Chapter 434: Quadruple Owl

The lump of flesh with four owl faces spreads its unsettling wings and flies through the underground chamber. It’s a form that forgoes appearances and MP conservation to maximise the scale of attacks, a quadruple [Enthused Owl].

Certainly, as I am now, enduring that will be difficult. However, due to the showy fighting style the slime has been using so far, its MP has fallen to less than a quarter. For it to be now using four of the MP guzzling owls, the slime must be taking a risk itself.

…No, there are still forms and skills it hasn’t used. It’s possible that this isn’t a risk for it, and it still has an ace up its sleeve… As worn out as I am now, I might not be able to… No, don’t think about it. I have to do what I can. That is all.

I need to push through with the assumption that I can win. It’s okay… According to Laplace, I have a 5 percent chance…!

“PoogogogoOOOOOoOh!” “PoogogooOOOOh!”

“PoogogoOOOOH!” PogoOOOOh!”

As the four owl faces revolve round and round, it flies up to the point of scraping against the ceiling. From overhead, black lights then hail down.

I doubt my eyes for a moment. Close to twenty magical bullets of darkness have been produced in an instant, each of which has the power to deal a decisive blow to me as an endurance-specialised ouroboros.

I-Is it stupid!? If it uses that much, it’s as good as throwing MP down a drain!

I kick off the ground, entering low-altitude flight to desperately try to escape from the nightmarish barrage. Thankfully, the skill level is low so the movements of the bullets are straightforward. If they had helical trajectories or a tracking function, there’d really be nothing I could do.

Right behind me, [Dark Spheres] explode and shatter the ground.

『See, see, God-sama! With this body, I can do anything! I am the most suitable for God-sama! What could that dragon, that Irushia, possibly do for you?』

I hear the slime’s fervent laughter. A chill runs down my spine. Something is coming.

I hurriedly curl up my body, descend to the ground, and switch to using [Roll]. Grazing past my head, an immense heat ray passes by. Had it hit me directly, it would have been the end, there and then, it’s the [Dragoflare] skill. Looking back, I see that one of the owl heads has changed to a dragon and has stretched out from the lump of meat.

“GuuoOOOOOOh!”

The dragon roars. With a second slithering sound, it shrinks, reverting to an owl.

Damm it, it’s using stupidly broken skills!

I knew this before, but if I just wait for the slime to spit out all its MP, I’ll eventually be caught. For that matter, I’m not confident I’ll be able to handle it the next time it makes it rain magic. However, before I can hit the slime high in the air, I’ll be killed by the four owls’ magic. I’m glad that this attack pattern is so MP wasteful, but it’s still far too dangerous.

As expected, the slime flies after me, still scraping against the ceiling. It’s no good… Even if I start [Flying] now, I’ll just be killed by a storm of magic… N-no, flight isn’t the only way of reaching the ceiling!

Continuing to [Roll], I charge straight at the wall, then continue to roll up it, almost vertical. I-I can do this! I can do it! I’m doing it! If I fall here, I’ll die to the storm of magic… So I’m going all-out!

『Wh-what are you…』

The extremely agitated slime seems to return to normal for a moment. But upon realising I’m climbing the wall with incredible force to close in on it from an unexpected direction, its bloodlust soon returns. The next moment, countless bullets of black light rain down on me as I climb. Weaving to the side, I just barely slip out of them, and climb to the same altitude as the slime.

『Then how about this! Where will you run now?』

Two dragon heads emerge from the lump of meat. From each of their mouths, thick heat rays shoot to surround me. The flame walls of [Dragoflare] close in on me. A third dragon head stretches out and shoots a third [Dragoflare] at me.

The sides might be sealed off, but there’s still up! I cancel my [Roll] and kick off the wall, spreading my wings to fly straight towards the slime. Cartwheeling, I dodge the third [Dragoflare], then shoot diagonally upwards towards it. It’s here! The perfect timing to attack!

『Idiot, I baited you to into doing that!』

Just as I’m about to swing, the remaining owl’s face appears.

“PoogogogoOOOOOoOoh!”

