Conclusion 2
"Kuh, uuu!"
"――――"
In the room that was modeled after Mariabelle's bedroom, the only sound that could be heard was the woman's distressed voice.
The black-haired female hero was completely naked, wearing only leggings and a shield, a bizarre outfit that made it hard to believe she was in the middle of a battle, as she received the holy sword being swung down at her, while the humanoid with a body made of a dark grey mucus cornered her.
The situation was overwhelmingly in favor of the slime, and it seemed as if Mariabelle had no chance of winning.
(Ahh, Maria... please win somehow)
They reunited with Mariabelle, set her free, and were able to equip her with as much equipment as possible.
But the reality is that from that point on, they have to rely on her.
Kara's plan was almost complete, with only one bottle of the slime-killing poison, Valhari's Blessed Water, remaining.
However, it was no longer there, as Meltia had fallen downstairs and had taken it, so the rest depended on how well Mariabelle could fight.
"You, kuh!?"
To be honest, Mariabelle was in a hurry.
She has no weapons.
The effects of the aphrodisiac are weakened by the armor, and the shield blocks the attack of the holy sword.
However, she doesn't have any weapons to defeat the slime.
The blade was now in the hand of the abominable humanoid slime, pointing at Mariabelle herself.
(Somehow, somehow I have to get Father's sword back.)
Her stamina is limited. She can't keep fighting forever like a slime.
Once she realized the painful difference between herself and the slime after her defeat, it was only natural that she would want to hurry up and settle things as quickly as possible.
Moreover, her physical condition was far from perfect, and to be honest, Mariabelle herself understood that she had almost no chance of winning.
So should she run away? That's not possible either.
Kara is trapped in the mucus and can't move, so there's no way she can abandon her.
It is unclear whether her sister and Fenelieka are alive or dead, and it is unclear whether they are safe.
At worst, Mariabelle could not choose to run away on her own.
"What should I do..."
Contrary to her impatience, Mariabelle's defense was impenetrable.
The lack of a weapon actually allows her to focus her attention on defense, allowing her to properly fend off the Humanoid's attacks.
The Hero's Shield felt so comfortable on her left arm that it was hard to believe it was her first time using it, and it felt as light as a feather.
Even in the middle of battle, it changes shape to suit Mariabelle, resembling a small, circular buckler that makes it easier for her to fight, as she specializes in rapid successive attacks.
However, it was smaller than the round shield Mariabelle knew, and its edges had been reinforced and expanded by mana.
It's small and light, but its surface area becomes larger when it receives an attack.
It could be said that this was the best form for the female Mariabelle, as it would not get in the way of the fight.
It was surely not just her imagination that her exhausted physical strength seemed to have recovered, albeit slightly.
(Yes, I can still fight, Father――)
The warmth felt like a father's kindness, and although Mariabelle was feeling anxious, she did not lose focus.
Even when cornered, she doesn't give up, but instead precisely and carefully blocks the Humanoid's attacks to buy time.
"I can still do it... I can still fight."
Her expression was clearly fatigued, and there was still agitation in her eyes.
However, Mariabelle desperately thought hard, choosing to block the Humanoid's attack and buy time.
She can't abandon Kara and the others.
So she believed once again that her friends, her sister, would come to her rescue.
Mariabelle has been in a position to help many people up until now, but now she needs the help of her companions.
…The Humanoid certainly felt something unsettling about Mariabelle’s persistent attitude.
"――――"
It's intuition.
It was something it had never felt before in all its activities up until now; it was like having cold sweat running down its back.
Even though she's the one who's cornered, it felt a sense of urgency, as if the whole situation could be turned upside down in the next moment.
The intense possessiveness it felt towards the hero who had intruded into the thoughts of the Humanoid, who was nothing more than a [slime] no matter how far it evolved, had given it a slight sense of human emotions.
It knew it only because it had been observing her for so long―― the black-haired hero, the one and the only person who had killed it, was still fighting, not giving up.
The desire to break that unbreakable heart that no one else has, and the anxiety that no matter how hard one tries, it may never break.
The Humanoid also felt uneasy towards Mariabelle, and the movements of the holy sword aimed at her became increasingly violent.
The force of the blade slamming into the shield increases, but the attack remains monotonous.
It had no skill whatsoever. It simply used brute force to try to destroy not the shield, but the woman's slender arm that was supporting it.
"Suddenly... but!"
Mariabelle did not receive the attacks head-on, but instead held her shield at an angle to deflect them, sometimes even deflecting them to disrupt the Humanoid's stance before putting some distance between them.
