An explosion went off behind me. I was guessing trying to talk this out with Ifrit wasn’t going to work. He just answered my question with another white-hot strike in my direction.
This time, unlike that untargeted shock wave from before, he was clearly trying to kill me, and his beams of pure heat were vaporizing anything they touched on the way. The force behind them far outclassed that first release of magic power—but, hey, if they didn’t hit me, no worries. I had already dodged those beams, and with my quick senses, I could see things coming at the speed of sound.
In a way, I was glad we weren’t finished with the town yet. I probably should’ve been more concerned about the flame titan in front of me, but that was the thought that popped up anyway. Our tents and temporary outhouses were gone, but that wasn’t any disaster.
We had already cut down the surrounding trees to expand the clearing; if we’d been in the forest, there probably would have been a massive wildfire by now. There’s a silver lining for you. I was a bit concerned about the wood and other supplies we had piled up, but there wasn’t much I could do for it now.
This giant had a hell of a lot of nerve, though! With that attitude of his, I was sure he saw me as nothing but an annoying little bug in his way. He was dissing me, and that was more than enough to get on my bad side. Ifrit was my enemy, and I decided now was the time for a counterattack. I had my qualms about Shizu, the person Ifrit was probably feeding off of for all this, but if I didn’t strike, this would never end.
Suppressing Ifrit was priority one; I could check up on Shizu later. For all I knew, maybe Shizu wasn’t being controlled at all.
I shot a Water Blade at Ifrit’s stomach. It evaporated right before reaching the flame giant; a spiraling plume of fire cut it off. Hmm. Guess that won’t work. But I didn’t have time to ponder it, because the salamanders had just reacted to my attack.
“Icicle Lance!!”
Elen’s ice magic stabbed its way through one of them. As I took a peek at her, she was already fleeing back into her corner of the Magic Barrier.
It was a clever attempt. It looked as if the barrier was holding up well enough without much concentration on the caster’s part. But it’d take more than an Icicle Lance to shoot down those salamanders.
One of them lunged straight toward the adventuring trio.
“You all right?!”
“I can do this!” Elen said. “Risking our lives is nothing new to us!”
“Oh, come on,” Kabal groaned, “I thought I was the leader! Well, so be it. I’ll take one of ’em down!”
“Yeah?” Gido retorted. “I ain’t heard of a bandit fightin’ an elemental spirit before. Guess we’re all in this together, huh?”
It was hard to tell whether they really counted on each other or not.
If Kabal was that eager to “take one down,” I might as well let him. If he died, though, that was gonna weigh on me.
“All right,” I said. “You take him. But don’t push it! If you get hurt, use these.”
Skipping the explanation, I spat out a few recovery potions and threw them their way. Gido managed to scoop them up.
“Um… Rimuru? What are these?”
“Recovery potions! Pretty good ones, too, so if you’re hurt, use ’em!”
We didn’t have time for details. I went back on the move, and the three of them were too busy dealing with the flame salamander to talk. Even one would be a tough opponent for them. Hope they hang on okay.
✦ ✦ ✦
The other two salamanders, meanwhile, had started making their way toward me. Ifrit himself was calmly advancing, too.
Now what?
Just as the thought occurred to me, Ranga finally arrived. I’d expected to have him keep watch over the adventurers, but no longer. He’d be serving as my mount instead.
“You called for me, my master!”
I hopped right on his back. At least I had some speed now. The salamanders were pretty quick up there, but not as quick as Ranga.
“I want you to focus on dodging them,” I ordered. “You don’t need to attack at all. I’ll take care of that!”
“Understood!”
We had almost a wordless connection with each other. Ranga instantly understood what I wanted to do. Then we were off.
The two salamanders fired off straight jets of Fire Breath at us, like two flamethrowers in the sky. It was light work for Ranga to avoid them, rearing back and out of range of the heat. The fire looked powerful, and I didn’t want to try my luck. If I’d still been a human, they probably would’ve turned me into a black divot on the ground.
I’d better take care of those two guys first before tackling Ifrit. So I tried out some Water Blades. Unlike the fire giant, the salamanders couldn’t cut off the attack before it hit home. I managed to slice off a limb…but, ridiculously enough, the guy grew it right back again. It must’ve been made of fire like everything else. Just cutting it off wouldn’t accomplish much. The black snake probably exuded more raw strength than these guys, but the salamanders’ special powers would make them a tad trickier to defeat.
“…My master, physical attacks will not work against spiritual foes. Striking their elemental weakness or using magic will,” Ranga explained.
Oh. Right. Hitting an elemental spirit with a sword wouldn’t do much, would it?
What about launching a ton of water at it, then? My “stomach” had about that much in storage from the underground lake. Would that be enough to put the brakes on this guy?
✦ ✦ ✦
Understood. It is possible to release a large amount of water. This will cause a steam explosion upon contact with the salamander, but is this all right?
Yes
No
Huh? A steam…explosion…? What…?
✦ ✦ ✦
Understood. A flame salamander is formed from collected heat energy. Being doused in water will cause it to immediately vaporize, creating steam that envelops the salamander’s body. It will also trigger a high-temperature, highly compressed wave of pressure, creating a series of explosions.
—And? Will that beat the salamander?
✦ ✦ ✦
Understood. Pressure times volume equals water released times vapor constant…
Stoppppp! Give it to me in a way I can understand!
✦ ✦ ✦
Understood. It will trigger a large explosion, and it is possible that the salamander will be knocked out without a trace. However, the results will likely turn the local area into a vacant plot of land.
Oh, come on! What’s the point, then? I’m not suicidal, man!
But if not that, then what? Water Blades do nothing practical against it…
“Icicle Lance!!”
✦ ✦ ✦
✦ ✦ ✦
I spotted the trio once more, doing their best to survive, with Elen casting magic in the center.
Wait a sec. Water Blades don’t work, because they aren’t magic, I suppose. So is magic all I need?
“Elen! Hit me with an Icicle Lance! Just one’s fine!”
“Hahh?! Umm, that’s kind of…”
“Just do it!”
The request gave her some pause, but after a second, she began chanting. After another moment, the freeze-magic Icicle Lance was launched.
“Don’t complain about this to me later! Icicle Lance!!”
As she shouted out the spell, a pillar of ice shot my way. I could probably capture that magic with my Predator skill.
And if I could—