Chapter 1264: Golden Aura

『Kuh! I screwed up again!』

（Sorry. The black lightning was a bit too strong.）

『Sorry! This time it’s my mistake!』

（Master, next try.）

『Ah! Maybe the divine aura was too weak!』

（Mrgh. Controlling the Elemental Sword is hard…）

Fran and I were experiencing repeated failures upon trying the “mix everything” strategy.

In the first place, evil energy was practically an ant.i.thesis to divine energy and the purification attribute. They tended to cancel each other out when mixed. I honestly have no clue if it’s even possible to combine them without diminis.h.i.+ng their effects. Adding black lightning to the mix only increases the difficulty exponentially.

（But I know you can do it, Master.）

『Are you sure?』

（Nn! You made such delicious curry by mixing spices, so you’ll definitely be able to mix types of mana too!）

『…Eh? Are those really comparable?』

Is that why Fran had such confidence in me…?

『A-Aren’t curry and mana are a bit different?』

（No way.）

『R-Really? Well, I guess I am the Apostle of Chaos, so if anyone can mix these, it’s gotta be me! Probably.』

（Nn! Your mixing skills are super amazing.）

To tell the truth, I think I might be getting the hang of this.

We’ve previously managed to create evil-divine energy, as well as envelop it with black lightning. The reason for the difficulty is the addition of the purification attribute, which isn’t very compatible with evil energy. Combining should theoretically be possible though.

Or rather, I feel like I can do it.

It’s just my intuition, but I think it can work. I decided to observe the flow of magical power and concentrate even further.

The flow is clearer now than it was a moment ago! Also, the Chaos Knowledge skill is reacting intensely. It seems this skill helps me view mana too, not just stuff related to the Chaos G.o.ddess. Or perhaps it’s working because the mana is so mixed and chaotic?

I half-jokingly mentioned about me being the Apostle of Chaos, but it seems that wasn’t far from the mark. Now that I could see things clearly, I also understood the problems.

『Fran, I think we can pull it now. Can I leave the divine energy to you instead? In return, I’ll take care of the purification attribute.』

（Does that make a difference?）

『Yeah. According to what I see with Chaos Knowledge, your divine aura has better affinity with other attributes.』

We started with me handling evil and divine energy because I had succeeded in creating evil-divine energy. However, it seems this affinity part is more important.

Moreover, Fran seemed better at handling divine energy due to her being recognized by the Beast-Bug G.o.d. Her mana simply has less repulsion to other elements.

It seems divine energy behaves differently depending on the source.

（Got it. Let me try.）

Fran mixed divine energy and black lightning, cloaking me in a power similar to Black Lightning Divine Claw. I then infused my evil energy and purification-attributed mana.

Just as I thought. Thanks to Fran’s stable divine energy, it’s easier to control than before. I gathered the four different powers and began fusing them more thoroughly.

Well, this is probably an impossible task that will leave ordinary people crying in pain, but I don’t have any sense of pain.

『Guh…』

Still, I felt the chills for the first time in a while! The burden seems to be higher than I imagined.

Both Nameless and Laranflura are monsters, to put it mildly. They’ll clearly overwhelm us in a battle of attrition if we don’t find a way to put them down for good.

That being the case, we need to find an attack that works, no matter how much we have to push ourselves.

『Uwooooooogh!』

（Master! Amazing! You did it! Awesome!）

『We did it!』

My blade began emanating a golden aura.

With such tremendous presence and force, I became convinced. We really pulled it off!

『Fran, I can’t hold it for long! We need to finish this quickly!』

「Nn!」

Nameless currently had his back turned to us. The Hero Zombies must have launched a fierce attack to divert his attention. However, I believe he’s still aware of our presence. That’s how much composure he had.

Which means he’s confident in his abilities to evade despite exposing his back.

In the first place, Nameless is undead, so he doesn’t need physical eyes to see things. He undoubtedly has the ability to overview his surroundings, similar to me.

But we had no time to waste on such precautions. The stability of the golden aura was already starting to crumble. It won’t last another 10 seconds.

『Fran, rush all the way in. The rest of us will seal his movements!』

（Got it.）

I noticed Nameless getting tense, which means he understands how dangerous I am to him.

Despite parrying Yuvel and Begareth’s attacks, Nameless refused to divert attention from me. Not good, because we can’t afford to let him dodge.

However, this was the perfect job for our stealth specialist.

『Urus.h.i.+! It’s your turn!』

「Grrr!」

「Kuh! This d.a.m.n dog! Where did…!」

If Urus.h.i.+ really focuses on hiding, he can evade even Nameless’s detection, especially during a fight.

Moreover, Urus.h.i.+ jumped out from Yuvel’s shadow instead of Nameless’s shadow this time. Blending in with Yuvel’s powerful aura served to further conceal his presence.

Nameless was forced to pause with Urus.h.i.+ biting down on him. Exploiting that opening, Fran and I pinned him down with Guardian Deity’s s.h.i.+eld and telekinesis.

「Gwoh! What’s this!」

Even with his leg crushed by Urus.h.i.+’s bite, Nameless attempted to quickly regenerate and defend against Fran’s attack. However, he became completely immobilized when caught in our invisible barrier.

I’m sure he can break himself out soon enough, but it’s already too late.

Because Fran was already in the middle of her swing.

「Teyaaaaah! Curry Slas.h.!.+」

『Eh?』

H-Hold on a second! T-That name…!