Chapter 409: Division of Roles

“Now then, what to do here? Personally, I prefer not to fight in confined areas like this, but… That’s also the case for you, is it not, Irushia?”

Rogueheil asks, provokingly.

If I am to believe Rogueheil’s words, then originally his body would be a bit bigger, but he’s currently compressed down into his current form. Of course, unlike my [Humanisation Technique], a slime's transformation doesn’t change its status values, so the downsides are trivial by comparison.

If he says he would like to change the venue, then I’m happy to take him up on it. I’d like to put as much distance between Rogueheil and the injured Miria, with Aro and the nightmare. I face Aro and the others, and lightly howl “Guoh”.

Aro nods, and together with the nightmare carrying Miria, runs back down the path we came.

“Pl-please wait! Are you Irushia-san!? You are Irushia-san, aren’t you!?”

Miria desperately calls out to me. But I don’t respond. I don’t know how I should act in front of her from now on.

Lilixira said that, after the Demon Lord subjugation was complete, she'd endeavour so that I would be accepted by human society, but I can’t imagine how long that’ll take. Besides, I don’t know if I’ll be able to kill the Demon Lord this time, or if I’ll even be able to make contact with them. At the very least, if I carelessly approach her before the Demon Lord is fully dealt with, it’ll lead to her getting involved like this.

“Is your farce over, Irushia?”

Two blue lights appear either side of Rogueheil. The lights become physical, transforming into blue metal pillars.

“[Holy Pillar]!”

The two blue metal pillars fly towards me in a straight line. It’s the same skill that pierced my forefoot in his surprise attack. I step back slightly while swinging my forefoot to sweep the metal pillars down, knocking them into the ground. The metal pillars pierce through the floor, leaving gaping holes.

More lights appear around Rogueheil, forming into four more pillars. He can can rapid fire it? Dodging it is next to impossible with my huge body in this narrow passage. All I can do is try to deflect them.

I step back, preparing to deal with the metal pillars. Released, the four metal pillars rocket towards me at extreme speed. Stepping back, I once again swing my claws. It’s close, but I’m just barely able to deal with their speed.

But, while I’m preoccupied with Rogueheil’s Sacred Pillars, Thermal tries to slip past me and chase Aro’s group. I break my stance, reaching out with my claw as far as I can to swing towards Thermal as he passes me. I got him, or so I think. But his body abruptly collapses. My claws pass through empty space. Thermal, who had become like a green pool of water, reforms himself away from me.

I turn my focus to my wings.

If I can buy just a little more time for them here, the chance that Aro and the others can get away is increased. It’s still too early for Aro to fight Thermal. She’s the same B+ rank as him, but the level difference is too big. It’d be hard for Aro’s attack to deal serious damage to Thermal, whereas all of Thermal’s attacks would potentially be lethal to her.

“Gaah!”

『Partner! That dangerous pole is coming!』

While my attention is on Thermal, my partner’s attention has been on Rogueheil, and she calls out to me. As I’m building up a [Wind Slash] in my wings, my wingtip is pierced by Rogueheil’s metal pillar.

“Guuh…!”

The magic power built up in my wings disperses. In the end, it’s impossible for me to spare any focus for Thermal's as he's running away from me while I’m fighting the A- rank Rogueheil.

『He’s coming!』

I turn back to face Rogueheil. He springs towards me, displaying athleticism unthinkable for his elderly appearance. An arm reaches out towards me. That arm blurs, changing into entangled tentacles that stretch out further, increasing his reach.

…I have no choice but to trust Miria to Aro and the nightmare. Either way, I’m going to destroy this old man now. Most likely, he’s the number one among the Demon Lord’s subordinates. He should be the only A rank monster aside from the Demon Lord. If I can defeat him, the Demon Lord’s forces will be significantly reduced.

Even though Rogueheil can freely change the shape of his body and wield strange martial arts, my strength is greater. A close quarters fight is all I could ask for, so I’ll close in on him myself and nail him with a point blank hit to win ― That is what I thought, but as he draws nearer, I notice a creepy smile on Rogueheil’s face. A chill runs down my back.

I stop approaching him and swing my forefoot just outside of his range to stop him from getting closer. Rogueheil’s tentacle arm is torn up by my claw swing. He quickly pulls his arm back and contracts it into a normal arm.

“Hmm, unfortunate…”

Rogueheil intones expressionlessly. I’m faintly aware of what his aim was. He has a skill called [Skill Crash].

【Normal skill [Skill Crash]】

【By taking an opponent into one’s own mucus, characteristic skills, resistance skills, and normal skills can be erased.】

…It deletes skills. It’s an ominous skill, distinct from the others. Probably, Rogueheil’s aim was to lock me into close combat, where he would rid me of my skills in exchange for taking some damage.

But… With this, I can feel the shadow of that slime even more.

I glance behind me. Thermal is running through the tattered passage. 

I wonder if Aro and the others have managed to get away… As I think that, Aro suddenly jumps out from around a corner. In her hand, a sphere of black light pulsates. Is that [Dark Sphere]? It’s my first time seeing her use it.

Released from her hand, the black light spirals towards Thermal. Thermal’s body is blown away, slamming him into the wall. His arm is gouged out, with everything from the elbow down gone.

“Gaah! Y-you…”

It seems Aro’s plan was to pretend to run away while preparing to land a single attack at that spot. Even with the level gap, the [Dark Sphere] that she had hidden until it had grown to the maximum size is not something that he could afford to receive many of. With that brilliant scheme, she landed a solid hit.

Aro glances at Thermal, then quickly continues running. Thermal grows out a new arm, then opens and closes his new hand as though to check its strength.