I Was a Sword When I Reincarnated

Chapter 822

822: Divine Energy Manipulation

「Sword God Transformation!」

Fran's body became enveloped in divine power, and her movement suddenly paused.

She went from superspeed to a complete standstill in an instant. Even I was amazed at such an impossible phenomenon.

I guess Sword God Transformation was just that kind of ability, affecting things beyond the just the blade. I should have expected as much from the realm surpassing the level of Swordking.

Moreover, Fran stood her ground, even under Twisted Horn's onslaught.

The only thing she did move slightly back and forth while lightly waving her blade.

Fran looked to be moving at a snail's pace compared to Nadia and Twisted Horn, who were still jumping around and slashing at each other at ultra-high speeds.

Anyone would wonder how she managed to survive on this battlefield. However, each of her movements was guided by the Sword God and made with absolute precision.

Twisted Horn delivered a series of blows in a single second, and Fran evaded with only a slight movement. Then, she swung her blade after perfectly predicting her enemy's movements, delivering heavy damage and interrupting his balance at the same time.

With me constantly being exactly where he was attempting to move, Twisted Horn became visibly upset. His movements turned more and more violent.

But our opponent was no ordinary creature either.

No matter how deeply we cut him, his wounds healed instantly. Not even the divine attribute meant a fatal wound for Twisted Horn.

Even if not fatal, they certainly did more damage than normal slashes. I could see the regeneration speed for those wounds being slightly delayed.

After seeing that, Nadia shouted to Fran.

「Fran! Handle him for a bit!」

She knew that Fran could handle Twisted Horn by herself if it was only for a short period of time. Then, Nadia made a huge jump backwards.

Fran dashed forward silently to replace her. This time, she had performed a full acceleration from a standstill.

Twisted Horn's greatsword and I slammed against each other in a fierce exchange, a complete turnaround from our previous clash.

We had been evenly matched when it was two against one. So even with Fran in her Sword God Transformation state, we were at a considerable disadvantage. I supposed we should expect as much from a Unique completely specialized in melee combat.

Fran's flesh was gouged out, her blood spurting out. Over time, the number of wounds steadily exceeded our rate of healing.

Even so, Fran gritted her teeth and continued to swing her blade, determined keep Twisted Horn away from Nadia. Meanwhile, Nadia was focusing her mana in the background.

Compared to the first time she activated Sword God Transformation, Fran mostly maintained her consciousness. She was feeling all of that pain.

However, the Sword God continued overworking Fran's body as if saying that this was necessary for her growth.

I heard strange sounds coming from all over her small body. Her bones, muscles, and flesh were all screaming.

In this short amount of time, Fran's condition got close to dangerous levels.

If this continued any longer, she would surely be rendered completely immobile. Meanwhile, there were still well over ten thousand antidemons surrounding us. If we wanted to get out of this alive, she would need to be able to move.

But my worries got blown away by Nadia's shout.

「I'm ready! Move!」

I saw Nadia readying Overgrowth, which had almost doubled in size, with golden mana erupting from her entire body.

The surprise from this scene exceeded her Sword God Transformation state, and a scream escaped from Fran's mouth.

「Auntie!」

Nadia had completely transformed into an antidemon, with the area around her right eye being probably the only part of her body still intact.

The mana emanating from her body was on the level of Ashwrath when he went out of control. She had obviously performed some sort of reckless enhancement.

「This guy needs to die here!」

Nadia replied with a voice that sounded as if she was stifling her feelings of guilt. Then, she charged towards Twisted Horn.

She was so fast that I could have easily lost her if I wasn't focused.

Twisted Horn's greatsword clashed head-on with Overgrowth.

Immediately afterwards, Twisted Horn's greatsword was deflected. Nadia's sudden increase in strength and speed must have caused him to miscalculate the amount of force he needed.

「Gyigoh?」

「You're mine!」

Using this opening, Nadia severed Twisted Horn's left arm with her second blow.

Apparently, the effect of Abyssal Slayer had inhibited his regeneration. This was the first moment since the battle began that we had gained the upper hand.

Nadia and Twisted Horn continued their battle to the death with terrifying impacts, each that would cause big damage to Fran if she was hit.

「Oraaaaah!」

「Gyoooooouurgh!」

This current Nadia was clearly beyond the Rank A level. She probably had one foot in the S level, but the cost she paid was immeasurable.

All that erosion…… Even if we win, will she ever return to normal? Isn't it pretty likely for her to go out of control now?

『Nadia, don't get reckless here!』

「If now's not the time to be reckless, then when is?!」

Like I thought, nothing I say will stop her.

『Announcer-san! How's Nadia's situation?』

《Estimated 52 seconds to complete erosion.》

『I knew it. It's going even faster!』

《Once the erosion is complete, I believe the individual named Nadia will go berserk and attack friend and foe alike.》

Our first priority is to end this battle before the erosion reaches completion. That would be the minimum requirement to save Nadia.

As much as I would like to back Nadia up, it would be difficult to break into a battle where they are constantly moving without pause.

And even if we managed to interrupt, we wouldn't be able to deliver a decisive blow.

In the worst case, we would only be a hindrance to Nadia.

But Nadia is currently risking it all for Fran. I guess I have to take on some risk too.

『I need to further enhance the Divine Attribute……!』

I consciously activated my Divine Energy Manipulation skill. It felt like something was being pulled out of me.

The white light surrounding my blade grew brighter, and at the same time, something like a black ripple ran through it. Within the burning white glow, I could see a black imperfection mixed in.

I knew intuitively that this was something nasty.

Within my divine attributed mana, this divine energy… there was a dense evil energy mixed in.

Why? Is the power of the Evil God Fragment sealed inside me leaking out? But I didn't hear those annoying whispers of the Evil God like the last time I almost went out of control.

『A-Announcer-san, what's going on?』

《Unknown.》

『How blunt!』

So even Announcer-san has no clue……

But who cares!

『Haaaah!』

With my current state of being clad in a mixture of divine and evil energy, I knew that I would be able to deliver a terrifyingly powerful strike.

The load on me had doubled, but with this, I may be able to do some serious damage even to Twisted Horn.

I'll be making use of this for now!

『Fran!』

「……」

Fran, who was still in the Sword God Transformation state, was already moving silently by the time I shouted.