818: Beyond the Hordes

After slaying the red dragon, Fran looked to her comrades while dodging projectiles from the antidemons.

Their fierce battle with the dragons still continued.

Hilt and Chelsea had the upper hand. They would win soon enough.

However, Diggins and Yagilale were having a tough time, taking a one-sided beatdown. Just like I worried, those dragons really did have completely different abilities and combat styles.

The one we fought was probably a type focusing on speed and long-range attacks.

The rest of our army was engaged in a fierce exchange with countless red horned knights.

Just when Fran paused to consider whether she should help them or not, she heard Colbert’s voice. He shouted at her while taking on several red horned knights.

「Fran, don’t worry about us! We’re drawing in the enemy’s main forces, so now’s your chance! Go!」

Diggins followed up Colbert’s shout, and Yagilale continued as well.

「Hahaha! I think it’s about time to get serious! Damn, I wanted to rumble with this guy a little longer, but I guess playtime is over!」

「You too? I feel the exact same way! We do not need any assistance over here!」

Diggins and Yagilale’s confident words were obviously a facade. Even so, they had no sense of sadness.

In fact, there were even smiles on their faces.

「We’ll be fine!」

「Please go on ahead!」

「Guys…」

Like Colbert said, an enemy as powerful as these red dragons was no ordinary small fry. They were almost certainly the enemy’s last line of defense. Now that they were distracted, it was very likely that there were no more obstacles between us and Nadia.

Besides, we couldn’t deny the possibility that Nadia was currently facing several enemies on par with the dragons.

Fran was already fully aware of that. She wanted to go to Nadia right away.

But still, Fran hesitated, worried about her comrades.

That’s when we heard Hilt’s shout.

「Fran, hurry up and get out of here! Wasn’t there someone you wanted to save!?」

「But!」

「Are you saying you think we’ll lose?」

Chelsea gave Fran a momentary sharp gaze, while holding off a few black antidemons.

Her words showed concern for Fran, but something else as well. We could clearly see a warrior’s pride in their own strength. They were not so weak as to need Fran’s assistance.

「You wanted to rescue this Nadia person, right? We only came all the way here to help you! Don’t forget your goal!」

「Thanks, Hilt. Got it, I’ll leave the rest to you!」

「You’d better!」

「Make haste! Princess of the black cats!」

「Nn! Urushi, protect everyone!」

「Woof!」

Pushed forward by Hilt and Chelsea’s words, Fran ran off in the direction of Nadia.

「Go for it!」

「You can save her!」

「We’ll take care of things here!」

We heard countless cheers from her friends sent at Fran’s back. That gave her another push, and she upped her speed.

（Master! We can’t let anyone stop us now!）

『Yeah, you just focus on anything in front. I’ll wipe out everything else!』

「Haaaah!」

Even though we slew the red dragon, the rest of the army was still alive and kicking. A large number of red horned knights swarmed Fran one after another with incredible momentum.

Fran moved forward while cutting down all the red horned knights in her way. After she opened the hole in their lines, I pried it open with my spells and telekinesis.

After I created that narrow path, Fran dashed through while discharging black lightning everywhere.

「Move!」

『I won’t let any of you get in Fran’s way!』

Fran slew only the antidemons that blocked her way forward, the others were ignored. She slipped past a veritable wall of antidemons, dodging their blows.

The antidemons’ weapons zoned in on her from all directions, and she avoided them with the minimum possible movement. But of course, she couldn’t remain completely unharmed.

She had cuts on her forehead and arms, and the side of her stomach had been gouged. Blood was spurting from all her injuries.

As wounds were carved all over Fran’s body, she left streaks of blood behind on the path she ran.

In the first place, she had no intention of avoiding every single attack. As long as none of them hit a vital point, that’s all that mattered. This was the only way we could reach our destination without slowing down.

Fran was approaching her limit. Her breathing turned heavy and her grip on me became slightly weakened. Still, she never dropped her speed.

「Aaaagh!」

Fran let loose a war cry to energize herself. She wasn’t even slashing the antidemons anymore. It was more like she slammed them out of her way so that she could continue moving forward.

More and more wounds appeared on her body, but I didn’t stop her. It was only a little further before we reached Nadia’s battlefield.

（It’s not enough! Master!）

『I know!』

What’s not enough? What did she need me to do? Those questions didn’t even pass through my head, since I somehow knew exactly what Fran was thinking.

This was a similar sensation to the finals of the martial arts tournament, when Fran wielded me while she was barely holding on to consciousness.

I activated wind and flame spells to give Fran an extra boost of speed. Now that Fran had a sudden boost of acceleration, she had less control over her movements, meaning even more strikes she could no longer evade.

Those wounds could have been fatal to an ordinary adventurer, but we forced our way forward while using our magic and skills to heal through them.

Still, Fran smiled, happy that I understood her intentions and assisted her perfectly.

『Nadia is just a little bit further!』

（Nn!）

『Fran! Now!』

「Uraaaaaaah!」

Fran swung me horizontally.

The impact of the slash knocked the antidemons aside, blowing open a hole in the antidemon wall.

That revealed the death battle unfolding on the other side.

It looked as if two antidemons were clashing with each other. A crimson knight with a twisted horn, and a swordsman-type wielding a huge sword.

But that wasn’t the case.

「Auntieeeee!」

「F-Fran…?」

The swordsman antidemon was actually Nadia, and the erosion had already taken over a majority of her body.

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