Chapter 37: Annihilate the Approaching Monsters
Approximately 8,000 monsters were approaching.
A massive cloud of dust was already visible in the distance.
On this side: a mysterious archmage, an F-rank useless adventurer, and Zoria.
"Isn’t this, like... really bad?"
Zoria had assumed the Wolf Fang clan led by Logan would be the main fighting force, but Yabe had sent all of them to rescue Caso Village the moment he heard about the split attack.
"Um... so now it’s just us..."
Zoria scratched her cheek awkwardly.
"Yeah."
Yabe replied without much emotion.
"There’s a huge dust cloud right in front of us."
Zoria pointed ahead.
"Yeah."
Yabe replied without much emotion.
"..."
"..."
A brief silence fell.
"...Hey, you gotta be fucking kidding me! You sent all your tamed beasts away and now it’s just you!? What are you gonna do!? What the hell are you gonna do!? We’re all gonna die! We’re gonna die!!"
Zoria suddenly lost it. She grabbed Yabe by the collar and shook him violently. Even someone as tough as Zoria could panic.
"Ah~, is everyone doing okay?"
"Haaah?"
Zoria reacted sharply to his carefree voice, but—
"Yeees, I’m doing great!"
"I am full of energy~"
"I’m doing well, Onii-san."
"It’s my turn, right!?"
The Four Great Spirits were all in high spirits.
Sylphie, since when did I become "Onii-san" to you? And Freya, you don’t have a turn this time.
Zoria let go of his collar and stood there dumbfounded.
"Yabe, this is a serious situation!"
The tomboyish Water Spirit Wintia spoke with a big smile. She said it was serious, but she was grinning from ear to ear.
"If it’s Yabe, there’s nothing to worry about~"
Wintia hopped onto his shoulder and patted his head.
"Aaah! I wanted to pat Onii-san’s head~!"
The Wind Spirit Sylphie puffed out her cheeks in protest.
"Ara ara, you and Yabe are really close, aren’t you~"
Earth Spirit Belhia-neesan was in full gentle-onee-san mode again today.
"Alright Yabe, I’ll lend you my power! Let’s annihilate the enemy!"
Fire Spirit Freya, I said it in my head, but you still don’t have a turn (second time).
"Ohh! So you have Spirits! With this we might actually make it! Yabe!"
Zoria suddenly perked up. What a simple-minded person.
"Well, I’ll manage somehow. I’m going to use some pretty flashy abilities. I don’t know what you’ll think when you see me, Zoria, but this is the only way to protect the town."
"...What are you going to do?"
"My appearance will change drastically. It might look pretty gross."
"Yabe, don’t worry. No matter what form you take, we’re friends. Forever!"
...When exactly did we become friends? Well, whatever.
"First, Wintia, lend me your power. Just in case, to protect everyone."
"Sure~ I’ll pour my power into you, Onii-san! Take it!"
""
A thin, transparent membrane of water wrapped around Irina and Zoria.
"Next, Sylphie, lend me your power. I want to check if there are any other living creatures mixed in with the monster army ahead. I don’t want any accidental victims when I wipe them out."
"Understood! Here, I’ll pour my power into you, Onii-san. Use Spirit Magic!"
Sylphie smiled sweetly.
...A little sister type might not be so bad.
""
A gentle wind blew past Yabe.
Through the flow of the wind, he could sense the large horde of monsters approaching.
"Just as the chicks reported. No humans or other races that got caught up late."
Good. Now that this was confirmed, there were no more issues. As long as he prevented any stragglers or scattering, they’d be fine.
"Belhia-neesan, this time I need your power. Is that okay?"
Belhia suddenly hugged him tightly from behind.
"...Of course. I’ll lend all of my power to Yabe. In return... later, okay?"
Belhia-neesan! What do you mean by "later, okay"!? What’s with that tone!?
Was she always this kind of character?
"...Women are always wrapped in mystery, you know? Now, I’ll pour my power into you."
""
ZUGAGAGAGAGAGA!
Thick earthen walls rose up on both sides, leaving about 5 meters of open space in the center. Yabe created 3-meter-high walls that sloped outward like a funnel and positioned himself at the narrow exit point.
Finally, the monsters came into view.
"GIGYAAAAA!!"
Good thing I don’t understand Goblin language. If they were saying stuff like "We’ll kill you, gob" or "You look tasty, we’ll eat you, gob," I’d feel pretty grossed out.