By fighting while conserving her strength in moderation, she was still able to stand several minutes after Meltia and Frederica had disappeared downstairs.
After several more minutes, the Humanoid's attacks became increasingly violent and monotonous.
It almost looks as if it is cornered and anxious.
It had already noticed.
Frederica had been defeated downstairs, and the hero's sister was heading towards the scene.
Various traps were prepared in the passageway, but the Valhari's Blessed Water that soaked her body got in the way and they were unable to land a decisive blow.
At best, it was enough to stimulate her body, which had been infected with the aphrodisiac, and slow her down―― but taking advantage of the injury to her right arm, the pain was keeping the older sister from losing her mind, and she desperately made her way to this place, even as she was bleeding.
"Haa, haa..."
However, Mariabelle was also nearing her limit.
No matter how many attacks she blocks with a shield, it won't be able to nullify all of the impact.
Her left arm felt as heavy as lead and she had lost feeling from her elbow down.
She had received so many attacks that her fingertips had turned beyond red and were now purple, and Mariabelle herself understood that it would be difficult to block any more with her shield.
Although the Humanoid was in a hurry, its physical strength had not weakened in the slightest, and if it had regained its composure it would have been able to defeat Mariabelle in no time.
After all, this is the slime's castle. To put it in a metaphor, it's like being inside the slime's stomach.
If it was facing an unarmed Mariabelle, it could easily subdue her with its own attacks and by growing tentacles around her to keep her at bay.
"――――"
But the Humanoid doesn't do that.
It should know that this was the most logical, easiest, and absolute thing to do, but the ego that had emerged from absorbing Mariabelle's bodily fluids got in the way.
The showdown with the hero.
The ego that had developed because of its endless attachment to Mariabelle alone, at that moment, became its core, an absolute proposition.
Frederica had hoped to see the Humanoid grow and evolve.
Surely no one would have expected that to be the slime's weak point...
"Maria!!"
Mariabelle and the Humanoid stopped moving and faced each other.
The tension was like someone catching their breath and about to launch a final attack... but it was Meltia's voice that broke it.
She must have run desperately to get there.
Mariabelle reacts to the breathless voice of the mage, whose underwear and skin are completely exposed except for the skirt she is wearing.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, the Humanoid thrusts its holy sword.
This movement is different from previous slashes and, with perfect timing, can become a deadly blow.
It had lost all thought of capturing Mariabelle and instead attacked with the sole purpose of killing her.
The Humanoid has evolved once again.
Finally, the slime's instinct to increase the number of its companions―― it has even transcended the instinct to use human women to give birth to children, and evolved into a monster capable of killing women.
However, Mariabelle, who was fully on the defensive, was able to withstand the attack.
It pointed the tip of the holy sword at her, then flicked the side of it vertically and turned her gaze and right hand towards her sister.
Without even taking the time to speak, she conveyed her intentions with her eyes, and Meltia, realizing her sister's true intentions, threw the last [Valhari's Blessed Water].
"――――!"
The Humanoid also read this and extended its tentacles towards the Valhari's Blessed Water in the air.
Victory.
Win the battle against the hero.
That alone upsets the one-to-one balance.
A tentacle sprouted from the floor and tried to catch the bottle in mid-air so as not to break it, but Mariabelle read its movements and swept it away with her shield before the tentacle could grab the bottle.
Her left arm felt numb and painful from the elbow down, but she ignored it.
The extended tentacle was unable to grab the bottle of the blessed water, and the cut end lost its shape in mid-air. Mariabelle grasped the bottle in her right hand as it fell to the ground with the force of being thrown.
"How about this!!"
Mariabelle then slammed the bottle onto the Humanoid.
Ironically, it was precisely because the Humanoid was shaped like a human that it lost its balance when it was hit on the side.
This delayed its evasive movement, and it was hit head-on by the thrown [Valhalri's Blessed Water].
"――――. ――――......"
The Humanoid was unable to convey anything until the very end, and with its expressionless face crumbling, it swung its remaining right arm.
The slash was aimed at Mariabelle's neck, but instead of blocking it with her shield, she simply turned her body backward and narrowly avoided it.
Calmness returned to Mariabelle's eyes.
At the same time, as the Humanoid crumbles, she feels the return of her [Hero's intuition], a kind of future-prediction that she had lost until now.
"I, I won..."
When she hits the swung right arm with her shield, it was easily torn off without any resistance.
The holy sword it was holding fell to the floor due to gravity and pierced itself.
...The effects of the blessed water had completely destroyed its body's strength.
Its shape gradually began to crumble, and it didn't take long for it to disappear, emitting white smoke.
