The sun had barely climbed higher when the ground began to shake.
It was subtle at first, just a murmur beneath the earth, like something rolling deep underground. The party, still recovering from the jelly battle, looked up with bleary eyes as the tremors grew louder. Birds scattered from trees in the distance. The grass swayed violently, not with the wind, but with vibration.
Then came the sound: Fwump. Fwump. Fwump.
A rhythmic, gelatinous echo.
From beyond a distant hill, something massive began to crest the horizon. At first, it looked like a blobby silhouette against the sky, but as it rose into full view, the party realized they were staring at a mountain of jelly.
It was translucent, shimmering in the sunlight, with hues of pink, lavender, and a faint royal gold. Two stubby arms wobbled at its sides, and at the very top of its semi-transparent head sat a squishy cherry-shaped crown, glistening like candy. The thing stood as tall as a house, with a vaguely humanoid shape, if a humanoid was made of dessert and nightmares.
Fahleena gasped. "It's… beautiful."
Jessica stepped back. "It's huge."
Kyle simply pointed. "That's not a jelly. That's royalty."
"Woobly," Yuuna said calmly, her tone dry as she closed her book. "A king-class jelly. Immune to physical damage. High mana density. Territorial. Childishly aggressive."
Sakura's stomach growled.
Everyone turned to her.
She stared at Woobly with unblinking eyes. "…I think it smells like cherry."
The King Jelly let out a rumble, an undulating bass noise that vibrated in the chest. Its arms lifted slowly, wobbling as if underwater, and then slammed them into the ground with a WHUMP. A pulse of jelly spread out from the impact like a shockwave.
"Okay, no time for hunger," Fuhiken said, raising his shield. "Battle positions!"
Woobly tilted its head… and grinned. It was a smile formed by slight creases and dents in its otherwise featureless body, but it was unmistakably smug.
Without warning, it launched forward with terrifying speed, an enormous jelly blur slamming into Adiw like a bouncing freight train.
BOOM.
Adiw flew through the air and landed in a heap, eyes spiraling. "Why is it so fast?!"
"Mid-air dash technique," Yuuna muttered. "Impressive for something that looks like a dessert."
Kyle opened fire, unleashing a full burst from his mana rifle. "Let's see if bullets work, !"
The bullets hit dead center, then stopped. They sank into Woobly's stomach and hung there like trapped bugs in amber, slowly dissolving.
"Not effective," Kyle groaned. "I hate this thing already."
Gigih raised his hand. "Magic, then. Thunder I!"
A brilliant magic circle appeared in front of him, lightning cracked down, ZAP!
Woobly blinked. Then extended its arm unnaturally far and punched Gigih with a long-distance squish-fist.
BWOCK!
The black mage flew backward with a yelp, spinning mid-air before landing in a crumpled pile.
"Gigih down!" Fuhiken shouted.
"He extended his arm like it was made of gum!" Sinryo barked, drawing his daggers. "How's that fair?!"
"It's not," Yuuna said. "He has at least three abilities. Expect more."
Fahleena twirled forward, keyblade raised. "No matter! I shall end this in one divine arc!"
She leapt high, spinning dramatically, then launched her weapon.
"Keyblade Boomerang I!"
The keyblade soared through the air with a shimmering spin.
THWAP!
The keyblade struck Woobly's jelly-like cheek with a soft, almost comical thwump, barely leaving a dent before it rebounded. Instead of returning to Fahleena's hand as intended, it ricocheted off at an odd angle, wobbling through the air in a wide arc, completely ignoring the laws of physics, or loyalty. It sailed past the monster, past the party, and continued its unpredictable journey into the distance, disappearing into the hills with no sign of slowing.
"Noooooo, !! My Keyblade of Destiny!!"
Fahleena bolted after it, waving her arms in desperation. "Come back to meee!"
Back in the fray, Sinryo attempted a flanking attack, only to be caught mid-step by a massive, squelchy kick.
BAM.
He rag-dolled through the air and tumbled into the grass.
"Sinryo's out!" Kyle called.
Jessica rushed forward, blade drawn. "I'll slow it, Bloodlust!"
Her eyes sharpened with killer instinct as she dashed forward, but her sword met nothing but wobble. Woobly simply absorbed the hit and retaliated with a full-body squish slam, pancaking her into the dirt.
Orchid attempted to strike with her longsword but was bounced backward with a jelly-body ricochet, knocking her into Sakura.
Adiw groaned. "Where's Fahleena?!"
"She ran after her keyblade," Jessica mumbled from the dirt.
"I hate this team," Fuhiken muttered, shielding three unconscious siblings at once.
"Hold on," Yuuna said quietly, eyes narrowing as Woobly prepared another attack. "Sakura. It's time."
Sakura blinked. "Time for what?"
Yuuna pointed to the sky. "Combination magic."
