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Chapter 1236: Basis for Absolute Confidence

Both sides were ready for battle, but Potima’s spell served as the first shot.

Potima naturally went after her priority target, Fran. Meanwhile, the other mercenaries attacked Eiworth and Sibylla.

We had plenty of Red Knights on our side, making it around 30 combatants against the 10 mercenaries. This gave us quite the advantage, so I’m not sure why they were so confident…

『Urushi! There might be someone trying to flank us like before! Watch over Bisdra and the children!』

（Woof!）

We kinda always rely on Urushi in these sorts of situations, no matter who else is on our side. While Eiworth and Sibylla might be stronger in terms of combat ability, I feel safer with Urushi guarding our backs.

『Fran, she’s completely willing to kill innocents. Drag her away from the village before anyone gets hurt.』

（Nn.）

I considered going all out so take her down as fast as possible, but failure would result in a significant amount of collateral damage. Plus, we couldn’t be sure if Potima’s bizarre confidence was due to something I couldn’t perceive or just her fanaticism.

Though I had my concerns about if she would follow, Potima chased Fran away from the village without much effort on our part.

She truly believed she could beat Fran one on one.

「Die!」

「Useless.」

「How presumptuous of you to think you can evade my attacks!」

Potima swung her blade at us, but her skill level was simply not high enough to get Fran. We dodged it easily.

The girl grimaced upon seeing this. “Presumptuous”, huh? Well, I guess she seems to fancy herself as some sort of divine agent, so she must not be used to losing.

『Fran, there’s an clearing up ahead. Let’s go that way.』

（Nn.）

Fran adjusted her speed so that Potima wouldn’t fall behind. The serpent girl launched numerous attacks with her blade, but Fran was simply the more skilled fighter.

Even those at the level of Holy Sword Mastery couldn’t compete with a Swordking. Fran easily fended off Potima’s blade, even during the retreat.

Her clouded judgment due to fanaticism aside, Potima was nowhere near weak. She should be able to understand the difference in strength, so why…?

Fran landed multiple direct hits on Potima during their clashes, though the snakekin’s restoration magic and racial regeneration abilities closed up her wounds almost instantly.

Such potent regeneration was indeed formidable, but her mana reserves would deplete faster as well. At this rate, Fran’s victory was practically assured.

『Fran, about time to get serious.』

（Nn.）

Potima put on a faint smile when she saw Fran stop running.

「I see you’re finally ready to accept defeat. Very well, behold my righteous blade.」

「You can’t win.」

「You’re certainly very strong! I acknowledge that! But I will never lose! God! Grant me strength!」

God? Did she have some kind of special skill after all? It’s possible my appraisal wasn’t able to perceive a god-related skill.

We remained vigilant, ready to handle any kind of attack.

Potima’s form began changing, with amethyst-like purple scales covering her face and arms. Her forked tongue peeked out of mouth for an instant, and her eyes gained vertically elongated reptilian pupils. Her entire body was enveloped with purple mana.

It seems she activated Awakening, as “Death Poison Snake” had been added to her race.

What did this have to do with god though? That’s just a racial feature of beastmen, right…?

「I can feel the power! God resides within me!」

Potima shouted as her entire body became enveloped in divine energy. This was no coincidence. She was clearly manipulating this divine energy consciously.

This must be the source of Potima’s unwavering confidence.

The boost from Awakening varies widely from individual to individual. Some beastmen only gain increased stats, while others, like Potima, gain further mastery over their skills.

The ability to control divine energy grants an overwhelming advantage against those who can’t. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if this allowed her to take down opponents who would normally be out of her league.

Perhaps even a level difference of 20-30 could be overturned.

「God granted me His affection on that day! And I awakened to this power!」

In other words, her awakening to divine energy must have been triggered by something. I guess that’s why she misconstrued this ability for some sort of divine affection.

Potima stared at Fran with confidence, completely sure of her victory.

「I’ll annihilate you alongside your wicked sword! Perish while lamenting the fact that you opposed the divine!」

Fran returned her gaze, activating her own trump card.

「Awakening.」

Simultaneously, she cloaked herself in divine energy, drawing upon divine energy of the Beast-Bug God’s Blessing. After all, divine energy is practically essential when you’re facing an opponent who can use it.

Moreover, Fran’s usage of divine energy might unsettle Potima’s absolute confidence.

I released my own divine energy at the same time, stacking up the pressure on Potima.

Get a load of this! You’re not the only one who can use this stuff!

As expected, Potima reacted strongly.

「P-Preposterous…! How can heretics serving the Evil God possess divine power…! Uwah…!?」

Huh. She’s even more shaken than I thought she’d be. Rather than simply unsettling her, we had apparently sent her in utter shock. Potima widened her eyes to the limit as her body trembled violently.