I was impressed, thinking, “So this is what they mean by ‘crushing them with sheer might’.”
“If you destroy the core, they’re nothing more than this… Though, they’re normally invisible, so you can’t see them from the outside. But when they’re in a regeneration process like now, they become active and obvious. Attacking from a distance is the quickest way to pierce them…”
Mr. Prado returned with a casual air. Despite a series of near-death dodges, he wasn’t even sweating. No, not a single movement was wasted.
His composure was literally that of someone with nothing to lose for words.
“Impressive, as always… I thought you might have gotten a bit rusty. Let me correct that saying about ‘an old man’s cold water’ – it should be more like, ‘with age comes ever greater vigor.'”
“Get lost… Honestly, if you told me to do that many more times, I’d be done for.”
“Kenturi, just so you know, that one was a mere level 1, what they call a weakling. Level 2 individuals have higher intelligence, their outer shells harden like armor, and they can even move their cores to dodge. They’re a bit troublesome. I suspect a few of them are mixed in with the ones surrounding us… but they don’t seem foolish enough to deploy such rare ones right away.”
“Well, it was a suitable opponent to show a lesson to, especially for someone so young… But don’t let your guard down. I’ve heard tales of level 3s fighting on par with Apostles of the Goddess… Though, I’ve never seen one myself.”
Even I didn’t know what to say… Riedway, who had been watching beside me, looked utterly bewildered. This was the realm of true masters… a realm I could never reach.
Aage had effortlessly shot down such a small target as if flicking a tangerine. Their experience was clearly on another level… so strong!
As for the enemy, perhaps due to how easily their comrade was dispatched, they seemed even more timid, and their encirclement tightened further. They were probably the type that boasted durability for their size. To be instantly killed like that… I could practically feel their shock.
However, this reaction made it clear. The enemy was clearly holding back their forces…
“It’s like the saying, ‘A weak shogun cherishes the rook over the king’.”
The enemy was stubbornly adhering to their own strategy, cherishing this slime or whatever it was, and had lost sight of the crucial strategic objective: our annihilation. They were so focused on it, their gaze had shifted away.
Were they even holding back scouts? The indicators that might have been scouts were merely milling about about 100 meters away.
“I don’t quite grasp the meaning, but I think I understand what you’re getting at. If they’re not attacking, we just need to take our time and prepare.”
Aage grinned and patted me on the shoulder. Mr. Prado, seizing the opportunity, was having Riedway practice dodging at the initial stage of an attack. Mimi-chan, perhaps tired of making egg bombs, was also practicing with us. Honestly, I wanted to stop Mimi-chan from participating… she was quite strong, and it would be rude to dampen this winning mood, so I decided to let her do as she pleased.
And then, ten minutes before Manager’s predicted arrival… the enemy finally began to move in earnest.
“…Kenturi! They’re here! There are more of them than before… 5 in front, 3 from the left! 2 from the right! About 10 in total… Prado and I will handle the front! Riedway, you’re on the left. I’m leaving it to you! But this might be a bit much for us… Should we have the Dwarves handle it? Their fighting style isn’t a great match…”
Aage’s grumbling reached my ears. Indeed, the Dwarves seemed to be all about brute force close combat. Frankly, their style wasn’t well-suited against those high-speed tentacles.
“If that’s the case, I’ll take the right side! Leave it to me!” Mimi-chan volunteered.
Then I should help too… I heard that high-pressure water jets could take them down, so I might be useful. “In that case, I’ll take the rear and be in charge of finishing them off. I’m free right now anyway, and I saw a demonstration, so I’ll give it a try.”
“Kenturi, that’s all well and good, but are you sure? This is your first battle, isn’t it? You haven’t had any real combat experience, have you? I hear many Japanese people, let alone fighting, have no experience killing living things… If you show mercy or hesitate against the enemy, you could end up killing yourself and your comrades?”
His words hit a sore spot. It was true that in urban life, killing cockroaches with insecticide was about the extent of it. Aage seemed to understand that. The inhabitants of this world, where the law of the jungle and killing were commonplace, and Japanese people… our mentalities were as different as steel and tofu. A Japanese person with a tofu mentality had no place on the battlefield… But…
“…Sure, I’d hesitate against four-legged animals or goblin-like humanoids. But… some people might find them creepy, but I doubt anyone would pity them… I’ve killed cockroaches and rats before, so it’s the same. It’s like pest control, right? Since I’m not fighting up close, I have to show I can do at least that much.”
I had to act a little cool here. If I backed down now, I’d just be a middle-aged man with a tofu mentality. Aage stared at me for a moment, then sighed as if giving up. “Understood! Then, it’s up to you! Hey, you cat-girl! In that case, don’t you dare die in front of Kenturi!”
“Don’t worry! I’ve practiced, and I understand how they attack. I can handle it! Grandpa was amazing! I kind of respect him! But you’re old, so don’t push yourself too hard, okay?”
“Hmph! A mere kitten worrying about me, you’re 10 years too early! Let’s go!”