The two girls stepped forward in sync.
The battlefield trembled under Woobly's weight as it loomed above them, arms high, ready to slam down in a jellyquake. The air shimmered with mana as Sakura raised her staff, Yuuna her wand. A sudden quiet fell across the battlefield, the eye of a storm.
Then: two magic circles bloomed mid-air.
Sakura's circle was radiant, pure white, runes swirling like ribbons of light. Yuuna's was deep blue, etched with sharp lines and precise glyphs. Both pulsed with mana as the air around them vibrated.
"Mana Bloom II!" they shouted together.
BOOM.
Dozens of smaller magic circles exploded into existence above them, forming a lattice of glowing rings in the sky. Each one ignited with crackling energy, mana compressed into high-density bolts.
The circles aligned like a star map, targeting Woobly from every angle. One by one, they began to fire.
ZRAK, ZRAK, ZRAK!
Beams of pure mana shot from the air, slamming into Woobly in rapid succession. Each blast struck like a cannon, pushing the massive king jelly backward, its body rippling with every impact.
Woobly screamed, not in pain, but in offense. Its crown tilted. It raised its arms as if trying to block the assault, but the beams kept coming.
Ten. Twenty. Thirty strikes.
Mana explosions lit the sky like fireworks, a symphony of magic and fury. The ground cracked beneath the pressure. Air warped with heat and force.
Yuuna's eyes glowed slightly. Sakura's staff thrummed in her hands.
Then the final circle pulsed brighter than the rest, and unleashed a concentrated beam of white-blue mana, spiraling like a corkscrew, straight toward Woobly's core.
KA-THOOM!
The king jelly was thrown back with force, flipping once, crashing into the hill with a wet, seismic splorch that sent cherry chunks flying.
Silence.
Then a faint squish.
Sakura blinked. "Did… did it work?"
Woobly slowly wobbled upright. Its crown was crooked. Its body twitched. Then it slumped forward, melted halfway into itself… and flopped over. The cherry crown bounced once, then landed next to Kyle's boot.
Yuuna exhaled. "It's over."
Sakura collapsed to her knees. "That took so much mana."
Kyle lowered his rifle. "You melted a dessert demon. That was beautiful."
Fahleena reappeared, keyblade in hand. "Did I miss the final blow?!"
"Yes," Jessica groaned.
"Nooooo!"
---
As the last shimmer of mana faded from the battlefield and the scorched grass began to settle, Sakura stood in the crater's edge, blinking as the gooey remains of Woobly slowly melted into harmless puddles of translucent pink. Her staff drooped in one hand, her other holding a half-eaten rice cracker she'd pulled from her bag the moment the danger passed.
Behind her, the others were dragging themselves up, groaning, wiping off slime, checking on fallen teammates. Gigih was face-down in a bush. Sinryo limped, muttering about being kicked by "a sentient cherry-flavored mattress."
Then came the voice, bright, ringing, dramatic.
"HARK!" Fahleena leapt onto a large jelly chunk like it was a royal platform. Her pink twin tails whipped in the wind as she pointed her keyblade high to the sky.
All eyes turned toward her. Some were too tired to stop her. Some never had the energy in the first place.
"The evil has been vanquished! The translucent tyrant brought low! But the final strike, the glory blow! It came from one who stood firm in the face of squish!"
Sakura blinked mid-bite. "Huh?"
Fahleena jumped down and landed beside her, striking a theatrical kneel.
"Sakura!" she declared. "White mage of the endless appetite! Bearer of twin food bags! Slayer of the Cherry-Crowned Titan!"
"Please stop," Sakura said, chewing.
"I bestow upon you… this title!" Fahleena raised her hand dramatically. "The Marvelous Slayer of Unmatched Transparent Sweet, The Jelly Punisher!"
A beat of silence.
Sakura stared. Kyle snorted. Jessica covered her face.
"No," Sakura replied simply. "I don't want that."
"You must! It's your destiny!"
"My destiny is lunch."
---
By late afternoon, the party sat near their campfire, surrounded by healing spells and towels.
"I'm not eating jelly for a week," Sinryo grunted.
"A month," Adiw corrected.
"Forever," Kyle added.
Only Sakura kept eating, cheerful as ever. "It's fine if it's not moving."
Fuhiken looked around at his goo-covered siblings and sighed. "Next time we take a safer route."
"Where's the fun in that?" Fahleena smiled.
---
Far from the shattered battlefield, beyond hills the party never touched, where the grass grew thicker and the air hummed with quiet mana, something moved.
In the shadow of twilight, a lone jelly danced.
It twisted, spun, and pulsed in rhythm known only to itself, its gelatinous form catching the fading light in soft, hypnotic ripples. Step by wobble, it twirled through an empty clearing, as if celebrating… or practicing.
There was no music. Yet it danced. And somehow, it felt suspicious.