『Goshujin-sama. I'm coming over there too. The laws of the world are inverting repeatedly... the next monster will likely be something none of us have ever seen before.』

"Don't scare me like that, Diana..."

An inversion of the world's laws apparently meant that with each flip, magic elements that shouldn't naturally exist in that space were pulled from somewhere to serve as the nourishment for creating a monster.

When a boss monster spawned, the laws supposedly spun and inverted in rapid succession, concentrating all that mana into a single point.

"So that means it'll be stronger than that bear or the cyclops?"

『Those were different from normal monsters somehow. Special... This time, it doesn't feel like that, but the sheer quantity of mana is incredibly high. Everyone, please be careful.』

Well, even if it was strong, there was only one "Last Monster." It might not have been taken down by a single wrecking ball hit like yesterday's statue, but surely we could manage if we all fought together.

Diana joined us, jogging over from the resting area.

Even she looked uneasy. But this was only the second day, right? We still had tomorrow...

At Etowa's command, the golems closed the side gates and opened the central path.

Furthermore, she positioned the gate-keeper golems in front of the wrecking ball, essentially using them as sacrifices to observe the enemy's fighting style.

We had four golems summoned: two for the gates and two for operating the wrecking ball.

Once we used the ball against the Last Monster, we would switch all golems to combat mode, and if they died, we would summon Ai-chan next. Ai-chan was one of our most aggressive allies, so no matter how strong this boss was, my expectations for her were high.

"It's almost time... for it to happen," Diana murmured.

As if responding to her, a pillar of light erupted from the monster spot. Its radiance was far more intense than yesterday's.

There was no doubt that the monsters of the second day were stronger than the first, and the third day would be stronger still. I could only pray that something truly extreme wouldn't show up.

『Spawn confirmed! ...What is this? It's a giant beast! A dog... a cat...? I can't tell. It has donkey ears, bird-like legs, and it's clutching a dagger and a mace in its right and left hands!』

Etowa screamed.

Since I was standing right in front of it, I could see it too.

It had the head of a lion with inorganic, bulging eyes and pointed donkey ears. A muscular torso, tiny weapons in its hands, and bird-like legs that looked like they shouldn't have been able to support its weight.

It was probably about four meters tall. Boss monsters really have a habit of being oversized.

"...Is that a Chimera of some sort...?"

『Ready the ballistas! The monster isn't moving yet, but fire as soon as it's in range! Before that, send in the two golems to engage!』

Etowa fired off orders in rapid succession.

We had the recruits stationed as ballista operators. To ensure the monster wouldn't accidentally head their way, we had Shamash-san set up monster torches.

Shamash-san commanded the golems. They launched their attack on the mysterious Chimera. Golems are slow and their only attack is a punch. They're excellent for heavy lifting, but they have many flaws when it comes to actual combat. Though, being big and heavy is an advantage in itself...

The golems marched forward with heavy thuds, and just as they were about to land a blow on the motionless Chimera—the beast bent its knees and leaped.

It wasn't just a jump. It was flight. It soared about twenty meters into the air, landing lightly atop the wooden beam supporting the wrecking ball. From there, it looked down upon us with disdain.

To put it plainly, the situation was terrifying. A giant monster with a lion's head.

『Changing tactics! Shamash-san, recall the golems immediately and summon Ai-chan! Ballista crew and recruits, all of you evacuate to the manor!』

Etowa shouted instantly, her voice tinged with panic.

I had told her to order the recruits to evacuate if something truly dangerous appeared. She must have judged this thing to be a high-level threat just from that one jump. As expected, Etowa was top-notch.

"Jirou-san... it seems this kind of monster isn't appearing as the Last Monster at the other spots..."

Priestess-chan said with a trembling voice.

"What?"

"I've never seen a monster like this before... At the other spots, they're reporting a Dullahan—a headless knight..."

"S-Seriously!?"

...How?

"Is that even possible?"

"I don't know... I've never heard of a case like this..."

Was it because I was the only "Player" here? Did the god governing this world's Hitotsuzuki decide to put in a little extra effort for me?

Well... we had Diana, and we had me, so it wouldn't have been strange if some special flag had been triggered. It wouldn't have been strange... but come on!

The lion-head observed us with fish-like, bulging eyes, as if appraising us.

It wasn't moving yet. But its aura—its sheer presence—was on a completely different level from any enemy we had faced so far.

Even the Lich, which I thought was dangerous at a glance, felt like a mere grunt compared to this. "Last Monster" was an appropriate title.

But it was already here. One way or another, we had to kill it.

It'll be fine... With this team, we can do it!

Shamash-san unsummoned the golems and began summoning Ai-chan. The mysterious Chimera just watched, still making no move.

