The revived Chaos Slime and Yuuri as he quietly readies his sword.

A solemn atmosphere flows between the two as they face each other.

―Amidst all this, it was the Chaos Slime that moved first.

"■■■■oooooooo!"

From the body of the Chaos Slime, multiple tentacles extend.

Compared to earlier, the speed has decreased, but the quantity has increased instead.

It seemed they had switched to a strategy of overwhelming with numbers, having realized they couldn't match the enemy in speed.

However―

"You're late."

"■■■■oosh!?!?!?"

With just a single swing of his sword, Yuuri cuts through all the tentacles.

The principle behind it is unclear, but it seems Yuuri can unleash multiple sword strikes in an instant.

(...What on earth is going on?)

Walter could only watch the scene from the stands as he continued to observe the back-and-forth without even blinking.

However, he doesn't understand.

The battle between the two clearly surpassed anything Walter had ever known.

However, there is one thing that he can still understand.

The numerous tentacles unleashed by the Chaos Slime with all its might did not reach Yuuri even once.

(―Clearly, ...the level is different!)

Walter is convinced of that.

Even from just watching from the outside, it was clearly evident to him.

What must be going through the mind of the Chaos Slime, facing such a monster as Yuuri head-on?―

That answer would be proven by the next action of the Chaos Slime.

"■■■■oooooooo!"

The Chaos Slime extends its tentacles with a roar.

However, there was a difference compared to earlier.

The color of the tentacles is changing to a variety of colors, such as red and yellow, which are different from the pitch black.

(Could it be...?)

―The use of the acquired ability, Walter speculated.

Chaos Slime can handle the abilities of the monsters it has absorbed so far.

They probably embed those abilities within each of their tentacles.

That guess was correct.

Just before reaching Yuuri, each tentacle undergoes a significant transformation.

One is to fierce flames, one is to surging lightning, and one is to a solid spear.

The relentless barrage of attacks with altered attributes came at Yuuri from all directions.

"―Tch！"

Despite widening his eyes at the sudden event, Yuuri continued to cut through everything as usual.

However, the true aim of the Chaos Slime started from here.

Was it triggered by a shock to the tentacles? Suddenly, a chain reaction of explosions occurs.

An explosion capable of taking down an A-rank monster in one hit, easily over ten times.

Yuuri was engulfed by the bombing.

In an instant, his figure is obscured by the raging blast.

Walter couldn't help but grimace upon seeing that scene.

(This is bad! No matter how skilled Yuuri is in swordsmanship, if he gets attacked by the countless methods the Chaos Slime possesses, he won't be able to handle it!)

Moreover, in his case, he doesn't have any magical power.

It is unclear how he can move like that without any magical power, but since he hasn't been detected by Walter's magical sensing, that in itself must be a fact.

Having no magical power means having inferior magical resistance as well.

If he were to take this much magical bombardment, even Yuuri would...

"Hey."

―For some reason, that voice came from above his head.

"Where are you looking?"

"■■■■―oosh!?!?!?"

In an instant, countless slashes fell from the sky.

He mercilessly rained down on the Chaos Slime, shattering its body into dozens of fragments.

"For now, I just randomly slashed about 50 times, but..."

"..."

Before the dazed Walter, Yuuri lands gracefully.

His gaze was directed at the Chaos Slime, which began to regenerate as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"As I thought, it won't die from this level. Regeneration abilities are really troublesome."

Yuuri calmly observes the situation.

In contrast, Walter was standing behind as he snapped back to reality with a "huh."

(That's right. No matter how strong Yuuri is, the opponent is a Chaos Slime. Slime types are already resistant to physical attacks, and this particular one excels in regeneration. To completely annihilate it, large-scale magic is necessary, but Yuuri doesn't possess any magical power. The fundamental compatibility is just too bad...)

If the battle continues at this pace, he won't lose, but he won't win either.

And if time passes as it is, the Chaos Slime with regenerative abilities will gradually gain the upper hand.

It's frustrating to be pushing, but retreating is definitely the best option here.

Walter is trying to make such a proposal.

However, he came to a stop immediately afterward.

"Well, it's fine, if that's the case, then there's a way to handle it."

Yuuri gazes at the immortal enemy standing before him with a small smile.

And then, he declared with great dignity.

"─Alright, it's time to get serious."

"■■■■ooosh!?"

"Wha!?!?!"

In the face of that, it wasn't just the Chaos Slime that raised a voice of confusion; Walter did as well.

Why was Walter surprised?

From Yuuri's statement, did he find out that he hadn't been serious up to this point?

That's true, but the main reason is different.

Yuuri was enveloped ―No, overwhelmed by the aura that emanated from him.

