Chapter 5: The User of Flames and Cold

Peering into the hole, the metal slime was quietly sitting in the corner.

It was a bit too far to spray without entering the hole. In the end, there was no choice but to go in and reach out.

Yuzuma cautiously entered the hole and slowly extended his hand, being careful not to provoke the slime.

If the slime were to attack, he would immediately run away. That was his plan.

The distance between the slime and the spray can was about 30 centimeters.

When he pressed the button, a hissing sound was heard, and a cold gas enveloped the slime's entire body.

At first, the slime seemed confused, trembling as if it didn't understand what was happening. But then, realizing it was under attack, it hurriedly tried to escape.

"Whoa!"

Yuzuma's body tensed, but upon closer inspection, the slime's movements were clearly stiff. The spray was clearly having an effect.

"Alright! While it's like this..."

Yuzuma moved the spray can closer to the slime and sprayed more cold gas.

The slime's body gradually turned white, as if covered in frost.

After confirming that it was completely immobilized, Yuzuma crawled into the back of the hole like a turtle. He poked the frozen slime with his finger, but it didn't move.

"This will work!"

He placed the cooling spray on the ground and switched the gas burner from his left hand to his right. When he pulled the ignition lever, a bright blue flame shot out, enveloping the metal slime.

"Whoa!"

The fire spread across the ground and burned fiercely. "What's happening?" he thought, but it seemed the gas from the cooling spray had ignited.

Reading the warning on the can, he saw that it contained flammable gas.

"Guess that's why... I need to be careful, it's dangerous."

However, the intense burning was convenient. The gas seemed to remain in the back of the hole, and the fire didn't reach him.

Yuzuma kept his distance from the fire and observed.

After a while, the slime's surface began to glow red, and its frozen body started to move.

But—cracks appeared in the metal slime's outer shell. Even though it could move, it wasn't as quick as before. It was clearly damaged.

"It's working! It's working!!"

He sprayed the cooling spray again. The slime, which had been heated, didn't freeze easily, but he continued to spray persistently.

The slime began to stop moving again, and its entire body was covered in a thin layer of frost.

"This time—"

Yuzuma brought the gas burner's nozzle close and pulled the ignition lever.

The flame burned the metal slime, which gradually turned red. The sound of the surface cracking could be heard.

The surface must be brittle now. If I hit it, I can definitely defeat it!

He was confident, but he only had the cooling spray and the gas burner. Feeling around for something to use as a weapon, his hand touched something hard.

—Ah, this!

It was the hammer he had dropped when the metal slime escaped. Yuzuma picked up the hammer and prepared to strike the metal slime, which was slowly trying to escape.

In the narrow hole, the hammer, swung with a small motion, struck the slime's body directly.

A loud cracking sound echoed, and the metal slime, which had been so hard, shattered into pieces.

"Got it!"

The broken pieces of the slime turned into black, fine sand and scattered, disappearing. He had seen monsters in dungeons disappear like this on TV.

So, that's how they disappear. He understood.

Yuzuma shone his flashlight into the hole, searching carefully for a 'magic gemstone.' But there was nothing like it anywhere. It seemed the slime didn't drop anything.

"Well, that's to be expected. I've heard the drop rate for monsters is really low."

Yuzuma quickly gave up and crawled out of the hole. To the curious-looking Mamezou, he said with a smile, "I took care of the weird guy. It's safe now!"

At least the monster was gone. That was the end of it.

Yuzuma brought a large cardboard box from home to cover the hole and placed some stones on top as a weight.

This should do for now. I'm too tired to do anything else today.

"Next time I have some free time, I'll fill in the hole. Until then, bear with it, Mamezou."

"Woof!"

Yuzuma returned to the house to clean up the hammer, cooling spray, and gas burner.

At that moment, he thought it was all over. Yes, at that moment.