Suddenly, it took a deep breath. It inhaled until its chest looked like it was about to burst. We braced ourselves, thinking it was a breath attack, when—

"――――――!!!!"

It let out a roar. A roar with physical mass.

No one could have imagined it would use sound itself as an attack. I certainly hadn't.

Before we could even think to cover our ears, our bodies were pierced through by the sound, leaving us half-defenseless. It was a sudden strike that my mind couldn't even process as an attack.

〈Skill "King of Beasts: The Lionheart" activated. Neutralized Ugallu's "Roar of the Lion King."〉

A voice echoed in my head.

A skill—it seemed the mysterious skill I obtained when my Job became "Fourth Magic Sword User" had taken effect.

That was why, although the sudden roar surprised me, I was perfectly fine. I was almost shocked by how unaffected I was, as if nothing had happened at all.

However, looking around—

"You've gotta be kidding me..."

Marina had lost all strength in her legs and was slumped on the ground. Rebecca-san, Hetty-san, and even Shello-san were unable to stand, dropping to their knees. Priestess-chan and Shamash-san were the same.

The only ones who seemed fine were Etowa and the recruits, who were out of range, and me and Diana. I don't know why Diana was fine—maybe a High Elf privilege.

Satisfied with the immense effect of its roar (though its expression remained unreadable), the mysterious Chimera drifted down to the ground.

"It's huge..."

Huge. It was huge both vertically and horizontally. It had massive girth. A line I once read in a manga—"There's no way I can win against something this big"—flashed through my mind.

...But wait, that Cyclops was about this big too. And right now, I was the only one who could fight properly. I had to hold it back alone until the others recovered.

I took a deep breath and made my decision.

"Diana! Get the Spirit Stones ready! If I go down, don't hesitate—use them to heal me! The others should recover eventually, so wait a bit before using stones on them. If I look like I'm in real trouble, use one on Shello-san!"

I barked those orders and charged with my magic sword in hand.

The others still couldn't move. If they were attacked now, it could be an instant death.

No matter how strong that lion-head looked, it was a living creature. I didn't know if it counted as a "Magical Beast"—no, it was a beast. A composite of beasts. It was exactly the kind of monster you'd call a Magical Beast.

If this sword was truly a Magical Beast Slayer, I should have been able to do this.

"Take this!"

I closed the distance in an instant and swung with all my might. The mysterious Chimera nimbly leaped back five meters to evade. Naturally, I followed up.

"—!"

Its bulging eyes locked onto me, and it muttered something in a language I couldn't perceive.

From the tip of the dagger it pointed at me, a flaming orb the size of a basketball materialized and shot toward me with a roar. For a beast, it was quite insolent to be using magic. I couldn't exactly deflect it with my sword like in a manga, so I just had to dodge.

"Whoa! That's hot!"

I managed to evade it, but it had successfully put distance between us. In a fight, reach is everything. No matter how powerful your attacks are, they're meaningless if they don't land.

"Damn it! Ranged attacks are cheating!"

Complaining wouldn't help. I ran forward again to close the gap. I pressed in close and swung the magic sword.

The mysterious Chimera had a strange bodily balance; its legs were short and its head was huge. This meant I could easily aim for its waist area with full force. I really wanted to go for the head, but a target higher than my own height is hard to strike.

I really needed Shamash-san to recover soon. She could target it with Ai-chan's beam or magic.

"――――!"

Even as the mysterious Chimera took my attacks, it swung its weapons at me.

It attacked by leaping with a lightness that seemed to ignore gravity, so its strikes felt more like body slams than weapon attacks. The sight of that four-meter-tall behemoth raining down upon me was overwhelming.

But every time it happened, I managed a successful counter.

The fact that it leaped so airily meant its movements were that much slower. If anything, it seemed to be the type that specialized in magical attacks. Every time I slashed it with my sword, large shards of light scattered.

I wasn't sure if a lion-head fell under the "Magical Beast" category, but it certainly felt like my strikes were landing. As long as I stayed pressed in close, it wouldn't be able to use its fireball attacks.

Then came the umpteenth jumping attack.

"—!"

Opening its lion mouth in mid-air, it breathed out a wide-range spray of fire directly at me. In an instant, my entire field of vision turned crimson!

"Uwooooooh!"

I squeezed my eyes shut, held my breath, and ran blindly straight ahead to escape the flames.

It wasn't just heat; it was pain. Since it was only for a second, I probably didn't have severe burns, but I had taken a direct hit. I rolled across the grass, extinguishing the flames that had caught on my clothes.

The raw power was likely lower than the fireballs it shot from its dagger, but the area of effect was massive. It might have been impossible to dodge that perfectly.