"Tch, are you really going to be okay, Yabe?"
Zoria drew the sword on her back and took a stance, just in case.
Irina, on the other hand, didn’t move a muscle.
...Irina is still alive, right? She’s okay, right?
"Hey hey, what are you going to do, Yabe?"
Wintia asked with sparkling eyes full of curiosity.
"There are way too many monsters. I don’t want to burn them, cut them, or do anything that might pollute the wind, water, or earth, so I’ll just absorb them all."
"Wow! You’re going to take them in... That’s Onii-san’s power-up!"
Wintia, you’ve started calling me Onii-san too now.
"It’s been a while, so I’m going full throttle with the swirling energy. If it looks like I’m about to go out of control, stop me, okay?"
He tried saying it cutely.
"Hahaha, don’t worry Yabe! If you go berserk, I’ll take responsibility and roast you whole!"
"There’s literally nothing reassuring about that!?"
Freya was the same as always. But still, you don’t have a turn this time (fourth time).
"Transform! Slime Body Extra!"
He said "Transform!" for good measure before taking off his robe. His form became that of Mr. Slime II.
"Full power! Magical energy! Slime cells, multiply!"
MURIMURIMURIMURI!
The extended tentacles swelled up like the muscular arms of a bodybuilder, growing even larger than his main body. He then overflowed the area in front of the Earth Walls with proliferating slime cells.
There was only one order for the slime cells:
"Absorb and digest anything you touch."
He continued multiplying the slime cells rapidly. The newly created cells didn’t take his shape; they simply writhed and expanded as amorphous slime masses. Their color was the same green as his main body.
To anyone watching, it probably looked quite disgusting.
"Wow~, that’s amazing, Onii-san! What happens next? I’m so excited!"
Wintia asked, practically bouncing with anticipation. What exactly are you expecting?
He was planning to solo them, but it wasn’t very heroic.
"Everyone, absolutely do not touch the proliferating slime. You’ll be absorbed and digested."
"Kyaa! Become one with Onii-san?"
Sylphie, that’s the kind of line that gets you in trouble. The yandere kind, okay?
If you want to be together, we can be together anytime, but becoming one is not allowed. No! One is not allowed!
"Yabe-dono, they’re here!"
Irina shouted. The monster army finally made contact. But the moment the leading Goblins touched the slime cells Yabe had set up, the situation changed completely.
"GYOEEEEEEH!!"
Screams erupted everywhere. Goblins were being absorbed one after another. The slime cells that grew larger after consuming them swallowed up the new wave of Goblins rushing from behind and digested them.
"This is... So that’s why you said you had a plan if they came straight at us."
Zoria muttered in disbelief.
The scene before them was like fish swimming straight into a large net without noticing. The monsters kept charging forward recklessly from behind, slamming into the proliferating slime cells and getting absorbed. Even those that tried to scatter left or right were blocked by the large Earth Walls and couldn’t bypass them.
Then the Goblins were replaced by Orcs.
"BUMOOOOO!!"
Ah, so Orcs really do say "Bumoo." I thought it sounded more like a Minotaur or bull, but okay.
Even if they became Orcs, what Yabe had to do didn’t change.
The proliferating slime cells were only following the single order to absorb and digest, so every time they consumed monsters and converted them into energy, they grew larger on their own. After the initial move, Yabe was basically just standing there watching.
"Shit... You’re really going to completely seal away all 8,000 monsters like this? It’s great, but how the hell am I supposed to explain this to the higher-ups?"
Zoria clutched her head.
The town would be saved without a single scratch. She could at least work hard on that part.
Finally, large monsters like Ogres and Trolls appeared.
Good thing I made the Earth Walls 3 meters high.
If they were 2 meters, their faces would be poking over.
Having a giant’s face looking down from above the wall would be pretty traumatic.
DOON!
"Tch! The pressure is insane! Everyone, get back!"
The Ogres’ charging power was stronger than expected.
While the strengthened slime cells could easily catch, envelop, and rapidly absorb Orcs thanks to their squishy bodies, after stopping the first wave of Ogres, they were hit by the second and third waves before finishing absorption. The slime body was pushed back along with the first Ogres, and the earth walls creaked.
"Alright! It’s my turn! I’ll burn them all to ash! Yabe!"
Freya rolled her right shoulder, showing off.