Lastly, there was the weak point, the core, but instead of being absorbed into the floor of the slime castle, it fell to the floor below, emitting white smoke.
The surface of the core is wet with the Valhari's Blessed Water, so even the mucus cannot touch it.
There are dozens of them.
(It was probably impossible to destroy all of that...)
If the Humanoid hadn't been so determined to fight Mariabelle one-on-one, she would have had no chance of winning.
That was how strong the Humanoid was. Much stronger than Mariabelle right now.
"But why……?"
Mariabelle would never know the answer to that question in her lifetime.
A slime who was obsessed with Mariabelle, thought only of Mariabelle, and tried to defeat her.
The Humanoid itself does not understand what its principle of action is.
"Maria!!"
As Mariabelle stood there, still basking in the afterglow of her victory, she suddenly looked up when she heard her sister's voice.
"That's right, we have to get away right away..."
With the Humanoid gone, changes also occurred in the slime castle.
The surrounding area shook as if it was hit by an earthquake, and the interior, which was modeled after the castle of Fonteau, began to collapse.
"Uwa!?"
The wall of mucus that had been binding Kara crumbled and she was freed, but her legs had weakened from the violation she had endured and she collapsed to the slimy floor.
Mariabelle hurriedly helped her up by helping her with her shoulder, then picked up the holy sword with her other hand.
At the touch of her father's holy sword that she had finally retrieved, her expression lightened slightly, even in this situation.
"Maria, escape... what should we do?"
Meltia muttered as she approached Mariabelle and Kara.
The large hole she had created with her magic was now too small for a person to pass through, and the room was getting smaller and smaller.
"Is it planning to just crush it like this...?"
"I won't let that happen!"
Mariabelle gripped the holy sword tightly, and the blade began to shine brightly.
The light of the holy sword had saved her so many times until now.
But once it is used, it is lost.
"It's okay. Right now, I'm putting all my mana into Father's sword―― so."
Mariabelle was captured by the Humanoid, and Grabalt was destroyed by another slime.
She found out that the next target was Lishlua.
The holy sword had yet to reach its limit, but there was more beyond that.
She was surprised that the abominable slime had used the holy sword, but the holy sword had no limit and there was still room for it to become stronger.
So Meltia had been pouring her mana into it every day, from Lishlua to this slime castle deep in the Grabalt Forest.
Even so, the holy sword absorbed her sister's mana without breaking, and with the mana of the slime that had been infused into it just before, an unimaginable amount of mana was stored within it.
In order to convey this, Meltia placed her hand over Mariabelle's hand, which was holding the holy sword.
However, Mariabelle sensed it intuitively.
The blade now shines more intensely, stronger, and more dazzling than ever before.
"It's okay, I'll make a way."
Still supporting Kara with her shoulder, Mariabelle raised her sword and swung it down in one go.
The emitted light illuminated the entire narrowing mucus room, and the glow alone caused the slime's bodily fluids to evaporate.
As the castle's wall collapsed, Mariabelle lent Kara her shoulder and took Meltia's hand and jumped out.
"You finally came out!? You guys are alright... right!?"
There was Fenelieka, who had been blown out of the castle and thus escaped the tentacle attack.
Being a monster and weak, it probably wasn't considered a significant target for attack.
Her once beautiful bright red dress was now in tatters, and her right arm was badly burned.
The wound was not caused by the slime, but by Meltia's magic.
"Fenel-san, please catch!!"
"Suddenly!? Three of you!?"
The place where Mariabelle and the others were was slightly lower, but still, it was at the same height as the second floor of a castle.
Leaving aside Mariabelle, whose health was gradually improving, the height was high enough that it would be possible for an exhausted Kara or a mage like Meltia to get injured.
Mariabelle immediately gave instructions to Fenelieka and threw Meltia, whose arm was soiled, towards her.
She held Kara in her arms and landed on the ground.
"I, I was surprised... I thought I would have to carry all three of you..."
"Me too..."
Fenelieka, holding Meltia in her arms in a princess carry, descended to the ground a little later.
Then, seeing Fenelieka's wounds, Meltia's expression clouded over.
"Sorry, it's from my magic... right?"
"It's fine. It's for the sake of winning. I hate getting hurt or having scars, but I hate losing even more."
For a succubus, who values beauty above all else, being left with a scar on her body is a grave problem.
But more than that, Fenelieka prioritized their victory... and saving Mariabelle.
...The first plan was to have Fenelieka retrieve the Valhari's Blessed Water that had been hidden outside the castle, although she would likely be captured somehow.
