episode_0171

The Destructive Slime’s Magic

“W-What…? T-That’s a… a person…?”

I was greatly flustered to discover that the presence that revealed itself was a person. What was this? Aria had clearly said earlier that the presence split and merged… Could it have the ability to split itself? No… I’ve never heard of such magic before. Then, perhaps it’s an otherworldly being, like the 20 mana or Dio V Runner-nim? W-What in the world is its true identity…? As I struggled to understand the identity of the woman who appeared, Aria glared at her and spoke to me.

“Zeke-nim. I’ve just realized that woman’s true identity through her presence. But… it’s something utterly impossible…”

“What do you mean, Aria?”

“That woman’s true identity is a slime, Zeke-nim… A slime has transformed its body into a human form…!!”

“W-What?!”

I couldn’t help but gasp in shock when she explained that the woman who appeared was actually a slime, and that the slime had transformed itself into a human form. This was because the encyclopedia stated that slimes did not possess mimicry abilities… For a slime capable of mimicry to brazenly reveal itself to us like this… Isn’t that encyclopedia missing too many explanations…? Wait… But didn’t it just speak…? If so…

“W-Wait a moment!! You just spoke to us, didn’t you?!”

“…And if I did?”

“Then are you really… a slime, as Aria says?”

“…To be asking me questions in this situation. Aren’t you too relaxed?”

“…!!”

The woman’s hand began to transform into a blue-glowing, slimy liquid like a slime, and blue energy emanated from that liquid, making me certain. This woman was the magic-using slime that Arvina, the village elder, had spoken of…!! But how in the world could a slime use magic?! I’d heard that even monsters had mana… No, wait!! Is this the time for me to be thinking such things?! My curiosity and inquisitiveness are driving me crazy!!!

“I will protect Zeke-nim no matter what. So please, Zeke-nim, don’t worry.”

“Uhh… I certainly trust you with that… but with a being that so far exceeds common sense right before my eyes… I’m so confused my mind isn’t working properly… How is this even possible? How did it mimic, and its intelligence, what in the world… No, wait… Rather than thinking about these things right now… *whoosh*… We were merely trying to pass through this path!!! So, could you please stop your attack and let us pass?!”

Confused by the presence of a slime that possessed magic, intelligence, and mimicry—abilities far beyond common sense—I remembered that our goal was simply to pass through. So, I politely asked the slime to move aside. However, the slime, seemingly unwilling to comply, slowly approached us, radiating energy from its hand, and said:

“It is my job to kill all who set foot here…!! Especially you humans… I absolutely cannot forgive you…!!!”

“Y-Yes?! What’s with that sudden remark… ”

“Don’t try to deny it, you despicable race!!! Magic Crasher!!!”

“…!!!”

The slime suddenly attacked us, spewing rays from both hands, declaring that it could never forgive humans. I hurriedly tried to block the attack with Trahan. However, Aria seemed to have already seen through the attack, and with her staff, she swiftly and accurately deflected the slime’s ray. Oh… W-Well done… As expected of Aria…

“What do you think you’re doing? Zeke-nim politely asked you. Furthermore, he was trying to resolve this through dialogue, abandoning an unnecessary fight… To trample on Zeke-nim’s kind heart like this…!!!”

“Human hearts? Ha… I’ve distrusted your disgusting hearts for a long time now!!!”

“And yet, you’ve transformed into a human form… How truly astounding!!”

As the slime lunged at her, claiming to have distrusted human hearts for a long time, Aria, astounded by the slime mimicking a human form, charged back with her staff. Well, Aria was right, though… It seems to bear a grudge against humans, yet it’s in human form… How truly contradictory… The moment I agreed with Aria’s words, the slime’s hand and Aria’s staff clashed, creating a shockwave. I was startled by the sudden shockwave and greatly astonished to see that Aria and the slime’s power were evenly matched.

‘W-What?! It’s not being pushed back by Aria’s power?! Did only monsters survive in this world for 5 years or something…?’

“G-Groan…!!”

‘Huh?’

“What’s wrong? For someone who just made a big fuss… you seem really weak, don’t you?!”

“W-What is this… this is…!! Shriek!!”

Watching Aria calmly and slowly push back the slime’s hand, I realized that Aria was intentionally holding back her power. Ah…! Could it be because I was nearby…? Realizing that Aria was intentionally holding back, just like when she fought Omega at the Rebarude facility, so I wouldn’t get caught in an intense fight, I hurriedly called out to Aria.

“Aria!!! Don’t worry about me getting caught up, if it gets dangerous, just go all out…!”

“Thank you for your concern, Zeke-nim!! But… I’m deliberately holding back because I want to teach this slime a lesson about knowing its place, so don’t worry!!”

‘Ah.’

“…!! This crazy human… dares to humiliate me?! Humans, those bastards, always humiliate me, I really hate them!!!”

