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Translator: Makisima
Proofreader: B.D.
Fran and I appraise Dullahan as we rush towards Kuina, who is currently engaging her in fighting against Dullahan. Dullahan’s weapon is indeed the Evil Stone Sword but his race is that of Ghost, unlike Valkyrie who was Evil God in name and race.
According to what Valkyrie said, it seems as long as one holds Evil Stone, it will devour their soul. Isn’t it like a state of berserk? Well, not just the Evil Stone but, most times, Evil God-related anything can make the wielder go berserk. So if that’s the case then we have to approach the Evil Stone Sword with caution.
But now, Dullahan doesn’t appear to have gone berserk [2] at all. He’s been fighting Kuina in complete silence, most likely due to the fact he is a Ghost now but
 is he really going berserk?
No, something’s wrong. Dullahan is a Ghost so perhaps the Evil Stone can’t absorb his soul, after all, Ghosts are soulless creatures.
If I recall back in the floating island dungeon, the necromancer Jean talked about Ghosts. During that time, I knew little about soul-related things then.
Anything related to the soul is classified within the realm of God, and tends to be impossible for humans to manipulate them. If a creature dies, its soul is recalled by divine will. In layman’s terms, it ascends to heaven.
At first glance, the Ghost Magic seems to manipulate the soul, however, it is not. The thing, that is manipulated by either the intense resentment rose from the remnants of magic or the magic stone controlled by the remnant spirit of the dead magic beast, is nothing more than a corpse, therefore, the Dullahan we are facing now should be soulless too. As for why the magic stone can manipulate the corpse, I think it must have something to do with the soul-like stuff created by the necromancer.
For that reason, the soul that can be devoured by the Evil Stone never been there, so Dullahan should not have gone berserk.
『So
 if Fran and Mare are cut by that sword, wouldn’t that be disastrous?』– Me
That kind of weapon was able to turn Valkyrie just by her holding it, if Fran or Mare is cut by it, its aura would flow into their body. If that happens, wouldn’t it swallow their soul up?
Even so, as long as the Evil stone’s aura doesn’t enter the body, the host’s soul won’t be dominated, right?
No, perhaps I’m too optimistic.
(ShiShou
)
『Fran, did you notice something as well?』 — Me
Around Kuina, an evil aura is perceived. The appraisal about Kuina showed that she had been infected by the evil aura. And on her shoulder, the extremely small wound is beginning to stain black.
I tell Fran what I just discovered, and remind her to be careful.
『Fran don’t let the Evil Stone Sword touch you, otherwise you might be eroded from within like Valkyrie!』
(Understood!)
I don’t know whether Recovery Magic or Purification Magic can clear the evil aura. Fran lets Mare know what I passed onto her and reminds her to be careful, but as I was contemplating whether to tell Mare about Kuina has been influenced by the evil aura

「What! Kuina has been
 by that sword?    NuOo! I’m coming now, Kuina!」 — Mare
『Ah-, she’s off.』– Me
Well, can’t be helped, we just have to help.
『Fran, as you saw, Mare’s power is enormous. Let’s leave the offense to her and in-turn we will provide support.』– Me
Brilliant Lighting Rush will be needed for the final blow against Dullahan’s the Evil Stone so I want to avoid using it right off the bat.
「Got it!」– Fran
Mare has already cut into the battle between Kuina and Dullahan.
[Kuina! I’ve come to help!] — Mare
[My Lady, be wary of that sword, everytime it cut me, I could feel my body being affected by something.] — Kuina
[I know, just act as support!] — Mare
[Yes!] — Kuina
Upon hearing Mare’s words, Kuina steps back obediently. This is not just a master-servant relationship between a princess and a guard, I can clearly feel Kuina’s trust in Mare, She has no doubt as to Mare’s ability to protect her.
「It’s a Ghost, it can’t feel pain. Now, my illusions can’t affect it. It’s different than fighting a person.」 — Kuina
「Yeah, you are quite incompatible with Dullahan.」 — Mare
「Didn’t I say that from the start?」 — Kuina
「Nevermind that, just give me some support!」 — Mare
「Understood!」 — Kuina
Just as you would expect, their coordination is excellent. Mare releases her flame, while Kuina moves to Dullahans blindspots to attack. Mare’s attack never get in the way of Kuina, and similarly, because of Kuina, Dullahan’s balance is off, unable to attack Mare.
