Chapter 1242: Raydoss's Next Wave

Chapter 1242: Raydoss's Next Wave

「Potima?」
The snake remained silent and gazed at Fran with gentle eyes in response to her question.
「Potima’s weak heart prevented her from receiving my blessing, but she possessed faith worthy of becoming my apostle. Thus, I welcomed her soul to my side.」
The snake nodded in response to the god’s words. It seems she truly was Potima. Yet there was no trace of the fanaticism she possessed in life. She appeared as a gentle and beautiful serpent.
It’s almost as if she had been purified. Perhaps being picked up by her god filled her with a sense of peace, which stabilized her mental state.
Even the air around her felt pure.
「I have allowed her to temporarily fulfill the role of my emissary. Of course, she wished for this arrangement too.」
Fran and the snake exchanged glances for a moment, before Fran’s body glowed for an instant. What just happened? There didn’t seem to be any visible change.
「Your affinity with my power has been increased slightly. Since you already hold my blessing, consider it as a minimal enhancement. A gesture of apology from her.」
「…I see.」
Fran smiled ever so slightly. Potima lowered her head like a bow.
After a few seconds of silence, the god spoke once more.
「Now then, farewell. Maintain vigilance if you choose to head north.」
「Thanks… your grace.」
In the next moment, color and sound returned to the world. We had returned from the realm of the gods.
「…Nn.」
Without facing anyone in particular, Fran nodded her head as if she had come to terms with something. She must be confirming her blessing, and realized it really did get stronger.
However, she didn’t have much time to linger on it. We heard a shout from Klimt.
「Fran-san! The spirits are incredibly agitated! It appears the Raydoss army is marching in from the north!」
As expected, zero time progressed during our encounter. Not even Klimt noticed anything unusual.
「Fran-san?」
「It’s nothing.」
Klimt still looked puzzled, but Fran turned to him with a determined expression.
「Klimt, the Raydoss army isn’t the only enemy!」
「What do you mean?」
Fran returned to Klimt’s office and told him about our divine encounter. I was worried if Klimt would believe her, but…
「You say a god came to warn you about the revival of the Evil God Fragments?」
「Nn. Do you believe me?」
「I suppose it wouldn’t be impossible for you. Master-san is certainly a very special sword.」
Klimt easily accepted Fran’s explanation. He had apparently thought Fran to be someone capable of receiving divine revelations.
That sounded like a leap of faith, but it’s true that we talked to a god.
「If an Evil God Fragment has truly revived, then this is a problem for the entire continent rather than just Kranzel. I’ll have the officials contact the other nations. In the meantime, can I ask you to check on the border?」
「Got it. I’ll take a look!」
「Please don’t push yourself too hard! Don’t charge in alone, and make sure to report back safely! Depending on the situation, we may have to evacuate!」
「Nn.」
Fran waved to Klimt, who was looking out the window, and then hopped onto Urushi’s back.
「Urushi! Let’s go!」
「Woof woof!」
Urushi leaped over Alessa’s walls and raced at full speed toward the border. After about two hours, we started sensing something out of place.
Rather than the overwhelming presence of evil energy affecting the wind itself, this was countless small presences stirring on the ground.
The northern lands were shrouded in a black shadow. It looked like an expanding darkness that threatened to devour the earth.
As we drew closer, we discovered the true nature of this darkness.
Hordes of undead. There were a multitude of undead creatures such as zombies and ghouls, each cloaked in a dense black aura of evil. It was practically impossible to count them all, but they clearly exceeded a hundred thousand in number.
The zombies moved with surprising speed, seemingly enhanced by the evil energy.
Furthermore, the group at the center of the horde radiated an even more sinister power.
『Duke zombies!』
（And so many of them.）
『Both the South Duke Zombies and the West Duke Zombies are there too.』
If we let these guys anywhere near Alessa, the damage will be truly immense.
（Master, what should we do?）
『Let’s scout them out before returning to Alessa.』
There was a continuous stream of undead approaching from behind the hordes, as well as similarly evil presences to the east and west.
Even if we engaged them to prevent their advance, we wouldn’t be able to hold the entire border.
First we should report to Klimt in Alessa, and seek guidance on how to defend against this threat.
That said, the Kranzel knights should be in this area too…
（Master, they’re over there.）
『Oh, they seem to be retreating.』
Good thing their commander wasn’t reckless enough to charge in without thinking. While they weren’t any immediate danger, the undead would certainly reach them eventually.
『In that case, let’s interfere with the undead a bit.』
（Nn!）
It’d be great if we could delay the horde’s advance by forcing them to watch out for ambushes, I kinda doubt it will go that smoothly. Undead don’t have any sense of fear, after all. At least we could slightly assist the knights in their retreat.
『Target the undead chasing the knights, and let’s take some of them out.』
「Got it.」
「Woof!」
We called out to the knights after approaching them from above.
「We’ll support your retreat!」
「Huh? Black Lightning Princess-dono? We’re saved!」
Good thing they recognize Fran. That makes things easier.
「You’ll hear some loud sounds behind you. Don’t worry about it.」
「R-Roger that!」
With this, the knights should be able to continue their retreat uninterrupted.
『Let’s go!』
「Nn!」
「Grrrrrr!」