CH 35

After defeating our first one, we hunted Slimes without making any major mistakes.

Our biggest worry was that we wouldn’t be able to keep up with our MP recovery as we continued to grow, but our fears seemed to be unfounded.

The more we fought, the easier it became to kill the next one, and we were able to keep fighting without ever running out of MP.

(I can clearly see it. With each increase in our level, the more different it was to our first battle!)

I could clearly feel myself getting stronger with each “level-up” I experienced.

Perhaps, I’m now a step stronger than I was before I entered this cave.

(Even so, it’s frustrating how I still don’t feel like I’ve surpassed the effectiveness of these Enchanted rings.)

Before entering the Dungeon, we each put on two rings that increase our abilities.

The effect was so amazing that it made our previous training seem silly.

Though I say that, the compensation from the Enchantment isn’t enough to fulfill the requirements for Class Change.

In the case of the Brave Sword, the condition for equipping the sword can be met with the ring, but it seems that you can’t become a <Brave Leo> until you meet the equipment requirement of the sword on your own.

(Whatever the case, we have become stronger. However……)

That doesn’t mean we should let our guard down.

No, even if I wanted to, I couldn’t.

The pain I felt when I received the Acid attack and the time my barrier broke still lingered in my heart.

And no matter how strong I get, the more I fight, the more I realize that without the protection of this barrier, we wouldn’t have the strength to fight here.

(……Seriously, this really is a nasty dungeon.)

As we proceed through the strategy, the more I realize that this isn’t a good place for beginner adventurers.

I couldn’t help imagining average beginner adventurers, no, even ourselves, in a good shape after conquering a beginner’s dungeon.

We entered this cave unprepared, and seeing the Slime we encountered was so slow and sluggish, we approached it carelessly, thinking that this dungeon is no big deal.

At such a moment, the Slime would spit out its poisonous mist.

Exposed to a parade of status ailments such as poison, paralysis, and silence, even though we desperately attacked the Slime, our attribute-less weapons couldn’t make a dent against it, and it would have been difficult for us to see through the Slime’s attributes.

We would end up naturally relying on magic for our attacks.

Even so, if people like me who stand in the vanguard, don’t draw the enemy’s attack, our back line will be in danger.

The status ailments we received would devastate our hearts, and the terrain damage would slowly drain our strength.

When we decided to retreat due to our dwindling MP, we would end up being stuck by Slime reinforcements, our escape route blocked by Slimes that were supposed to be slow and sluggish……

[……Radd!]

[Yeah.]

Nuku’s voice brings me back to reality.

[You look terrible. Are you alright? If you’re tired……]

[No, I’m fine. I’m just imagining what it would have been like if we had made it through this place without meeting Master.]

Hearing what I said, Nuku chuckled.

[The heck is it now?]

[No, I was just thinking about how you call the guy Old man in front of him, but Master when he’s not around.]

[……Shut up.]

Nuku is a nice guy, but I don’t like how he sometimes says things like this, as if he can see right through people.

[But well, I guess I really agree with what you were thinking. We were blessed with a Master. That’s why……]

[I know.]

What we can do for Rex, for Master, now that we’ve received all this……

That is……

[……Radd.]

Thereupon, Prana, who had been out scouting, returned.

[I don’t hear any grating noises they make every time they walk. As we expected, there are no enemies left here.]

[I see. Then, all that’s left……]

Prana nodded at my words.

[The last passageway…… and the dungeon boss beyond it.]

※　※　※

[Attribute change, red! Fire-attribute!]

At the sound of Mana’s voice, I desperately stopped my arm that was in the middle of swinging.

(Kuhh! My speed can’t keep up!)

Regretting that I had interrupted my Art, but feeling glad that I at least was able to resist unleashing it, I glared at the humongous Slime in front of me.

————-<Huge Rainbow Slime>.

It’s the boss of this dungeon and the one we’re desperately fighting against.

In fact, Rex had told us that “there’s no need for us to defeat this”.

“Even if we had defeated all the monsters in the Lava Cave and raised our level, depending on the pattern, it would still be difficult for the four of us to defeat this guy” or so Rex judged.

After actually fighting it, although it was frustrating, I felt that it was just as Rex said.

This really gigantic slime is a monster that is the culmination of all the Big Slime fights we have had.

Its characteristic is that it changes its seven attributes one after another, just as the “rainbow” in its name implies.

When a certain amount of time passes or a certain amount of damage is inflicted, the color of its body changes and its weak attribute changes.

