My explosions don’t work?! Wait, I guess that macho guy isn’t totally unhurt. It seems like he feels a little pain, but that’s it. What should I do? Run? But even if I do that, I’ll just be caught eventually.
I was in the area to the east of the entrance. It was a little place, containing only the boss room and an elevator, and it didn’t connect to the other areas at all. In other words, I didn’t have many options.
Plus, I couldn’t just book it forever. I didn’t have that kind of stamina.
So, I’d never planned to run. If I had, then I wouldn’t have set this place up as the battlefield.
I was a monster, a being whose purpose was killing adventurers. My only real choice was to fight! So what if my opponent was a little strong?!
That shouldn’t be enough of a reason to scare someone like me off every time!
I glared at the macho man.
He had yet to make a move, seemingly content to sit there clenching his fists and cracking his neck.
Maybe he’s not attacking because he’s wary of my Explosive Legs? That would mean it wasn’t a total bust. He did make a grunt of effort... Wouldn’t that mean that if he doesn’t take measures against it, it would deal damage like normal? So I guess that means...the hit-and-run strategy it is! I just need to hit him with an Explosive Legs, then get away. Rinse and repeat. That’s all. It’s not a total failure—I just have to keep doing it until something happens! Awright! Let’s do this!
“Mimic Pinball!” I started to ricochet all over the place by kicking off the floors, walls, and ceilings.
“Oh? I never would’ve imagined a mimic moving like that.”
Act cocky while you still can!
I bounced off the ceiling and landed behind him. He left a small opening when he turned around, so I jumped for a wall and attacked him from the side!
“Take this! Explosive Legs Dropkick!”
“Reverse Horizontal Chop!”
*Ker-THUD!*
Once again, I was blown away into a wall. After the impact, I slumped to the floor.
The macho man had managed a counterblow while evading my dropkick. He’d sent me flying with a chop. “HAH HAH HAH! I know I can’t afford to take one of your attacks, so I just won’t!”
H-How dare you! Don’t deal with things all levelheaded when you totally seem like the type to take attacks head-on on purpose! Still, I guess it’s no good—he can even see through the speed of the Mimic Pinball. Isn’t this dude just way too strong? Aggghh, dammit! I guess this is it. This is all my power amounts to. Anyway, I oughta get away for now. Time for a strategic retreat. I’m not running away, okay?! This is all a strategy!
I crawled along, dragging myself away from the macho man.
“Hm? Over already? No, wait—you did amazing for a mimic, actually!” the macho man exclaimed as he chased after me at a leisurely pace.
Somehow, I managed to make it into a side passage. There was no place to hide, though, since it was a straight corridor.
I continued to trail down the passage. By the time the macho man arrived, I’d stopped what I was doing to face him.
Now then...
“Plan C, activate!”
I suddenly got up and ran towards him.
“You were just acting weak? As if I would let my guard down at this point—”
*Sploosh!*
Something green fell on top of the macho man, covering him entirely.
“Nwooaarghh! Wh-What is this?!”
“Good job, my esteemed Slatarou!”
HA HA HA HA HA!!! I thought this would happen, so I put Slatarou there!
When I realized I couldn’t match him in skill, I shifted over to making him let his guard down! I retreated as if I’d been weakened and ran out of options, only to lead him here.
However, the problem now was whether or not Slatarou’s attack would work.
“Gwooaarrgghh!”
Yeah, it’s working. It’s totally working! I guess it doesn’t matter how strong you are once you’re in a slime’s clutches. They stick to you like glue, after all.
I was worried about his mysterious ability to defend against damage with what seemed like sheer will alone, but it looked like it wouldn’t work if he couldn’t see the attack coming. The surprise attack was super effective!
*Tssss!*
This dude is literally melting. Yeah, he’s pretty much naked, after all. Of course this would be effective. I guess he might’ve been confident in his ability to take melee attacks, but slimes dissolve you all at once. No matter how someone trains their body, is there any way to resist that? Maybe he would’ve been able to survive if he’d been wearing actual armor.
“Wooarrghh! I-If only I’d been wearing clooothes!”
“Hey now!” I cried.
C’mon, man, at least stick to your guns! Wasn’t that outfit—or lack thereof—some sort of personal policy or something? Anyway...
“Explosive Legs!” I kicked the slime-covered macho man.
“Mnn?! Gwofwhogh!” The macho man tried to harden himself or whatever it was, but Slatarou stuck to his face, entered his nose, and stuffed his mouth so that he couldn’t breathe.
Nice assist, my dear senior Slatarou!
“Heh heh, what did you say again? ‘If only I’d been wearing clothes’? Those’ll be your last words!”
*KaBOOM!*
The macho man exploded. He was a pretty fierce enemy, but I still managed to win in the end!
“You really should...think about your friends a little more...” a voice called out.
“You were still up there, so I thought it’d be all right,” I replied.
Slatarou’s voice had come from the ceiling. He had a core, so as long as that survived, he wouldn’t die. That was why I had him separate only a part of his body to drop from the ceiling, instead of having him go all in. Plus, it seemed like he could control parts of himself remotely...to an extent, anyway.
“Sure, that turned out fine for me, but what about your treatment of Yoshio and Masashi?”
“No, well, ummm... Like, I kind of felt like I could hear their voices saying, ‘Do your best, Harumi! Avenge me!’”