997: The Heart

At the end of the passageway, we found ourselves in a bizarre place.

The dome-shaped room was as tall as it was wide. The entirety of it was covered with countless gray root-like things, some of which writhed regularly as if pulsating.

Imagine the last boss room in a shooting game, and you’d probably get something similar.

And in the center of the room sat a huge, gray heart.

「Little lady, that’s the Abyss Eater’s core.」

「Nn…… It’s not possible to destroy that.」

Fran always had the mentality of “you never know until you try”, yet she knew how impossible this was from the very beginning. The Abyss Eater’s core was just that extraordinary.

The sheer amount of evil energy and mana it radiated was still nothing compared to the power contained within. Yet the force of the Abyss Eater’s aura superseded everything.

I have to call it fitting for something created from a piece of the Evil God. Simply staring at it made me feel as if something was corrupting my mind.

Even the great beast of the lake slain by Weena Rhyn paled in comparison to the heart in front of us.

Its shape was no different from that of a human heart, the only difference being the ridiculous scale. It must be at least 50 meters wide.

The tiny dragonkin standing in front of it only further emphasized its size.

「Velmeria! Tilanaria-sama! Are you okay!?」

「Oh come on, they’ve clearly all lost their minds.」

Velmeria was among the dragonkin standing in front of the heart, but she did not respond to Frederick’s words. As Izario had muttered, she did not look to be sane right now.

Velmeria, as well as the red-haired dragonkin woman standing next to her, both stared blankly with their eyes out of focus. This woman must be Tilanaria, Velmeria’s mother and one of the divine dragon priestesses.

No wait, it wasn’t just these two. The other large dragonkin man standing next to them doesn’t look sane either.

He was a dragonkin containing a tremendous amount of mana with golden scales reminiscent of Trismegistus. Could he be Dragon King Georg? If so, why did he look insane too?

「What the hell is going on here?」

「Velmeria, Tilanaria! Shit! Georg, this your doing isn’t it?!」

Frederick continued shouting as his voice grew hoarse, but none of the dragonkin reacted. Something was clearly wrong.

Meanwhile, there was a small figure a short distance to the side of the three dragonkin. Though this person covered his face deeply within his cloak, he didn’t have the body shape of a dragonkin.

What’s this robed guy doing here? The robe appeared to have an effect similar to that of Seliadot’s wards, so my Appraisal didn’t work. Who could he be?

Upon closer inspection, the robed man had impaled a sword into the heart. The sword was also enchanted with powerful enough magic to repel my Appraisal. That meant it might be on the level of a failed divine sword.

It didn’t seem as if he’s attacking the core, so what in the world was his goal?

The sword’s shape was also weird, looking like two swords crossed together. Though it had two hilts, the overlapping blades were physically melded together into a single weapon.

How are you even supposed to use that? Throw it like a boomerang or something?

I attempted another appraisal. After consciously infusing divine-attribute mana, I reactivated my Heavenly Eye skill. My skills could be enhanced further by using the divine attribute.

Rather than a simple increase in output, it’s more like the skill could reach greater depths.

For example, using it for physical enhancement would give you more control over your movements. When casting magic, it’s far easier to reproduce your imagined spell. And for my Heavenly Eye, it might start working against these powerful opponents.

『Gnrh…… I see it!』

It only lasted an instant. I couldn’t see everything, but I managed to find a great deal of useful info.

『What the hell is with that sword……?』

Appraisal Information

Name: Blade of Corruption, Falldown + Blade of Eclipse, Evil-Ea――

Attack: 1970

Mana: 8000

Durability: 7700

Mana Conductivity: A+

Skills

Auto Repair, Evil Absorption, Evil Domination, Evil Erosion――

Setting the high stats aside, everything else was just plain off. Firstly, the name. Apparently, this really was a fusion of two different swords.

And then there’s the skills. Most of them seemed related to controlling evil energy. I wish I could get a closer look at it, but I doubt they’ll let me.

The dragonkin over there were all ready for battle.

『Fran, they’re coming!』

「Nn!」

「Leave the Dragon King to me! You guys won’t be able to take him on.」

Trismegistus had remembered Georg’s name, which meant only one thing. He was powerful enough to interest the man who cared nothing for weaklings. It was exactly as Izario said.

Meanwhile, Trismegistus simply stood in place, a sign that he wouldn’t interfere in our battle. Though we lose his cooperation, at least we don’t have to worry about him killing Tilanaria or Velmeria.

「I’ll handle Tilanaria! Black Lightning Princess, you take Velmeria!」

「Nn.」

Tilanaria didn’t seem all that powerful compared to the others. Velmeria, on the other hand, had activated Divine Dragon Form. Indeed, she might be too much for Frederick to handle.

『Though we’re in big trouble too!』

（But we have no other choice.）

As soon as Fran held me in position with a determined stare, Velmeria and the others leapt into action.

『We’ve got to quiet them down before taking out the robed guy!』

「Nn!」

Fran also took a step forward and swung me down.

「Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!」

「Haaah!」

As I clashed with Velmeria’s claws, a high-pitched clang echoed through the air. Her claws, a simple part of her body, managed to be this durable! She’s on par with me……!

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