Chapter 154: Mochi’s Power

Qiu Nuoya raised his staff and began chanting.

Meanwhile, Mochi leaped onto the Imoogi’s belly and began swelling larger and larger, gradually covering part of its abdomen.

"Burn! Inferno!"

Qiu Nuoya unleashed the spell directly at Mochi.

It was the most powerful single target attack spell in fire magic. However, despite being a single target spell, it also had a high chance of causing the surrounding area to catch fire. ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

The Inferno Qiu Nuoya cast was completely swallowed by Mochi.

Then, a massive explosion erupted inside Mochi’s body.

But the explosion remained completely contained within Mochi’s belly, preventing the flames from spreading to the surroundings.

"Yes!"

Qiu Nuoya clenched his fist in triumph.

[ Master, you certainly have a rather ruthless way of fighting. ]

The quiet remark came out of nowhere.

Long was suddenly standing beside Qiu Nuoya, staring at Mochi as he burned brightly.

[ Using your contracted monster as a shield for your attack. That’s quite a difficult thing to do. ]

"What? Wait! I wasn’t sacrificing Mochi!"

[ But that slime is obviously on fire, isn’t he? ]

That can’t be.

Qiu Nuoya turned pale as he looked toward Mochi and the Imoogi.

The flames had indeed been completely prevented from spreading beyond Mochi, but Mochi himself was covered in fire and burning brightly.

"Waaaaah! Mochi!"

Qiu Nuoya had asked Mochi to do it because Mochi had said he could, but he should never have tried something like this without testing it first.

Overcome with shock, Qiu Nuoya collapsed onto the ground.

Then Mochi bounced softly onto his lap.

[ What’s wrong? ]

"Huh?"

[ Nuoya, are you okay? ]

Right in front of him was a burning Mochi, yet another Mochi was sitting on his lap. What on earth was going on?

[ That was amazing! It went poof, then whoosh, and the Imoogi turned completely black! But it looks delicious~ ]

[ You’re awfully carefree. ]

"Mochiiii!" Qiu Nuoya hugged Mochi tightly.

[ So that was a clone of that creature. It seems the ruthless fighting style belongs not to the master, but to that one. It sacrifices its own kind without a hint of remorse. ]

[ I don’t really understand what Long is saying. It’s too complicated~ ]

Come to think of it, Mochi was a fusion of multiple slimes. Perhaps the one burning in front of him now was another individual that had once been fused with Mochi.

Mochi, you’re a terrifying little thing!

While Qiu Nuoya was thinking that, the Imoogi’s body, with Mochi’s clone clinging to it, continued to burn along with the clone. Naturally, the Imoogi went completely berserk with its body on fire.

"Waaaaah! Hey! Stop thrashing around!!" Igor was thrown off the rampaging Imoogi and came tumbling down. Mochi’s clone bounced up and caught him with a soft, springy boing. Somehow, before Qiu Nuoya knew it, Mochi’s clones had multiplied and spread all over the place.

[ Nuoya~ Do the poof thing again~ ]

Well, yes, but Mochi, wouldn’t that hurt your clones if I did that? And what about your own body? Would you be okay?

Ignoring Qiu Nuoya’s hesitation, the innocent yet ruthlessly battle crazed slime chirped.

[ Hurry, hurry~]

And began clinging to the Imoogi’s body without even waiting for instructions, gradually covering it.

At this point, it seemed obvious that Mochi was telling him to cast his magic directly into its body.

Qiu Nuoya raised his staff and began chanting, deciding to go for it. This time, he would be a little more careful. He could not bear to watch Mochi’s clones get hurt right in front of him.

"Go, Flame Thrower!"

Flame Thrower was a simple fire spell, but it was also an area of effect attack. Igor had already moved away from the Imoogi’s body, and since the spell itself was relatively simple, Qiu Nuoya was confident he could control it to some extent.

I can do this. It’ll be fine.

Repeating those words to himself, Qiu Nuoya cast the spell.

This was a strategy Qiu Nuoya had used with Mochi many times before. He had already confirmed that when Mochi absorbed his magic and then fired it back out, its power increased several times over. He also had a good understanding of just how powerful the resulting attack would be, and they had already proven that Mochi would not be injured in the process, so there was nothing to worry about.

Or at least, there shouldn’t have been...

"Wait, whyyyyy!?"

When Qiu Nuoya fired Flame Thrower at the Imoogi’s body, which was covered in Mochi, the spell’s power increased as usual. However, this time the increase was absolutely absurd. The Imoogi suddenly burst into flames all at once.

A roar that seemed to shake the very air echoed throughout the area as the Imoogi thrashed violently and tried to escape into the seawater. Well, fire was weak against water, so the flames should have gone out once it submerged itself.

But there was no way Mochi’s clones clinging to its body would allow that. The flames raging inside Mochi’s body did not go out even beneath the sea.

Qiu Nuoya watched, holding his breath, as the Imoogi writhed and thrashed underwater. Eventually, the enormous creature lost all its strength and floated back to the surface.

[ Hey, Nuoya, the Imoogi looks deliciously roasted. Can I eat it? ]

"Um... sure, go ahead."

[ Hooray! ]

[ Let’s eat~ ]

Several delighted voices echoed inside Qiu Nuoya’s head. Even the Mochi clones that had been burning moments ago began squirming and moving, merging with the nearby clones.

Huh? Weren’t those clones burned by the flames? Didn’t their entire bodies catch fire? Was that just his imagination? What in the world is Mochi’s body made of? No, what are slimes even made of!?

"Your attack power is becoming less and less slime-like, Mochi."

After confirming that the Imoogi had stopped moving, Viktor walked over to Qiu Nuoya.

"Seriously, what is going on...? I was surprised too. Mochi’s attack power was even stronger than usual today."

"Surprised? What are you talking about, Nuoya? Mochi’s attack power increased simply because your own attack power increased. Mochi is your tamed monster. Naturally, its strength will change depending on the abilities of its tamer. Without you, Mochi would just be an exceptionally gluttonous slime."