The mud monster let out a wet, gurgling roar that shook the very foundations of the cavern. Its body, fueled by Sally's dark mana and Baro's dying soul, was a mountain of filth that seemed to grow larger with every passing second. Sludge dripped from the ceiling, and the air was thick with the stench of decay.
Lencar stood at the center of the chaos, his eyes scanning the battlefield. He saw Asta struggling to pull his feet from the rising mud, Sister Theresa bracing herself with her staff, and Gauche hovering above, his mirror eye darting between the monster and the woman on the ledge.
"Listen to me!" Lencar's voice cut through the sound of the monster's roaring. He didn't sound like a machine, but there was a weight of absolute certainty in his tone that made them all look at him. "I can end this. I can take down both the monster and that woman in one move. But I need time."
"Time?!" Gauche snapped, firing a Reflect Ray to intercept a glob of mud aimed at his head. "We're about to be buried in magical sewage, and you want to start a timer?"
"Five minutes," Lencar said, his gaze steady. "I need to synchronize my mana gates and forge a strike large enough to vaporize the mud core while simultaneously neutralizing her magic tools. Hold them back for five minutes. If you can do that, I'll finish this."
Sister Theresa looked at the young man, seeing the intensity in his eyes. She smiled, a fierce, determined look appearing on her aged face. "A five-minute stand for a miracle? I've seen worse odds. Asta! Gauche! You heard the boy! Protect him at all costs!"
"I don't know what you're planning, Lencar, but I'm in!" Asta yelled, ripping his sword free from the sludge with a grunt of effort. "Five minutes? I'll give you ten! Let's gooo!"
Lencar stepped back into a deep shadow near the cave wall and sat cross-legged. He closed his eyes, his grimoire hovering before him, its pages turning with a violent, rhythmic snapping sound. He began to draw in the surrounding mana, his body starting to glow with a faint, pulsing blue-and-gold light.
4:30 Remaining
Sally giggled from her ledge, her eyes wide with curiosity. "Oh? A secret move? A charging attack? How classic! I wonder what happens if I interrupt it?"
She flicked her wrist, and several vials flew through the air, shattering to release a swarm of needle-toothed jelly creatures. "Go eat the quiet one!"
"Not on my watch!" Sister Theresa stepped forward. Her mana flared, expanding in a golden dome that pushed back the dampness of the cave. "Mana Zone: Shining Flame Cross!"
Gigantic crosses of holy fire erupted from the ground, incinerating the jelly creatures before they could even get close to Lencar. She didn't stop there. "Flame Creation Magic: Guiding Light Leopard!"
A massive beast made of shimmering, white-hot fire materialized from her mana. It lunged into the mud, its claws cauterizing the sludge and keeping the monster's limbs occupied.
3:15 Remaining
The mud monster roared in pain, its massive fist swinging toward Theresa.
"Don't forget about me, you ugly pile of dirt!" Asta screamed. He used a mirror portal Gauche had placed in mid-air to launch himself like a rocket. He slammed the flat of his blade into the monster's "face," the anti-magic ripple causing a massive section of the mud to collapse into inert liquid.
"Gauche! Now!" Asta yelled.
"Don't tell me what to do!" Gauche retorted, but his hands were already moving. "Mirror Magic: Real Double!"
A perfect clone of Gauche appeared beside him. Together, they unleashed a barrage of Reflect Rays, the beams of light bouncing off mirrors strategically placed around the cave to create a web of destruction that sliced through the mud monster's regenerating arms.
2:00 Remaining
Neige, still shivering but determined, added his own power to the defense. "Snow Creation Magic: Snow Friends!" He created a wall of dense, magically reinforced snow to protect Lencar from the stray splatters of mud and Sally's chemical projectiles.
"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry," Neige whispered as he worked, his snow slowing the monster's movements by freezing the moisture in the mud.
Sally was starting to look frustrated. "You're all being very boring! If I can't play with the specimen, I'll just melt all of you!" She pulled out a massive, cannon-like magic tool. "Dark Magic Tool: Gelatinous Devourer!"
A massive wave of purple, acidic slime erupted from the tool, heading straight for the group.
Sister Theresa slammed her staff down. "Flame Magic: Soothing Holy Light!" The cave was bathed in a brilliant, warm glow that didn't just burn; it reinforced the magic of her allies, healing the small cuts on Asta's arms and boosting Gauche's mirrors. The acid hit the holy fire and hissed into harmless steam.
1:00 Remaining
The mud monster, sensing its end was near, began to go berserk. It pulled its entire mass together, growing into a giant, amorphous sphere of sludge that threatened to fill the entire cavern.
"Lencar! Whatever you're doing, do it now!" Asta yelled, his boots slipping as the floor became a river of mud.
Lencar's eyes snapped open. The mana around him was no longer flickering; it was a roaring furnace, contained within the small space of his body. He stood up, his hand reaching for the air as if grasping a hilt.
Gauche looked at Lencar, then at Asta, and then back at Lencar. He felt the sheer scale of the magic Lencar was preparing. It was massive, but against a target this large and a woman as mobile as Sally, he realized they needed more.
"Fine," Gauche hissed, his nose beginning to bleed from the sheer strain on his mana. "If we're going to bet on you, let's go all the way."
He tapped into the deepest reserves of his grimoire, fueled by the thought of Marie safe in the church.
"Mirror Magic: Mirrors Brigade!"
The cave was suddenly filled with the sound of breaking glass. Large mirrors manifested in a circle around Lencar. From the surfaces of the mirrors, versions of Lencar began to step out—ten, twenty, thirty copies, all of them glowing with the same terrifying, concentrated mana as the original.
Sally's eyes went wider than her glasses. "Wh-what?! Multiple specimens?! This is the best day ever!"
Lencar looked at the army of himself, then at Gauche. He gave a single, sharp nod of respect. Every version of Lencar raised their hands in unison, the air beginning to scream as the temperature in the cave spiked to an impossible level.
"The five minutes are up," the Lencars said in a haunting, synchronized chorus.
Blue and gold flames began to swirl into a massive, rotating storm centered on the mud monster. Lencar didn't just cast a spell; he forged the atmosphere itself into a weapon.
"Compound Creation Magic..."
The mud monster lunged, its mouth open wide, but the army of Lencars didn't flinch.
"...Judgment of the Forged Sun."
A blinding flash of white light consumed the cavern, turning the night-dark cave into the center of a star.
Thirty pillars of blue-white fire erupted at once, converging on the mud monster's core. The impact wasn't just a blast; it was a thermal reset. The mud didn't just burn—it was vitrified. The moisture was snatched away in a microsecond, and the dirt was subjected to such intense heat that it turned into jagged, glowing glass.
The explosion of light was absolute. Sally screamed as the rock ledge beneath her disintegrated, forced to use her last magic tool to shield herself as she was blown backward into the depths of the cave.
When the light finally faded, the mud monster was gone. In its place stood a massive, beautiful, and terrifying statue of blackened glass, frozen in a mid-roar.
The twenty-nine clones vanished into shards of light. The real Lencar stood in the center of the wreckage, his cloak charred and his breath coming in heavy heaves. He looked at his hands, then at the frozen remains of Baro.
Asta and Gauche collapsed into the cooling slush, gasping for air. Sister Theresa leaned on her staff, a look of pure awe on her face as she stared at the young man who had just turned a cave into a forge.