"I have to fight the undead ice witch, and the dreaded vampire lord to escape!? SO WHAT!? I'LL EAT YOU ALL! IN THE END YOU'LL ALL RETURN TO SLIME!"

Hanz cut off his own trapped arm, before its purple, gelatinous insides came spilling out.

The team watched in horror as his jaw unhinged and an overflowing mass of poisonous slime seemed to grow from the size of a human, to a multi story building.

'Ya know, I could be back at home enjoying some tea and playing with Megumin's fire breathing cat'

Once it fully assumed its natural state, a pair of glowing red eyes and large jagged teeth appeared from within the goop, opening wide as a shrieking, inhuman roar sent visible tremors in the ground.

The rest of his party shot Kazuma a look as if to ask 'what now?'

'Don't look at me like that! I'm still thinking of how not to die! Does our plan still work when he's this big?'

"Kazuma, we'll have to combine our ice magic to freeze him at this size!"

Wiz neither lost her cool nor took her eyes off their opponent. Showing her experience as a former adventurer.

'The problem is that my ice moves can't even freeze HALF of this thing!'

"Wait, Megumin! We'll combine our explosion and Red Sun! The combined blast will-"

Aqua flailed her arms in protest.

"No! If you guys do that, you could destroy the entire mountain! His slime will pollute everything!"

"Damn it, we're at a disadvantage here."

Choosing to finally begin his attack, Hanz fired out a barrage of slime projectiles, numbering several dozen all over the battlefield, some of it even entering the towns water source.

"NO! The water!"

Aqua abandoned her position, choosing to speed off towards the main body of water, driving her arms into the now heavily polluted gunk. An intense, searing pain shot through her entire body.

"Aqua! Don't! He has you targeted!"

In this form, Hanz wasn't using any form of higher thinking, simply attacking whatever he saw move without any discretion. In response to their priest's reckless dash, it discharged another glob of corrosive slime aimed right at her. Though when she opened her eyes, she was still fine.

"NGHK! It, hurts…like a bitch!"

"Ka-Kazuma!"

Aqua, continuing to purify the spring, looked up as Kazuma stood over her arms stretched wide, large spots in his clothing opened up as the slime melted away his cloak and blouse.

"Heh, vampires are immune to poison…but not corrosion."

"Kazuma I-"

"Just do what you need to do. We'll protect you and kill this bastard."

She couldn't find it in her to smile through the burning pain, but she was close.

"You hear that you big pile of slop? You just destroyed my cloak, now I look like a lesser rank vampire." Kazuma said to no one within earshot.

That's not how vampire ranks work

"And now, you're gonna wish you were facing any other party! Megumin, game time!"

"Got it!"

Megumin, still keeping her distance from the raging mountain of deadly slime, began her incantations.

"Wiz, with me! Darkness, time for that thing!"

Megumin seemed confused on what that thing was supposed to be, but given the crusader's blushy smile, it couldn't have been anything safe or respectable.

"Vampire's yoyo!"

Kazuma released a long bloody tendril that wrapped itself around Darkness multiple times, tightening the grip to ensure no chance of mishap.

"We're ready! Do it!"

Darkness threw her sword to the side, as it was virtually useless in this scenario anyway, and held her fingers to her mouth. Blowing as hard as she could, she whistled loud enough to have Hanz turn to her general direction.

The whistling was replaced by screaming as Kazuma began to manipulate the 'rope', flinging her high into the sky and far too close for comfort to the gelatinous beast.

"That's right you bastard! Dinner! Come get it!"

"Kazuma! Talking about me like I'm a piece of meat, at a time like this! While a disgusting slime that would kill me in seconds follows close behind, is this what you had in mind when you made thaaAAAAA"

She was once again flung harshly into the air. Kazuma, Wiz, and Megumin ran alongside the proverbial carrot chasing pig, watching as Kazuma did his best to just barely manage to keep her out of the sticky clutches of the increasingly violent and manic Hanz.

'To think that at this size, he could move that fast!'

Hanz launched his entire body from place to place as it refused to let up on the delicious looking snack.

"Alright, we're coming up on the cliff! On my say Megumin!"

"KaaAAZuma! Surely you don't mean to throw me off that cliff!"

"Watch me slime bait!"

'Do I do that because I know she likes it?'

"Y-you! So ruthleEEEEEEEE-!"

At the cliff edge, Kazuma showed no mercy in swinging her down into the deep valley, grinning as the slime did exactly as he had planned and jumped in after her, never stopping to think it was leaping into a trap.

"Kazuma she'll die!"

Megumin couldn't help but stop charging her spell as she watched the spectacle unfold.

"Oh no she won't!"

Pulling onto his end with everything he had, he watched as Darkness was just able to avoid the slime's closing maw. He undid the ability the moment she cleared the cliff's edge, shouting all the while, as he already began pooling mana into his palm for his attack.

"NOW MEGUMIN!"

Large runic circles appeared in the sky as the crimson demon surged with power.

"Pitiful creature, return to slime? Nay I say, you and your ashes will return to oblivion in a blossoming bath of smoke and blood! BURST FORTH!"

"Your mistake wasn't joining up with that Tyrant, and it wasn't coming here to destroy this town, it was challenging the strongest god damn party in the world!

RED SUN!"

"EEEEXPLOOOSION!"

The sparkling circles of light up above sent their angel of death in the form of a world cracking pillar of magic, colliding with the nearly white orb of hot vampiric mana. The two energies struggled against each other as they expanded and erupted in a magnificent array of colors. The resulting mushroom cloud took on a deep crimson color as the valley itself quivered and broke apart.

