Roll! Roll! Roll! Roll! Roll!
“Wait, you delicious apple! Just one more bite, please!” Her sickly and frail state vanished as she chased me around her room. I rolled around, escaping her grasp.
Oh shoot, this is bad! Fresa was around to protect me last time, but I’m alone today! She’s gonna catch me! Please don’t eat me!
The door opened, and the boss walked in with a start. “What are you doing, Berry?!”
“Please, calm down! It might affect your health!” the underling said, following closely behind.
The two thieves tried to calm down the rampaging girl. “Let go! I want more! I want to eat more!” Berry shouted.
Ding Ding! “The piece you have transferred has been digested and absorbed.”
Phew! I thought I was gonna die again!
“Thank goodness! Are you okay, Furutsu?” Grida asked.
Yep. The part she bit is all back to normal too. I’m sure her illness will be cured now.
Ding Ding! “Confirmed a parasite negatively affected the recipient of the blessing. This parasite will be forcefully removed. 5...4...3...2...1... Forceful removal completed.”
Berry started groaning. “Ugh...gh...blegh!” She coughed up a gross-looking creature that resembled a squid. Its tentacles wriggled.
Is that a demon?! How did a demon of that size make its way into her tiny body?
Ding Ding! “Warning. Due to the forceful removal, the parasitic creature now has increased aggro toward [Furutsu].”
Seems like the root of Berry’s illness was this gross thing. It flung its tentacles toward me like a whip. Dude, it seems pissed at me. Its tentacles expelled some kind of slimy substance, which sizzled when it hit the floor and walls. White smoke rose in the air.
Oh, that’s hot!
Ding Ding! “Detected wound on the outer layer. You have gained three percent resistance against acid. [3/100]”
My Resistant Outer Layer grants me resistance toward any damage I take.
“Furutsu, are you okay?” Grida called out.
Yep. I’ll heal wounds like this in an instant.
Fwip! Fwip! The parasite relentlessly attacked, aiming only at me.
It looks slow, but it’s actually pretty quick. Ouch, so hot! And it’s got great aim to boot. This is kinda tricky.
Ding Ding! “Detected wound on the outer layer. You have gained three percent resistance against acid. [6/100]”
The more resistance I gain, the less pain I feel, and my skin doesn’t melt as much—but it’s still pretty painful!
Ding Ding! “Detected wound on the outer layer. You have gained three percent resistance against acid. [9/100]”
Ouch! It grazed me again! This is bad. If it gets a good hit on me, my healing won’t keep up until I reach a hundred percent resistance! Grida, I’m gonna focus on dodging, so could you cast the wind magic?
“Okay! Unchain the wind, entreat the moon!”
Ding! “Confirmed activation of spell. Strength is at three percent.” Grida’s spell cut off two of the creature’s tentacles as well as part of its body. Her magic was as powerful as ever.
But it doesn’t matter how much we cut—it just regenerates right back. Look, that weird foam spurts out from any injuries and then it’s back to normal.
“Why did this monster come out of Berry’s mouth?!” the boss said, wiping sweat from his brow.
“B-Boss, is that an apple?” the underling said with surprise as he was protecting Berry.
Berry cocked her head to one side with a puzzled look on her face. “Huh? Didn’t you guys leave that apple for me?”
“No? Seriously, what’s with that weird apple?”
Huh? Okay, rude! Don’t call me a weird apple! Don’t mind me, fighting for my life and unleashing a barrage of magic against some mysterious parasite!
Grida giggled. “You put it that way on purpose, didn’t you?”
You bet.
“I think that monster is what made me sick! The mysterious apple helped me chase it out of my body!” Berry said.
“Wh-What?!”
Does she understand that she healed because of the blessing?
“There’s no way...but you’ve got a healthy glow and you’re not coughing at all! Seriously? Are you cured now?” the boss asked.
“Yeah! I’m good as new! In fact, I feel better than ever!”
The boss and his lackey looked at each other. They both took Berry’s hands in their own as large beads of tears rolled down their cheeks.
“This...is a miracle. Thank God...” the boss said, weeping.
“Yes, truly!” the underling added through his sobs.
I’m happy for you guys, but now’s really not the time. This monster keeps healing.
“Furutsu, the tentacles keep coming back! We should use the fire magic,” Grida said.
No, we can’t use that in this small room. Unlike the Chasm of Catastrophe, there’s a lot of flammable stuff in here. We might start a huge fire.
“You’re right. The whole room is made of wood.”
All of these underground rooms are. We’ll definitely cause a fire if we use our magic, but I don’t want to tackle that slimy monster either. Hm? Wait a sec, I know!
“Did you think of something?”
Yeah, leave it to me. Take this! Remove the shackles of fire, traveler, at ten percent strength!
Ding! “Confirmed activation of spell. Strength is at ten percent.”
Fwoom!
My large flame enveloped the parasitic demon, and it cried out in pain.
“Wait, Furutsu?! If you fire that...” As expected, the floor, walls, and ceiling all caught on fire.
Ha ha ha! Well yeah, duh.
“Huh?! That apple set this room on fire!” the boss cried.
“Whaaat?! Let’s run, boss!” the underling yelled.
Ha ha ha! Yep, at this rate, I’ll be a burnt apple too!
“Huh? Furutsu, this is a fire! Everything’s burning! What will we do?” Grida said.
I’ll use this: activate Turn Reversal!
Ding! “Turn Reversal has been activated. The effects of the last used spell, ‘Remove the shackles of fire, traveler’ will now reverse. 3...2...1... Completed. Cost: 2118. Recast cooldown: 10,590 seconds.”
“Wh-What’s going on?! There was a sea of flames around me...”
“Boss, am I dreaming?!”
“Look! That monster’s not on fire anymore! Is it back to normal?!”
Thanks to Turn Reversal, all the burned objects returned to normal. It had reversed all the effects of my fire spell. Of course, the parasitic demon also returned to its original uncharred state.
“It...isn’t moving?” the boss said.
I can’t revive a life that’s been lost, so here’s an unscathed corpse instead.
“Wow! I forgot all about that! You’re amazing!” Grida said.
Heh, I am, aren’t I? I’m a genius! Grida, could you collect it, just in case?
“Okay! Here we go!” The creature slowly disappeared inside of me.
“Eek?! Boss, the apple ate that thing!” the underling yelped.
“Idiot, the apple didn’t eat it. It just gathered it up or made it disappear somehow. Have you never seen spatial magic?”
Way to go, you’re really knowledgeable.
“Huh... I’ve heard about it before, but can an apple use that kind of high-class magic?”
“This clearly isn’t a normal apple. It healed Berry and it did whatever made all that fire disappear. It’s got some godlike abilities.”