks like poison and evil energy might allow him to defeat stronger opponents. Even a Rank A adventurer would have some trouble if they get poisoned after their skills are disabled with evil energy.

But that’s all useless against Fran.

「GAAAAAH! Why! Why does it have no effect?! And my strength is being sapped…! Is this the power of the artifact!?」

You could say that. To be precise, it was the effect of my Evil Crusher skill. Though not enough to completely inhibit the ghoul’s regeneration, Fran was able to chip away at his evil energy and slow down his regeneration with each hit.

Evil Crusher and Restoration Magic made us the perfect counter for the fearsome country-toppling ghoul. He never stood a chance.

That’s when I decided to try something I had been thinking about for a while.

『Evil Conquest, activate!』

Up until now, I’ve only used this skill to shield Fran from evil energy, or to manage the Evil God Fragment sealed inside me. But what happens if I use it directly on someone with so much evil energy?

Would I be able to absorb their power, or possibly even manipulate them?

That’s why I attempted to use the skill, and it turned out to work better than I expected.

「GRAH! WHA…!」

The ghoul’s movements visibly slowed down. If this technique works on a ghoul infused with evil energy, then I imagine it will work on fiends as well. I might have just gotten a new trump card for whenever we come across them in the future.

『Use this chance to take him down! Slash away at his evil energy with everything you’ve got!』

「Nn! Haaah!」

「DAMN YOU!!!」