Since it stops moving for a while immediately after its attribute changes, if you keep hitting its weak points one after another and keep inflicting damage on it, you should be able to defeat it…… It was how it should be but……

[No! I’ve already used <Icicle Sword>!]

[I can’t use Water-attribute magic here too.]

Me and Nuku called out in response……

[Three ice arrows left!]

Prana’s Water-attribute arrows flew in from behind and managed to hold the slime back.

However, Prana’s ice arrows would probably be used up at this point.

(D*mn it, my strength is still slacking!)

The more we fought, the more our weaknesses were exposed.

First of all, in my case, I have so few moves that I can’t fully digest the cooldown times.

I had managed to compensate for this by using different attributes against normal Slimes, but unlike the normal Slimes, which only had one attribute, this one could rotate its weak points.

And so, if we use a technique with a different attribute, we will not be able to use the same technique the next time it changes attribute.

(Even if they aren’t MP efficient, I really should have learned other attribute skills…… Ahh, d*mn it! All I keep getting are more and more problems!)

Swearing in my mind, I slashed at the slime, knowing it’s futile.

[Kuhh, <Ice Arrow>!]

There, Nuku’s magic arrow pierces the Slime’s body, but the giant Slime doesn’t seem to be affected.

However, that was to be expected.

Magic doesn’t have backdoor means like Manual Execution of Arts.

Nuku is a magic-user who had only increased his ability value, and he had substituted his weakness of having few usable magic for his magic power with his equipment.

If this wasn’t the case, Nuku’s strength would drop drastically.

[Ice and wind arrows have been used up. I can’t shoot anymore.]

Prana reported calmly but regretfully.

In the first part of our battle against this big Slime, Prana boasted of an outstanding stability, but she used too many attribute arrows to fill in the gaps for us.

And as a pure archer, Prana has no way to launch attribute attacks on her own.

[Holy……! Acid incoming!]

In response to that cry, I moved my body to the side.

Mana’s Light-attribute magic can consistently damage any form, but her role as an observer is more important.

Besides, her attacks don’t deal effective damage against the big Slime, and as long as she doesn’t have magic-user as her main Class, she would lack firepower.

And then, there’s the problem that we all have in common……

[D*mn it! MY MP is……]

————-We’re running out of MP.

Up until now, each of our battles was relatively short, and MP could be compensated for by leveling up, so we could keep fighting all the time.

But in this fight against this Boss, of course, there are no breaks or level-ups we could make use of in the middle of battle.

Naturally, we were beginning to run out of MP.

And then, finally……

[Radd-kun! We’re running out of time……

Hearing what she said, I gritted my teeth.

《————-Five minutes.》

That was what Rex told us before.

《You can fight the Boss, but you will only be able to fight for five minutes. That is your time limit.》

I understood the meaning of those words.

We don’t have enough MP to fight for a long time, and since we aren’t that accustomed to fighting, we can’t concentrate for that long.

(I know! I know that!)

But I—– we really wanted to beat this Boss.

Of course, if we beat this thing, we will level-up again, and we will be rewarded for our efforts.

However, that doesn’t mean much to us.

We will surely become stronger from now on, and then the reward for this one Quest won’t make much difference.

So, even if we run away, we won’t lose anything.

Even if we don’t beat the Boss, just the fact that we fought in the <Seven-Colored Lava Cave> and fulfilled several Quests is already a great accomplishment, and there will be no one to make fun of us.

(————-But just that won’t do!)

For the entire month we were training, people kept on talking behind our backs.

We were even told to our faces that we were wasting our time and that we were pitiful.

However, the most painful part was when they made fun of Rex.

They can say whatever they want about us.

After all, the one who knows about us getting stronger the best is us.

I could endure whatever anyone said about us.

However, saying those things about Rex is a different matter.

He has given us so much, taught us so many great things, and yet everyone around makes fun of him, calling him “incompetent” and a ” charlatan”.

That’s why……

(We’re going to change that!!!)

It’s great that we would make it out of a difficult dungeon alive, or that we completed the smaller Quests.

""

However, that isn’t enough to turn this bad reputation around in one fell swoop!

(I—- We will defeat this Boss and repay his kindness to us!)

And yet……

Despite my screaming heart, my body was heavy and the enemy was too powerful.

Just when my heart was about to break, I looked to the side.

[……Ah.]

At that moment, my eyes naturally met those of my friends.

