Chapter 1136: Avenger's Treatment

「Donad! Are you okay?」

「Yeah…」

Donadrond collapsed upon defeating Charredman, and we hurriedly healed him with a spell. Whatever power he used must have had a very heavy recoil, since he remained on the ground for a while after recovering from his injuries.

「That last one was awesome!」

「I applied a technique that returns all the damage I’ve taken to my opponent. My gut said I’d be able to finish him off if I took just a little more damage.」

It seems this is a technique gained from his mutation, making this the first time he ever attempted to use it. Moreover, it’s the sort of technique that is only possible after taking a huge beating. Quite the bold move when you’re on the verge of death!

「I have many questions for you… But for now, let’s go rescue the nobles.」

「Nn!」

No doubt he was wondering how Fran got here, what’s with the ghouls, and so on. However, he decided to put it off since the battle was still raging around us.

Once again, we began taking out the undead in the area.

「Doraah!」

Donadrond managed to easily split an enemy undead in half with his axe, and it was one of the stronger ones too.

I’m sure the Donadrond from before would have had a hard time. Yet now it was an effortless win even in his current exhausted state. The power behind his swings gave me quite a surprise.

「So cool, Donad!」

「Hahaha! I feel like I’m bursting with energy! My body may be a little fatigued, but my muscles are still in peak condition!」

「Wow!」

Donadrond grunted as he flexed his muscles. Those bulging biceps were practically as wide as a wooden log.

Ogrekin are muscular to begin with, but Donad had gotten seriously ripped. Fran observed Donadrond’s poses with sparkling eyes, admiring his powerful appearance.

Then she tried the same flexing pose herself. Well, Fran wasn’t the muscular type, so her arms only looked kinda pudgy.

Perhaps unhappy about that, Fran immediately canceled her pose with a sullen look and took her dissatisfaction out on a nearby undead.

Meanwhile, Donadrond and Fran’s efforts spurred the adventurers around them on, accelerating the pace of the extermination.

While Maleficent didn’t stand out a lot, I have to give him credit for his talent in support. He was surprisingly versatile, handling things like buffing and shielding the nearby adventurers, and even using provocation-type skills and debuffs to interfere with our enemies.

Persona was equally impressive, supporting the adventurers with wards and ocean magic.

The enemy commander Charredman had already fallen, and our ghouls managed to take out Scavenger and his copies who were spawning undead. The enemy’s chain of command was in shambles.

Even without Forrund and Urushi, we had a clear advantage. Donad’s white light was gone as well, but that didn’t pose any issues either.

With our enemies decimated, our allies regained enough composure to worry about the issue they had been putting off.

「So what’s going on with those undead?」

「Is it just me sensing an evil aura from them…?」

「Seriously?!」

Those capable of sensing evil energy knew Avenger was not normal, and this news spread quickly like wildfire among our ranks. Donadrond seemed to be scrutinizing Avenger carefully too.

Like I thought, it won’t be easy to pass him off as your average undead servant.

As the one leading the ghouls radiating evil energy, Fran started receiving suspicious looks as well.

「Oi, girl! Name yourself!」

A man who appeared to be one of the surviving nobles shouted at her, and he seemed to be capable of sensing the evil aura. Seeing such suspicious ghouls after the stress of taking heavy casualties must have had him on edge.

He kept his finger pointed at us as he continued ranting about Fran’s guilt. While he didn’t seem to be a very prominent noble, silencing him won’t be easy either.

Some of the soldiers, knights, and adventurers began showing signs of doubt towards Fran as well.

「I’m Fran, Rank B Adventurer.」

「Explain those undead immediately, they’re clearly steeped in evil energy! Y-You’d better not be an Evil God worshiper!」

How should we respond? Maleficent didn’t look like he was going to help, and Donadrond seemed interested in our answer too.

Where do I even start?

Meanwhile, Fran acted before I could finish arranging my thoughts. She stepped forward and held me high in the air, with a smug face for some reason.

「It’s all thanks to this sword.」

「What? I can agree that it appears to be rather impressive magic sword, but…」

「This super awesome sword has the power to control and manipulate evil energy!」

「I-I’ve never heard of such an ability before! Don’t you lie to me!」

「Heh, it’s all true. But it has even more powers too. Because it was made by a divine blacksmith!」

「Our priestess speaks the truth!」

「「「 Priestess!!! 」」」

The Avenger and the ghouls knelt before Fran, chanting words of worship. I know they’re trying to give the impression that they’re under our control, but that’s way too deliberate! How can we ask them to trust us after such a fishy display…?

「C-Could it be a divine sword?」

「No, but a divine blacksmith did make it.」

「Whoa…!」

Huh? The noble just kinda believed it. Felt a little too easy. Well, I guess he did watch Fran fighting, and I’m obviously not your average magic sword. Maybe our story had more credibility than I thought.

Besides, they might be in need of some ray of hope after taking huge losses in enemy territory. Donadrond also seemed to think Fran was telling the truth, and nodded at our story.

Then, a certain someone arrived to back us up.

「I can vouch for her.」

「Oh, Forrund-san! You’re safe!」

「Forrund of the Hundred Swords!」

「Yeah.」

Forrund came back with Urushi. Even if nobles tend to look down on adventurers, Rank A adventurers like Forrund are a different story. Thanks to his assistance, everyone settled down with the story that Fran’s sword was “just kinda awesome”.

Seems like no one’s suspecting her of being an Evil God worshiper anymore, which is good since we don’t need more drama in enemy territory. Thankfully, Avenger and his ghouls never fought back when the adventurers attacked them, so our argument had some backing.

（Hmm? That’s a lot of mana!）

『It’s coming from the fort!』

Though Avenger was accepted into our ranks, our relief was short-lived. A tremendous wave of mana began radiating from the fort.

『So they refuse to let us get away without some vengeance, huh?』