Contrary to my thoughts, Aria told me not to worry, explaining that she was deliberately holding back to teach the slime a lesson about its place. My expression hardened for a moment, perhaps from awkwardness, and the slime, greatly enraged that Aria was going easy on it, simultaneously formed five magic circles in the air around it. At this, I was greatly astonished that the slime could even form magic circles. A-And it can use techniques like that?! Is it not a slime mimicking a human, but a human mimicking a slime?!

“You seem to have quite a few tricks up your sleeve. But do you really think you can defeat me with them?”

“…It would be best if you only acted so casually up to this point, human saintess…!! I’ve already captured several saintesses like you, you know?”

“Are they like me? To become so arrogant just from capturing a few humans… I am utterly speechless…!!”

“…!!”

The moment the slime was about to fire powerful rays simultaneously from the magic circles, Aria forcefully pushed the slime back with her staff, then swung her staff widely, deflecting all the rays at once. Then, Aria swung her staff powerfully again, striking the slime hard in the side and sending it flying all the way to a distant tree. I hurried over to Aria, checking on her, and said:

“Aria! Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere?”

“Ah… E-Ehehe… Yes… Yes… But Zeke-nim… if you check my body so actively… it’s embarrassing…”

“…I didn’t even touch you with my hands, I just looked at you with my eyes, so what’s all this sudden talk…?”

“Oh, my~! Even being looked at like that is too embarrassing, ehehe… My face is automatically turning bright red…”

“These crazy bastards… Who are you flirting in front of right now…!!”

“…..”

As I hastily worried about her and checked if she was okay, Aria became greatly embarrassed. Then, the slime, which had crashed into the tree, trembled and got back up, yelling at us. As if the mood had been broken, Aria’s expression turned serious, and she turned her head toward the slime. Oh, no… That expression… Aria is angry…!!

“Sigh… To suddenly butt in and break the mood… You truly are the worst… Why did you get up when you could have just stayed down…!!”

“You’re being carefree in front of me… Wouldn’t you get angry if you were me?! Humans have always done pointless things… done pointless things!!!… pointless things…”

“….?”

In response to Aria’s words, the slime retorted that it was natural to get angry if we were acting carefree and flirting in front of it right now. Then, it began to sadly repeat the words about humans doing pointless things in the past. What is this…? That expression… It looks very familiar…!!

“Shut up!! Right now, I’m just going to eradicate all humans who only choose to do pointless things!! Especially those who have entered this forest, I’ll annihilate them all!!”

“….Your past is not important to me. However, if I were to kill you, Zeke-nim would become very sad… But… But!! Oh, really!!! Since I can predict everything that will happen afterward, what am I supposed to do when all I can think about is that I *must* kill you!!”

“….Huh? W-Wait, you don’t mean…!!”

Aria knew I would be sad if she killed the slime, but she turned to me and shouted, asking what she should do, since she could predict everything that would happen afterward. At this, I was greatly astonished that Aria had predicted everything I would do to the slime next. D-Damn it, how did she know?!

“It’s obvious that if I defeat you, Zeke-nim will ask about your circumstances and soothe you… But since I can predict all of that, should I just stand by and let it happen?! Even though I wished to be the only one he comforted, how many women has Zeke-nim comforted so far… How can I just watch Zeke-nim comforting someone else again, I ask you!!!”

“W-What? What in the world is that human talking about…?”

Aria angrily fretted, asking if she should just let it happen, since it was obvious that if she were defeated, I would comfort her. Hearing this, the slime was bewildered, unable to grasp the meaning of her words. And I was greatly astonished that Aria had accurately seen through my thoughts. H-How did she know? Had Aria also seen the slime’s expression earlier, which seemed to carry a story? And that’s why she predicted I would act that way?! As I reeled in shock that Aria had seen through my mind, the slime stretched out its hand towards us and shouted loudly.

“What?! Comfort me?! That’s insane!! Do you think I’ll fall for your obvious lies!? Just die, you disgusting humans!!”

“Sigh… Fine…!! Yes!! So be it then!!! Omnipotent One in the heavens!! Bring judgment upon the sinner!! Grunt!!”

As the slime spewed a powerful ray from its hand towards us, Aria, seemingly having given up on killing it, muttered ‘so be it’ and chanted a prayer, then unleashed a ray from her staff to counter the slime’s attack. The slime, seeing its ray gradually being pushed back by Aria’s, was startled and quickly dodged to the side to avoid Aria’s ray. Then, it simultaneously formed six identical blue magic circles above itself and gestured towards Aria. The magic circles, reacting to the slime’s action, simultaneously fired magic bullets at Aria. Aria then urgently chanted a prayer to counter the attack.

“Omnipotent One in the heavens…!! Grant me…”

“Aria!! I’ll block this!! You don’t worry about it and attack!!! Grunt!!”

“…!!”

