I Was a Sword When I Reincarnated

Chapter 1238: Fran and the Evil God Fragment

Maintaining her smug expression, Fran yelled at Potima while holding me up high.

「Evil energy and divine energy can be used together!」

「T-This is blasphemy! Such a filthy power doesn’t belong in this world!」

「Wrong! The power of the Evil God in this sword has saved me many times. Maybe the Evil God is our enemy, but it’s not something that must be eliminated. A god once told me that the Evil God is also a god. And they never said I should destroy it!」

「…!」

Potima completely froze.

Well, it’s understandable.

After all, Fran’s words suggested she had met a god directly. Several times even.

Unlike Potima, who only fancied herself as a divine apostle, Fran was the real deal. Convincing her might be as easy as showing the blessing listed in Fran’s skills, but that would be impossible without appraisal.

「You have… met a god?」

「Nn.」

「Why… Why!? Why someone like you!?」

Potima muttered with a twitching face as she tore into her head.

「I was supposed to be special! Beloved by the heavens! All our comrades said so, and even the king! My innate ability to perceive evil and this divine power to eradicate evil are both unique! That’s why I have the obligation to rid the world of fiends! This is my god-given mission! And yet, why!? Why doesn’t He visit me!?」

「Dunno.」

「…!」

Potima trembled with anger and grinded her teeth.

Fran tilted her head since she genuinely didn’t understand, but Potima viewed the action as a taunt. It’s the fault of her own delusions.

Eiworth stated that Potima was being manipulated by the small southern nations, and it seems he was right. At this point, I might as well call it brainwashing.

Potima was blessed with Principle of Evil Sight and divine energy, so I can somewhat understand how she turned out this way. Putting it bluntly, she thought she was the main character.

「Of course! This must because of the unfathomable existences such as you! God will certainly come back to me once you are gone! He will surely acknowledge me again!」

「I don’t think so.」

「Silence! You must not be allowed to continue existing!」

Potima invoked a spell with a piercing scream. A purple liquid surged like a fountain around her and rushed Fran in the form of a tsunami.

Death poison magic.

It would inflict terrible scars to the forest near the village if Fran were to dodge it.

『Fran! Let’s push it back, then evaporate it with flame magic!』

「Nn!」

I invoked wind magic and telekinesis to collect the poison in one place, then Fran blasted it with Firestorm, the level 7 flame spell we had recently learned in Raydoss.

A fiery tornado formed above the ground, incinerating the poison I had gathered. The relatively low power allowed us perfect control, so none of the fire spread to the surrounding trees.

Potima’s face twisted with rage, realizing that she was inferior in magic in addition to her sword skills.

「Divine power! Why…! This should be impossible! Only I alone should have access to God’s power!」

「There are many people who can use divine energy.」

「SHUT YOUR MOUTH!!!」

Potima covered her ears.

I see. So she had never encountered other wielders of divine energy. I suppose that makes sense, as she had been operating as a specialist in fiend-hunting. The mercenaries of this continent are apparently relatively weak.

There must be practically zero people who have reached that level in the southern regions.

「Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! YOU MUST DIE!!!」

Potima gathered an incredible amount of power in her right arm.

「URAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!」

By utilizing every last bit of mana and divine energy, she had created a drop of liquid.

Just one drop. However, that purple drop contained a terrifyingly dense amount of power.

Divine poison.

Potima had expended all her power to create it. That said, the single drop of divine poison was far more terrifying than an entire pool of demon poison.

She shot out the drop like a bullet.

A direct hit from this bullet of divine poison would bring death to any living creature. Moreover, the dense shell of divine energy made it very hard to defend against. Well, generally speaking.

「Haa!」

「Curse you…!」

My blade cloaked in evil-divine energy dispersed the divine poison in a single swing. Potima probably knew this was coming.

She collapsed to the ground with her face covered in regret.

The loss of moisture from her skin made her entire body shrivel like a mummy.

Potima likely spent her life force in addition to mana for the creation of this divine poison. She had quite literally staked her life on this final attack.

「God… Why…」

Potima’s Awakening broke, and she returned to her original form. All she could do was stare into empty space with unfocused eyes, and reach out her withered hand.

「No… I must protect mankind… The presence of the Evil God in the northern lands… is growing stronger… Argh…」

Northern lands? Was she referring to Raydoss?

「Why was I… chosen…」

Those were Potima’s final words.

The battle would have been much more challenging had she utilized her powers correctly. However, her lack of composure really did a number of her.

Fran was not happy at all. She appeared somewhat melancholic even.

『Fran, are you okay?』

「Nn… Everyone says that the Evil God is the enemy.」

『Yeah, I see what you mean.』

「But it’s saved me many times. I’m grateful. If an Evil God Fragment appears, I’ll fight it. If a fiend appears, I’ll fight them. But the fragment within Master is a friend. No matter what anyone says.」

『I see. The Evil God Fragment seems pleased by that.』

「Really?」

『Yeah.』

Maybe even a little too pleased! Oi! Getting excited is fine and dandy, but can you calm down for second? Don’t get carried away!