Looking back, the lion-head had landed at a distance again and was launching multiple fireballs from its dagger. I evaded them by a hair. Thanks to the magic sword's "Absorption" skill, my stamina was fine, but fighting alone was honestly exhausting.

As if following its own fireballs, the lion-head glided through the air toward me. It raised its mace; I guess it planned to club me this time.

"Damn it!"

I rolled to let the fireball pass, sprang to my feet immediately, and swept the lion-head's legs.

"—!"

With a cry, the lion-head lost its balance. Its upper body was valiant, but its legs were bird-like. It was obvious, but was this actually its weakness?

Seeing my chance, I rained stabs down on my off-balance opponent. Once a window opened, a giant enemy was just a giant target; you could go to town on them.

"—Overflowing love!!"

Just as the lion-head finally struggled to its feet, a beam of destructive light flew in accompanied by a familiar-sounding line, striking the beast square between its eyes.

It was Ai-chan's death beam... I didn't know the official name.

"Ayase-kun! Forgive my delay! To think that despite being a demon, I would be frozen by a mere roar like that."

"Shamash-san! Don't worry about it—let's finish this!"

"Right!"

Ai-chan fired her beams while Shamash-san unleashed a barrage of ice magic.

BOOM!

The sounds echoed as if it were being shelled by modern weaponry.

"————!"

"I don't think so!"

Sensing the lion-head opening its mouth to use either a fire breath or another roar, I slashed it from behind with everything I had.

"—kh!"

It let out a wordless cry, and the roar was canceled.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Jirou! Leave the rest to us!"

"Please rest in the back!"

"I will provide support! Jirou-san, please treat your injuries."

Shello-san, Hetty-san, and Priestess-chan had recovered, so I tagged out. I ran to the back to grab the "stuff" I had prepared.

"Goshujin-sama! Your injuries are terrible! I-I must treat you at once—"

"I said I don't need that. You'll blow my memories away if you use that magic."

I stopped Diana as she reached for a Spirit Stone to use time-reversal magic and picked up the items I'd left nearby.

"Well, I don't know if this works on a monster that uses fire, but I went to the trouble of preparing it. And before that..."

I went to retrieve Rebecca-san and Marina, who were still unable to move. I wondered if the recovery time from that roar was based on individual strength or something.

"T-Thanks, Jirou. I'm okay now."

"I have shown you a pathetic sight, de-arimasu..."

That roar was cheating.

By my count, even Rebecca-san and Marina were immobilized for a full minute. Even for Shello-san and Hetty-san, it took thirty seconds to recover. If you can't move for a minute in the middle of a battle, you're as good as dead.

Did it mean they lacked magical resistance? Or did we just need more healers? Well, if worst came to worst, Diana could have brought them back with time-reversal.

Hetty-san's naginata slashed across the lion-head's face while Shello-san's greatsword hewed at its legs. Any incoming fireballs were deflected by Priestess-chan's magic shield. They were the ultimate trio. Even the lion-head couldn't withstand this and was unable to land a decent counter-attack.

I stealthily re-entered the combat zone and hurled a ceramic bottle filled with gasoline at the lion-head with all my strength. The bottle shattered against the enemy, drenching it in a liquid with a distinct odor. I let it have five bottles in a row.

"Light it up! Shamash-san!"

At my shout, Shamash-san ignited it with magic.

A single line of fire extended from her fingertip, and the moment it grazed the lion-head—

WHOOSH!!

As if it had exploded, the four-meter giant was instantly engulfed in flames, turning into a mass of fire.

"————kh!!!"

The mysterious Chimera, now a human—or rather, monster—torch, thrashed around trying to extinguish the flames.

For good measure, I threw the remaining two bottles at it. The fire grew even fiercer, charring the monster's body. Shards of light scattered intermittently, proof that it was taking damage.

As expected, we melee fighters couldn't get close to the blazing monster. Instead, Ai-chan continued to pump death beams into it. Over and over, shards of light flew.

While waiting for the fire to die down, I took the opportunity to have the Priestess-chan heal my burns with standard magic... Apparently they were quite bad; I hadn't felt the pain, likely due to the adrenaline.

In the end, the monster was still alive even after the fire went out. It had incredible vitality. Or, more accurately, a massive amount of HP. Even after taking all those direct hits from Ai-chan's laser.

"But it's about time you died!"

I ran. I swung my magic sword with everything I had at the lion-head, whose body was now smoldering and charred.

—This will end it.

I had that premonition.

"――――――――――――kkkh!!"

The magic sword connected with its body, shards of light burst violently, and finally, with a death rattle, the lion-head vanished.

Behind it, a giant Magic Crystal remained, and—

"This is...?"

A cute pair of gloves embroidered with a donkey on it was left behind.

It was a drop item.