Chapter 829
Chapter 829
829: Orfalve vs Nadia
「So you want me to stop the antidemon in the center of that fight without killing it?」
「Yes! Exactly!」
「Well that is quite the unreasonable demand!」
You can say that again. Nadia was now far more powerful than even the highest tier antidemons. She might have even exceeded Twisted Horn at this point.
It would be incredibly difficult to fight while holding back to avoid taking her life. At the very least, whoever attempted to do so would be risking their own life as well.
This was not something Orfalve could easily accept.
「Very well! We will hold that antidemon at bay! Then you may approach it after we have the upper hand!」
「……You’ll really help us?」
「Indeed! That willingness to risk your life to save those you love is truly wonderful! Right men?」
「「「Yeah!」」」
「You heard them! If you leave it to us, it would be like having the Leviathan on your side!」
The Leviathan? Hearing that guy’s name just fills me with worry. However, the dwarves certainly seemed to be motivated now.
It wasn’t only Orfalve, the other dwarves seemed on board as well.
「Listen up! I will take the front and you all clean up the perimeter! If you perform the best here, you may get your hands on some of the old elvish wine! After all, this mission is from the one who brought the wine in the first place!」
「「「YEEEEAAAAHH!」」」
The dwarves let loose a maddened roar. So this is the power of alcohol!
「Fran! Prepare yourself!」
「We’ll have Nadia’s movements stopped in no time!」
And with that, Orfalve and Jayne headed for Nadia.
「Men! Get to work!」
「「「Yeah!」」」
「Everyone! Fire at once!」
「「「Hah!」」」
The arts of the dwarves and the spells of the demonkin rained down over a wide area, annihilating all the antidemons in our path.
With this, the wall of antidemons separating us from Nadia vanished for a brief moment.
There were still many antidemons coming towards us, but more than half of them were targeting Nadia. This meant the hole in the wall filled up rather slowly.
「Here I go! I shall keep her attention as if my life depends on it, until the magic song is completed!」
「Follow me. We’re going in after Orfalve-dono!」
「Nn! Sophie, come on!」
「Okay!」
Orfalve rushed into the battle. The dwarves following her change formation before I knew it.
I guess you could call it a arrowhead formation. The dwarves lined up in the shape of an arrowhead, piercing their way through antidemon legion.
Dwarves generally tended to take heavy steps with those short legs, so they weren’t particularly fast even when under the effects of Brave March.
But now they were different. All of the dwarves had dashed to Nadia in a blink of an eye.
And then they leapt into the air and landed right in front of her. No one could call them heavy or slow now.
The sudden appearance of the dwarves caused Nadia to turn against them.
She must have instantly understood that they were powerful enemies.
「Ooooooooourgh!」
「You are certainly crazy! So crazy that it is hard to believe you were formerly human! But this is a worthy opponent! Bring it on!」
「Ugyaaaaah!」
「Uruaaah!」
Booooooom!
Orfalve’s giant halberd and Nadia’s greatsword collided head-on. With a tremendous impact, the weapons of the two repelled each other.
Though they did not let go of their weapons, both of them had been knocked backwards.
They were evenly matched. I had thought that Orfalve’s Brave March only affected her subordinates, but it appears to strengthen her own body as well.
「Uuoooourgh!」
「Raaaaah!」
Claaang!
Though they had both been blown backwards, Orfalve and Nadia immediately collided again. The two had both swung their weapons downwards with full force, and clashed violently.
And after that, it turned into a fierce and wild brawl.
No matter how many times their weapons were repelled, they simply clashed head-on with their opponent again.
Maybe they had some frustration, since neither was able to land a clean hit. But more importantly, they both knew that the moment they relented in the assault was the moment their opponent would gain the upper hand.
The tremendous impact of their repeated clashes made it impossible for anyone to get close to them, so the two of them continued the exchange by themselves.
All around us, the dwarves and demonkin were building up walls, separating Nadia from the other antidemons, and cleaning them up one by one.
The battle seemed like it would go on forever, but the change came suddenly.
「Nrgh?」
After about ten clashes, both Overgrowth and Orfalve’s halberd began to crack. Then in the next clash, both their blades shattered off in the impact.
Isn’t that halberd pretty amazing? The sword in Nadia’s hands was still a failed divine sword that grew by feeding on antidemons. In terms of stats, it even exceeded me in attack.
Meanwhile that halberd clashed with a failed divine sword head on, resulting in the destruction of both. That meant the halberd’s sturdiness was approaching the level of divine swords.
However, Orfalve lost her balance after losing to the last clash.
「Noooooo! The masterpiece created by my country’s master blacksmiths……!」
Orfalve roared in frustration, but she seemed to be more disappointed in the loss of her weapon than being outmatched.
At first glance, the two still appeared to be on even standing. However, the truth came out quickly. While the halberd remained shattered, Overgrowth immediately began repairing itself.
Like I thought, the failed divine sword was still superior because of its special powers! I-It’s not like I was rooting for Overgrowth to win or anything, I was just a little bothered by the result.
「Ugaaaaah!」
Nadia roared and swung back with the fully regenerated Overgrowth. Orfalve had no way to block the strike.
Or at least she shouldn’t. But Orfalve suddenly smirked.
「I have fulfilled my promise.」
Orfalve had, as she declared, held Nadia’s attention until the completion of the magic performance.
Ron ron……♪
At the moment Nadia swung the greatsword, Sophie played the last note of her song.
The light emitted from Sophie enveloped not only Orfalve and Fran, but also Nadia.
「Ugaah……」
「Yes! You did it, Sophie!」
Fran exclaimed in delight as Nadia stopped moving. Meanwhile, Nadia’s face was slowly but surely returning to a human shape.
Starting from her left eye, we could see her skin appearing and spreading outwards. Sophie’s performance definitely had an effect.
Nadia’s mouth quivered as the light of reason returned to her eyes.
「Guh…… This is……」
「Auntie!」
「Fra-……Graaaah!」
「Auntie? Auntie!」
「Gugah……」
『Get back, Fran!』
「Gaaaahhh!」
Though Nadia temporarily regained her consciousness thanks to Sophie, she immediately reverted back.
Her entire face was completely mutated again.
「Why!?」
《The failed divine sword, Overgrowth, has completed the erosion again. The effect of temporary name Sophie’s magical song has been overwritten.》
『So that’s how it works!』
We actually managed to cure Nadia for a moment. However, it seems Overgrowth’s erosion was simply powerful enough to activate again.
（Can we still save her?）
《The elimination of the failed divine sword Overgrowth is an essential prerequisite.》
『So that means it’s my turn.』
Overgrowth already proved its powerful auto-repair ability. Destroying it would be easier said than done.
But we still have a chance. It’s a failed divine sword, my kindred, which means I can cannibalize it! It shouldn’t be able to repair itself if my cannibalize succeeds.
《Affirmative. If it can be damaged beyond the required level, there is an 87% chance that the skill “Cannibalize” will be activated.》
『And for that, I’ll have to deal with Overgrowth personally.』
（Nn! I’ll do my best.）
『Yeah, you’ll have to push yourself again…… But we’ll do whatever it takes to save Nadia since we’ve come all this way!』
「Nn!」