Whether they are imprisoned in the same place together is up to luck.
This battle, which could hardly be called a [strategy], ended with Meltia and Fenelieka being seriously injured, and Mariabelle and Kara's bodies being developed.
Whether that's the minimum or the worst, no one here knows.
――All they know is that the Humanoid that had been obsessed with Mariabelle has died―― and the giant castle-shaped slime that it had been manipulating, or controlling, has resumed its activities.
"Big……"
"If we fought something like that normally, how many mages would it take to burn it to ashes..."
"It's impossible for me to do that alone."
Standing in front of the towering slime, Kara and the others each voiced their own thoughts.
There's no time to escape.
It loses its castle shape and turns into an oval slime, its size changing grotesquely to something roughly the size of a small hill.
Its movements are sluggish, but it is still very large.
Even with the slightest movement, it cut down the surrounding trees, destroying the few remaining remains of the Grabalt ruins and absorbing them into its body to digest them.
If it continued to grow like that, it would become more and more of a threat to Mariabelle and the others.
"Can you still do it...?"
When she muttered a question to the holy sword, the blade sparkled as if in reply.
Strangely enough, Mariabelle showed no signs of agitation or impatience.
The sight of the country of Fonteau being attacked and a giant slime ravaging the castle town... a painful memory that remains as a psychological scar so strong that it is still haunting her in dreams.
The slime that appeared before them was far larger than the slime they remembered.
However, the holy sword in her hand was glowing brighter and more appealing.
That they can win.
"It's okay―― Onee-sama, Fenel-san. Please take Kara and stay back."
When she raised the holy sword, a light surged forth and pierced the heavens.
The impact split the clouds, trembling the blue sky, and a torrent of mana raged all around Mariabelle.
Although it was as violent as a storm, the violent winds protected not only Mariabelle but also Meltia and the others, and it did not harm Fenelieka, who was supposed to be a monster.
As the holy sword's glow grew stronger, the giant slime extended tentacles from its body.
It judges Mariabelle, who is much smaller than itself to be a threat and attempts to capture her.
As expected, it was just a slime.
The woman will be captured and violated.
From the force of the tentacles aimed at her, she sensed no intent to kill her―― no murderous intent.
It's not the Humanoid―― it's just a slime.
"…………"
Thinking about it like that, Mariabelle didn't feel that this giant slime was much of a threat.
What was far more frightening was the Humanoid, which was only about the same size as her.
The giant slime approaches Mariabelle and the others.
It was so large that she couldn't get a sense of distance, and even the slightest movement made the soles of her feet tremble.
But she's not scared.
For some reason, Mariabelle was very conscious of this...
"I can do it!!"
The blade, which had turned into a pillar of light, was swung down in one go.
The monster-slaying light burns down all enemies, no matter how powerful they are.
The slime, huge like a small mountain, tried to withstand the force of all its mana by using it as a defense, but after enduring the heat and brightness for a few seconds, it disappeared in the light.
It was an overwhelming impact, leaving not even a trace of white smoke from evaporation.
When the light subsided, what remained were dilapidated ruins, downed trees, and barren ground.
…And there were so many [Slime Cores] that it was too much trouble to count them.
"No way……"
Who was it that muttered that?
The three people present witnessed the moment when the blonde slime cut down Grabalt's World Tree with a single swing of the holy sword.
However, the strike of light that Mariabelle had just unleashed seemed to have an even greater impact and destructive power...
This way, they thought, they might be able to win.
"Amazing. Even after using so much strength, I can still feel the magic coming from Father's sword."
Mariabelle, who had delivered the blow, exclaimed with a look of joy, and with a smile on her face, she took her father's holy sword in a careful grip.
"I need to find the scabbard and get all my armor back..."
"Now, the clothes. You look amazing just now, Maria."
"Eh?"
When Mariabelle looked down at herself after hearing that, her beautiful face turned bright red all the way up to her ears.
The only things she had in her were the holy sword, the shield, and leggings.
She wasn't wearing any clothes, not even underwear, just the insoles of her feet.
"Ah, ahh..."
"Well, we're terrible too."
Fenelieka said this while her dress was soaked and slushy with slime.
Kara's chest is bare, and her stockings are ripped at the thigh level, exposing her skin from under her shorts.
Although Meltia was wearing underwear and a skirt, her upper body was almost naked.
...However, it doesn't change the fact that Mariabelle is the most miserable.
"C-clothes..."
Mariabelle made a pathetic noise that was hard to believe coming from the hero who had just blown away a slime as huge as a small mountain earlier. She returned to the location of the Slime Castle in search of her clothes.
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