Chapter 1003

With her blast of evil energy erased, the girl’s face twisted in astonishment. Those with the ability to wield evil energy, such as fiends and evil dragonkin, are often cloaked in a dense evil aura.

Since Fran showed no signs of that, the girl must have found our ability to control evil incredibly surprising. Meanwhile, Izario took the opening to dive in.

「We can continue this game…… after we beat the crap out of you!」

「My my, you’re as barbaric as the dragonkin. I bet you aren’t popular with the ladies.」

「I’ve had a bad upbringing, you see!」

Izario raised Ignis. What’s really amazing was that the girl still had the guts to joke around with a divine sword pointed at her. She didn’t seem panicked in the slightest.

As the girl continued her slight grin, Izario launched flames right at her face. Those crimson flames were about to engulf her tiny body… But right before reaching, they got completely repelled by an invisible wall. Even if Izario was holding back, she managed to block Ignis’ flames?

「Tch! Little lady, go!」

「Nn! Urushi!」

「Woof!」

After the current exchange, we knew this girl was not your average opponent. Izario stood his ground between Fran and the girl to let us escape.

He knew our side would be at a disadvantage with so many people in the way. Fran carried Velmeria and Tilanaria on her shoulders, while Urushi grabbed Frederick’s collar in his mouth as they headed for the exit.

However, Fran and Urushi didn’t manage to leave the room.

「Mrgh?」

「Ugh!」

『What the hell is this?』

「Woof?」

An invisible wall also appeared over the doorway. Fran and Velmeria grimaced as they slammed their foreheads against it. It must be the same one that had blocked Izario’s fire earlier.

These might be similar to Seliadot’s wards. They were both incredibly durable and hard to detect. Despite Fran slamming her foot into it, the wall didn’t budge.

Fran pulled back her leg and took a stance.

「I’m going to kick it seriously!」

『Using the divine attribute?』

「Nn!」

I guess she still needs a moment of preparation before infusing the divine attribute. Still, she was definitely using it by herself.

「Hmm.」

『What’s wrong?』

「It seems to be working better than before.」

Probably due to the Beast-Bug God’s Blessing. After a few seconds of preparation, I could feel a faint divine attribute coming from Fran’s leg.

「Phew………! Ha!」

This time, the ward shattered easily. Rather than the force of her kick, it seems the divine attribute itself was what broke it.

「No way! Those were guaranteed to withstand even supreme-tier magic!」

『Fran, Urushi! Hurry!』

「Nn.」

「Woof!」

「Stop!」

「Sorry robe girl, your dance partner is me.」

Izario’s strike interrupted the robed girl’s attempt at pursuit. Unlike before, Izario was serious, with plenty of divine energy in his flames.

「You’re breaking my wards too? Ugh, every one of you is such a pain!」

The girl’s scream was one of frustration, not pain. Could she really be unscathed after taking Izario’s flames head on? No wait, her robe and a portion of her skin were clearly burnt. She must be tougher than she looks.

And finally, my appraisal managed to work slightly. It must be her robe that maintained the powerful cloaking effect, which reduced in potency due to the robe’s damage.

Her name was “Meltritte Wisteria”.

Wisteria, one of the Three Gordician Families along with the Camellia Family and Magnolia Family. And according to Tzaluta, the Wisteria Family was the most dangerous.

I can understand why she resented the dragonkin. After all, they massacred her ancestors and stole the Evil God Fragment from them.

However, her race was “lorelei”. The Wisteria Family should have originally been human, right? I guess that’s possible if they intermarried with the lorelei?

Now we know who she got those wards from. I don’t know the relationship between her and Seliadot, but the two lorelei had an obvious connection via race.

The real question is just how much Seliadot is involved. She was supposedly chasing after the slave trafficking ring that had Georg as the ringleader.

But Meltritte was working with Georg. No, I guess she was technically just manipulating him, so they weren’t technically allies? Either way, it would be very troublesome if Seliadot became our enemy.

Another issue was Meltritte’s “Evil Guidance”, one of the special skills belonging to the Three Gordician Families. It apparently had the power to make fiends go berserk, so is that what she used to control Georg?

「Wait! I won’t let those dragonkin get away!」

「Then you’ll have to defeat me first.」

「Tch!」

Fran and Urushi ran through the narrow passageway as they sensed the battle beginning behind them.

We returned to the huge underground hall where Trismegistus demonstrated his power to us. Speaking of Trismegistus, where’s the guy now? He pretty much just watched the entire exchange silently……

「Velmeria, can you move?」

「Yes……」

「What about you, Frederick?」

「I’m fine.」

Though Frederick almost got completely manipulated earlier, he seems fine for now. Should we try to get further away?

「Let’s move. Hold on a bit longer.」

Fran and Urushi picked up the dragonkin again and restarted their march. But after taking a few steps away from the door to the Core Room…

Boooooom!

『Whoa! What the hell!』

「!」

「Woof!」

A tremendous explosion shook the entire hall.

We hurriedly turned back to find the Core Room door blown open, with flames pouring out of the passageway at an unbelievable rate.