Chapter 23

♪ Like Fire, Hellfire. This Fire In My Skin ♪

Much quicker than the previously dispatched [Elder Black Muck], all the slimes in the immediate area were sucked into a single black orb. As gallons of the mucus were absorbed, each of the slime cores belonging to the slimes also got smashed into the massive black ball only to bond together into a distorted shape of innumerable lumps. The object was seeping with toxic liquid that seemed to whither even the air around it. Screeching sounds coming from the slimes came to a halt, giving way to a putrid smell caused by the bile that began spurting out to give body to the malignant core.

Enmity, hatred, despair, murder, resentment, vengeance, horror; words took shape at the formation of such a hideous creature.

[Legion]: “You dare mention HIS name in MY presence?!” Before the taunt had reached my ears, the putrid existence launched itself at me.

My first instinct was to dodge, inadvertently moving further and further away from Malady’s [Garnet] tent. I realized it and burned holes into my foe with my anticipatory stare. Much to my relief, [Legion] continued its pursuit of me rather than turning on the immobilized Dark Elf beauty. *Whew* next time, block with Masada’s ember puttering blade. The black mucus zig zagged through the air, as though [Legion] didn’t have total control over its body. Fighting against liquid is… much more difficult than fighting something more tangible.

Each thought I had was coupled with at least 3 lightning-fast movements. First, I attempted to burn it by blocking with Masada, only to watch the sizzling grime maneuver around the blade. The only way to deter the impending damage was to twirl my greatswordstaff, like a fan turning on to catch the spiderwebs around it in a room that had gone untouched for decades. Though my choice of motion prevented the slime from moving forward, I had yet to actually touch it! How is this thing keeping up with my speed? It’d have to be leveled in the thousands to have stats close to what I have with these berries.

Keeping up with legion’s movements was easy enough with the ultrasonic speed given to me by the [Red Moon Berry]s, I thought, Maybe I need more speed? It could have some insane agility speed modifiers granted by its class… I’d concocted a potential plan. Moving my body in a circle around the slime, I attempted to get all the liquid as close together as possible. Mustering all my might into a single attack, I launched Masada’s blade straight up, causing a severe wind current to throw the slime’s entire form into the air.

With eye motions so fast, it would be enough to kill a common person, I navigated the [Menu] to my items.

[~Ring of Space~] contents:

[name: Masada Schafer],

[name: Wooden Chair],

[name: Brightgem],

[name: Boots of the Guavgrog],

[name: Leather Water Skin],

[name: Abascus Rope],

[name: Rejuvenation Powder (10%)],

[name: Orichalcum Chest],

[name: Bracelet of Hearth],

[name: Epic of Helmdrig],

[name: Biography of Gabriel and Bartholomew Morrow],

[name: List of Mana Potion Ingredients],

[name: Abascan College's Rite of Passage],

[name: Axe of the bear],

[name: horse],

[name: 2h Lion],

[name: yoke],

[name: Blade Wrapping],

[name: leather leaf tree] x2,

[name: Orichalcum] x2,

[name: wolf] x2,

[name: kobold] x4,

[name: combat knife] x5,

[name: rusty spear] x5,

[name: Silver] x5,

[name: rusty sword] x7,

[name: leather bag] x8 [~Select~],

[name: leather pouch] x8 [~Select~],

[name: guavo tree] x16,

[name: Acid Slime Core Fragment] x17,

<{ [name: Red Moon Berry] x872 }>

‘bling’

...

<{ [name: Red Moon Berry] x869 }>

I can’t take too many… I may as well just accept the [Wrath of God] right now if I start puking in the middle of this battle. I looked up at the sky to see that [Legion] had yet to start falling back down and decided to check my [~Status~].

[~Status~]

[Health: 2,423,537 / 2,433,024]

[Mana: 9,995,859 / 9,999,999]

[Energy: 2,963,784 / 6,443,008]

[~General Stats~]

[Strength: 221,184 + 368,640]

[Agility: 589,824 + 581,632]

[Stamina: 425,984 + 16,384]

[Intellect: 221,184 + 229,376]

[Spirit: 344,064 + 5,357,568]

Okay then. I only puke when my [~General Stats~] go over max, not when any of my actual [~Status~] points are maxed out. I guess I took minor damage breathing in the slime fumes, and yikes I’ve used a ton of energy!

I started to notice that [Legion] had been in the air a bit too long. He was thrown with all my might, so I assumed it couldn’t be helped. It’s not like I’ve ever actually tried throwing anything at my current strength level. It’d be somethin’ if he just got launched into space, I thought while chuckling to myself.

The monster’s figure had shrunk to the point that I couldn’t see it anymore in the night sky, though there was ample light with all the closer stars near Driscoll. This is bad. I can’t tell where it’ll fall.

