Chapter 1144: Vanished Relic

「Teyaah!」

Avenger pinned Roaneth down, then Fran dove in and swung her blade.

「GRAH…!」

Got ‘em!

My blade cut through Roaneth like butter!

I’m sure our hit just now dealt a ton of damage.

「HOW COULD I LOSE… TO A DAMN BRAT LIKE THIS?!」

Roaneth’s left arm began crumbling to pieces, a sign that he had little time left. Yet he refused to give up.

Was he still plotting something?

「UGRAAAH!」

Roaneth thrust his gun at the sky rather than us, as if he was about to fire a blast directly upward.

「YOU WIN THIS BATTLE, GIRL! BUT NOT THE WAR! THERE’S PLENTY MORE WHERE I CAME FROM!」

A powerful flow of mana circulated within the Carmine Flame.

「MY KING, I RETURN THE RELIC TO YOU! PLEASE ACCEPT MY OFFERING!」

『He’s trying to do something!』

Crisis Sense gave no reaction, but I can’t help but be worried when faced with such a huge amount of mana.

Wait, is Carmine Flame radiating space-time mana rather than fire-aspected mana?

『Fran, finish it!』

「Nn!」

Whatever he’s trying to do, we need to stop it first!

Fran unleashed a divine-infused Sheathes of Wind, as I cloaked my blade in evil energy.

Clad in an aura of white and black, we closed in on Roaneth. That said, my target was the relic in his hands rather than the man himself.

「Haaaah!」

Even if we can’t destroy it outright, we should at least be able to knock it out of his hands! Sure enough, even our best blow didn’t manage to slice all the way through Carmine Flame. Someone tell me what this thing is made of!

My blade remained stuck about halfway through the incredibly sturdy weapon.

But what happened next was something that neither we nor Roaneth could have anticipated.

Carmine Flame completely vanished from existence, and at the same time, I felt a surge of mana flowing into me.

Cannibalize had activated.

The tremendous load gave me chills, and I could not help but scream.

『GRAAAAH!』

（Master!）

Shit, Fran broke her concentration! She’s leaving herself wide open!

That said, it seems Roaneth had also stopped moving.

「IMPOSSIBLE! WHAT HAPPENED?! THE TRANSMISSION FAILED…? DAMN BITCH, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?」

『Fran… I’m fine… Deal with Roaneth… first!』

「…Nn!」

I infused the newly acquired mana into my blade, though my mana control was honestly terrible at the moment. The torrent of raging mana overflowed as I forcibly converted it into divine energy with sub-optimal efficiency.

Still, the sheer power was enough.

Fran sliced Roaneth in half before he managed to recover. This time, it’s over for real.

「AHH! AAAHHHHHH!」

Roaneth crumbled to ashes and evaporated with an unintelligible scream.

『Whew, we won.』

「Nn.」

「Woof!」

Wickerman must still be alive, but we didn’t sense any sign of him in the area. Did he already run? At any rate, we can now pause and catch our breath.

I glanced down at Roaneth’s remains and reconsidered his earlier words.

『Roaneth yelled something about a king, right?』

Was it “returning the relic to the king” or something like that? I first thought he was attempting an attack, but maybe he only wanted to teleport the relic to this so-called king.

『Avenger. Raydoss is ruled by a king, right?』

「Yes my god, that is correct. I was told he ascended to the throne a few months ago. I also heard rumors that he’s still a child, but I know little else…」

Avenger must have gotten this information when he was still on Raydoss’s side. Roaneth’s words implied that he felt some kind of loyalty toward this king… but that makes no sense. Why would a thug like that swear loyalty to a young child?

Anyways, Avenger is privy to some pretty important information, such as the details of Raydoss’s schemes, the identities of top officials, and the locations of secret facilities. He has access to plenty of classified intel that normal citizens do not.

Yet Avenger knows almost nothing about the king? That’s really weird too. It seems the king of Raydoss has some secrets to hide.

I’ll keep that on my mind as we continue.

『Okay, let’s check the Cannibalize results… Whoa!?』

My mana capacity increased by 1000 upon absorbing Carmine Flame. I even got the Flame Control skill. That’s as much of a gain as when I cannibalized Fannaberta. In other words, Raydoss’s relics were worth as much as an Intelligence Weapon.

Actually, if Cannibalize worked, does that mean it was a failed divine sword? It clearly wasn’t an Intelligence Weapon, right…? Guess I can’t say anything for sure.

I’ve heard that Raydoss still has quite a few relics, so we should keep an eye out for them. I can even try cannibalizing another one if I get the chance.