Light Ball

Its a magic tool that, as its name suggests, emits light when its filled with magic energy.

Its as big as a pebble you can easily grip.

Fwooshh!

The light ball is thrown through a gap in the noise wall.

The direction where they were thrown was towards the four cardinal directions.

The throwing distances were also divided from near to far.

The area where these balls of light fall increases in brightness.

Theres no problem even if the monsters in the vicinity would become attracted to the light source.

After all, theres no way that any monster in this area can beat me.

Rather than those monsters- Its to detect the movements of that unidentified being.

This was our first priority.

I, Ruin, had already made my vow.

That I would completely abandon any half-heartedness towards this adversary.

Everyone was currently filled with anxiousness.

Lets have fun.

Yes, I wanted to say that.

However, now isnt the time to say such things.

Were facing our first ever critical situation that our group, Heroic Sword, had faced

I looked at Satsukis corpse which was still stuck in the middle of the opening of the noise wall.

Constantly looking at it, I quickly turned my gaze away and returned my awareness back to the enemy.

In the short amount of time, weve already lost two people.

Strife.

Satsuki.

Theres also four people who I dont know whether theyre dead or alive.

Toad.

Bardwitcher.

Caro.

Nana Tout.

Before I knew it, Im only certain about the safety of 4 people.

Thats already less than half of the number of my group.

[Isnt it dangerous to launch ourselves here, Ruin?]

Yuugungu asked while he was leaning his body against the wall and peeking through a gap.

[My intuition tells me that its a bad idea to let the enemy perceive our whole body.]

In fact, it seems like the enemy couldnt make their attack.

I cant imagine the reason why though.

However, its probably necessary for us to go on the offensive.

My guess is that it has something to do with perceiving our whole body- or something close to it in the enemys field of vision.

(Is the enemy one of those people said in legends? The users of mystic eyes?)

Theres no way thats the case.

Ive never even heard of the mystic eyes in my adventures.

After all, legends would just be legends.

Everyone was feeling a bit suffocated.

Our nerves are always strained, trying to detect even the slightest movement.

[I guess being unable to attack would also go for our group as well huh.]

We would need a long-range weapon that can be fired from the inside.

Fortunately, we have bows and arrows.

Right now, Yuugungu and Arene have switched their weapons to bows and arrows.

The other way that we could use to attack from the inside was with a magic tool for attack magic.

Myana is exactly holding such a magic tool that has a form of a staff.

As for me I have Satsukis katana in hand.

I could use it as a throwing weapon.

I tightly gripped the hilt of the katana.

Grip!

(Ill be using this, Satsuki Also, Ill definitely scrape Nyakis ears off with this katana I promise you!)

Turning my gaze towards the outside, I saw insects swarming around the light ball.

[It seems like the enemy cant go on the offensive unless they can perceive our entire body.]

[Does that mean that Satsuki attacked us like that because he doesnt have the strength to fight it himself?]

[Thats what I think but !]

I placed a hand over my stomach.

Desperately stifling out a nausea that was about to burst out of my mouth.

[Hey!? Are you okay, Ruin?]

[I dont feel good.]

[I- Is something the matter?]

[The presence I felt was strange.]

All the time, Ive always been feeling this.

The sensation of my temples being tightly gripped.

It was as if my brain was being racked up and stirred.

[It was mismatched.]

[Mismatched?]

Its probably my intuition at work.

[The being were facing isnt strong Yes, the being were facing isnt strong at all. However, its so sinister By the strength of this being Im feeling, we should be able to win against him. If I were to fight this being, I would definitely win And yet, Im feeling terribly afraid!]

Its too mismatching.

Its as if Im being confronted by a problem that doesnt hold any solution.

However

[The true identity of this mismatching aspect- I feel like this is the key to our victory. If we were able to grasp this mysterious mismatch If we were able to know our enemys true nature, I feel like it would bring us to victory!]

As if to cheer himself up, Yuugungu raises his voice.

[That means- The one telling this!? That instinct of yours that has always saved us!?]

[Yeah, then it cant be mistaken! Unraveling the identity of this feeling is our solution to victory! Ahh! Its telling me My intuition!]

I felt my breathing get rougher.

[Its telling me to live!]

Know the true identity of the enemy

(Thats the first step for our survival)

Human?

Human-Faced?

Demi-human?

An assassin sent from the Faraway Country?

Or perhaps, a second group of assassins sent by Mira?

Neither of those answers felt right.

It doesnt feel like those answers fit right into the missing puzzle.

[Haahhh Haahhh Haahhh-]

Our bodies are drenched in sweat.

The temperature isnt so high.

However, everyone was sweating.

At that moment

[Footsteps.]

I can certainly hear footsteps.

I tried listening to it even more carefully.