The moment Aria was about to extend her arm and chant a prayer to deploy a shield, I transformed my magic into the shape of tentacles from my hand and swung them at the magic bullets heading towards Aria, shooting them down. As the magic bullets exploded, the shock traveled through the magic to my arm, causing me to wince in pain. Seeing this, Aria became greatly enraged and began to continuously unleash powerful rays at the slime.

“How dare you inflict pain upon Zeke-nim…!! You are doing something that can absolutely… absolutely not be forgiven!!”

“…!! That human just did that on their own… *gasp*?!”

As Aria, enraged by my pain, fiercely unleashed rays at it, the slime hurriedly began to dodge Aria’s attacks. I, meanwhile, felt a tingling in my arm from the recent impact and was shaking my arm to somehow lessen the pain. Ouch… My arm’s tingling… I didn’t realize the impact would be transmitted directly through the magic… Anyway, Aria… Is she planning to devastate this forest?! I was greatly flustered seeing Aria fiercely firing rays and laying waste to the surroundings because she was angry about my pain. The slime also felt great bewilderment as Aria furiously attacked it.

“Certainly… the power is no joke… But… I can do that too, you know?!”

“…!”

The moment Aria was distracting it by firing rays, the slime declared that it too could do such a thing, forming four magic circles around itself and simultaneously beginning to fire powerful rays at Aria. Then, the surroundings of both Aria and the slime began to be laid waste by their respective rays, and I was so stunned by the sight that I couldn’t open my mouth…

‘….At this rate, they’ll have to redraw the map. Every single tree is breaking apart… Are both of them trying to turn the forest into a wasteland…?’

“Puff… Puff… Why…”

“Pant… Pant… Why…”

“Why aren’t you getting hit by the rays?!”

Aria and the slime shouted in great bewilderment, unable to understand why they weren’t being hit by each other’s rays. But I knew. Because I had directly witnessed both of them dodging each other’s rays while firing their own… And because of that, the missed rays were devastating the forest… But unlike me, Aria and the slime couldn’t comprehend why they weren’t hitting each other. At that moment, the slime took a deep breath and mumbled, looking around.

“Here… it should be fine since it’s out of range? *Whoosh*… It might get a little noisy, so bear with me…!!”

“….?”

“Humaaans!!!! If you come at me like this…!! I’ll show you my strongest abilityyyy!!!”

“….!? W-What is it?!”

The slime suddenly mumbled as if asking someone for understanding, saying it might get a little noisy, then declared it would show us its strongest ability, and its body… split?! The divided slimes transformed into the form of slimes we knew, then began to scatter throughout the forest. Just then, various lights began to shoot up into the sky from all over the forest, and where those lights gathered…!!

“T-What in the world is that… A giant magic circle?!”

“…So, its intention is just to wipe everything out.”

“W-Wait… No way…!!”

“Heavenly Thunder!!!! Strike down upon this place now and destroy everythingyyy!!! Exterminate Thunder!!!”

I was greatly astonished as the magic circle the slime had formed in the sky began to glow. Oh, no!! I never thought my life would end like this?! No, Aria *could* create a shield to protect even me, but the surrounding forest would still be devastated, wouldn’t it?! As I was reeling in shock, thinking I had to stop the giant magic circle somehow, Aria, who remained unperturbed and relaxed before the massive magic circle, let out a small chuckle and said:

“It’s certainly a good spell for wiping everything out. However… you seem unaware that magic which concentrates power in one place has many flaws…”

“What did you say?”

“It was the same earlier. You… seem incapable of anything beyond strongly unleashing magic… It appears your skill is still immature.”

“Stop spouting nonsense!!! Then how do you plan to block this powerful magic… you human!!”

“Very well. Then I shall shatter this magic you so proudly call your ultimate weapon, at once. Omnipotent One in the heavens. I seek to borrow your power, so with your strength, grant enlightenment to the ignorant…!!”

Aria spun her staff once, then unleashed a powerful ray straight into the sky. The magic circle, which was about to release its own ray, began to crack upon being struck by Aria’s ray. The magic circle, damaged by Aria’s ray, then transformed into several meteor showers that began to fall towards the places in the forest where light was emanating. At this, the slime realized its magic had been broken and began to shriek, while Aria smiled sweetly and said:

“Shrieeek!!!”

“Excessively gathered energy can turn into a bomb and return to its user, you see?”

“Good heavens…”

As the meteor showers from the magic circle Aria had shattered fell directly to the ground, the lights that had shot up into the sky swiftly began to extinguish. Aria then let out a deep sigh, pointed a finger somewhere, and said to me:

“I’ve subdued it, Zeke-nim. The re-merged slime seems to have fainted over there. Sigh… To have to watch such a thing again… Be prepared, because I’ll be hugging you to sleep tonight too!”

“….R-Right…”

Aria said she had subdued the slime, pointing towards the fainted slime. She then predicted what I would do with the slime afterward and declared that she would definitely need a proper reward. Hahaha… Yes, I suppose so… Otherwise, Aria’s dissatisfaction would build up and explode grandly…