Chapter 56
The only thought that crossed my mind when I rushed to the battlefield where the boss and its minions were fighting was this.
"Woraa! What's the matter!?"
"Gegoo!"
"You're too sloooow!"
"Gegoggo!"
Do I even need to be here?
No, no! Of course I do! Jigoro was overwhelmingly superior in close combat, but the boss's health had barely decreased. More precisely, it would decrease a little, then recover, repeatedly. This was probably the effect of 【Automatic Health Recovery】.
"Shii!"
"Hah-ha! Too slow!"
...Even now, the Toadman Prince was dodging the tongue it extended and slicing it apart with its claws, but I clearly needed to support the Toadman Prince. Yes, I did.
Besides, considering Iris and the others, we needed to defeat it quickly. In fact, we had to be ready to gang up on it with all four of us.
Then the first thing I needed to do was support Genzuro and Ruby. To that end, I had to deal with the most troublesome enemy, the Toadman Singer!
"Ruby, I'll help you! Remote Star Magic Circle Activation, Cold Mist!"
The spell I chose was Cold Mist. The seasons in the game were linked to the real world, so it was spring right now. Even so, spring nights were cold enough to freeze us. I intended to make it even colder.
"Kero kero~!"
"What!?"
However, when the Toadman Singer sang, the mist I had created cleared away all at once. It could do that too!?
"Got you!"
"Kero...?"
"Ge, geroro!"
Although the Toadman Singer's vision had been blocked for even a moment and it had been distracted by dealing with my spell, Ruby attacked it from behind. The two short swords she formed by reshaping the surface of her Slime severed the Toadman Singer's necks one after another.
Could it be that the Toadman Singer wasn't accustomed to fighting? While distracted by my magic, it had made absolutely no preparations against Ruby, despite having done so until now. Perhaps it was a pure back-line Job that had only ever provided support, leaving it unable to deal with anything unexpected?
No, it was too soon to make that judgment based on just this. I would try one more thing.
"Star Magic Circle Activation, Sand Wind!"
I used 【Sand Dust Magic】 to blind the Toadman Singer and its War Toadman guards. The War Toadmen tried desperately to open their eyes, whereas the Toadman Singer rubbed its eyes with its guard completely down. It was certain now: it wasn't used to fighting—or rather, to taking attacks.
"Izam, thanks!"
This analysis was already meaningless. Without the Toadman Singer's detection, Ruby could hide from the War Toadmen with ease, and if they couldn't restrain her, she could easily take the Singer's life. The remaining two heads were already hers.
"Ho ho! You've gotten weaker!"
"Gya!?"
"Gego...!"
The Toadman Singer's death drastically shifted the battle. Genzuro and Ruby had been struggling against those four. Once the War Toadmen's stats returned to normal, they were no match for the two of them. They were mowed down one after another. Naturally, I supported them with magic too.
"All that's left is the boss."
"Let's press the attack... wait, Jigoro!?"
Just when I thought we'd finished off the minions, trouble struck Jigoro. Purple spots had appeared on various parts of his body.
The marker over his head reads Poison. But his health is dropping faster than with any poison I've seen before! I see—so this is the effect of 【Deadly Poison】!
"Genzuro! Ruby! Take the front in Jigoro's place! Remote Star Magic Circle Activation, Light Wall!"
While giving the two of them instructions, I hurriedly raised a Light Wall between Jigoro and the Toadman Prince. Jigoro retreated behind it at the same time.
I flew over to him and handed him the antidote I was carrying. What on earth had happened?
"Are you all right?"
"Yeah. Sorry, I let my guard down."
Jigoro called it letting his guard down, but I wasn't sure that was right. He had a habit of getting excited during battle and provoking his enemies, but the only truly careless thing he'd done was the reckless charge during the battle against the Ratman King. Since he'd learned from that mistake, I couldn't possibly believe he'd really let his guard down this time.
"What happened?"
"You know those warts it's got? I popped one, and this happened."
"Don't tell me each of those warts is filled with poison!?"
"Probably."
W-What an annoying opponent! It had natural Reactive Armor! It might even have 【Pain Resistance】 so it could withstand the pain of its warts bursting.