What I was hearing was

[A horse? Isnt that the sound of a horses footsteps?]

Normally, horses are afraid to step into the Demon Zone.

They cant mentally endure being inside the vicinity.

And yet, I can hear the sound of horses.

(Moreover, there are two of them)

Two horses were running in a row.

Running round and round.

They are galloping around our group, though they are also trying to keep a safe distance away from us.

That means

[There are at least two enemies]

The first thing I needed to grasp was the number of people.

I focus my hearing on the sound of footsteps.

Although my awareness is somewhat taken up by detecting these footsteps, I dont stop being alert with my surroundings.

[Nngghh]

I graps on my chest again, feeling an increasing amount of pain on it.

[Ruin!?]

[Theyre different.]

[Different?]

[Our enemies arent riding on these horses.]

The being with mismatched aspects.

They were

[There is someone other than them here]

However, the horses seem to be unusual too.

Whether its their speed

Or the strength of their steps as they tread through the ground.

It feels like their tenaciousness is unusual.

That means that they arent just normal horses.

Theres a high probability that theyre monsters.

Are you having fun now?

(That voice I cant hear it anymore Have I just been hallucinating when I heard it? However)

[!]

The pressure I felt in my body rapidly grew stronger.

And then It suddenly appeared.

[! Arene, light balls!]

[Y- Yeah!]

As if I was snatching it off her hand, I took the ball of light from her hand.

[Show me the solution!]

With an underhand throw, I threw it as hard as I could towards the pressure I felt.

Thereupon

Beyond the dense sea of trees

There was that gigantic being.

Seeing that being, my eyes opened wide.

[A slime?]

A gigantic monster that should be a slime.

Yes.

The light shone on a gigantic slime.

It was only for a moment that I could see it.

The figure of that slime immediately disappeared from the range of the light ball.

How could I describe this

It was as if it had shrunk in the blink of an eye.

However, I certainly saw it with my own eyes.

A majestic appearance, just like a king standing at the pinnacle of all slimes.

Ive certainly never seen a slime of that size in my whole life.

[Fufufu I see So thats why!]

With his eyes shining, Yuugungu, who also saw that giant slime, looked over his shoulder.

[Ruin! Thats Thats the real identity of that mismatching aspects youre talking about!?]

[-Yeah, I guess so.]

Slimes are recognized as insubstantial monsters.

Theyre just monsters that are usually crushed and played around by humans.

Probably because they were crushed and killed for fun, you dont see them much these days

[Its just a weak slime, but for it to have this much pressure Thats why you feel that somethings mismatching. Theyre originally just weak monsters, but because of some mutation or something like that The true identity of the enemy is a mutant slime with a special ability to drive people crazy! Arene, give me more light balls!]

I began lighting up that area with a ball of light at once.

[..]

I focused my attention on the area where that slime had been.

Its faint but I can certainly detect its presence.

The target is surprisingly small.

It also had lots of things shielding its body.

(However-)

[I wont let it escape.]

I can do this.

I can definitely bring it down.

With just one swift strike.

(Lend me your strength, Satsuki.)

Tightly gripping the hilt of Satsukis katana, I held it over my shoulders.

All my nerves

All my senses

Gathering all of it, I set my aim towards the presence of that slime.

Line of fire, secured.

Creakkk

Bending my arm, all the muscles in it bellowed.

Then

[PIIGGGGGGGGGGIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII-!!!!!!]

An unusually loud squeal echoed around the area.

[What the heck is that!? Shut up, will you!?]

[What the heck is with that slime!?]

[Kyaaahhh!?]

I heard the voices of my three companions as they covered their ears from that uproar.

Their voices were drowned by the volume of the squeal though.

Its as if its loud cries were amplified to be even louder.

[Is this an attempt to intimidate us Or perhaps, is it frightened? Either way]

Im ready to throw.

Im completely prepared.

[Its too late After what youve done to us, its already too late to regret it now]

Shudder

Thereupon, I noticed.

A presence. Yes It was just in a moment.

However, it was a very strange feeling.

I suppose you could call it a sudden acceleration of thoughts.

I cant think of a better way to describe it.

[You-]

As I was in my throwing stance, I looked behind me, over my shoulder.

Since when was that being there?

It was as if he appeared from beyond my recognition.

That being was peeking through the gap of the noise wall behind me.

Before I knew it

I could see that being, as if he came right out of legends.

Bearing the face of the Fly King

A skin dyed in red and black

(When the heck did he)

[Since when have you been theeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeee!?]

In a position where he can see everyones whole body.

That being in red and black who was peering into the room, pointed his finger towards my direction.

Speaking of which

When I was just turning around I felt like I heard something.

If I remember correctly, yes-

I think I heard something like

< Paralyze >

- Crickle, crackle

Thinking about it now

For some reason- My body cant move.