____________

Far above, unbeknownst to me, [Legion] created a miniature parachute to control the speed and direction of its descent. At the time, I had been surrounded by a sea of flame; all the [Acid Slime]s in the vicinity ablaze, making me and Masada easily identifiable from the sky.

____________

“Let’s finish off some of the burning slimes before it gets back,” I insisted. “Who knows if that thing can absorb burning slimes and become [Burning Legion] or something stupid like that.” Masada didn’t say anything but gleamed a strong look of determination from his eye.

We sprinted even faster than when we tried to save Malady earlier. If I were to describe the travel speed I gained after eating the berries, I could easily overtake an F16 fighter jet at full speed by a margin that looked like a toddler racing an Olympic gold medalist in the 100-yard dash. Ignoring the persistent naysaying in the back of my head, I tested my newfound power on a batch of sizzling nasties. We easily broke the sound barrier with the first attack, literally disintegrating the entire batch of slimes down to a molecular level. Several ‘bling’ sounds went off when I realized we have enough power to crush them with no possible screwups. I don’t want to make any more [Legion]s or [Elder Black Muck]s or [Something-something Mega powerful-something]s.

More fire arrows and exploooooosions rained down on the more distant slimes. “We need to keep up with our backline! They’ve prob gotten a ton of EXP from the fire they’ve spread. You know what they say, when in France. Wait… I just botched that proverb. It’s when in Rome, do as the Romans do!”

We continued our assault, making sure to use [Shadow Step], [Scorched Layer], [Weight Up], [Weight Down], and even [Meditate] to beef up our skill levels. Rampaging through the monsters was a blast! I hadn’t had so much fun since coming to Driscoll. Even so, I had to repeatedly remind myself that, “I’m on a battlefield. Complacency kills.” At this point, [Legion] had been gone for nearly fifteen minutes.

The berries had worn out and I refreshed the buff with another 13 [Red Moon Berry]s to continue our killing spree when I got the notice that Masada hit his class’s utter max. “We gotta do this quick, buddy.”

Again, I moved through the [~Menu~] at an inconceivable speed, so I’ll save you the ultrafast window scrolling. Masada accepted the class [Pyromaniac] which turned [Scorched Layer] into [Conflagration]. Basically, Masada is on fire now rather than just spitting out small embers. [Shadow Step] also turned into [Blaze Step] which is WAY flashier. Instead of only teleporting to shadows, we can teleport to any area surrounded by oxygen! The drawback is that a fiery burst uses most of the oxygen in the immediate vicinity. No flashing in caves, towns, deep underwater, or near people to save them. Caves because we’d suffocate, towns because buildings, deep underwater because all the water would create a pocket of air around us that gets immediately filled in by the water that pours back. I don’t wanna die by getting crushed by water. That would suuuuck. And no teleporting near good guys because boom. No more sneaking around either, even though he’s still considered a [~Rogue~] type class.

Enough about him. I chose… to stick with my Synergist class. I’m just not getting many classes that fit our fighting style! I can’t imagine it’s very popular to summon a living weapon and be their support, while you as the one doing the actual fighting, have them equipped. Maybe I chose a bad class direction, but it can’t be helped at this point. All my skills are more or less the same with a lot more intensity than before. [Weight Up(major)] is boosting by 1000% rather than 100%. *Narratory Sigh* And I can’t even feel the difference. Similarly, [Weight Down(major)] was massively improved, going from 50% weight reduction to 90%. [Hone] was also turned into [Keen Edge] basically just making him sharper. At least my new skill, [Transmutate] just increased its efficacy but remained largely the same as before. I’ve barely gotten to get the hang of it in the short time I’ve had it, which is why it's a relief that it hasn't changed much.

As I finished reading through the class updates, Malady started to rustle around in the tent. Her light movements gradually turned into worry before she meekly called out our names, “Sir Tru? Masada? Where am I?” I turned after grabbing the hem of my [Robe of the Scholar], whirling it in a grandiose manner. There was no particular meaning to it. I’d simply done so on a whim before strutting over to her tent in triumph. “We are here,” I said while forming the wall of her tent into an opening wide enough for her to fit through.

Her clothes had become loosened and unfurled from the entire ordeal, causing her typical air of elegance to appear more unkempt. She stood and walked in a way that said she doesn’t want to walk at all. The attempt was an exercise in futility since she hadn’t yet recovered her energy. She probably lost her strength as she fell backward onto her buttocks, her face turning pale as she looked past me, panicking with her eyes.

She was looking through the flames engulfing the acid slimes around us. A huge figure menacingly walked into her vision, directly in line with our current position. [Legion] had been gone for around 45 minutes now, so it was about time it came back. Sure enough, my statement from earlier might as well be considered a jinx. Remembering that I also have [Analyze], I used both of my identification skills.

[Burning Legion Tr 597]

[name: Burning Legion. The incarnation of Legion, the army of [Fallen Angel]s. Possesses living things that are open to spiritual attack, manipulating them at will.