「Dorya!」 — Kuina
「——」– Dullahan
Kuina sneaks behind Dullahan who is too busy with Mare’s flame to notice her, then, unbelievably, she manages to grab and swing Dullahan with just one hand, effortlessly.
Dullahan’s body rises in the air shortly before crashing back down, and without missing a beat, Mare unleashes a flame explosion, blowing him away again.
Kuina skillfully evades being caught by the explosion and retreats out of its reach. What flawless coordination.
Dullahan slowly rose, unable to determine whether he took damage. Even though he was much weaker than Valkyrie in terms of fighting, his durability was still formidable and he is wielding the Evil Stone Sword. It would be best to team up with Mare and it seems like she has the same idea, already she’s begun to cover herself with the pale flames, all-the-while instructing Kuina and Fran.
「We have to go all out again, can you handle it Fran?」 — Mare
「Un!」– Fran
「Kuina, you block his shield!」– Mare
「Understood!」 — Kuina
Everything plays out like last time, Mare uses Pale Inferno, Fran uses Kanna Kamui, and I use Broken Sky from the back. As I’m thinking the tactics

「Fran!」– Mare
「En?」– Fran
「Is it okay to let me destroy this guy? You killed Valkyrie last time, didn’t you?」 — Mare
Come to think, Mare is also improving her EP to get stronger. Just like Manticore, Mare is more interested in EP than materials (refers to magic stone).
「Will the one who strikes the final blow get EP?」– Mare
「I don’t know! But the winner will obviously get a lot of EP.」– Fran
「Then
 I’ll give you the magic beasts and evil beings, can you leave this one to me?」– Mare
「What? You such a greedy fellow! Fine, I’ll give you, no point arguing over it.」 — Fran
「Thanks.」– Mare
「Don’t mention it, as the older one, I have to act the part.」– Fran
Seems like it’s easy to pull her strings if you bring up acting like a senpai.
While Fran and Mare were talking, Kuina was able to rid Dullahan of his shield. She created an opening with illusion magic, grabbed the shield, and threw it far away,
「That’s it! Destroy the enemy! Pale Inferno!」– Mare
「Haaa!」– Fran
Following Mare’s Pale Inferno was Fran’s Kanna Kamui. Fran strained to release and as such was only about half as powerful as my Kanna Kamui.
Still, since the Evil Stone we fought before required a lot to defeat, in fact, this kind of attack would be overkill for normal ordinary enemies. And even though we agreed to let Mare finish it off, I’m still hoping the magic stone isn’t evaporated.
Going all out was the right choice. The Evil Stone Sword, persistent to the end, unleashed a barrier to protect the shieldless Dullahan, but even then, the combination of Kanna Kamui and Pale Inferno crushed the barrier and struck Dullahan directly, resulting in an explosion.
Before the explosion and flames could settle, Fran rushed straight towards Dullahan, raising me above her shoulders.
『Sword Lord Techniques・Broken Sky』
「——」– Dullahan
Mare’s flames engulf my body as I cut through Dullahans armor. I slice through the thick armor easily, as easy as cutting tofu, ripping Dullahan apart. Is this the power of the Sword Lord Techniques?
However, after killing Dullahan, spider web like cracks began to appear on my blade. Sword Lord Techniques seem to cause a tremendous load on it. But I could heal instantly even while I was melted by Mare’s flames, so this damage is just a piece of cake. If I was a normal sword, however, I would’ve turned to a fine powder before even hitting the rival with that technique.
The impact of this time totally can’t be compared to the time when Fran used Broken Sky on Valkyrie. The previous attack is at best half as durable as it’s now, but this time’s attacking power almost gets me into a devastating crisis, Maybe it’s due to the fact that I’m not very proficient in the Sword Lord Techniques. Still, it’s strange that only Fran can exert my actual strength.
The terrible splitting and cracking sounded, and the fissures on my blade expanded. Even so, I did feel the feeling of shattering Dullahan’s magic stone. The magic power was flowing.
The terrible sound of metal splitting and cracking resounded, and the cracks on my blade expanded into fissures, but even still, I felt the shattering of Dullahan’s magic stone while the magic power was flowing into me.
『Gotcha! Magic Stone!』– Me
TL’s notes:
[1] Ghost: The Japanese word is ‘死霊’ – Shiryo , which means the soul of the dead .
[2] go berserk: In Japanese, it is ‘暎蔰’ – ăŒă†ăă† , go ballistic or out of control.