Chapter 314 - Evil Stone

The remaining embers from Mare’s Golden Interception Flame gradually died down.

By the time the flame had completely disappeared there was little of Valkyrie left behind. All that remained was a charred, blackened corpse that had been bisected from head to navel.

As I gazed at the body, I analyzed the skills I had acquired by devouring Valkyrie’s magic stone. Among others, I had acquired Divine Bow Techniques, Divine Bow Arts, Resistance to Madness, Light Magic, Morale Boost, Troop Assistance and War Maiden. They were all fairly rare skills.

In other words, of all the skills I had acquired today, these were by far the most valuable. However, I hadn’t had time to fully scope them out so I’d do that once the battle was over.

The only minor issue is if I obtained Evil Arts, you can’t really help it if you obtain a bad skill by accident. Guess I’ll unequip and hide it, if that’s possible of course…

『Hmm? I don’t seem to be able to see Evil Arts anywhere?? 』- Me

It seems that I’ve not inherited Valkyrie’s Evil Arts after all. It must be because I lack the prerequisite of having a title from an Evil God, right? Hang on, this is actually a really good thing. I’ll just be happy I dodged that bullet!

However, there is another issue. When I absorbed Valkyries Magic Stone, it gave me surprisingly few points. For someone of Valkyrie’s stature I would have expected more than 300 but all I got was 5 points. Even the Magic Stone of an ordinary Evil Being is worth much more than that… Was much of Valkyrie’s Magic Stone consumed in the fierce fighting? There’s a lot here I don’t understand.

「We… did it?」-Fran

「En…」-Mare

These anomalies weren’t the last either. Having been immolated by Mare’s flame while I absorbed her Magic Stone, there was no question that she was dead. However, black smoke was still rising from her body.

Mare, whose form had reverted from her awakened state after her finishing blow, didn’t let her guard down in the slightest as she stared intently at Valkyrie’s body.

（Still… Alive?）- Fran

『No, it’s impossible. But I do feel evil emanating from Valkyrie’s body…』- Me

However, the true source of the specter wasn’t Valkyrie, but the long spear that her charred body still held. The mighty evil specter flowed from the spear towards Valkyrie.

「——Fire Javelin!」-Mare

『It’s the spear!』- Me

「Mare, Spear!」- Fran

「Got it!」- Mare

『Consume it in flames!』- Mare

「——Fire Javelin!」- Mare

「Haa!」- Mare

Lightning Magic released by Fran & I and Flame Magic released by Mare were aimed directly at the Evil Stone Spear but were blocked by it’s barrier and weren’t able to destroy it.

Then, the Evil Stone Spear gave off a strong black light. The black light pulsed, flickering faster and faster.

The two divided halves of Valkyrie’s body began to writhe, tentacle-like growths intertwining to connect the two pieces back together. Soon, Valkyrie’s body trembled and stood up. Fran and Mare both grimaced at the grotesque sight of the charred body twisting its joints at horrifying angles.

「Fire Arrow」- Mare

「Haa!」- Fran

As before, Fran and Mare’s magic was rebounded by the barrier.

「GaGa……Ga……」- Valkyrie

From Valkyrie’s gaping mouth, there emanated a harsh static noise. The next moment, Valkyrie’s body began to swell from the inside, as if a monster was crawling within and parts of her body began to unexpectedly bulge.

At the same time, the body began to emit a strong aura of evil. The amount emanating from the body was strong enough to make even me shudder.

Fran frowned and Mare turned deathly pale as they resisted the evil aura and stared at what had once been Valkyrie. It’s wasn’t only an evil aura, it was perhaps better described as a the emission of true malicious insanity.

Appraisal soon discovered that what stood before us was no longer Valkyrie, but an Evil God Stone. Its race was Evil God Being and it was currently in a state of Evil Deification. It was virtually the same monster as Rynford, the giant Master of Evil Arts we fought at Barbra.

As we looked on in horror, the specter inside the Evil Stone grew stronger and stronger.

「GaGaGaGa——」- Evil Stone

It’s too dangerous to go on like this. We have to do something!

『Fran, don’t show any mercy! Do your best to eliminate it!』- Me

「En! Mare, do it now!」- Fran

「Copy!」- Mare

Mare seemed to guess at our intentions. She began to put some distance between herself and the Evil Stone, gathering her concentration. Without knowing the structure of the barrier, the only option left was to break it with our most powerful attack.

「Brilliant Lightning Rush!」- Fran

「Pale fire……!」- Mare

『Ooo——!』- Me

Mare had just exhausted her Awakening status through her use of the Golden Interception Flame and so wasn’t able to reuse it again so quickly. Fortunately she seemed to have other tricks up her sleeve.

Unlike her previous golden fire, Mare’s body was surrounded by pale flames that we had never seen before. Mare emitted an aura of dignity, accompanied by a sense of sanctity and authority.

Is that the power of the Golden Flame Lionkin? Or is that just Mare’s own skill? Well, judging from the enormous magic I feel, it’s extremely powerful, so it’s worth looking forward to.

『Charge! Haaaaa!』- Me

I simultaneously cast Kanna Kamui. To tell the truth, this was beyond what I could bear. Bitter pangs of cold pain were attacking my consciousness, almost breaking my focus. However, the situation was so dire I had no choice but to succeed.

「Black Lightning Summoning!」- Fran

「Destroy my enemies! Pale inferno!」- Mare

My Kanna Kamui and Fran’s Black Lightning, plus Mare’s Pale Flame, hit the Evil Stone directly.

In the face of such an assault, even the Evil God’s Barrier was unable to defend against such a powerful attack. Although Kanna Kamui was briefly blocked, the Barrier was immediately swallowed up by Black Lightning and Pale Flame.

A huge explosion took place at the joint strike site.

「WTF?」- Mare

「En…!」- Fran

Despite their distance, Mare and Fran were almost blown away by the blast. They used multiple wind walls in succession to avoid being hit by the ensuing shockwaves and debris.

Where the Evil Stone had been there was a large crater. The joint strike caused a crater more than twice as large as when I used Kanna Kamui alone.

「What a tremendous explosion…」- Mare

「En」- Fran

「Such power even I was scared.」- Fran

Fran and Mare stepped closer to the edge of the crater.

「Got it?」-Fran

「It’s not here?」- Mare

『I can’t feel it either.』- Me

It appeared that our attack had succeeded and it was fortunate indeed that we had managed to kill the Evil Stone before it rampaged out of control.

「What was that magic… I’ve still got goose bumps.」-Fran

「It was probably from the Evil Stone Spear itself」- Me

「Evil Stone Spear… Is it a item related to an Evil God?」- Mare

While Fran and Mare were talking, something suddenly came to mind.

『Dullahan’s sword also was called an Evil Stone Sword…』- Me

「Dangerous!」- Fran

「What’s wrong, Fran?」- Mare

「Help Kuina now!」- Fran

「Well, indeed. Although I don’t think Kuina will lose, it’s better to get rid of Dullahan as soon as possible.」- Mare

Kuina and Dullahan were still fighting. It seemed, for now at least, that Dullahan’s Evil Stone Sword had not mutated… Either way, it was better to intervene early to aid Kuina.

『Will you be ok? We have to make sure we deal with that broadsword.』- Me

「En!」- Fran