Genzuro and Ruby heard me shout, flinched, and froze for an instant before gradually reducing their attack frequency. They must have realized they couldn't afford to get poisoned, either. Sensible of them.
...Wait a second. It's true that those countless poisonous wart bombs would be effective against close-range attacks. But couldn't I just burst the warts with magic?
I had already thought of a strategy. There was one problem, however. The Toadman Prince was fast despite its appearance. I had to think of a way to control its movements.
"Izam, you've got a plan, don't you?"
"Yeah. But how am I supposed to control that thing's movements...?"
"Leave that to me."
Jigoro proposed it while I was worrying over the problem. He could certainly track its movements accurately, and that would be easier than trying to predict the enemy's movements.
However, Jigoro would have to take on an extremely dangerous role. It was almost certain that he would be poisoned again.
"This is going to be a harsh order."
"I don't mind, brother. We're the 'Inhuman Brothers,' aren't we?"
Heh... hehehehe! After he put it that way, I had no choice but to leave it to him!
"Then I'm counting on you, brother. I don't care how you do it, just send that thing flying over here!"
"Hell yeah!!"
Jigoro charged in with a belligerent grin. He knew that if this plan succeeded, he would be able to beat the Toadman Prince to his heart's content afterward. He really was a battle maniac!
"Ora ora oraaa!"
"Gegogoro!"
Jigoro got inside its guard and hammered it with his fists, avoiding its warts. What dexterity!
"Gerot!"
"Your attacks can't hit me!"
Even while taking Jigoro's barrage, the Toadman Prince attacked with its fists and tried to bite him with its fangs. Perhaps it had finally gotten angry at being beaten one-sidedly.
But such wide swings couldn't even touch a real-life cheat like Jigoro. He responded instantly and knocked its jaw upward in a cross-counter.
"Ge... ket..."
"Right here!"
The blow to its jaw caused a concussion—in game terms, it put the Toadman Prince into a Stun state. Its movements grew unsteady, and Jigoro didn't miss the opening.
He quickly slipped down to its feet and swept its legs out from under it. It was a kick that would have shattered my bones, but the Toadman Prince merely landed on its backside. How tough was it!?
"Hngh!"
Next, Jigoro moved between the legs of the seated Toadman Prince and clamped both its ankles under his armpits. Yeah. Even I knew what he intended to do from here.
"WOOOAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"
"Geg geg geg geg geg geg!?"
Jigoro began a Giant Swing with every ounce of strength in his body! He was probably answering my order to send it flying, but this was far more unexpected than I'd imagined!
Jigoro and the Toadman Prince spun like a top. Their rotational speed kept accelerating. Um, wasn't the wrestling record several dozen rotations? No, that didn't matter.
"All right! Here I go, brother!"
"Anytime!"
"WOOOAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"
Jigoro threw the Toadman Prince toward me from the Giant Swing, using the motion of a hammer throw, just as I had ordered. Now it was time to show what I could do!
"Remote Star Magic Circle Activation, Spell Adjustment, Black Thread!"
Thick black threads shot from a magic circle floating in the void and caught the Toadman Prince in midair. The five threads, enhanced to their limit, bound the Toadman Prince hand and foot. Good! I've got it...
Gigi...!
Wh-Whoa, it's heavy! B-But I can hold it somehow! If I hadn't used Spell Adjustment, the threads would have snapped long ago! Using it was absolutely the right choice!
Anyway! This let me fix the spot where I would drop it!
"Good! Magic Circle Activation, Earth Hole! Next, Spell Adjustment, Triple Trap of the Star Trap Circle, set! Black Thread, release!"
I unlocked the simultaneous use of the Star Trap Circle and Triple Trap, which I normally avoided because they consumed far too much magic, and set everything at the bottom of a hole I dug with magic directly beneath the Toadman Prince. If you asked why I didn't normally use them simultaneously, the answer was simply a matter of multiplication.
The Star Trap Circle was a spell that set five traps, while Triple Trap was a spell that placed three magical effects into one trap. Using these two simultaneously was equivalent to using fifteen spells in total. The stronger the spells, the more magic they consumed when combined.
