Chapter 1250: Whip and Blade

Fran delivered several counterattacks to Apollonius, but he quickly regenerated each. Meanwhile, the other Hero Zombies seized the opportunity to strike.

We could easily defeat any of the Red Knights aside from Apollonius in a one-on-one battle, but their impeccable coordination left no openings for us to counter.

In other words, the five knights covered for Apollonius perfectly. Especially annoying were the Blood Maiden’s red mist and the Dusk Rain’s red arrows.

The continuous flow of red mist forced me to constantly use purification magic, which drained a significant amount of mana.

And the arrows curving at us from all directions meant we had to focus a lot on evasion.

In addition, the Vermilion Eye was deceptively troublesome. The only available information we had about it was pretty vague, and not at all a fair evaluation of its actual abilities.

The Vermilion Eye Captain had the ability to see through all of our feints, and anticipate every counter from both me and Fran. Rather than simply enhancing the wielder’s vision, it must be boosting the wielder’s brain processing speed.

We still managed to land the occasional hit through undodgeable area-of-effect attacks and surprise attacks from teleportation. Yet all of the damage we dealt was healed just as quickly. Such a situation would be enough to break anyone’s spirit.

Not Fran though, because she was fueled by her determination to protect Klimt, as well as the presence of our quickly approaching allies.

The first arrival was signaled by a sharp whip strike wreaking havoc on the enemy lines. This occurred so quickly that it was impossible to see with the naked eye.

I’m sure the Hero Zombies realized Amanda’s approach, but it seems they couldn’t react to the sheer speed of the whip.

As a result, Violetta and Rob got blown away.

「How dare you bully my Fran-chan like this?!」

「Amanda!」

「Oraaaa!」

「Guh!」

Amanda was absolutely furious. She leapt through the still rampaging whip storm to deliver a dropkick to Apollonius and send him flying.

Her cloak of wind apparently extinguished Apollonius’s flames, allowing her feet to escape unscathed.

「Fran-chan! Sorry for the wait!」

「Nn.」

Amanda continued her charge, this time heading for Zinga of the Dusk Rain and Begareth of the Carmine Flame.

Once their attention was focused on Amanda, countless magic swords rained down from the sky. Forrund had delivered an ambush after concealing his presence with an enchanted sword.

None of the swords delivered a fatal blow, but his appearance proved that Fran’s reinforcements were formidable. Thus giving us the advantage of momentum, or so it should have been…

「Fuhahaha! Excellent! The arrival of additional foes! Now thing are getting exciting!」

Apollonius’s face was filled with delight. Not only that, but his mana clearly underwent a surge.

「The stronger my foes, the more fired up I get!」

Apollonius went on a violent rampage of his own, infusing his halberd with a dazzling cloak of dense mana, and delivering countless strikes with blinding speed.

Each swing released waves of flame into the air, covering the battlefield in crimson embers.

He wasn’t even doing anything particularly advanced. Fran and Forrund undoubtedly had the advantage in terms of skill level.

However, his overwhelmingly high stats gave him enough power to overcome the difference in skill. His strength was simply too much to beat with refined techniques.

Fierce tremors and explosions echoed through the battlefield. At this point, it was hard to believe that such sounds could be caused by clashes between ordinary weapons.

The scorched earth was burning in crimson.

Forrund barely managed to avoid a direct hit as he swapped out swords. It appears he had pinpoint counters in swords specifically designed to protect against flames and explosions.

That said, he was fully occupied with defense and had no room to launch an attack.

Fran was stuck in a similar situation. Apollonius’s fierce rampage left her struggling to find an opening to counterattack.

Additionally, Rob of the Cardinal Flag and Violetta of the Blood Maiden attacked us intermittently as well. We were constantly forced on the defensive with no respite.

In contrast, Apollonius still seemed energetic. Since he’s a zombie, he might be able to continue doing the same thing until he runs out of mana. At this rate, we’ll get worn down first.

（Master, I’ll do something a bit reckless.）

『…Okay, fine! I’ll back you up!』

（Nn!）

Fran gave a light nod before jumping all the way forward. She deployed a max power barrier and dove into the gaps between Apollonius’s slashes.

We were caught by several explosions to our sides, enveloping us in fire.

Our Guardian Deity’s Shield was still deployed around Klimt, so we had little choice but to defend ourselves with a regular barrier. Fran took some injuries as a result, but she kept going.

「!」

To Apollonius’s astonishment, Fran closed the distance in an instant and wordlessly swung me, enveloped in black lightning.

Fran managed to activate Black Thunder Divine Claw on the spot!

Apollonius tried to block with the shaft of his halberd, but I interfered using telekinesis. My adjustment of the halberd’s trajectory disrupted his guard.

Thus, my blade slammed into Apollonius’s exposed torso, leaving a wave of black lightning in its wake. The electricity conducted through his entire body, scorching it black.

「Guah!」

It didn’t deal a great deal of damage. That said, electrocuting him was enough to stun his movements for a brief moment. Zombies require the mana flowing through their bodies to move, and this phenomenon can be overwritten by more powerful mana.

Meanwhile, Forrund didn’t let the opening go to waste.

「Take this.」

Over a dozen magic swords went flying at the defenseless Apollonius.