Prado and Aage had the larger numbers to deal with… They seemed to have fought in an open area earlier so we could see, but Prado was heading into the forest. I see. Mr. Santos had said it, and from what I saw earlier, fighting with cover would be easier. But how would they finish them off? Lure them to an open area after gathering a few? Well, they’re veterans, I’ll leave it to them.
As combat began in the forest, Aage remained stationary, observing the monitor. “Can’t you provide support from there?”
“No, this ‘Bun’ person provides remarkably precise support… Look. It seems the core changes temperature when activated… from blue to green… and then red, making it clearly visible. This one must have observed the previous battle closely. This enclosure likely means it’s time to strike? …Honestly, they’re asking me to hit the core from here, which is quite a demand.”
On the screen, five blue shadows were indeed maintaining an equal distance from a silhouette that seemed to be Prado. However, within each blue shadow, a small red dot had appeared, and an enclosure was drawn as if locked on. Aage then fired three spoke-like needles diagonally, similar to before. It looked like they were flying in a completely wrong direction, but suddenly, they began to fall directly downward! Immediately after, the area where the slime with the red core had been turned completely black!
“How about that! Prado! Did you hit it?”
“…Perfect hit! What in the world… You’re quite skilled! Where did you shoot from? It just dropped from directly above!” Prado yelled from within the forest. Apparently, he had hit it with that shot. On the screen, three black dots remained, but they showed no signs of movement. The large group to the north, as if pursuing further, had narrowed their encirclement, but seeing this, they retreated fearfully. Sensing this, the remaining two hastily withdrew…
“Amazing…”
Before I could even marvel, two more follow-up shots were fired… similarly, the retreating slimes turned into black dots. Terrifyingly high-precision attacks… or rather, even if the aim was slightly off, it wouldn’t matter. As if as a bonus, they added about 10 long-range indirect shots to the slimes that had gotten too deep. “Natural enemies” indeed… No wonder the enemy was terrified.
“…This one was testing my abilities, seeing me practice earlier. Quite the audacious move… Riedway is doing well… The enemy’s encirclement, perhaps fearing the freezing bullets fired from outside my field of vision, collapsed. Honestly, they lack perseverance as usual. Kenturi, it looks like it’s time for the cat-girl to attack! …Do your best! I’ll be watching here, so fight to your heart’s content!”
Lo and behold, Mimi-chan was easily dodging the tentacles shot from a 2-meter-tall slime near the fence! I hurriedly ran towards her.
“Owner! You’re finally here! I was thinking of getting close and taking it down myself!” As she said this, Mimi-chan turned to me, deftly dodging a tentacle flying towards my face.
“Idiot! Watch where you’re going!” I shouted, but as if she had eyes in the back of her head, she lightly crouched and dodged it. Then, with a casual grab, she caught the tentacle that had swept over her head and yanked it, sending the slime flying through the air! Unlike the previous one, this was a smaller type, and it flew right in front of me! With a *splat* sound, it hit the ground, crushing, but clinging to the ground and trying to extend its wriggling tentacles! Reflexively, I held my tail with both hands and unleashed a blast of water with maximum pressure!
“Take this! Water Shoot!”
For me, there was no need to say a spell or technique’s name, but I felt like it would be more efficient if I did. According to Lansia, my tail was exceptionally high-performing as a magical organ, capable of a form of alchemy that generated matter through magic alone… Currently, I could only create ice, hot water, or water… but I was still very much in the developmental stages.
Also, I had graduated from the “standing urination” style of holding my tail between my legs… it looked uncool. High-pressure water jets have considerable recoil, but I had also powered up with daily strength training! I could handle this level of recoil by lowering my center of gravity and bracing myself… Go muscles! The slime, hit by the high-pressure water, quickly looked like it was crushed flat, but the red glowing core was still protruding, so I focused my aim there. But it didn’t look like I was doing damage, even after denting it a bit! As I stepped forward, its outer shell seemed to break, and it briefly bloated up, puffing out water from all sorts of places, like a punctured plastic bag with water inside! As I continued to blast it with water, its outer shell further tore, and the red core was ejected by the water pressure… It rolled around, and when I stopped the water, the main body looked like a beached jellyfish, completely motionless.
“Did I do it!” At the same time I muttered what felt like a flag-raising line, Mr. Santos, who had been observing, ran over, stepped on the rolling core, and then repeatedly stomped on it for good measure!
“…Hey, hey, you have to crush it thoroughly… they can regenerate from even this.”
“S-sorry… Mr. Santos!”
Hmm, it seemed like the water jets were effective, but… it was tougher than I expected. It had a leathery outer skin that seemed to block the water, and in the end, it tore, diluting the inside with water until only the skin remained… I could see why stories said they were strong against physical impact; swords and spears would have a hard time. High-pressure water jets… perhaps they needed the power of a riot police water cannon or a water cutter that could break through concrete. Water magic was sufficient against humans, but… against such monsters, it felt a bit unreliable.
Ah, right… speaking of which, why not try pouring boiling water on it? …Should I try it?
