Chapter 420: Dual Slime’s Speciality (side: Volk)

The two mephistos crawl along the ground at high speed, circling around to pincer me from either side. They would be easy to handle if they would stick together, but that will no longer be the case. If I focus on one of them, the other will strike from my blind spot without fail.

“…[Mirage].”

The slime with the young girl’s face multiplies threefold. Two are illusions, but now it’s become even harder to track everything. The cheeks of the three puff up.

“[Ooze Bomb].”

Balls of acid shoot towards me. When it hits, it'll burst and scatter. Blocking it would be difficult. I’ve no choice but to avoid by a large margin.

([Mirage] is troublesome… Only the girl has used it so far. So should I deal with the second head first?)

The other slime, with the face of an ugly woman, faces me and opens her mouth wide, her tongue dribbling out of her mouth.

“[Death]! [Death], [Death]! Ahaha, die die! Another shot! [Death]!”

Black light flickers next to me. Instant death magic tends not to have an immediate effect. I don’t think it’ll affect me even if it hits, but… Considering the power of this slime’s magic, I’ve no choice but to avoid it. I jump backwards to avoid the black lights, then stoop low and step forward to avoid the [Ooze Bomb]. The [Ooze Bomb] bursts behind me. I have no means of protecting myself against [Ooze Bomb] other than through complete avoidance.

I then run towards the ugly woman slime and swing Leral.

“FushuUUUUU!”

Sinister black fumes shroud the slime’s body. It's probably the type of skill that works by imbuing magic power into the user's breath. It would be ideal if I could kill one of them now, but… Since the slime's body is no longer visible, dealing a fatal blow could be difficult.

“[Confusion].”

From the young girl slime, the muddy yellow light of confusion shoots out… I had hoped I’d discourage their use of magic with my initial [Exorcising Blade], but it seems I’m not so lucky.

I kick off the ground to leap high in the air, where I release a sword swing towards the centre of the black fumes.

“Take this!”

The [Shockwave] dispels the fumes and pierces the floor. The ugly woman slime escapes from the black cloud at high speed.

“Such a stupid amount of attack power for the likes of a human…! But I’ve seen your weakness now.”

The ugly woman slime smiles with satisfaction. I say nothing in response, but land next to her as she crawls away and swing my sword. She twists her upper body in a movement impossible for a human, quickly turning to face me.

“[Death]! [Death]!”

I jump to the side to avoid it. Black light covers the spot I was standing.

“[Confusion].”

From the opposite side, yellow light shoots from the young girl slime.

“Cheh!”

With a flash of [Exorcising Blade], I cut through the magic and dispel it.

“As I thought, your amount of magic power isn’t very high. I was a little surprised when you negated it, but that’s not something you can do very often, is it? That’s why, even if it costs you an opportunity to attack, you dodge rather than cutting through. So then it’s simple. All I have to do is keep firing magic until you run out! Aha, it’s too easy!  I’m glad you’re our opponent, and not that legendary dragon!”

She noticed. She’s been firing magic incessantly, but now her frequency will increase even further. Should I give up on avoiding [Death] now rather than later? No, what am I getting frightened over. It’s simple. Before I use up all my magic power, I just need to cut down the two of them. Just as planned from the start, I simply need to push through until one of them goes down!

“You’re already checkmated. I’m sorry, but at this distance, there’s nothing you can do.”

As the ugly slime speaks, she whips an elongated arm, flinging a piece of her body flying towards me. It’s a lot faster than [Ooze Bomb]. I hold my greatsword out to block it with a metallic clang. I’m grateful the scattered liquid doesn’t seem to have a strong acid effect, at least.

In response to the sound of the air being cut behind me, I twist my body. From behind, the same technique flies past, grazing my abdomen. My flesh is torn, and blood splatters out.

“How is it? How do you like our [Water Blades]? Aha!”

Since the initial wind up is short, if they come from my blind spot, completely avoiding them is difficult. The blades of water pile up, relentlessly beating down on me.

I hold my greatsword up as a shield and jump sideways to dodge. A blade of water that I blocked passes through me and disappears.

“Guh…!”

An illusion…! I should have known the position of the real one, but I still fell for it. Even with the pincer attack, this endless downpour of attacks is too disadvantageous to me.

More of my flesh is shaved away as the cost for my small mistake. As I struggle to think of a plan, my shoulder, leg, and arm are scraped away.

“[Death]!”

“[Confusion]!”

And then, mixed into the barrage, are status condition magics. I swing [Exorcising Blade] twice in quick succession, neutralising the two lights. All of a sudden, the space in front of me wavers.

“No…!”

It was a [Water Blade] concealed by [Mirage]. In the midst of my highest tension, she changed tactics to throw me off balance and force a mistake. I quickly try to pull my greatsword back, but it’s too late. My chest is cut deeply.

“Gahah!”

My grip loosens. But I will not let go of my weapon on a battlefield. I strengthen my grip and glance at my arm. The skin and flesh of my arm have been sliced off, exposing white bone.

“Wounds of this level…!”

I put strength into my arm and focus. The flesh of my arm begins to mend, covering the bone. But I can’t rely on [Autoregeneration] too much.

It uses a considerable amount of magic power. In the first place, from the battle with the slime soldiers before Mephisto, I had already used up a considerable amount of my magic power. I can no longer afford to use [Exorcising Blade], [Autoregenration], or [Shockwave] except when it’s absolutely critical.

My consciousness is hazy. I lost too much blood. But if I devote myself to recovery, I won't be able to attack. The only way to kill those slimes at this point would be to use Leral’s inherent skill, [Moon Sunder].

For a moment, my mind goes black.

“[Confusion].”

With the sound of that voice, my vision returns. It was only an instant, but to lose consciousness on a battlefield is fatal. It was at the worst timing. I can’t afford to receive the confusion magic. It’s too late for me to dodge. If I a haphazard dive, I’ll fall victim to the [Water Blades].

…So then I have no choice but to cut with [Exorcising Blade].

As I raise my sword overhead, I hear the sound of something cutting through the air behind me.

『Volk-dono! Sorry!』

A ball of acid bursts against my shoulder.

“I-I did it! My [Ooze Bomb] hit that Dragon Hunter, it hit! It’s my achievement, my achievement!”

A slime soldier…! My raised arm falls. A slime slipped past the magic metal monster and shot a ball of acid at me.

The light of [Confusion] hits me. The inside of my head is thrown into chaos. Nausea wells up inside me. Terror and rage, joy and arousal – a maelstrom of nonsensical emotions fight to control me.