Episode 96: Combat Form
The chimera’s body, which had been motionless as if dead, melted with a dorori sound. It flowed out as a liquid, gathering in one place.
The liquid metal rose up, gradually forming the shape of a huge quadrupedal creature.
It was the black “Buffalo” from the one hundred and twentieth floor.
Standing before the Iron Giant in exactly the same form as that monster, it pawed the ground with its hoofed hind legs, threateningly. The two monsters glared at each other.
The black Buffalo moved first. Kicking off the earth, it charged towards the giant, raising a cloud of dust.
Just before its two horns made contact, the giant firmly grasped the horns with both hands, completely stopping the momentum of the charge.
The Buffalo tried to move forward, but couldn’t advance an inch.
The giant let out a short roar of anger, twisted the hands holding the horns, and flung the Buffalo away with all its might.
The Buffalo slammed violently into the cave wall, collapsing to the ground.
The impact caused large cracks to form in the wall, and shattered rocks fell one after another. The giant approached the Buffalo, completely unconcerned about the rocks hitting its body.
The Buffalo tried to stand, but couldn’t move properly.
The Iron Giant extended a longsword from the back of its left hand and raised it high. It mercilessly swung the sword down on the Buffalo’s neck, which was unable to get up.
The incredibly sharp sword easily severed the Buffalo’s head.
The giant casually picked up the Buffalo’s head, which had rolled away, and threw it. The head crashed into a stone pillar twenty meters away, falling to the ground along with shattered rocks.
The remaining body of the Buffalo twitched spasmodically.
The giant deeply stabbed the sword into the Buffalo’s torso. It twisted the sword further, then pulled it out in one swift motion. Black liquid overflowed from the wound with a dorori sound.
The Buffalo’s twitching, which had been faint, stopped completely, its shape collapsed, and its entire body turned into liquid.
The Buffalo’s head, which had been thrown away, also melted with a dorodoro sound, becoming a black puddle.
The liquid began to gather again, wriggling and swelling up, this time standing as a four-armed “Rock Golem.”
◇◇◇
“Hey! At this rate, no matter how much Yuma defeats it, it’s pointless!”
Kanzaki, seeing the chimera regenerate repeatedly, spat out in annoyance.
“…No, that’s not necessarily the case.”
At Aisha’s murmur, Kanzaki raised his face.
“What do you mean?”
“A monster’s regeneration ability is performed by consuming Mana within its body. If you can repeat destruction to the point where the Mana runs out…”
“You’re saying we can defeat it!?”
“If it’s the current Yuma-kun, it’s definitely possible.”
While Kanzaki and Aisha were talking, the giant charged towards the four-armed Golem.
As the giant tried to punch with its right arm, the Golem blocked it with its two left arms.
Furthermore, the Golem used its two right arms to restrain the other arm as well. The two glared at each other, locked together.
“Impressive. It judged that it had little chance of winning by attacking, and went on the defensive.”
Kanzaki was surprised by Aisha’s words.
“Wait a minute! You’re saying the chimera has intelligence!?”
“There are plenty of monsters with developed intelligence. In the chimera’s case, it may be acting on instinct, but…”
As Aisha shifted her gaze, a change occurred in the giant, which was still locked together with the Golem.
Its back swelled up in a mokomoko fashion, and when it reached a certain size, it burst open with a gobori sound. Four “Iron Arms” emerged from within.
They grew directly from the giant’s back, making a total of six arms when combined with the original arms.
It had created more arms than the Golem.
“What… is that?”
As Kanzaki was lost for words, Aisha pondered.
“So, it’s not just the chimera that can change its body in response to combat…”
Aisha narrowed her eyes and looked at the giant.
“VoooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”
The giant’s roar echoed through the cave.
Extending swords from the backs of three left hands, it slashed at the Golem’s wrists, severing them.
The Golem, having lost its wrists, staggered and retreated.
The giant took a step forward to prevent it from escaping, and struck with its three right fists of steel. Each fist was fitted with spike protrusions, further increasing its killing power.
The Golem, its head, shoulders, and chest violently crushed, staggered greatly.
The giant, not easing up on the pursuit, further readied the three swords in its left hand, stabbing the Golem’s chest, neck, and legs.
Against the enemy, who had sustained fatal damage and was about to buckle at the knees, it mercilessly delivered a front kick.
The Golem flew backward, collapsing heavily on its back.
After a rumbling sound and a cloud of dust, a moment of silence followed.
The Golem’s body once again turned into liquid, wriggling and flowing closer, but the giant didn’t seem to care.
As if saying it didn’t matter what form it took, it stood majestically.
It let its six arms hang limply, watching the approaching liquid. Emerging from the black puddle were countless snakes.
Not cobras, but slender, seven-forked snakes. They wrapped around the giant’s body, trying to immobilize it.
Many snake heads bared their fangs, biting into the steel body, but of course, they couldn’t inflict any damage.
However, their binding force was abnormally strong. Even trying to tear them apart by force, the snakes’ bodies didn’t budge. The giant’s movements completely stopped.
“H-hey… isn’t this bad? Yuma can’t move anymore!?”
“…Indeed, given that Yuma-kun’s ability has a time limit, we might lose if it becomes a battle of attrition.”
“What are you saying so calmly!”
As Aisha and Kanzaki were worried, the giant’s jaws snapped open.
“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!”
Raising a roar that shook the cave, many “swords” burst out from the giant’s body.
The swords easily pierced the snakes’ bodies, and even more swords grew out from the middle of the sword blades, branching out into many forks.
The snakes’ bodies were severed, and the sliced torsos fell with a botoboto sound.
Returning the swords that had grown from its body to their original state, the giant glared at the snake heads rolling at its feet and mercilessly stomped on them.