832: Saving Nadia

After my Cannibalism triggered, the power of Overgrowth came flowing into me. A terrifying rush of power.

I almost lost my sanity like last time, but thanks to Announcer-san’s help, I was able to hold on.

At the same time, I could see that Overgrowth was rapidly losing its power.

The sword previously had enough energy to burn someone with a single touch, but it now looked cold and silent.

And the blade, which should have been instantly repaired, showed no sign of returning to its original state.

There can be no doubt about it. Overgrowth had been completely broken.

We’ve won.

But our victory was not the end. The important part came now.

「Sophie…!」

After being rendered immobile again due to the recoil of her skill, Fran called out a name while falling to the ground.

「I know. Leave the rest to me.」

「Nn.」

Sophie began her harp performance again.

It’s a beautiful melody, even after hearing it so many times. I don’t think I could ever get tired of listening to this healing song.

Perhaps because of Overgrowth’s destruction, Nadia’s movements had stopped too. She was simply standing there, completely stunned.

「Ga… Ah…」

The scene almost looked as if a heartless monster was enraptured by the song of a goddess and fell the ground in tears.

A light overflowed from the harp along with the melody, enveloping Nadia.

Still, Nadia did not move.

Orfalve and Tort watched over Nadia, quietly and vigilantly.

The battle still raged on in the surrounding area, but it was completely quiet here. Almost as if we were separated from the outside world by an invisible wall or something.

Ron ron――…

The sound stopped, and Sophie’s slender fingers slowly leave the strings of the harp.

At the same time, the light subsided. Out of it came Nadia, having fully regained her human form.

However, she seemed to be unconscious and collapsed on the spot.

Fran tried to get up, but she only fell to the ground again. She no longer had the strength to stand.

「Auntie…!」

『Fran, it’s okay. She’s still breathing and has plenty of life force left.』

Her status was no longer listed as “Erosion” and “Golden Devourer” disappeared from her skill list. All the effects of Overgrowth were completely erased.

「Woof!」

Urushi approached Nadia, sniffed her and barked lightly. His nose didn’t sense anything wrong with her either.

「I’m… so relieved…」

Fran fell with her face on the ground and muttered in a tearful voice. I can only imagine how her joy, gratitude, and relief overflowed into tears.

But she was also leaving a lot of snot. Her face must look like a mess from crying on the ground like that…

「So her humanity has really returned?」

「That’s amazing! Sophie’s performance and Fran’s strike were both magnificent!」

Orfalve and Jayne approached us. They checked Nadia and Fran’s condition by taking their pulses.

「Now all we have to do is destroy the antidemons!」

「Tort, I’ll leave you in charge of the undead. I’ll be escorting Fran and Nadia back!」

「Very well. It has been a long time since my last incarnation, so I was needing a bit more combat.」

「Then we go together, heroic spirit!」

「Indeed! I shall accompany you, dwarven champion!」

Orfalve and Tort rushed off into the antidemon horde, laughing merrily.

There were too many antidemons to call the battle over any time soon, but the dwarves weren’t having any trouble. We can leave it to them.

「Now then, let’s get going too.」

「Sorry, I can’t get up. Urushi.」

「Woof!」

After wiping her face, Fran called over to Urushi, who approached to carry her. However, Jayne interrupted us.

「Wait a minute. Wolf-kun here seems pretty strong, so you can have him watch over the surroundings. I’ll arrange for someone else to carry you.」

Jayne pulled about ten magic stones out of her pocket and scattered them on the ground.

「Summon Greater Skeleton!」

「「「Rattle Rattle!」」」

Then she summoned pretty powerful skeletons, probably higher than Threat Level D.

As we would expect from Jean’s mother, as well as the bearer of the title of Demon Lord, she was a very skilled necromancer.

（Woof?）

『We can obey Jayne here. I’ll feel safer with you guarding us too.』

（Woof!）

Two skeletons carried Fran and Nadia princess style, and the rest scattered around the perimeter to protect them.

Even though we were surrounded by antidemons, we still had the demonkin protecting us. This many skeletons felt a bit overkill.

「The story must end on a happy note! We can’t allow any blunders after we’ve come so far!」

I guess she wanted to take all possible protective measures. Well, if it’s to save our lives, then I can’t complain about her being a bit overprotective. I appreciate it.

『I’ll have to check my stats in the meanwhile.』

Since Jayne’s skeletons were handling Fran’s transport, I can check the results of my cannibalize. First is the magic stone points.

『Thought so…』

My magic stone points had been reduced to a total of 28, practically as good as 0. It kinda surprised me to see such a half-assed value even remained.

But I was expecting this much, so no harm done. I totally knew it was going to be like this! I’m not disappointed in the slightest!

『…Sigh.』

I should hurry up and check the stat gains to cheer myself up.

『Eh? Seriously?』

Though it wasn’t as much as when I absorbed Fanatics, my stats had been significantly enhanced.

My attack power increased by 150 and was now over the 1500 mark. That alone was enough to make me happy, but this was not the only improvement.

My mana increased by about 3000, to over 20000. And I think durability increased by almost 1000? My total durability was now 16560.

If I remember correctly about the time I cannibalized Fanatics, attack power didn’t change, mana increased by about 5300, and durability increased by 3300.

Considering that this time I got +150 attack, +3000 mana, and +1000 durability, I think I’d have to say Fanatics was better?

That’s because mana was the most important stat to me. Fanatics was a former divine sword, while Overgrowth was a failed blade that never managed to become a divine sword in the first place.

Maybe it’s only natural that Fanatics claimed the higher rank.

I also had one new skill, a Unique Skill called “Mixed Slayer”. It had a pretty vague explanation about being used to defeat monsters that were mixed unnaturally.

Considering that I inherited it from Overgrowth, I’d say it’s probably an ability that was effective against the Abyss Eater. Maybe it gives a bonus against monsters created by synthesizing multiple beings together, such as chimeras.

『Guess I can figure it out after trying it.』

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