With the perfected light sword created by the cooperation of Ates-sama and I, we managed to cut down the giant body of the Slime from top to bottom, and at the same time this happened, its liquid body exploded.
If we had just cut it down, it wouldn’t have ended that way.
With cutting which is, in a sense, the most cleanest way of inflicting damage, the liquid body would have easily stuck back together.
But that didn’t happen and it dispersed into pieces.
“That means…!” (Celestis)
“We managed to destroy the core!” (Mirack)
The heroes that were around the place raised up their voices in cheer.
The previous and current earth, water, fire, and wind heroes were hugging each other without distinction and sharing their happiness.
“This is incredible, Mirack! Being able to defeat a gigantic monster like that without leaving a single trace behind! This is a first for me!” (Kyouka)
“Sis Kyouka! Even if you are happy, hugging me is just…! I am going to be asphyxiated by your breasts!” (Mirack)
“This is the first time I feel such a sense of accomplishment! It is leap and bounds different from defeating small monsters!!” (Sarasa)
“Well, that’s the usual for us though~.” (Celestis)
“Ya did well, Sasae-chan~. So the current heroes been facing this troublesome things all the time huh.” (Yoneko)
“I be honored to receive yer praise-dasu!” (Sasae)
“I will praise you for the occasion, Sister-in-law!” (Juo)
“Who’s your sister-in-law?! It would have been better if we had thrown this woman inside the Slime!” (Hyue)
Kyouka-san and Mirack-chan; Sarasa-san and Celestis-chan; Yoneko-san and Sasae-chan; Juo-san and Hyue-chan; everyone was getting along as if the matches not that long ago were a lie —with one exception.
……We were different.
I -Kourin Karen- and Ates-sama; within us two, there was not a single bit of sense of accomplishment welling up.
That’s because…
“W-What’s this response?!” (Ates)
“What’s with this response?!” (Karen)
The strange response that resonated via the giant light sword that was still shaped up had send chills down our spines.
“…Dasu? Karen-neechan and the other one, why ya still leaving that light sword going-dasu?” (Sasae)
“You should just quickly put away that fuel consuming technique already.” (Mirack)
“Karen-chi? What’s the matter?” (Celestis)
Everyone slowly began to notice the abnormality.
I answered in a trembling voice.
“We are being stopped!” (Karen)
““““Eh?”””” “-Dasu?”
“Our ‘Holy Light Bisection’ is being stopped by something! What’s with this feedback?! It is as if a kitchen knife was stuck inside steel!” (Karen)
At the tip of the giant light sword, there’s the glass shards that Mirack-chan and the others created, and the remains of the Slime, which was making the view unclear.
“[Flame Burst]!” (Mirack)
Mirack-chan blows that away.
And then, in the field of view that has been opened, the thing that appeared was…the figure of a human grabbing the ‘Holy Light Bisection’ sword with one hand?!
““““What?!””””
No, that’s not it.
I don’t feel like that’s a human.
There’s no doubt that the silhouette was that of a human. There’s two legs and two arms, there’s also one head. No matter how you see it, it is a human.
But the surface of his body was bark itself. Moreover, it was swarthy and uneven like a tree that has aged for several hundreds of years.
A human that has that kind of surface would at glance be thought of as an old person, but that violent aura that was coming from him was not letting us think that way.
If I had to describe this scene in words, it would be ‘a tree-human stopping a giant light sword with one hand’.
No, it is not even one hand. More accurately speaking, it was only the pinky finger. With just one finger, he managed to stop a joint attack between two heroes.
With just his pinky finger!
“What?! What’s with that guy?!” (Mirack)
“This overwhelming aura! I think I have felt it before… Could it be?!” (Hyue)
It looks like something came into Hyue-chan’s mind. And to tell the truth, me as well.
Within the new and old heroes present here, the only ones who have a memory of encountering someone similar to this are Hyue-chan and me.
From the back of the wood human, there were two thick branches growing out on each side of him. They had spacious ramifications and had many leaves growing thickly from them.
They gave the impression of wings.
As I thought, this presence, this silhouette; they are similar —similar to that Demon Lord Raphael.
“Congratulations. Good job in clearing my game.” The tree human says.
While still holding our ‘Holy Light Bisection’, he speaks without a single trace of pain in his voice.
“…Game, you say?” (Mirack)
“Yeah. I felt the presence of several different types of divine powers clashing. It looked like fun, so I wanted to join in on it. But just a simple visit would not have any class, so I planned something.”
And that plan was this Slime?!
That giant monster fell into the category of game for him?!
“Haha, I didn’t expect my exterior shell to be stripped off before reaching the city. You people are better than I thought. I was half in doubt when I heard the weeping of Raphael, but as expected, you are good as playing mates.”