Over the next few days, that slime pursued Roland and the others relentlessly.
Every time Roland thought they had successfully lost it, it would somehow discover their location and come charging after them. It was as if it had some sort of GPS tracking installed.
This left Roland unable to eat or sleep well. Even when he wanted to read a book, he had to remain constantly on guard lest a slime suddenly leap out of the water and swallow his text.
It wasn’t until Leonora, unable to stand the smell of sweat any longer, decided to take a bath that Roland noticed something strange on her clothes. He pinched the object and realized it was a super-miniature Vortex Slime. It stared at Roland with two large, teary eyes, looking completely harmless.
“So it was you all along!” Roland, fuming with rage, threw it to the ground and stomped it into a pulp.
Only after dealing with this tiny slime did the commotion in the cave finally cease.
There was no doubt about it. The giant slime had relied on the small one to track their position at all times. Without its tracking device, the creature was left wandering blindly.
“Why has it gone quiet?” Royce and Cameron asked, sounding confused.
Roland explained what had happened, and the two finally wore expressions of realization.
“This is the first I’ve heard that Vortex Slimes can track each other. But why was it on Leonora’s clothes?” Cameron asked curiously.
“It probably just stuck to her by accident. After all, it’s hard to notice these things if you aren’t looking closely.”
—
Once Leonora finished washing herself with the cold underground water, she dressed and returned to the fire to warm up. She noticed the three others looking at her with strange expressions.
“What? Is there a problem with wanting to be clean?”
Roland replied, “No, it’s just that we found a tiny slime on your clothes. It was the reason our location kept getting exposed.”
“Are you serious?”
“Truth is more precious than pearls.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“I don’t blame you. After all, I’m at fault too. If I had just thrown a Magic Bullet earlier, things might not have turned out like this.”
After several days of fleeing, the resentment in Leonora’s heart had long since faded. It was replaced by the guilt of having burdened her teammates. Hearing Roland apologize to her in turn made her feel quite uneasy.
“But I was the one who caused the trouble first…”
Seeing that the conversation finally showed signs of reconciliation, Cameron immediately suggested they prepare a feast to celebrate.
Though she called it a feast, it was simply the addition of bread stewed in fish broth to their usual meal. The whole-wheat bread, normally as hard as a rock, was boiled until it was soft and flavorful. Combined with their staple of white porridge and various side dishes, the four of them ate their fill that day.
—
After resting for what felt like one more night, the team continued their journey.
“We shouldn’t be far from Water Demon Lake now. Get ready. To cross the lake, you must keep your ears plugged the entire time. You absolutely cannot listen to their song.”
Royce handed out cotton earplugs he had prepared in advance. While they couldn’t block the singing entirely, they were more than enough to reduce the majority of its influence.
Soon, they arrived at a lake that was much wider than any they had seen before. Stone pillars stood scattered across the calm surface of the water, and the rocky cliffs above were covered in mushrooms. The water was so clear that one could see the algae and creatures at the very bottom with a single glance.
Looking across the lake, the stone pillars were covered with gathered water demons. They appeared as naked human men and women, but their lower bodies featured mermaid-like tails. They sang softly, and their song drifted across most of the lake’s surface.
“How do we get across?”
Hearing Roland’s question, Royce pointed to a wooden boat by the shore. “Those are wooden boats left by previous adventurers. Most of them successfully reached the third floor and returned. We can use the boats they left behind to row across.”
“Is there no other way?”
“I’ve heard that the bottom of Water Demon Lake connects to the third floor, but I’m not sure if that’s true.”
“What if the water demons actively attack us?”
“Use your magic to burn them to death.”
“If you don’t mind me burning your hair off too.”
The four of them boarded the same boat. Royce took charge of rowing while the other three remained on guard. The oars sent ripples across the water as they began a slow and cautious crossing.
Sensing movement on the surface, the water demons below swayed their tails. Closing their gills to breathe, they glided beneath the wooden boat one after another.