At the same time, four [Dark Spheres] shoot out. My left wing that I use to block is blasted off up to the base. Next, my chest, right foreleg, and my partner’s neck are hit.

My consciousness recedes. This is the [Bloodshed] condition. I can’t properly use [Autoregeneration], but even in the best of times, losing my wing while midair would be the worst.

『Ahahaha! You only have a trash amount of HP remaining!』

Argh, you too! I swing my gouged-out right foreleg and tear into the slime lump of meat. Breaking apart my stance, I frantically slam my left foreleg into it. The claws of my rear legs dig into the lump of flesh, preventing me from falling.

『Gaah! Wh-why, even though you lost your wings! Your HP has to be almost out, too, and yet so unhesitatingly, you…!』

I haven’t given up! My resolve is greater than yours! What kind of a conceited Demon Lord are you!? You’re just a bastard with a mother-complex who does whatever God’s Voice says!

『What could you possibly know!?』

Tentacles stretch from the lump of flesh and pierce my body. But still, I don’t stop my attack. I swing my right foreleg hard, tearing apart the slime’s flesh.

『AAaaAaaaah!』

The slime’s body bursts apart in the air, and I fall down. I can’t move my body properly. At this rate, I’ll hit the ground side-first. I lift my tail up and slam it against the ground hard, using the recoil launch myself up and reduce the fall damage.

The next moment, the slime that has lost its shape dashes against the ground with an explosive sound. From the sluggish lump of meat, a ghost-like human upper body sways as it grows out, glaring at me with lifeless eyes.

Heh, heheh… I did it. You’ve got to be out of MP from throwing away so much with the owls. I then hit you with a bunch of attacks, so are you completely empty now?

‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐

Species: Chaos Ooze

Condition: Normal

Lv: 100/125

HP: 521/1681

MP: 67/1780

‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐

…There’s more left than I expected, but it’s still enough. There’s HP, but hardly any MP left. Once it runs out, there won't be anything you can do except wriggle your slime body. It’s my victory. You’ve got to apologise to God’s Voice for losing your ninety percent chance of victory.

“…God-sama hasn’t responded to me for a long time, Irushia. Ever since the day of that fight with you in that forest.”

The slime looks at me with eyes of loathing. E-ever since that day..? Th-then, you've been talking to yourself all this time!?

“I really didn’t want to use it here, but… There’s no helping it. I’ll show you my most powerful skill, [Life Mana]. My strength…is to take all the trump cards of various monsters and make them my own.”

On the slime’s human upper body, three owl faces form and squirm. Immediately, the slime’s entire body is wrapped in flames that shed blue light. Inside the flames, the human body clutches its forehead and screams. The owl faces lose their structure within the flames and fall apart.

“Ah, a-aa-AAAAAAAAah!”

L-[Life Mana]!? That's the skill I checked and found converts HP to MP! It hadn’t used it all this time, and I had no other options so I assumed it couldn’t use it because the conversion efficiency was too poor, but it’s finally using it at this last moment.

So it’s throwing away its HP that it still has some leeway in to regain some MP. That’s fine, if it shaves away at its HP, I’ll finish it with a single blow…!

The blue flames of [Life Mana] disperse. I forcefully raise my heavy body and prepare myself.

Now then, the problem is how much MP has returned…

‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐

Species: Chaos Ooze

Condition: Normal

Lv: 100/125

HP: 1075/1781

MP: 547/1780

‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐

…Ha?

N-no, no, no, nonono, that’s impossible! There’s no way this could be possible! No matter how you think about it, the [Chaos Ooze’s] special trait of being able to take in an unlimited number of skills is broken, but this no-cost recovery of HP and MP doesn’t even compare in broken-ness.

“Laplace… What’s the probability? I see, so my advantage is unchanged.”

Why, why has the HP recovered too!? How has it done that? With a skill like that, this doesn’t even count as a battle. Something is strange about this. There has to be a trick to it.

“Now then, Irushia… Let’s start the real final round. Killing this monster…was really hard. It had [Life Mana], after all…”

The slime’s body suddenly swells up.