Episode 91: Clash
“Aisha, do you think Yuma can win? Against that monster?”
“…It’s going to be tough. Even if he uses his ‘Liquid Metallization’ ability, there’s a limit.”
“Why? Yuma has a huge amount of Mana! If he uses that power, shouldn’t he be able to use Liquid Metal flamboyantly?!”
Aisha closed her eyes and shook her head.
“It’s not that simple. In the first place, turning Mana into mass is an incredible feat. Even increasing the mass a little would consume an unbelievable amount of Mana. Even if Yuma-kun used all of his Mana, I wonder how much mass he could create…”
“That’s… but Yuma has an extraordinary amount of Mana, right! Then—”
“Having Mana isn’t everything!! You know that, don’t you!”
Kanzaki was silenced by Aisha’s sharp rebuke.
Certainly, just having Mana doesn’t mean you’re specialized for combat.
“Looking at the Mana Index alone, Yuma-kun probably has more than the Chimera. But you can’t compare the strength of monsters and humans based solely on the Mana Index. Mana is just one aspect of strength.”
As Aisha said, monsters with bodies far more robust than humans are in a different dimension.
Their basic abilities are different. But—
“Yuma can do it! I believe in him!!”
In front of Kanzaki and Aisha’s gaze, the battlefield, still covered in reddish-white haze, was filled with a palpable tension.
As silence reigned, the haze wavered slightly.
As if taking that as a signal, Yuma moved. He activated the “Superpower” of the Bloodstained Ore (Bloody Ore), and red blood vessels flowed throughout his body.
—I’m going all out from the start!
The red streaks shone brightly and thickly. He raised his Superpower to the MAX, 15 times, and consciously released his muscle limiter. He drew out twice as much power.
Like a red Lightning, he ran across the earth and leaped at the Chimera’s feet. He jumped more than ten meters, and the monster’s head loomed before him.
The moment Yuma raised his Pickel, the Chimera moved slightly.
“What!?”
One of the legs growing on the Chimera’s belly suddenly extended and pierced Yuma’s abdomen.
It didn’t penetrate because of his metallic body, but the leg continued to extend, slamming Yuma against the rock wall.
A Crushing Impact resounded, and dust billowed up.
“Yuma!!”
Kanzaki’s face turned pale. It was an attack method he hadn’t imagined.
As the Chimera began to retract its leg, Yuma, who had been plastered to the wall, slumped to the ground.
“Damn it!”
Aisha grabbed Kanzaki’s sleeve to stop him as he tried to go to Yuma.
“Stop! You’ll just be a hindrance if you go.”
“Even so, I can’t just leave him!”
“Wait… look closely.”
When Kanzaki turned around at Aisha’s words, Yuma, who had been knocked down, was getting up and wielding his Pickel again.
“Don’t you believe in him? Yuma-kun.”
“…………Damn it!”
Kanzaki clenched the Hexagonal Rod he was holding.
He was frustrated with his inability to do anything, and he bit his lip.
◇◇◇
“So that’s how he attacks… It surprised me, but I won’t get hit next time!”
Yuma started running again. As if responding to that, the Chimera began to extend its legs. Not just one, but all dozens of legs on its belly at once.
They attacked Yuma like falling spears.
The tips of the legs were sharply pointed, like Pickels. The speed until they reached him probably exceeded 300 kilometers per hour. Dozens of those legs rained down almost simultaneously.
It was a hopeless situation under normal circumstances, but Yuma was calm.
—What? It feels so slow.
He dodged the falling Pickel-like legs, and slashed away some of them with the Longsword extended from the back of his left hand.
The legs were easily cut off.
—After all, my body is harder. If that’s the case, I have a good chance of winning!
He swept away and crushed the monster’s legs that had pierced the ground with the Pickel in his right hand.
He raced across the earth at a terrifying speed and approached the Chimera. He raised his Pickel and slammed it into the giant monster’s belly.
With the impact, its belly was crushed, and the Pickel he swung tore away the monster’s surface.
The snake’s body was covered in steel scales, but he was able to destroy them easily. The Chimera felt the pain and immediately reacted, changing its movements.
It began to extend the countless protrusions on its body, attacking Yuma as if piercing him with needles.
“Oh! It’s like a Liquid Metallization spike attack. Is it a similar ability!?”
In addition to the needle attacks, it also extended its legs and attacked. The total number reached hundreds.
Even so—
“They won’t work on me!!”
He dodged with tremendous reaction speed and slashed them away with his Longsword in his left hand. Several hit his body, but Yuma’s Metal Armor deflected the Chimera’s attacks.
No matter how strong the attack, it couldn’t damage Yuma’s Metallized body.
“UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”
The blood vessels flowing through Yuma’s body shimmered red.
After crouching down, he jumped with all his might, causing the ground to explode, and Yuma leaped up as if bouncing off it. He poured more “Liquid Metal” into his Pickel, transforming it into an even larger Hammer.
The steel Hammer swung up from below struck the Chimera’s jaw.
An explosive collision sound. Yuma knocked the head of the Chimera, which was ten times his size, into the air.
A low groan of “Oooooon” echoed, and the Chimera fell to the ground as if in Slow Motion. Immediately after, a large amount of dust billowed up.