433 – Let It End With This

“Boring tricks!”

The slime raises its remaining sword high.
I flap wings in the air and send the created wind down my right foreleg to shoot a blade of wind.
It’s the [Wind Slash] skill.

It won’t deal damage, but if I did nothing, I’d just receive the slime’s hits.

“That skill is not just yours!”

The slime uses the wings sprouting from its lower scorpion half to push the wind, directing it towards me from a hand that was freed when my partner took the swords.
The blade of wind hits my [Wind Slash] and they cancel out.

Cheh! It matched my skill to precisely intercept it.

Behind the cancelled-out [Wind Slash], I see the slime already swinging its sword.
A [Shockwave] is coming! A wide slash flies towards me.
An attack that big at this distance is unavoidable.
Damn it, the gap between attacks is too short!

I can’t afford to get hit directly.
I abandon evasion, curling up my body into a ball to block as much as I can.
But if this is all I do, I won’t be able to respond to the slime’s follow-up attacks.

Suddenly, an idea pops into my mind.
With [Roll], I might be able to negate some of the force of the [Shockwave] through the speed of my rotation, and once I land I can run away while minimising my openings.
Balled up, I begin to roll forwards.

The [Shockwave] hits my body.
Sharp pains runs through me as I feel my back getting torn open.
I almost stop the [Roll] on reflex, but if I did that I’d get hit by more of the slime’s attacks.

Shot away by the impact, I maintain my [Roll] though force of will while keeping the damage under control with [Autoregeneration].
As I hit the ground, I enter a backwards roll, taking myself away from the slime.

“Do you plan on distancing yourself again!?”

The slime’s scorpion half moves.
It’s still under the effect of [High Quick].
Can I get away with [Roll]…? As I wonder, my gaze is catches the section of floor that I peeled up to use as a shield.
It’s still up, and looks like a jumping ramp.

If I use that to jump, could I create more distance? No… Could I somehow use it to attack?

The slime has the extremely troublesome shell of the Millenium Turtle to block with.
Breaking through that shield with a frontal attack is difficult.
But, a moment ago, I was able to push it away with [Dragon Punch].

It’s…doable? I’ll need to rely on luck, but there’s no other way I can see of dealing real damage to it.
At this rate, I’ll just gradually have my MP shaved away with each use of [Autoregeneration].

My MP is already mostly used up, since there I was pushed in the fight against Rogueheil.
It’s a bet, but if I don’t try to force this strategy, I’ll lose for sure.

The slime is still looking down on me.
It’s not seeing me as anything more than Saint Lilixira’s opening act.
That’s fine.
While it’s still holding back, I’ll defeat it in one go!

The slime chases after me.
Its speed with [High Quick] is almost the same as mine with [Roll].

It swings its two free arms, and two new swords appear in their hands.
They’re produced in an instant out of slime.
It really is a convenient body it’s got.

“PoOOOOOh!”

The owl screeches.
It’s [Enthused Owl]! Argh, it’s annoying!

I zig-zag.
Almost as through following my path, magic balls of fire and water, wind and earth explode right behind me.
With each slight detour, the more the slime closes the distance.

“Look, look, I’ve already caught up!”

The slime raises its three swords overhead.
Next is a triple [Shockwave]! It’s faster and more direct than the magic bullet skills, this is bad.

But, I’ve arrived at the slope.

Accelerating as much as I can, I take a sharp right turn.
The space where I was a moment ago explodes from the slime’s [Shockwave].

“Hmm… So you can dodge.
But, how long can you keep up such excessive movements?”

The slime prepares to swing two of its swords down on me.
I suddenly spin backwards, throwing myself at it.

“Wha-!”

It seems my sudden attack was unanticipated.
For a moment, the slime steps back and stiffens.
It’s the perfect opening to attack.
I can do this! I’ll nail the bastard with a [Roll] tackle!

“I keep telling you, it’s useless!”

The slime holds out its shell shield.
The shield grows in size, sticking into the floor.
It forms into a sturdy wall blocking my path.

I’m hit by an intense recoil as I slam into the giant shell.
Unable to push the shield forwards, my body doesn’t proceed forwards.
I try increasing the speed of my rotations, but all I do is scrape away at the floor.

“God-sama… Once I leave this castle, I’ll stop hiding and prepare to fight the Saint in an all-out confrontation as the Demon Lord… To do that, there’s one thing I need.”

G-guh…! How can the shield get so big!? But I can’t back down now! I’ll push through!

“I want a name.
Once I win, as a reward, please give me a name.
I want to receive one from you, God-sama.
That’s why, even though Thermal suggested I take a name, I stayed nameless.
That’s why I didn’t take that girl’s name, either.
I would prefer something cool… But if it’s given to me by God-sama, anything would be good.”

From behind the shell, the slime’s arm grows additional joints and stretches out.
While pushing me back with the shield, it plans on one-sidedly beating me down.
Th-this damn slime!

“GuoOOOOOOOOh!”

[Roaring], I roll even faster.
Please! I won’t ask to smash through the shell.
But just a little! Let it lose its balance!

“Guoh!”

The slime’s body finally wavers.
I push against the slime’s body through the shield.
I-I did it!

“You’re persistent! It’s pointless… Agaah!”

The slime’s posture falls apart.
It hadn’t notice that the slope was behind it and lost its footing.
I keep pushing through the shield.