(Could it be... a Fighting Spirit!?)

[Fighting Spirit]. It is a different concept from magical power.

That energy is said to arise from within the body and excel at physical enhancement.

On the other hand, it cannot be transformed into another phenomenon like magic, and furthermore, physical enhancement itself can be activated with magical power.

For these reasons, except for a few experts, there are very few users.

Additionally, there is one characteristic of the fighting spirit.

Basically, it can only be used within the body and cannot be released externally.

Very rarely for example, it is said that a master who has trained in martial arts for 50 years might be able to envelop part of their body in a thin aura of fighting spirit, but that is about the extent of it.

He had never even heard of someone who could cover their entire body with fighting spirit.

However, Yuuri was now standing before him as he was enveloped in an enormous aura that could swallow not only himself but also the Chaos Slime.

Clearly, it's on a different level.

(Yuuri, what on earth are you...!)

An utterly outrageous situation.

It is not a state that a young person who has not yet reached the age of 20 can attain.

Before that scene, Walter once again understood that Yuuri was an otherworldly being.

Indeed, if he can use this much fighting spirit, then his previous movements make sense.

Does he really understand his own abnormality?

Yuuri takes a light step forward as if going out for a walk.

"Let's go."

And then, he disappeared from the scene.

(No way!)

The sound of something rushing through the sky and the sound of slashing continue to echo one after another.

Right now, Yuuri is swinging his sword while moving at a speed that the eye can hardly follow.

"■■osh, ■■■■ooooooooo!"

The Chaos Slime, having lost sight of Yuuri, begins to thrash its dozens of tentacles.

It's not that it has a specific target. By swinging wildly, it is somehow hoping to hit Yuuri, who is probably nearby.

"─Tch!"

And to make matters worse, one of them came flying straight at Walter―

"...Huh?"

―Just before piercing Walter, he was suddenly slashed.

(Did Yuuri protect me? ...No)

This phenomenon is not occurring only here.

All of the tentacles released by the Chaos Slime that reached a certain distance were cut down without exception.

What Walter could understand was limited to that.

He simply stood there in a daze, witnessing the outcome that awaited him―

◇◆◇

(Yeah, it's going well)

―On the other hand.

Even now, Yuuri, who swings his sword while kicking off the air to accelerate, smiles faintly at the sight of his plan going smoothly.

That said, it's not like he has done anything that significant (or so Yuuri thinks).

Yuuri first created a sphere with a diameter of 2.0 meters centered around the Chaos Slime through a thousand slashes per second.

In other words, it is a barrier to slashing attacks.

The Chaos Slime was trapped inside, and even when it tried to extend its tentacles outside, it was instantly shredded by countless slashes.

The slashes are layered multiple times, so they cannot escape outward as a single fragment.

The reason Yuuri chose this strategy is extremely simple.

No matter how excellent the slime in front of him is at regeneration, it still needs a certain amount of its original body to regenerate.

He doesn't know what the minimum necessary size is, but anyway, he will just chop it to bits until it ceases to exist, that's what he thought.

"Alright, I should finish this."

Confirming that the slash was serving its purpose as a barrier as intended, Yuuri gradually narrowed its range.

15 meters, 12 meters, 10 meters, and so on―

Little by little, the slashing barrier is closing in on the Chaos Slime.

"■■■■ooooosh!?!?!?"

The Chaos Slime, sensing the disturbance, increases the number of its tentacles, but it's already too late.

The speed at which Yuuri's slash caused the Chaos Slime to disappear surpassed its regeneration speed, and the Chaos Slime's body shrank at a terrifying rate.

The strange appearance from their first encounter is nowhere to be seen.

Now, in this body that has been reduced to a mere, insignificant prey, the infinite, deadly blades finally arrive.

A sphere with a diameter of 1 meter.

Within that, the secret technique that unleashes a thousand sword strikes per second.

The name is―

"[The Play of a Thousand Blades]."

For several dozen seconds from there, all sounds except for the slashing disappeared from the world.

Countless slashes swirl within the sphere, all of them baring their fangs at a single monster.

The mass required for the Chaos Slime to regenerate is only 1 gram.

Even when divided by one-hundredth of its mass, the relentless assault showed no signs of stopping, and over ten thousand sword flashes continued to blink.

The time it took for everything to finish was about 30 seconds.

When the last sound of the slash faded away, nothing remained.

Without even being allowed a final scream, the Chaos Slime perished.

Yuuri nodded deeply with satisfaction after having witnessed the result.

"Alright, it's a complete victory."

Thus, the battle with the monster that Yuuri believed to be the first since coming to the other world ended in a complete and utter victory.

Chapter 12: A Swordsman Enveloped in Fighting Spirit