Shiba readies his spear. He charges forward with it aimed directly at the Gold Gel.
Shiba’s movements are incredibly swift. But Gold Gel matches his speed, dodging Shiba’s strike.
“Missed…!?”
“I’ll absorb you too.”
Gold Gel tries to detach part of its body to attach it to Shiba. Shiba slams his spear into the ground, using the rebound to jump high into the air.
He avoids Gold Gel’s attack and, putting all his weight behind it, thrusts his spear down, aiming to pierce Gold Gel’s body.
“Take this!”
The spear drives into Gold Gel. He feels resistance, but it doesn’t seem like it dealt a fatal blow.
“Futile. An attack of that level can’t kill me.”
Even with a spear through its body, Gold Gel is unharmed. For an ordinary monster, this would be a lethal attack, yet it seems ineffective against its slime-like body.
“Is my attack not working on this thing…?”
Shiba leaps back, putting some distance between himself and Gold Gel. Just touching that slime could result in a fatal wound.
It’s not practical to continue close combat under such dangerous conditions.
“Shiba, it might look like the attacks aren’t working, but I think we are dealing some damage.”
Yukiya suddenly speaks up.
“What? On what basis…?”
“Think about it. Gold Gel dodged your attack earlier. If our attacks didn’t matter, there’d be no need to dodge, right?”
Yukiya’s logic is sound. If it truly felt no pain, it wouldn’t need to avoid attacks.
However, there could be a flaw in this theory.
“Or… it might’ve just been a reflex. It’s too early to conclude that it’s taking damage based on that alone.”
Shiba’s caution is understandable. But still, something feels off about this.
Gold Gel claimed that neutralizing it was “pointless.” If it really were pointless, was there any need to say that?
If it hadn’t said anything, Shiba might’ve continued, depleting his own MP. Informing the enemy of its immunity—could there be any benefit to that?
“Even if you’re right, that’s no reason to stop attacking! If we keep it up, we might discover something!”
Now Yukiya launches his attack. His blade still glows with a faint aura.
“Go for it, Yukiya!”
“Yukiya, don’t die!”
“Take that!”
Yukiya swings, but Gold Gel dodges yet again.
Gold Gel keeps avoiding attacks—taking some, dodging others. Is there a secret to its body?
“Not done yet!”
Yukiya presses on and manages to hit Gold Gel’s left arm by chance.
“Arghh!”
Gold Gel lets out a pained cry, and the cut on its arm appears to fester and rot.
“What… It’s working?”
Even Yukiya is surprised. The aura around his sword has vanished. Is there some secret related to Yukiya’s body?
“Now! Hydro!”
Shiba splashes water onto Gold Gel’s severed arm, probably an alkaline solution. The attacked arm sizzles and disintegrates.
“It’s working?”
“What happened?”
“If it’s effective, does it matter?”
“I said it was useless! Why…?”
“It may be useless on your main body, but I figured it might work on detached parts before they could be reabsorbed.”
“Nice, Shiba!”
“Yukiya and Shiba’s teamwork is awesome!”
While everyone is focused on Shiba’s actions, I’m watching something else.
Yukiya’s sword—it’s regaining its aura. It had vanished, so why is it returning now? Did Shiba’s magic trigger something?
I consider what might cause Yukiya’s sword to regain its aura… and what the aura truly is…
Yukiya’s attack worked on Gold Gel. That means something on Yukiya’s sword affected Gold Gel.
Taking a chance, I contact Yukiya and Shiba over the intercom.
“Shiba, try hitting Yukiya’s sword with an alkaline Hydro spell. Yukiya, be ready to catch it with your blade.”
“Huh? What is this about…?”
“Just trust me and follow my instructions, Yukiya.”
Shiba and Yukiya exchange a look. Then, Shiba releases his Hydro spell.
“I don’t really get it, but… here goes!”
Yukiya catches Shiba’s Hydro spell with his sword. The Hydro is absorbed by the blade, and the aura surrounding it intensifies dramatically.
“This… What is this…?!”
Yukiya stares at his sword in shock. It’s clearly unusual, and even the comments start pouring in at a rapid pace.
“Whaaaaat?!”
“What… What is that?!”
“I don’t know, but wow!”
Just as I thought. I’m not sure of the exact timing, but Shiba’s water magic must have splashed onto Yukiya’s sword at some point.
The splash was part of the magic itself. When Yukiya absorbs the magic with his sword, it starts to radiate an aura.
The nature of that aura is—
“Take this!”
Yukiya swings his sword with full force at Gold Gel. The blade, now emanating a powerful aura, strikes Gold Gel. The aura flares up, melting away at Gold Gel’s body.
“Gaaaargh! Impossible…! I… can’t… withstand this… gruuuaargh!”
A sharp sound rings out, and Yukiya’s sword snaps in two. But Gold Gel sizzles and vanishes completely.
“Wait, did we win?”
“Looks like it!”
“And the one who dealt the final blow to that insanely tough monster was Yukiya!”
“Yukiya’s that strong? He’s incredible!”
“Hah… hah… I… I did it! I actually did it!”
Yukiya defeated Gold Gel, and the comment section is moving too fast to keep up, overflowing with cheers and praise for Yukiya.
“Shiba. Everyone’s finished gathering the Gold Gel samples. Looks like things are wrapped up on your end too.”
“Yeah. Yukiya took care of it.”
With Gold Gel defeated, a wave of relief fills the dungeon. And at the center of it is Yukiya, without a doubt.
◇
After the dungeon stream ended, our broadcast began trending, with non-stop reactions across social media.
The fact that Yukiya dealt the final blow against an opponent even Shiba struggled with shocked everyone, revealing his hidden power.
“Eito, can you explain what exactly happened with me back there?”
Yukiya looked confused about what had happened to him.
“Yukiya, I think your ability allows your sword to absorb and amplify magical energy. Without you realizing it, traces of magic from Shiba and Daigo must have attached to your blade.”
It’s just a theory, and there’s still testing to be done, but I’m pretty sure I’m on the right track.
“That magical energy formed an aura that exploded upon attack. I believe the aura’s nature depends on the type of magic absorbed, so your slash took on the alkaline nature of Shiba’s water spell against Gold Gel.”
“Gold Gel’s main body can endure some level of alkaline water, but something that intense was probably too much. That’s why Yukiya’s final blow worked.”
Shiba summed it up, and I agree.
“I… I had that kind of power…?”
“Yes, that strike you dealt with your sword was powerful even by my standards. It’s not something you can unleash all the time, but it’s definitely a trump card for us.”
“A trump card… me…?”
Yukiya looked at his hands. That devastatingly powerful attack—it might open paths for us in the future.
Yukiya is an essential member of this party. He always has been, but going forward, I’m even more hopeful for what he’ll bring to the team.
