"But… about this Kazuma you just mentioned…"
The elves still harbored some doubts. "I understand your point about striking first—but we've seen that guy before."
The Canary Squad had previously witnessed Kazuma and the others fighting a Barioth. Kazuma had been chased around miserably at the time… which made it hard for them to believe the all-important first strike was being entrusted to him.
If it were handed to Naofumi Iwatani, the man lugging around a Heavy Bowgun that looked like a turret, it'd be much easier to accept.
"Hahaha~! At last, it's time for the great Kazuma-sama's grand entrance!!"
At that moment, Kazuma finally arrived—strapped with a bow so large that ordinary people would've called it oversized.
But when the elves compared the size of that bow to Shah Dalamadur… they found it even harder to believe this man had been given the first strike.
He didn't even radiate magical power… and he sure didn't carry himself like a powerful warrior…
"Finally! It's time for Kazuma-sama to shine!" Kazuma's nose practically pointed skyward as he puffed himself up. "Let's get started!"
"?!"
The elves looked completely baffled. Mithrun, on the other hand, remained utterly calm.
After all, the Hunters had already pulled out healing potions capable of restoring desire. At this point, nothing seemed too absurd to believe.
"Dun-dun-duuun!"
Right in front of the elves, Kazuma pulled out a pile of red items from his backpack, then promptly sat down and began scarfing them down like a man possessed.
And not just that—he even set up a portable cooking pot on the side, tossed in large chunks of marinated meat, drizzled it with honey, and threw in a few shrimp…
"???"
To start cooking and feasting at a moment like this… the elves were left completely dumbfounded.
Meanwhile, Naofumi opened the chamber of his Heavy Bowgun and loaded several crimson rounds, then aimed it at Kazuma and pulled the trigger.
The blazing bullets struck Kazuma dead-on—but didn't harm him at all. Instead, they made him flash red for a brief moment.
[Demon Ammo: Increases target's attack power on impact.]
After firing, Naofumi stowed his Heavy Bowgun and began tinkering with the shield on his arm.
As one of the Four Holy Shields, Naofumi's gear had synthesizing capabilities. He began drawing out vials of potions and placing them next to Kazuma.
"Mmph! MMPH!!"
Though Kazuma was nearly choking, he increased the pace of his potion and pill intake.
The once faint presence he gave off steadily began to surge—becoming impossible to ignore.
At last, Kazuma popped a Demon Drug into his mouth and kept it tucked in his cheek. He then scattered a handful of Demon Powder into the sky.
"Now then…"
Seeing Kazuma rise to his feet, Naofumi knew prep time was over.
"Mmmph!" Kazuma, with the Demon Drug still in his mouth, motioned to Naofumi, then notched an arrow and loaded a Power Coating onto his bow.
Naofumi activated his Four Holy Shield again. The previously steel-solid shield transformed into something resembling a mushroom cap—occasionally releasing faint spores from its surface.
"Go for it, Kazuma!!"
Naofumi planted the transformed shield in front of Kazuma.
This was a new form of the shield—unlocked by loading it with transformation mushroom spores.
[Morph Mushroom Shield: Emits spores that forcibly change the target's race for ten minutes. When struck at close range, it releases targeted transformation spores.]
Kazuma let loose a flying kick at the Morph Mushroom Shield. In the next moment, a thick cloud of spores erupted, engulfing him entirely.
The elves recognized the effect of a transformation mushroom and scrambled away in alarm.
"Hey! Those mushrooms cause uncontrollable effects! What are you trying to—"
Before the elf could finish speaking, Kazuma re-emerged from the cloud of spores.
Strangely, his appearance hadn't changed. He didn't morph into a Dwarf, a Goblin, or a Troll like the elves feared.
But… his eyes had turned a striking crimson red.
"Ohhhhhh!!" Kazuma chomped down on the Demon Drug in his mouth and pulled out his skill card.
"This is it! After changing races, I get to reassign all my skill points!!!"
He looked at the top of the card—his race had now become: [Crimson Demon]!
They'd previously discovered that the transformation mushroom allowed them to take on the race of humanoid species from their own worlds. And now…
Kazuma was about to unleash the product of two weeks of Hunter isolation, planning, and theorycrafting:
The greatest firepower currently achievable by a Hunter!!!
"All skill points! Into Explosion Magic!!!!!!"
Kazuma jammed his finger onto his skill card with absolute conviction.
As Megumin's teammate, there was probably no one who understood Explosion Magic better than he did.
[Explosion Magic acquired.]
With all skill points allocated, Kazuma—now a Crimson Demon—nocked an arrow and aimed at the colossal Shah Dalamadur.
"Let's go!! Kazuma-sama took so many potions! Plus Crimson Demon magic! Plus maxed-out Explosion Magic! Plus Dragon Piercer!"
A fearsome amount of magic began compressing into the arrow, making even the elves wonder:
If that thing exploded here… would they even leave behind corpses to revive?
"Here it comes!!!!!! Kazuma-sama's shining moment!!!!!!"
"FIRE————!!!!"
With Kazuma's triumphant yell, the Dragon Piercer—infused with layer upon layer of Explosion Magic—shot forth like a meteor streaking against gravity, aimed directly at Shah Dalamadur's skull.
At that very moment, the Winged Lion—still in the midst of fusing—sensed a massive spike in magical energy. But the dragon had only just begun to move before the arrow struck.
BOOOOOM—!!
A massive explosion erupted at Shah Dalamadur's head.
The sky—darkened by storm clouds—was lit up by the blinding flash of the blast.
Shah Dalamadur's enormous head was hurled backward by the impact, slamming violently into the mountainside and gouging out massive chunks of terrain with its momentum.
When the smoke and dust finally cleared, its head was torn and mangled beyond recognition—not even a few intact scales remained.
The moment was met with stunned silence… and then furious shouting.
But not aimed at Shah Dalamadur.
No.
It was directed squarely at the Hunters.
"YOU MONSTERS!!"
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