Chapter 1261: Giant Crystal
The Holy Mother seemed to want Fran to bring an end to her. And not just that, she also wanted us to deal a heavy blow to Raydoss afterwards.
To achieve this, she plotted to give Fran additional allies by having her dominate Apollonius and his friends like she did to Avenger. Ordering them not to use their trump cards was all part of this plan.
The Hero Zombies also guided us here too, come to think of it.
「This hyper-dense mana was obtained by sacrificing the citizens of Raydoss. The most simple approach would be to spend all of it on blowing up the country. However, that is simply not possible for me. I am completely specialized in producing other undead, and have no other capabilities.」
Certainly, spending all the mana on continuously blasting Raydoss with offensive magic would inflict significant damage.
However, the Holy Mother lacked any offensive skills since her specialization lay solely in production.
「Moreover, even if I regained my will, I couldn’t immediately turn against them.」
Zelyse and the Black Skeleton Corps were always lurking nearby, so the Holy Mother couldn’t afford to let them know of her regained freedom.
Thus, she pretended to cooperate by invading Kranzel with Apollonius and the others, when in actuality, she hoped for Fran to take control of them.
If Apollonius had succeeded in defeating Klimt and Fran, then she would simply adjust her plans, sending Apollonius and the other undead to challenge Nameless and Zelyse to a decisive battle.
「Honestly, I did not expect things to proceed so smoothly.」
「Really?」
「Yes, you see… I thought you might be able to recruit a few undead with good compatibility. But all of them?」
The Holy Mother seemed genuinely surprised. Well, the Hero Zombies were definitely on a different level than Avenger.
Giving Fran a few Hero Zombies with good compatibility would be plenty of a boost. If she had arranged for weaker undead that were easier to dominate, the gains would be lower as well.
The Holy Mother carefully selected a power level that could serve Fran well, and deal a significant blow to Raydoss when stolen.
Well, her plan didn’t consider any harm dealt to us, but that’s an undead for you. No matter how normal and rational she may seem, she likely had little compa.s.sion for the living.
「Now, please destroy me. Doing so will stop the ritual currently in progress. The zombies subservient to you will remain even after the ritual’s destruction.」
「…Can I just break the magic stone instead?」
The Holy Mother was not hostile at all, so cutting her down would leave a bad aftertaste. Plus, we have Jean with us, so there might be a way to purify her grudges given enough time.
「Destroying the crystal is impossible due to the vast amount of mana it contains. The barrier protecting it shall be maintained until all of the mana is exhausted.」
Even inflicting a tiny scratch would be tough then.
And honestly, absorbing such a huge magic stone is frightening too. Crisis Sense is giving me one of the biggest warnings I’ve ever felt, which only grew as we stepped closer to the crystal.
Furthermore, it wasn’t only my Crisis Sense skill.
「Hmm…」
「Grrr…」
「Fran, you probably shouldn’t.」
Jean wore a grim expression, Urus.h.i.+ growled with a sense of unease, and Sibylla explicitly stated that it was a bad idea. They seemed to sense the same danger as me.
All three of them have excellent intuitions, and they’re all against trying to break the crystal.
Even the Evil G.o.d Fragment within me had begun to stir like never before, a clear pet.i.tion for me to stop.
I’m pretty sure it’s trying to say that Announcer-san would be in the most danger if we obtained the Source of the Data G.o.d. That’s a similar power to what she had when she was a divine sword. What if she regains that power? Currently, neither Announcer-san nor Source of the Data G.o.d possess power significant enough to concern the G.o.ds.
But what if the two were combined? The G.o.ds had once ordered the dismantling of the divine sword Cherubim, and we might obtain something on par with Cherubim’s powers. That certainly doesn’t sound very good.
Either way, I feel like I’m understanding what the Evil G.o.d Fragment is saying pretty clearly for the first time. There were no clear words, but perhaps it was because I had gained Evil G.o.d’s Trust. I wonder if this can be categorized as a divine prophecy or revelation?
The final blow came from the Holy Mother’s mouth.
「Even if you somehow destroy the crystal, and your sword absorbs it… There is a risk that your sword will be destroyed.」
「…! Why?」
「Zelyse is aware of your sword’s ability to devour magic stones, and he set a trap on the giant crystal, which will trigger the moment your sword consumes it.」
「Trap!」
Considering how Zelyse put a curse trap in the magicite golems, I wouldn’t be surprised if he made a trap specifically for me.
Yeah, absorbing the giant crystal is definitely a bad idea. Everything is pointing against it.
However, destroying the crystal will stop the ritual and prevent them from using it in the future. It’s worth a shot.
We just need to shatter the crystal with magic instead of absorbing it. Oh, and I had already tried to store it, but that didn’t work. The crystal’s owner is probably recognized as Zelyse.
Alright, we try magic first.
『Full power!』
「Nn!」
Fran and I multicasted Kanna Kamui, concentrating all the power on a single point, and striking the giant crystal. All of our friends launched an attack of their own in sync with us.
A shockwave swept through the wide room along with the explosion of mana. If we hadn’t prepared barriers in advance, some of the Hero Zombies might have gotten evaporated by the shockwaves alone.
However…
This was not sufficient to get through the barrier surrounding the crystal. The beautiful crystal continued to float before us without a single scratch.
「Mrgh…」
『This barrier is way too tough!』
「As I suspected, it is impossible for you to destroy the crystal.」
「Did it lose some mana?」
「Impressive. The crystal appears to have expended approximately 1/300 of the mana contained within.」
All our efforts amounted to 1/300? This isn’t working.
「Please cut me down. You should know that this is the easiest way.」
「…Are you sure?」
「Yes, this is my only salvation.」
「Fin——」
Bang!
The entire research facility shook. Immediately afterward, we were struck by intermittent vibrations. I sensed an incredibly powerful aura quickly approaching this very room.
『Fran, hurry! Do it before we get interrupted!』
「Nn! Haaah!」
Fran swung me down with all her might. However, my blade did not reach the Holy Mother. She was enveloped by a barrier, similar to the one around the giant crystal.
「No! This spell is…? Please, try once more, with everything you have!」
It seems the Holy Mother didn’t expect the barrier to protect her, as she shouted in a panicked manner. But right afterwards…
Bang!
At the entrance to the room, the huge iron door creaked and bent.