925: Black Tiger Thundercrash

「Ruaaaaaaaaaaah!」

「s.h.i.+! Shgyii?!」

「Hah! Teya!」

The battle between Fran and Tri-Horn entered the realm of divine speed. They slashed at each other while moving at speeds unrecognizable by the human eye.

The two seemed evenly matched at the beginning, but the battle had already started tilting in Fran’s favor. I wouldn’t say she completely mastered the use of the Divine Beast Form, but she still outperformed the most powerful of antidemons.

Fran avoided Tri-Horn’s ultra fast swings, while hitting back with all of her own slashes. We suddenly went on a roll, with Fran handing the antidemon a one-sided beatdown.

No matter how potent Tri-Horn’s regeneration was, our divine attribute infused black lightning and swordplay continued whittling him down.

Then, as if time slowed to a crawl, Fran delivered a series of over a hundred slashes to cut Tri-Horn into a million pieces. The trajectory of the blade flas.h.i.+ng through the air took the shape of a steel cage.

「Phew……!」

Fran slid on the ground as she landed.

As if on cue, Tri-Horn collapsed, spilling his shredded body all over the earth.

But he was not finished yet.

I could see the remnants of the antidemon desperately struggling to move. If we left him be, he’d eventually regenerate and get back up.

We should’ve expected as much from a unique antidemon of the highest caliber, but he’s as tough as Twisted Horn from Castel. With the antidemon in front of us, Fran thrust out her right palm, pointing it at our target.

In response to Fran’s concentration, the mana cloaking her body transformed into black lightning, creating a thunder storm around us. Then, the eruption of black lightning condensed itself in front of Fran’s palm.

Before long, the condensed black lightning had shrunk into a jet-black orb floating in front of her hand. It almost looked like a miniaturized black hole.

The lightning contained within writhed so violently that it seemed like it could pop at any moment, constantly emitting the sound of roaring thunder.

The sheer power contained in the lightning orb gave me s.h.i.+vers. I worried that it might blow up the entire battlefield if Fran lost control of it.

Fran on the other hand, showed no sign of concern at all, activating her technique with no change in expression.

「Black Tiger Thundercras.h.!.+」

Fran didn’t need to move or touch the black lightning orb. All she did was release it, letting loose the ma.s.sive amount of energy she had spent all that time charging.

Suddenly, a gigantic bolt of black lightning gushed out, as if taking the form of a black dragon. The dragon swallowed not only Tri-Horn but also the surrounding antidemons as it charged forward. The torrent of black lightning turned into a raging river, tearing a long and deep scar onto the face of plains.

For someone watching at a distance, it would really look like a dragon devouring the land itself. The nearly 20 meter wide scar left behind extended far into the horizon.

Of course, the black lightning scattered by the blast also wiped out all the antidemons in the vicinity.

This technique, the “Black Tiger Thundercrash”, clearly contained a absolutely ma.s.sive amount of power. There’s no doubt this must be the trump card used by Black Heavenly Tigers after activating Divine Beast Form.

「I’m so tired……」

『You probably overexerted yourself.』

Fran went all out with a power she had just obtained, emptying out her stamina and mana reserves.

Even with Sophie’s song backing us up, it will take some time for her to recover to the point where she can fight again. So looked so exhausted that it’s a wonder she hasn’t collapsed already.

『But you did great.』

「Nn!」

Fran’s spent, but I’m still raring to go. Though I used a lot of my own power keeping up with Fran’s cloak of divine mana, I can easily blast a bunch of spells at the antidemons.

I thought of supporting our friends with long range spells, but Urus.h.i.+ gave me a powerful stare in return, signaling that he didn’t want any a.s.sistance.

Urus.h.i.+ confronted a huge crimson lion with long horns, about five meters tall. The two dashed around the battlefield while lunging at each other.

It seems Urus.h.i.+ intended to finish the battle by himself. He viewed the quadrupedal foe as a rival to be defeated.

Urus.h.i.+ had the advantage when it came to magic, but the horned lion boasted stronger physical abilities.

They bit into each other simultaneously, with the horned lion’s claws striking Urus.h.i.+ multiple times. As I thought, Urus.h.i.+ was at a clear disadvantage in melee combat.

However, Urus.h.i.+ was determined to settle the match up close. As the two tangled with each other, they also rolled around, crus.h.i.+ng the countless antidemons caught under them.

Then, the battle ended abruptly.

「Graaarghh!」

「Gyiii――!」

Urus.h.i.+ dug his fangs deep into the horned lion’s neck, and his claws tore apart the lion’s body.

His Twilight skill had been activated. The reason Urus.h.i.+ insisted on close combat was to bathe the lion in his cloak of twilight darkness.

After the continuous exposure to Twilight’s effects, the horned lion’s stats and armor were heavily corroded. As a result, an attack that should have been a minor scratch turned into a fatal blow, resulting in a quick end.

This was the perfect example of throwing a battle to win the war.

The horned lion, with its limbs shattered, could do nothing but watch as Urus.h.i.+’s spell engulfed its body in darkness. The beast’s presence was completely extinguished.

「Awooooooooh!」

Urus.h.i.+’s howl echoed across the battlefield.

「Urus.h.i.+ won.」

『Yeah! He really pulled it off!』

「Woof!」

Fran approached and lightly patted Urus.h.i.+’s leg, who responded with a bark of pride. He was still bleeding everywhere from the fight, but the joy of victory exceeded his pain.

His tail started wagging, causing gale-force winds.