[Tensura] I Was a Doctor, But Reincarnated as a Dragon? Chapter 35 35: Ifrit

Ifrit, having stolen the body originally intended for Rimuru, imdiately began transforming it into a form suited to his own nature. Shizu's shoulder-length black hair shifted, becoming like flickering flas, and her eyes turned a piercing red. A crimson aura rose around the body like a shimring heat haze.

With a light flick of Ifrit's fingers, a small pillar of fire erupted. The sudden blast was so loud that the four companions eating in the tent rushed outside in a panic.

"?!! Ifrit?!"

Shizu gasped in shock at the sight of Ifrit before her, only then realizing that the spirit was no longer bound within her own body.

"....."

Ifrit stared at Shizu in silence for a mont before resuming his fiery assault. Though he was a high spirit, he seed almost devoid of a conscious ego; however, his singular will to annihilate them was unmistakably clear.

Shizu imdiately began chanting a summoning spell. A massive magic circle flared, and a column of water surged upward. From within the torrent erged a high spirit of water in the form of a human knight, clad in shimring blue armor and wielding a lance: [Undine].

"Knight!! Stop Ifrit!"

Following Shizu's command, the knight took a combat stance and lunged at Ifrit with its lance. However, Ifrit simply swung the sword at his waist, blocking the strike with ease.

The body I had created for Shizu was a perfect replica of her own, aning its physical capabilities and skills were identical to hers. Drawing on the experience of spending so long fused with her, Ifrit was able to wield the very swordsmanship Shizu had spent years honing.

Because Shizu and Ifrit had such fundantally different natures, there had been few opportunities for them to exert their full power together. But now, inhabiting a mindless vessel that mirrored Shizu's form, Ifrit could unleash over a hundred percent of his true strength.

Fwoosh—

Ifrit enveloped his blade in superheated flas and slashed at the knight, who defended itself by manifesting a protective barrier of water around its body.

Kaval, Eren, and Gido stood frozen, srized by the rare sight of two high spirits fighting with weapons like humans. They only snapped back to their senses when Shizu's voice cut through the air.

"What are you doing?! Hurry up and help!"

"Y-yes! Icicle Lance!!!"

Ifrit sensed Eren's attack flying toward him and instantly radiated intense heat. Before the spell could connect, the ice lted away into nothing. Then, sparks of fla broke off from Ifrit's body, rapidly multiplying into several identical clones.

Seeing this, Rimuru gathered his courage and joined the fray, but the water blade he spat from his mouth evaporated instantly, just as it had before.

Ordinary physical attacks—those not reinforced with the Extra Skill [Magic Aura]—are useless against spirits. At this mont, the only things capable of harming Ifrit were the knight's strikes or Eren's magic.

Ifrit seed to realize this as well, showing considerable caution toward the knight and Eren. It was then that Rimuru suddenly lunged forward and swallowed Eren's Icicle Lance whole.

The four companions stared in bewildernt, but a mont later, a magic circle ford around Rimuru. He then unleashed the [Icicle Lance] spell he had just consud, firing them in all directions like a shotgun blast.

"Icicle Shot!"

The barrage of ice shards wiped out all of Ifrit's clones. Unlike the original, the clones lacked the sophisticated control required to regulate heat, leaving them vulnerable to the sudden freeze. The main body, however, managed to dodge and block the onslaught.

While Ifrit's defense was impressive, Rimuru was the real shock. Not only had he successfully internalized the magic, but he had cast the spell without a single word of chanting.

Despite this, Rimuru's attack failed to land a decisive blow. With Shizu's efforts also being neutralized, the ground began to sizzle and crack under the oppressive heat radiating from Ifrit.

"Knight!!"

At Shizu's urgent cry, the knight nodded and slamd its lance into the earth. The ground split open, and a torrent of water erupted, rapidly cooling the scorched land.

Sssssss...

As the sound of searing steam rose—like at hitting a hot grill—Shizu looked at Rimuru.

"Mr. Sli. There's one way... but can you trust ?"

Rimuru gave his usual bright smile and replied, "Yes!!"

"Thank you. Knight! Big Wave!"

At Shizu's command, the knight's eyes flashed, and it swung its lance upward. With a deafening roar, a massive tidal wave crashed down, swallowing everything in its path, including Rimuru. Thanks to Shizu's precise control, the village was spared from the deluge, and Eren, Kaval, and Gido remained safe behind a protective spell Eren had cast.

Using [Water Pressure Propulsion], Rimuru tore through the depths, closing the distance to Ifrit in an instant.

As the wave engulfed Ifrit, the knight wrapped the spirit in layer upon layer of water barriers to prevent a steam explosion. Drenched and suppressed by the massive volu of water, Ifrit was significantly weakened.

