Wohard said, “By the way, I forgot to mention, my Divided Self can only be used one more time today, and I only have three uses of ‘Holy Slash’ left.”
To reveal all his life-saving cards so easily? This stupid dog must have had his brain muddled by Slime Mucus.
Sovinia said:
“That’s enough. The Slime King will split three times after taking sufficient damage, and the more it splits, the weaker it gets. Once it splits twice, the four remaining Slimes will be no different from ordinary big Slimes. Oh, right, this is Salt.”
She handed over the carefully wrapped Salt.
At the same time, she mentally reviewed the chaotic three-way battle in the throne room, tallying how many times Wohard had used Divided Self and Holy Slash, to estimate how many times he could use those abilities in a day.
In her former world, handing over such life-and-death trump cards so carelessly was no different from seeking death. Wohard would surely learn that lesson in the future.
Wohard said:
“Your turn. Speaking of which, what about you, Miss Sovinia? Besides being able to use Spell Scrolls and having astonishing knowledge of the Demon Race, do you have any other abilities?”
Sovinia would never tell anyone the secret of the Card System, not even the Queen of Demons with her pressure and punishments had managed that.
“I… I don’t know either. My mind is a mess… Sometimes I feel like I could do something more, but in a flash I can’t sense anything. So just treat me as an Elven Princess who can only throw magic scrolls.”
“Really? It seems the beautiful Princess is always shrouded in mystery. Very well, I’ll be looking forward to it.”
He didn’t press further. Standing up, he said softly, “Past Echo, appear before me.”
In the shadows more than twenty meters away, a figure resembling Wohard appeared. He smeared Slime Mucus over himself, hiding behind a stone.
Everything was ready.
Wohard nodded at Sovinia.
***
Sovinia got the message and pulled out the small stones she’d prepared earlier, each about the size of a pinky finger. She felt a surge of emotion.
Thinking back to “those days,” I could toss a charging war bull over the city wall with one hand…
It hasn’t even been a day, yet it feels like years.
She took a deep breath, drew her arm back, twisted her waist, and hurled the stone with all her might.
The stone, carrying her full strength, traced a feeble arc through the air, flying about forty meters before landing silently on the distant Slime King, splashing a tiny bit of mucus without even a ripple.
The cave fell into a deathly silence, with only the rustling of the Slimes squirming, like quiet laughter, as if mocking her weakness.
Ah no, that’s not right, someone really was laughing. Though faint, Sovinia’s long elven ears caught the suppressed laughter beside her.
She turned her head to look at Wohard.
Wohard’s shoulders were twitching slightly; he seemed to be laughing. When Sovinia looked over, the laughter stopped.
Sovinia’s cheeks flushed. She glanced at Wohard.
What are you laughing at, you dumb dog! If I hadn’t changed bodies, I could throw you over there too!
Wohard cleared his throat.
He walked over to a boulder nearly half as tall as a person. With a deep squat, his arms and legs tensed, muscles bulging, he pulled the giant rock from the ground and hefted it onto his shoulder.
He took a few steps back to get a running start. When he reached the edge of the Stalactite, he drove his waist and abdomen forward and hurled the boulder.
The giant stone whistled through the air, like a catapulted cannonball, crossing a great distance before smashing down with a thunderous “boom” directly on the Slime King’s head.
The impact was far greater than Sovinia’s little stone.
The Slime King’s massive body shook violently, its dark green surface caving in where the boulder struck, mucus splattering everywhere. Inside, the mangled remains of a Demon Race corpse tumbled out.
The entire Slime Swamp went quiet for a moment.
A deep, muffled roar erupted from within the Slime King’s body. The sound didn’t come from vocal cords, but from countless bubbles bursting inside, creating a thick, resonant hum.
The cave walls trembled with the roar, small stones trickling down from above.
Then, the entire green swamp began to boil.
***
The massive Slime King started to move, its body, taking up nearly half the cavern floor, oozed towards the exit like an emerald-green flood about to burst through a dam.
Its speed didn’t match its size; though it seemed to squirm slowly, every inch it moved made the ground quake.
Behind it, countless Slimes in the swamp converged into sticky streams, following their massive king, surging outward.
Sovinia stood her ground, unmoving.
The swirling cave air made her silver hair flutter slightly. Her golden eyes remained calm as she watched the coming Slime catastrophe.
She saw that as the Slime King approached, its huge body and the mass of Slimes together almost completely blocked the bowl-shaped cave’s only exit.