But Freya, you still don’t have a turn this time (fifth time).
The slime cells that had proliferated and absorbed countless monsters were still connected to his main body through the tentacles they originated from.
In other words, he had already completely absorbed over 6,000 monsters since the Goblins first appeared.
Which meant he had already gained an overwhelming amount of energy.
DON!
"Double it!"
He instantly doubled the size of the proliferating absorption-digestion slime cells.
His line might remind people of Quiz Daisaku, but considering he was originally 28 years old, it was a bit dated. Well, he liked quizzes, so it was fine.
The slime cells, now doubled in size, multiplied upward and rained down from above, engulfing the second and third waves of Ogres and Trolls.
"GYOGYAAAAA!"
"GUMOMOMOMO~"
"GYAAAAAS!"
...He thought he heard something like a monstrous bird cry, but decided to ignore it.
In the end, not a single monster from the Labyrinth Stampede remained. They had all been completely absorbed.
"Hahaha... I did it. I really did it. You completely shut down 8,000 monsters with zero casualties on our side. Damn it, not even an S-rank adventurer could pull this off! The violence of numbers is supposed to be unstoppable sometimes, but... Yabe, you’re way too amazing!"
"Zoria, calm down. You’re starting to sound like a battle maniac."
"Oh? Was it weird?"
"Yeah, just calm down already. With this, the Labyrinth Stampede is taken care of. Now take your time writing a nice report to the higher-ups."
"Ah, right... there was that..."
Zoria’s tension suddenly dropped sharply.
"Wait, isn’t that supposed to be your main job as Guild Master?"
"No, after seeing something this insane, how am I supposed to explain it!? Don’t you want to become a hero? You could even get recommended for S-rank!"
"No thanks. I don’t need that kind of troublesome position. I’ll stay F-rank, thank you."
"There’s no way an F-rank like you exists!"
"No matter what you say, I’m not raising my rank. I won’t take the test either."
"I’ll raise it with Guild Master authority! Fuhahaha!"
"Don’t laugh like an evil overlord!"
"Wow~, you’re amazing, Onii-san. By the way, what are you going to do with that huge blobby part that went way past poyo-poyo into buyo-buyo?"
Oops. He had gotten distracted talking with Zoria and almost forgot. Leaving the slime cells that were still in absorption-digestion mode was dangerous, so of course he had to retrieve them.
"Here we go!"
GYOOOOOON!
The slime body was rapidly absorbed back into the main body, causing it to swell enormously. It easily exceeded 3 meters — taller than the earth walls. A giant slime peeking over the earth wall... that would definitely cause trauma.
"Y-Yabe-dono... Have you... become that large...? In that case, someone like me... someone like me..."
Irina was muttering something under her breath. Because he had become so big, it was hard to hear.
Of course, he couldn’t stay in this giant robot-like form if he wanted to enjoy the town’s food stalls.
Using his swirling magical energy, he compressed the cells.
Shurushurushuru~
"Sorry to keep you waiting. Did you say something?"
He returned to his normal size and stood in front of Irina.
"Y... Yabe!!"
Irina suddenly burst into tears and clung to him.
Where did this dramatic reunion flag even come from? I didn’t notice at all.
"Even though so many monsters were coming, you fought alone to protect the town... I was so worried! And when you became so huge, I suddenly got scared that you might say you don’t need Irina anymore..."
He felt bad for making her worry, but... he didn’t remember ever saying she was needed in the first place. Would it be tactless to point that out?
"Well, sorry for worrying you. But it’s okay now. Me, you, and the town — we’re all fine."
"Yabee~!"
Irina hugged him tightly while crying.
He probably shouldn’t call this kind of thing annoying, right? But for some reason, he found the usual "Kuuoka" much easier to deal with. Why was that?
"Hey hey, Yabe? Logan’s group is probably worried too. Shouldn’t we go check on Caso Village soon?"
Ah, nice assist, Belhia-neesan! That’s right, he had to go see how Logan and the others were doing at Caso Village.
Well, the Wolf Fangs were overwhelmingly strong, so he wasn’t worried even if there were thousands of Goblins and Orcs.
Since no chick messenger had arrived yet, their battle probably wasn’t over.
"Alright, let’s head to Caso Village."
And so, one person was left standing there in a daze.
"...I didn’t get a turn again..."
It was the Fire Spirit, Freya.