From the tip of the slope, both of us are thrown into the air.
There’s no ground to support the shield any more! It also didn’t expect to be suddenly forced into an aerial battle, so will be too bewildered to react initially.
I stick out my tail as I roll, scooping up the shell shield and sweeping it away.

“Uguu… Y-you…!”

Using the momentum of my [Roll], I wrap my foreleg in black flames and release a [Dragon Punch] uppercut at the defenceless slime.
I punch through the owl in its chest, then pierce the jaw of its human body.

“Booooh!”

The owl’s face tears open, and it screams.
It’s really put me through the wringer this battle! I absolutely never want to meet the original monster.
I feel like I’ve already seen enough magic from owls for a lifetime.

The slime’s face gets bored out by my punch, half of the mass from its lower jaw getting blown away.
The bright red cross-section quickly loses its colour and reverts to slime.
Yes! I won the bet!

『Y-you can do it after all, partner!』

It’s not over yet! If we don’t end it here, there won’t be another chance!

As the slime feebly clutches its face, I release a follow-up attack with my tail to blast it upwards.
I roll, punching it with another uppercut, then roll further and my tail into it.

Hit, hit again, and don’t let up! Don’t give it a chance to recover! If I can’t bring it down here, I’ll seriously have nothing else!

The slime’s body caves in.
One of its arms tears off and falls to the ground.

“IrushiaaAaa!”

A devilish face appears on the shapeless slime and glares at me.
I swing my forelegs directly down into the forehead of that face.
It’s the skill I got from Hero, [Heaven’s Drop].
The slime’s face deforms easily, and it shoots down at tremendous speed.

To do a final follow-up attack, I sharply drop, holding both my forelegs below.
I tear apart the slime with my claws that have all my weight behind them.
It’s the [Return to Ground] combo.
The floor tears apart, and slime splatters in every direction.

That attack was my everything.
There’s no leeway left in my status.

‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
[Irushia]
Species: Ouroboros
Condition: Normal
Lv: 109/125
HP: 331/2816
MP: 93/2718
‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐

Less than one twenty-seventh of my MP remains.
Though some time has passed, the fight against Rogueheil still really hurts.
Just by healing a few times after that has caused me to run dry.

The slime’s not such an easy opponent that I could rely on waiting for [Automatic MP Recovery] before using [High Rest].
Please… Let it end with this.

A short distance away, one of the scattered pieces of slime lifts up and forms into a human’s upper body.

“G-God-sama…”

It’s still alive!? It must have been compressing itself down even while I was attacking it.
But it must have used up most of its MP.
E-even it has to be running out now…

‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
Species: Chaos Ooze
Condition: Power (minor), Quick (minor), Enhanced Physical Resistance (minor), Enhanced Magic Resistance (minor)
Lv: 100/124
HP: 433/1681
MP: 447/1780
‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐

H-haa!? N-no way?!  Even though I did all that, it still has plenty of MP left!

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, God-sama… Did I disappoint you..? It’s the second time he’s driven me into a corner like this… Back then, I said I’d definitely win the next time with plenty of leeway, and yet…”

The slime tears at its face with its nails.

D-don’t screw with me! How am I meant to win this!? If that wasn’t enough, then I was checkmated the moment I came face-to-face with it.
I can’t think of any way of winning from here.

Wh-what do I do now? Can I get away? Lilixira might be able to save me… No, the slime’s faster than me.

“L-Laplace! What’s my probability of winning! Answer me!”

The slime shouts.

Laplace? The one from that Interference Authority skill? I thought for sure it was the same as [God’s Voice], but from the slime’s tone of voice, it seems like it’s a different entity.

It’s probably the same probability predicting function as I used in the fight with the little rock dragon. I stopped using it because it felt creepy, but it seems the slime’s using it without reservation.

“95%… Fu, fufu, that’s right… I won’t lose to someone like that… There’s no way I could lose… It’s okay, it’s okay.
I’ll crush him now…”

I was on the brink of falling into despair, but upon hearing those words, I regain hope.
Th-that’s right, it’s not zero.
I have a 5% chance? Then I can totally do this.

Even if it’s just bravado, I’ll keep fighting to the end.
Giving in and letting myself be killed would be a boring way to die!

There’s no way out? That’s normal.
If anything, in this world overgrown with monsters that eat each other to survive, I am the odd one out for constantly fighting from behind the safety of my recovery skills.
I need to resolve myself.
The last time I fought it, all I had was a half-hearted [Rest] that wasn’t even a skill.

The slime squirms, and lumps of flesh erupt all over its body, engulfing its human body.
Its appearance changes to a jumbled mass of internal organs.
Wings stretch out in each direction, and the lump of meat soars through the air.
Then, four faces of owls appear on it.

“PooOOOOoOh!” “PogogooOOOOOOh!”
“PoOOOOOOOOH!” “PooooooOOOOh!”

The four faces revolve around.
I had thought I had gotten used to the slime’s bizarre appearance, but I was still unprepared for this.
F-four [Enthused Owls] at once!?

It seems it’s completely given up on holding back and is trying to kill me for certain.

『Let’s settle this, IrushiaaAaAaAAA!”』

I almost flinch back, but shake my head and charge forwards.
That’s fine, slime.
I’ll beat you down without any skills!