The burning droplets of slime fell over mountain as the now roughed up Darkness used her own body to protect Aqua, still purifying with all her heart.

All that was left when the debris cleared was pieces of a massive charred skeleton, only bits and pieces of the once great monster left.

"All you Wiz!"

Kazuma hurriedly lifted Megumin onto his back as Wiz slid down into the bottom, leaving a trail of frost as she moved. She looked at the creature with only a pained expression as she began her spell.

"Cursed Icy Prison!"

The magical aura around her formed into a crystal snowflake, before bursting open into a beam of ice that completely entrapped the goopy, skeletal leftovers. The now formed ice cube cathartically cracked and shattered into too many pieces to count.

Kazuma arrived shortly afterwards, still carrying Megumin on his back. Wiz had been knocked out cold from mana exhaustion.

"Huh? You're down too? I can't lift the both of you."

"You can use-"

"No I'm not turning Wiz into a yoyo. That move was Darkness' idea anyway, so don't give me that look!"

"Well, at least it's over."

Megumin shut her eyes and let her head weigh down on Kazuma's shoulder.

'As cute as this is, I'm tearing you a new one for throwing up a red flag WHILE I'm alone!'

"Over? No, all you people did was make me mad." Said a voice from within the shards of still standing ice.

"Uuughh come on."

Squeezing its way past the many cracks, a small purple blob oozed its way out and into the open.

"As soon as I eat your party, I'll be restored to full power!"

"...Pfffft!"

Kazuma fought down a laugh.

"Look at- just, look at you! You're like the size of a toddler."

"Keep talking, it doesn't change the fact that-"

"Winters howl: Winter's shackles!"

Swinging his blade the move was named after, tendrils shot out and froze simultaneously, sealing Hans in a web of blood red ice.

"You and your stupid spell names, what are you a crimson demon?"

"Hey! Don't lump me in with them!"

"Them?"

The weight on his shoulder has awoken. And it now furiously ruffled at his hair.

"You really think this shoddy ball of ice can keep me here for long? I can break out of this no sweat!"

"Sure, but in the time you do, this will have already sent you your ticket to hell."

Kazuma pointed at the white orb floating over his left palm.

"Tch! How dare you!"

"So, you're going to tell me everything I want to know, and I might let you go."

"You think I'm stupid kid? Even if you let me go, The others wouldn't stand for it. Besides, I'd just try and eat you all the moment you drop your guard."

"Yeah whatever majin buu, if you don't want to die, you'll tell me about everything."

"Turn to ash, vampire."

"...You know, it's funny because this ability I had, I thought it was too cruel to use on others. So I started developing my own spin on it that I got from other anime and manga I've seen, something that wouldn't mess with their brain so badly."

"What are you talking about? Is your head in the right place?"

"But you know, when it comes to bastards like you, to hell with what's considered cruel."

'Dominate Mind'

"..."

"..."

'He doesn't have a brain…'

"Hello? Is this the part where you were gonna try and torture me or something?"

"RED SUN!"

"WAIT! UUUAAAAAAGHHHHH!"

In his internal shame, Kazuma hastily activated his ability, erasing the slime from existence, finally putting an end to Arcanletia's troubles.

Kazuma felt Hanz's essence run through him. It was easily the strongest he's absorbed thus far, but it was disappointing that there wasn't much he could do in the way of interrogation.

"Well, that could have gone better." Kazuma said.

"Neh, there wasn't much we could reasonably do. He's better off dead anyway."

"Good point. We should probably go wake up Wi-"

"What a travesty. Hanz was modified to be able to assimilate other slimes, regardless of type. By far one of the most threatening biological terrors ever birthed. If he were allowed to combine with every slime on the planet, he would be unstoppable."

"Wha!? Who!?"

Kazuma checked behind him, then to the left, and right. Aside from the still unconscious Wiz and Megumin on his back, there should have been no one there.

"You okay?" Megumin asked.

"You didn't hear that?"

"Hear what?"

Megumin noted the genuine confusion and surprise in his voice.

"That voice!"

"I didn't hear anything. I was wondering why you paused mid sentence…"

The voice didn't sound familiar either, it was somewhat gruff, yet also synthetic. Not even a general direction, it was simply all around him.

'Did you hear that?'

I have heard nothing, you must have imagined it

'Nah nah, I know I'm not at that level of crazy yet…right?'

'So that marks the end of our trip to Arcanletia. We got harassed by some locals, met two lieutenants of the Tyrant king, killed one, and then we were subsequently driven out of the town. Turns out Aqua went a bit overboard with her purifying, and in the process of decontaminating everything, she turned all their springs into normal hot water. At least Wiz teleported us home…'

Kazuma kept his distance within their comfortable living room, while the girls did their best to comfort Aqua, who was still crying from the whole ordeal.

'But while Arcanletia lost their main source of income, they did survive. So hopefully that's a spit in the ol' Tyrants eye'

Kazuma recalled the moment he eavesdropped on the lieutenants, Hanz practically said he was sent there because the Tyrant hates gods. From what Aqua would babble on about, a god's level of power comes from the faith of their believers.

'I guess our target now is the other one Vanir mentioned, Sylvia. Buuut maybe we should chill for a week or two. I've had my fill of trips for now'

After thinking about how insane the people from the crimson demon clan must act, he shivered. Yeah, some mental preparation time is necessary for heroes such as himself. At the end of the day, nothing beats relaxing at home.

"It's good to be back!"

Shorter chapter this time, didn't feel like starting the movie/volume 5 content halfway into a chapter. Especially since movie content will be the final part of this entire "prologue" that leads into the meat and potatoes of the AU stuff.