This time, though, we needed to defeat it quickly, even if it meant exhausting myself. That's why I unlocked them!
"Be torn to shreds!"
The spell I had placed in the traps was Wind Pillar. Like Wind Wall, it cut apart anything that touched it. Its range was narrower, but its power was greater.
Now, here's a question. What happens when that increased power is boosted even further with Spell Adjustment and comes at someone at fifteen times the density?
"Gegyaaaaaaaah!?!!"
The answer is: they get shredded. Blades of vacuum mercilessly sliced apart the Toadman Prince. In the process, they also cut open every wart on its body, causing poison to gush out.
However, the poison merely pooled along the inner walls and bottom of the hole. It couldn't harm the enemy. Talk about a wasted attack, huh?
"Gerorororo!!"
Oh? Did the effect of Wind Pillar wear off? Now that the torture-like spell tormenting it had ended, the Toadman Prince crawled out of the hole in a pitiful state.
"Hey, we meet again."
"Looks like you got those blemishes off cleanly. You're smooth and silky now; your skin looks like a whole different thing!"
"Grandpa, popping pimples leaves scars, you know?"
"Ge, gekogeko..."
However, waiting above the hole were Jigoro, Genzuro, and Ruby. I wonder which had been more hellish—the inside or outside?
"Ora!"
"Shii!"
"Hah!"
"Gerot, gegot, gegee!?"
A massive, gauntleted fist, three Japanese swords, and a large dagger formed by fusing two short swords dealt even more damage to the Toadman Prince's body. Swallowed by overwhelming violence, the Toadman Prince had no chance of turning the tables.
"Gegyoaaaaaahhhhhhhhh...!!!!"
Even its final death cry was filthy. So even royalty was just a frog after all.
All right, let's hurry back! I'm worried about Iris and the Lizardman. I hope they're still alive...
――――――――――
You won the battle.
Your 【Race】 level has increased. You acquired 1 SP.
Your 【Race】 level has reached the required value. Evolution is available.
Your 【Job】 level has increased. You acquired 1 SP.
Your 【Job】 level has reached the required value. Job change is available.
Your 【Staff】 level has increased.
Your 【Sickle Arts】 level has increased.
Your 【Intelligence Enhancement】 level has increased.
Your 【Mental Enhancement】 level has increased.
Your 【Health Recovery Rate Up】 level has increased.
Your 【Magic Recovery Rate Up】 level has increased.
Your 【Precision Magic Control】 level has increased.
Your 【Earth Magic】 level has increased.
You learned a new Terrain Change spell.
Your 【Water and Ice Magic】 level has increased.
You learned a new Freezing spell.
Your 【Fire Magic】 level has increased.
You learned a new Flame Body spell.
Your 【Storm Magic】 level has increased.
You learned a new Wind Blade spell.
Your 【Tree Magic】 level has increased.
You learned a new Sea of Trees spell.
Your 【Lava Magic】 level has increased.
You learned a new Eruption spell.
Your 【Sand Dust Magic】 level has increased.
You learned a new Sandstorm spell.
Your 【Smoke Magic】 level has increased.
You learned a new Acid Mist spell.
Your 【Lightning Magic】 level has increased.
You learned a new spell.
Your 【Explosion Magic】 level has increased.
You learned a new Land Mine spell.
Your 【Light Magic】 level has increased.
You learned new Light Armor and Light Spear spells.
Your 【Light Magic】 has reached its growth limit. You can evolve it.
Your 【Dark Magic】 level has increased.
Your 【Void Magic】 level has increased.
You learned a new Mana Detection spell.
Your 【Summoning】 level has increased.
Your 【Enchantment】 level has increased.
Your 【Magic Circle】 level has increased.
Your 【Necromancy】 level has increased.
Your 【Curse Arts】 level has increased.
Your 【Trap Magic】 level has increased.
Your 【Spirit Calling】 level has increased.
Your 【Dark Arts】 level has increased.
Your 【Linguistics】 level has increased.
――――――――――
Huh? What? The battle's over?