Leonora looked at the dark shadows passing under the water, feeling a bit frightened. “It feels like there’s something down there…”
“Don’t be afraid. Generally speaking, a water demon doesn’t have the strength to capsize a boat. They are better at dragging people underwater before they strike.”
“I hope so.”
Dark shadows circled beneath the boat, but since they never attacked, Leonora’s tense heart gradually began to settle.
Suddenly, a beautiful melody drifted from an unknown source. It was like an angel opening their throat to sing, making one unconsciously lose themselves in it. The melodious, lingering tune was enough to stir the softest depths of anyone’s heart, bringing back memories of the past.
“Leonora — “
In a daze, Leonora seemed to hear someone calling her name.
“Grandfather?”
She saw a familiar figure — a white-haired man who was still smiling at her.
“You’ve grown up. I’m so happy.”
“Aren’t you dead? Why are you here?”
“Because I promised you, didn’t I? I told you I would appear on the day you grew up to say my final goodbye.”
“Have I… grown up?”
“Yes. You’ve become braver than anyone.”
Being recognized by someone who shouldn’t exist, Leonora’s face lit up with a look of pure joy.
Roland was the first to notice something was wrong. He realized that Leonora had become very quiet and that her expression was strange, as if she were dreaming.
“Hey! Hey, wake up! You’re hallucinating!”
He delivered several slaps to Leonora’s face, but she had no reaction. She even began to giggle foolishly. Roland immediately realized she had likely been affected by the water demons.
“Cameron, is there any way to break the water demons’ influence?”
“It would work if someone were skilled in mental magic, or if we leave the range of the song.”
“Can I solve the problem by killing the water demons that are singing?”
“It should work, but normally it’s hard to tell which specific water demon’s ability is affecting her.”
“Then I’ll just slaughter them all!”
Roland stood up and aimed his staff at the water demons on the stone pillars. Several scorching fireballs flew out, immediately blowing the water demons apart and sending them fleeing. However, the influence still hadn’t faded.
He looked toward the other pillars. The number of water demons within his sight was vast, but he did not shrink back. He controlled the fireballs to fly in all directions, blowing those water demons to pieces. Blood dyed the clear lake water red.
“Leonora, my child, come here. Give your grandfather a big hug.”
Hearing her grandfather’s request, Leonora didn’t doubt him for a second. She moved to walk straight toward him.
Seeing that Leonora was about to jump into the lake, Cameron immediately grabbed her from behind and pulled back.
However, her strength was much greater than expected. Cameron couldn’t hold her back alone. She hurried to call for help: “Stupid brother, come help me! I can’t hold her!”
Royce dropped the oars, lunged forward, and grabbed Cameron’s waist to pull them both back. “Don’t you dare let go!”
In her hallucination, Leonora realized something behind her was holding her back. Frowning, she released ice magic toward the rear.
Fortunately, because Cameron’s head was tucked tightly against Leonora, she was out of the line of fire. Royce, however, suffered the consequences. A wound was sliced into the left side of his face, and he reflexively lost his grip.
In that exact moment, Leonora completely broke free from Cameron’s restraint. She took a few more steps and tumbled into the water. Below, the water demons swarmed like piranhas catching the scent of blood.
It wasn’t until her skin touched the piercing cold that Leonora fully snapped awake. she began to struggle, trying to climb back onto the boat.
Seeing that she was about to be devoured by the water demons, Royce didn’t have time to think. Without even removing his armor, he dove into the water.
“Roland, cover them, quick!”
Hearing the shout, Roland finally realized that both Leonora and Royce had fallen into the water. He gave up on clearing the stone pillars and turned his magic toward the demons beneath the surface.
But there were too many of them. Relying solely on Fireballs and Magic Bullets wasn’t helping much, and because he was worried about hitting his teammates, Roland didn’t dare use any large-scale area-of-effect spells.
‘Damn it, I should have just tied Leonora up!’