And at that moment, I felt my heart completely resonate with theirs.

Even if we didn’t say it out loud, our hearts were all shouting the same thing.

(————-We don’t want to give up!)

I felt my lips curl up to a smile.

[……Green.]

[Eh?]

Briefly glancing at the surprised looks on my companions’ faces, I spoke.

[Stop attacking and wait till it becomes green…… Till it becomes weak to the Fire-attribute.]

[Wait! If we stop attacking, it’ll regenerate its health……]

Nuku screamed in response, but I held up one hand to stop him.

[I know, but our MP is running low. It’s better than pointlessly wasting our MP by continuing to attack.]

[That is……]

[The moment it becomes weak to Fire-attribute, the three of us will launch our Fire-attribute attacks. We’re going to finish it off in one fell swoop before it changes attributes again.]

Of course, if its weak point was hit, it will change its attribute immediately.

If our timing is off and it manages to change its attribute, our attacks will have been in vain.

[What guarantee do we have that green will be next?]

[Let’s hope for the best.]

When I readily said this, Nuku let out a weak smile.

Meanwhile, we waited for “that moment”, brushing off the fumes and dodging the rain of acid that was spewing down on us.

Finally, its color changed.

The color was……

[————-Green!!!]

Our cries overlapped.

[Radd gets it right every once in a while.]

Nuku’s exasperated voice made me smile, but I couldn’t just be happy with this.

This is truly our last chance.

[We’ll all attack together in five! Mana!]

[……Five!]

Mana, who instantly understood my intention, takes the count.

[……Four!]

I looked at Prana and watched as she picked up a bundle of Fire-attribute arrows.

[……Three!]

Even as his face contorts, Nuku points his bright red rod at our longstanding foe.

[……Two!]

And then, I too rushed toward the boss, just as fast as the two of them————

[————-Five minutes have passed, so I’ll take it down now, okay?]

The wind rushed past me at about the same time as I heard that voice.

[Eh……]

By the time I realized that the wind was “the fifth member of our party, Resilia” who had been watching us from behind, she had already reached the Boss.

In her right hand flashed a metallic-colored sword with the air of a king.

With two bright red rings in her fingers, she clutched the sword that Rex had equipped when he fought Verteran and the others.

[————-<Crimson Lord Strike>!]

Clad in a red afterglow, the fairy danced.

The burning heat of her strike scattered the Slime’s body, and it irresistibly changed its color to one of earth.

[————-<Thunderous Ascent>!]

Clad in lightning, the fairy danced.

The Slime’s body trembles, and its body turns red.

[————-<Cold Imperial Fury>!]

Clad in ice, the fairy danced.

The Slime’s body trembles, and its body turns blue.

[————-<Earth-shattering Dominion>.]

And with the dance of the fairy, the earth broke apart.

The Slime, which stood still like the scarecrows in the training ground, felt like it wasn’t the strong enemy we had struggled against so much.

Naturally, the color of the Slime changed again……

[……Ah.]

There, my voice unintentionally leaked out.

After all, the color of the Slime changed from blue to colorless, one that is weak to “physical attacks”.

And that was the signal for its end.

[————-<Divine Thrust>!!!]

As a triumphant sound resounded, Rex’s signature certain kill Art exploded into the colorless Slime’s body.

With the sound of something bursting, the Slime’s body splashed around the depths of the dungeon……

……Marking the end of the battle.

The light emanating from the motionless Boss is sucked into our left hands, and as a premonition of our level-up, our wounded bodies are healed.

The battle has ended.

It’s just……

""

[……E- Errr.]

The end happened so abruptly that we couldn’t even react.

N- No, Resilia was a party member of <Brave Blade> this time, and her level was even lower than ours, so there was no problem at all in terms of formalities.

This would probably wipe out Rex’s bad reputation, and we’d also gain EXP.

That’s why, there’s nothing wrong with this.

There’s nothing wrong…… with it…… but…… errr……

[……Now then.]

Quietly brandishing her sword to the side, Resilia looks back to us.

While all of us strengthened our backs, with more passion than when she had just slaughtered that monster, she said in a determined tone.

[We’ve already made Nii-san wait for two hours and forty minutes. Let’s go back as soon as possible!]

At that moment, my eyes naturally met those of my friends.

And at that moment, I felt my heart completely resonate with theirs.

""

Even if we didn’t say it out loud, our hearts were all shouting the same thing.

(————-This woman really is a brocon!!!)