It was like a cork struggling to squeeze out of a bottle. Mucus oozed from the gaps between its body and the cave walls, making teeth-gritting “gugi” sounds.
The whole exit looked like a birth canal delivering tons of garbage. The ground shook so much it was almost impossible to stand.
Wohard stepped forward, his Burning Longsword already drawn. Without looking back, he said to Sovinia:
“Alright, Princess Highness, it’s time to retreat.”
Sovinia stepped past him, saying, “Shh… quiet, just a little longer.”
Finally, after intense squirming and squeezing, the Slime King’s massive body popped free from the cave entrance with a loud “plop.”
Behind it, the flood of Slimes that had been blocked for so long suddenly found an outlet, rushing forth from the entrance like a bursting dam.
Waves of green mucus surged forward, packed with countless writhing bodies, a sight enough to make anyone with trypophobia faint on the spot.
Now!
Sovinia swiftly unfurled a Spell Scroll for the Greater Fireball Spell.
In the Demon Race Language, she intoned, “Fire.”
Ancient Demon Race runes glowed on the scroll.
The fire element in the air rapidly gathered. A fireball the size of a fist shot toward the army of Slimes, expanding in an instant to the size of a millstone. The orange-red glow turned her pale face crimson.
The massive fireball, trailing a long tail of flame, tore through the dim cave and struck the green ocean dead on.
“Boom——!”
A deafening explosion resounded, and a searing shockwave spread in all directions.
Flames engulfed everything; the area near the cave mouth became a sea of fire in an instant.
Wherever the fireball touched, the ground and cave walls blazed. Countless Slimes let out silent screams as their bodies boiled, evaporated, and carbonized in the inferno.
The air filled with a pungent stench of sulfur and scorched protein.
The firelight illuminated Wohard’s face, the flames reflected in his jade-green eyes, and the slim, calm silver-haired figure standing before the inferno.
He glanced at Sovinia and couldn’t help but nod.
***
Faced with such a terrifying monster horde, not only was she unafraid, but she struck back courageously and cleverly, dealing effective blows to the enemy. Such nerve and wit truly made him see her in a new light.
Yet, that admiration hadn’t fully formed when—
The Sovinia who had been a heroic Valkyrie just a second ago, after throwing the fireball, immediately turned around, stretched out her long legs, and sprinted at full speed toward the predetermined safe zone without a backward glance.
As she ran, her clear voice echoed in the cave: “Hero, the stage is yours! Do your best. Oh, and save the final blow for me—I need the finishing hit for my ability!”
She had already run over twenty meters, almost reaching the giant pillar she intended to use for cover.
But just then, she sensed something was wrong.
The enormous, sticky squelching behind her had disappeared.
The cave was eerily quiet, except for the crackle of burning flames.
Wohard’s anxious voice called out from behind, “Watch out——!”
Sovinia instantly became alert, her gaze sweeping over the shadows in search of lurking Slimes. But no, the shadows around her were empty.
Not around.
Behind!
She spun around, pupils contracting.
The enormous Slime King hadn’t chased after Wohard as planned, nor was it ambushed by Wohard’s Divided Self.
It lingered at the edge of the fire, its massive body bathed in flames, its color changing before her eyes from dark green to an ominous deep red, like red-hot iron.
Its body was contracting, shrinking ever inward, like a giant spring storing up power.
Something’s wrong. Sovinia’s heart sank.
The Slime King in her memories never had this ability. Could it have mutated after devouring so many powerful Demon Race beings in such a short time?
Before she could finish the thought, the crimson mountain of flesh, compressed to its limit, erupted with a thunderous blast.
“Boom——!”
The Slime King shot upward, its massive body launching at a speed completely disproportionate to its size, slamming heavily into the ceiling dozens of meters above with a wet splat, sticking to the rock, and rolling forward at incredible speed.
In an instant, it passed right over Wohard’s ambush zone.
Like a giant spider attacking from the ceiling, it zeroed in on Sovinia and sprang out again.
It soared over Wohard, drawing a huge arc through the air, whistling as it came crashing straight toward Sovinia.
Run, you idiot legs! Damn it, are these long legs on this female body just for show?
Sovinia didn’t stop, pushing her Elven body to its limits as she sprinted.
But in the face of the Slime King’s plummeting bulk, her speed was no better than running in place.
Looking up, the bloody gelatinous monster filled her vision, like the heavens collapsing—and it even carried a reek of rotten flesh.