Chapter 1027

After singing the Song of Doom, Sophie collapsed to the ground after coughing up a ton of blood.

She was convulsing lightly, unable to stand anymore.

「Sophie!」

Fran shouted her name, but she was concentrating on a large amount of mana. She couldn’t move.

『I’ll save her. Fran, you stay focused!』

（Take care of her, Master.）

I transformed my cord into the shape of a hand and gently lifted Sophie up. Her heartbeat was weak, and her entire body was surprisingly cold. I tried to heal her with restoration magic, but to no avail.

Using my Arch-Sorcerer skill, I continued applying divine-infused Greater Heals. However, Sophie’s heartbeat only got weaker and weaker. I really wanted to call out her name to cheer her up, but that’s not possible. Sophie doesn’t know about my identity.

No, now isn’t the time for such trivial worries. The damage from the divine attribute was killing her. I should do anything that might help.

Fran will be sad if Sophie dies, and I like the girl too. She can’t be allowed to die here.

『Sophie, hang in there! I’ll fix you up!』

（……Fran’s… sword……?）

『Y-You know about me?』

（We were… connected by the song……）

Should have expected as much from such a talented musician! The Song of Adventurers connected everyone together, so it seems that’s where she learned about my existence.

But that won’t be a problem with Sophie. I know she won’t tell anyone, and Fran would have revealed my secret sooner or later anyways.

『Sorry about that. I told Fran not to reveal my identity so easily.』

（I… know……）

Good, she’s not mad. Also, Sophie’s condition was starting to get better.

My divine-infused Greater Heals seemed to be getting more effective. I also hope my revealing myself and encouragement had some role too.

While I was healing Sophie, there was another movement on the battlefield.

「Ahahaha! Now it’s time to rumble!」

With a big smile on her face, the demonkin queen Jayne held up a huge book.

「Come forth! The mightiest and most ancient king!」

Her magic circle was even bigger than the previous ones, and a golden coffin appeared out of it. It was covered in the carvings of countless skulls, radiating a chilling divine energy despite being closed.

「Our ancestor, and the very first contractor! Absorb my vitality and reveal yourself! Nekro Dovey!」

「Nuhahaha! It has truly been a while since my last descent!」

From the golden coffin emerged a mummy, similar in appearance to previous heroic spirits. His equipment might have been a little more luxurious, but the difference wasn’t big.

He wore a robe woven with silver threads, as well as full-body armor shining in gold. On each finger was a ring-shaped magical tool. If worn by anyone else, I might call them gaudy. However, this mummy had an aura powerful enough to offset this.

「Sorry, but we don’t have much time. Tear that huge thing apart, and send the pieces to hell!」

「Hohoh? Very well! I shall give it a fitting death!」

Nekro Dovey waved his hand while floating in the sky, and a large scythe appeared. A jet-black scythe cloaked in ominous mana.

Wearing a fierce smile on his face, Nekro flew off toward the giant antidemon. Perhaps because he was a mostly spiritual body, his main method of movement seemed to be gliding.

But though strong, summoning him incurred a heavy cost. A tremendous amount of mana was flowing from Jayne to Nekro. It was as if the life was being sucked out of her.

At this rate, his summon wouldn’t last longer than a few minutes.

「Nuhahahahahaaaah!」

I saw the energy sucked from Jayne diverting to Nekro’s scythe. Then, his scythe suddenly grew super huge in an instant, about 20 meters long.

Nekro easily swung the scythe and impaled the blade into the center of the giant antidemon with all his might.

Sophie’s Song of Doom seemed to have reduced the antidemon’s defenses greatly. The entire blade thrust deeply into the antidemon.

「Your life shatters here!」

As Nekro shouted, the scythe gained a black glow and disappeared as if sucked into the giant antidemon.

「GRYIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRRR!」

The giant antidemon let loose a scream as the mana drained from its body, cracking and shattering from the ends.

That scythe seemed to have the effect of killing its target by annihilating its life force. Even the giant antidemon could not completely stop the effects, so a mere scratch would probably kill your average human or monster. This was indeed powerful enough to be a trump card.

However, still not enough to put an end to the creature.

「Ahaha…… Not even that could take it out? Very unfortunate.」

Jayne dropped to one knee with a dry laugh. Necronomicon’s shape distorted, losing its form as a book and reverting to a dagger. She must have reached her limits.

「Oh boy, I’m pooped. You guys take care of the rest……」

Jayne said as she fell to the ground. She’s looking pretty bad too! However, I could see healing magic pouring out of the pendant on her chest.

It seems she’s already taken measures against her divine sword’s recoil. Besides, I can’t afford to go help her now.

Fran just finished her preparations. She took a step forward along with Urushi, her eyes fixed on the giant antidemon.

《Mana conduction complete. Maintaining current state.》

「Let’s do it!」

「Woof!」

Wolf-Style maybe? No, it seems to be a bit different. The Wolf-Style Draw Technique was Fran and Urushi’s combination attack, where Urushi’s paw gives Fran a push down from the sky.

This time, however, Fran held the mini-sized Urushi in her hand.

『Eh? Fran? Urushi?』

「Haaah!」

「Woooof!」

Fran dashed forward and threw Urushi with the full momentum and all her power. Urushi flew faster than a fastball from any major league pro.

『Eh? What!』

「Goooo!」

「Wooooooof!」

While still spinning through the air, Urushi increased in size and cloaked himself in darkness. By adding Dimension Fang, he must be planning to deliver a powerful blow.

No magic blasts were aimed our way. The creature must be targeting Izario right now.

「Grrr!」

「GIGGIGGGGIGII!」

Urushi slammed his giant fangs into the creature with the momentum of his spin. The antidemon’s screams informed us how effective this was.

All the power was concentrated into a single point, creating a deep fissure in the creature’s body.

『Nice!』

「Nn!」

As much as I’d love to pet Urushi, our turn was next. Fran had already teleported behind with Black Lightning Roll, and was ready to deliver a slash.

『Uroogh! I’ll put everything in!』

《Please leave the control to me.》

『Thanks, Announcer-san! Do it, Fran!』

「Nn! Black Lightning Divine Claw! Heavenly Judgment!」