Rimuru breached the barrier, immobilized Ifrit's body with [Stasis], and imdiately activated his primary skill.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you hurt the people precious to . Predator!"

With those words, Rimuru swallowed Ifrit whole. A brilliant light flashed beneath the water, and as the great wave receded, only Rimuru remained standing on the shore.

"It's over, Miss Shizu."

Shizu smiled softly. "Thank you, Mr. Sli."

anwhile, Vertis, who had been observing the entire scene, vanished into thin air as if he had never been there.

A week passed after Ifrit's attack. Though the sudden assault had burned down the temporary tents and several buildings under construction, Rimuru was relieved that no one had been injured. He offered to return Ifrit to Shizu, but she refused, insisting that the one who defeated the spirit should be the one to keep it.

During that week, Great Sage analyzed the devoured Ifrit. The results yielded the Extra Skills [Clone Body] and [Fla Heat Manipulation], the magic [Flare Circle], and the Unique Skill [tamorphosis].

"[tamorphosis]? But that's Shizu's skill."

When Rimuru questioned why he had obtained a skill belonging to Shizu, Great Sage responded:

"Answer. It is hypothesized that because Ifrit was fused with Izawa Shizue for an extended period, the skill itself was altered within the spirit."

Great Sage then casually added that it had successfully restored the original [tamorphosis] by analyzing the fragnts within Ifrit and reconstructing the missing parts. While copying a skill is normally impossible, Rimuru—unaware of such limitations—simply thought, 'I see~' and let it slide.

Once things had settled, the four companions prepared to depart. Their mission had been to investigate the area around the sealed cave, and they needed to return to report their findings.

Rimuru looked genuinely sad to see them go, but the four promised they would visit again. Delighted, Rimuru bead with a wide sli smile.

"Oh? Co to think of it, what happened to that person?"

"That person?"

"Only the four of us ca to this village, you know?"

"Who are you talking about?"

Rimuru searched for the person who, like himself, had been reincarnated as a monster and had created Shizu's body. However, there was no trace of them anywhere in the village. Even Rigurd, who had guided the stranger, claid he hadn't seen them since.

He felt a twinge of disappointnt that they had vanished without a goodbye, but he comforted himself by thinking they likely had their own important duties to attend to. Still, the feeling of being left behind lingered.

With a sigh, Rimuru bid the four farewell.

"I'll tell the Guild Master that Mr. Rimuru is a wonderful person."

"Really? I'd appreciate that!!"

Looking at his innocent smile, the four of them blushed slightly, all thinking the sa thing: He's so adorable.

"Ah, right! I have presents for you too!!"

Rimuru handed them new items crafted by the three dwarven brothers as parting gifts.

He gave Eren and Shizu pure white Spider Robes woven from spider silk. For Kaval and Gido, he provided scale mail made from Armor Saurus plates along with hard leather armor for the underlayer. The three were ecstatic to receive equipnt of such legendary quality, and Shizu smiled, admiring the soft texture of her robe.

"Then I have a present for Mr. Sli too~"

Shizu handed Rimuru the anti-magic mask she had been wearing.

"It will help you suppress your magicules."

"Bye-bye!!~"

Rimuru waved them off. Once they were gone, he used the body modeled after Shizu—which he had acquired by devouring Ifrit—to transform.

"Transfor~mation!!"

With an excited shout, Rimuru shifted into human form. He could now feel the sensation of limbs, sothing he lacked as a sli. Although his sensory range had decreased, he could now see and hear naturally without relying on magic-sense.

His appearance was based on Shizu's younger self, but with a few key differences: his eyes were golden, and his hair was a shimring silver with a bluish tint. Actually, being a sli feels more comfortable. I guess I'll have to get used to this, huh?

He also noticed his appearance was completely androgynous.

"Hmm... I guess I'm kind of cute?"

As Rimuru posed naked inside the privacy of the tent, Great Sage spoke.

"You are cute, Master."

"R-really?"

Suddenly bashful, Rimuru wrapped himself in so fur and spent the rest of the afternoon moving and stretching, trying to get accustod to his new human body.

***

Vertis had returned to his fortress a week before the others.

"It seems the saying that good things happen to those who live long is true. What an interesting child, Rimuru."

Intrigued by Rimuru's absurd power and the fact that he never abused it, always greeting everyone with a bright smile, Vertis ordered his subordinates to keep a constant watch on the sli.

An era of upheaval, unlike anything experienced before, was about to begin. And at the center of that storm would undoubtedly be that sli, Rimuru.

"In that case... I can't just be a spectator."

With that thought, Vertis began moving to strengthen his forces, gather intelligence, and prepare for the coming tide.

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