Chapter 1273: Wrathful Amanda

You’re fucking dead!

How dare you make Fran cry!

Unforgivable!

I’ll slice and dice until you’re nothing but a――

「Master!」

『!』

I heard a pained scream that got through to my fury-clouded mind. I could feel my anger quickly subsiding.

Ah… Fran. Why do you look so sad…? She seemed in as much grief as the nightmare from earlier…

Is it my fault this time?

Such thoughts instantly calmed me down.

Wait, what the hell happened here? My decorative string had turned into a bunch of wolves, and my blade was ominously pitch-black. I now felt frighteningly calm for some reason, so I quickly morphed my string and blade back into their original states.

Sorry Fran. I must have screwed up and lost myself in anger.

After dispelling the evil-divine energy corroding my blade, I hastily returned to Fran’s side.

「Master!」

『Fran! You’re back to normal!』

「Nn. Thanks to Announcer-san.」

〈It took approximately 36 seconds, but all mental interference has been shut out.〉

That’s my Announcer-san! I can count on you for anything!

〈Acquired the skill “Shard of Wrath”.〉

『Eh? I got a skill? Why?』

〈I hypothesize that this is due to the Chaos Goddess’s powers.〉

Oh right, demons were kin to the Chaos Goddess if I remember correctly. As her apostle, does that mean I can use demon-exclusive skills?

「Master?」

『S-Sorry. I got a bit too angry.』

「Woof….」

Urushi seems to be reflecting too. He’s shrunk down and is lowering his head.

「No, it’s because of the relic.」

〈Affirmative. Observing how the mental inference affected individual Fran triggered a rapid progression of symptoms.〉

Makes sense. At first, I thought the relic had no effect on me. However, witnessing Fran cry apparently disturbed me and enhanced the effects greatly. Urushi was probably in a similar state.

Mental interference abilities are truly terrifying. Preventing you from making sound judgments can be lethal.

「Done… already…?」

『Even after all that, she’s still alive…』

The anger may have dulled my judgment, but the power I exerted was the real deal. Laranflura had been torn apart, and was now lying on the ground as clumps of flesh.

And she casually began regenerating from that state…

However, she’s undoubtedly quite exhausted. Her mana had been significantly depleted, and the fatigue was evident on her face.

But on the other hand, I recklessly spent a lot of my mana on my earlier assault.

This might turn into a prolonged battle. Or at least that’s what I thought, until the small body of the Superhuman General was suddenly blown away horizontally.

We heard the bang a split second later, which means that attack surpassed the speed of sound.

「Amanda?」

『Did she manage to attack Laranflura?』

「You… made Fran-chan… cry!」

The one responsible for this was Amanda. Her expression was truly fierce, likely boiling with anger due to the nightmare she was shown earlier.

「Raaaaaaahhh!」

Emanating a faint red aura, Amanda swung her whip, striking Balfon with a furious barrage.

After seeing Amanda’s frenzied state, I realized the reason I got so consumed by anger. There was a faint flow of mana to us from Maleficent.

It seems his Wrath skill also affects those around him.

Balfon’s mental interference relic worked really well when combined with Maleficent’s demonic power for magnifying anger.

「Guh! Accursed whipmaster!」

Either way, it seems Amanda could attack Balfon normally. She only has a problem when Laranflura is in control.

The mana packed into her blows was quite substantial too. Perhaps her Guardian of Children title had activated?

She might be able to push out a win if Laranflura doesn’t come out…

「Gyah! This is… royal energy! Dammit!」

「Haaaaaaaahhh! Ultimate Technique - Bishamon Downfall!」

「Guh! Nuurh!」

Her whip flew at blinding speeds, inflicting dozens of strikes per second from all directions. The storm had no gaps, so Balfon was essentially trapped in a cage.

Despite having no escape route, Balfon continued holding out against the storm. However, Amanda’s whip was enveloped in a faint divine aura, and its impact pierced through his barrier.

He mentioned something about “royal energy” though? It seems that’s what they call divine energy in Raydoss or something.

Balfon was falling apart before our eyes without us doing anything. He had taken some divine-attribute attacks through the barrier, but that didn’t seem like enough to explain his lack of regeneration.

Perhaps this wasn’t merely divine energy. I took a closer look and noticed Amanda’s divine energy mixing with the red aura from Wrath. That might be what is enhancing the offensive power of her divine energy.

Thinking back to the golden aura we slammed into Nameless, that was also a form of enhanced divine energy. The current Amanda might have something similar to that golden mana.

「Amanda!」

『…! Oh no!』

The whip Amanda had been using to deliver the barrage suddenly snapped! Well, considering that she also broke her whip during the Martial Arts Tournament, perhaps I should be happy it lasted this long. Maybe it’s thanks to her Whip Boost skill.

More importantly, we need to back her up!

Or so I thought, but Amanda refused to stop. She simply grabbed a new whip out of her item bag and kept up the pressure

「Aaargh! Secret Technique - Skanda Slayer!」

Amanda swung her whip a single time. Before I knew it, both of Laranflura’s legs were shattered. This must be an art for delivering a devastating blow with immense speed.

I could only vaguely catch a glimpse of her whip. It seems such a powerful attack imposes a burden on both the whip and the wielder though.

Amanda collapsed to the ground right as her second whip snapped. Her rage probably triggered an effect similar to Potential Release, where her limiter was removed.

Balfon regenerated the legs instantly. However, pushing through the healing inhibition caused him to expend a great deal of mana. Moreover, he could barely stand up properly.

This is our chance! Fran and I jumped up, reflexively generating the golden aura from earlier.

And then, our max-power thrust pierced straight through Balfon’s heart. Impaled by our blade, a geyser of blood spurted out.

「Nurghh! I won’t lose! I cannot afford to lose!」

「Kuh!」

Yet Balfon refused to die. His ridiculous regenerative abilities allowed him to survive a crushed heart. He was still ready to fight.

But soon enough, panic took over his face.

Amanda had stood up again.

The whip gripped in her limp hand crawled on the ground like a convulsing snake, cloaked in a dense red divine aura.

We all sensed the overwhelming presence of the art she was about to unleash. Not even the mighty Superhuman General could escape this unscathed.

「…Please, just go to sleep already. Both you and the child within you…!」