!Warning! You cannot beat this on your own.]

Wait. Wait wait wait wait. Legion is the demon Jesus cast out of the man in the wilderness, into a herd of wild pigs that ran off a cliff, right? “Ah, I get it now. You got mad earlier because I mentioned Yahweh, right?”

Screeching came from the impossibly leveled slime. Obviously, he fell in a different area and absorbed God-only-knows how many other [Acid Slimes] from the ‘flood.’ He’s practically level 6000! A face that made tangible the word abomination glared at me through shadow. A helm made of black fire covered only the top half of its face, allowing me to see an enormous, open mouth filled with black teeth grinning with pure malice. The pink gums bled dark red streams that dripped off the teeth. Black fire covered its body, which had no standard shape apart from the head and shoulders. It was as if an evil fire became a liquid, yet still burned unceasingly, and took whatever shape it desired.

Malady’s sweat gushed forth and it seemed like it was making her maid uniform change color beneath her armor.

After gulping down my anxiety, or well, it felt more like gulping down snake venom, a light shower started to fall. Quickly, it turned into a hubbub, large droplets splashing to Driscoll. Though torrential rain poured, the legion’s black fire was completely untouched, vaporizing the rain before it made contact. Masada’s [Conflagration] was also unaffected by the downpour, burning ever brighter in contrast to [Burning Legion]’s fire that seemed to absorb the light. Malady’s body soon became emaciated as though she had resigned herself to death at the sight of the apparent boss monster. Not understanding the severity of our situation, I thought without hesitation, No. I must protect her.

All buffs active, our resolve stout, we charged against the strongest creature that we’ve seen since coming to Driscoll. An explosion engulfed the three of us after [Blaze Step] got us directly behind the fallen angel of slime. As hot as it was, I cleaved it in two with Masada. The cleave might as well have just been called swinging through the air though; after the ultimate slime completely avoided Masada’s edge by splitting in two. But we didn’t stop there. Swinging my now 12,000lb greatswordstaff, at speeds that destroyed the ground itself, bore no fruit. Out of frustration, I yelled, “How can you be so fast?!”

“Kukukuku,” [Burning Legion] laughed. “Slimes are wonderful creatures! They allow me to take physical form while retaining my racial skill, [Disfortune]. No physical attack can touch me!” Yawning, it mocked us, knowing there was nothing we could do that wouldn’t be immediately avoided. While blood, acid, and other detritus dropped from its teeth as it continued a forced yawn, it taunted our trio. Even while I continued to hack at the monster, it lazily meandered in Malady’s direction.

I made an attempt to use the wind current to throw our enemy into the sky again to no effect this time. Its form slurped around the blade and remained unmoved even after the current took Malady into the air.

[Burning Legion]: “Now, now. We can’t have her escaping.” Slime streamed forth from the black figure to grab her leg. Malady had passed out from shock but that wasn’t what the fallen angel wanted. A portion of the fire turned green and covered her, rejuvenating her vitality and energy to the point that she was forced awake. Panic overtook her newly conscious mind as she began to thrash and pull at the liquid that held her. Even as she grabbed, pulled, kicked, punched, and otherwise attempted to free herself, her flailing passed through the slime as a punch goes through water. Surprisingly, she had yet to be burnt by either the black fire or the acid.

Grinning ever wider, the beast first melted away her clothing to her shame even as we both relentlessly attacked it. It began to snort in uncontrollable laughter, taking great pleasure in her humiliation and terror. Legion continued to maniacally snicker when it started burning only Malady. Her screams of anguish could be heard all the way from our other companions. Her wails of agony enraged me, giving me further strength to futilely attack. Obviously, physical attacks aren’t gonna cut it. What do I do here?! [Transmutate] is still too slow to be effective at its level.

Desperate for a solution, I even took out the [Orichalcum] boulders to crush it, but all it did was cause the slime to move over. Thankfully, it had to move in a way that released the bare Malady from its clutches. She had already passed out again from the pain of having the top two layers of skin burned off of her mid-section. The sound of feint breathing flowed into my ears that at least showed she was alive. No, could it even be called that? Her breath was more like the sound of the final remaining air escaping from a balloon. I cried for her. All the pain she’s experienced was because of me… Because she joined my party… Because she… trusted in me… Despair continued to creep its way into my mind like a snake slithering into a mouse’s nest.

[Burning Legion] sat atop the boulders, watching us and eating up my despair like it was popcorn at a thrilling movie. Avelian sprinted at full speed to the top of a nearby hill when the monster canted its head toward him, smiling a toothy grin from ear to ear after seeing another meal to devour. Avelian saw the Tr level of the beast and fled without hesitation, using all his skills to flash away at full speed. Legion’s head rolled back to us and its grin turned into a sneer.

[Burning Legion]: “This is getting boring.” And with those words, it formed a giant fist above the two of us and splashed downward. I braced to protect Malady with my own body only to have the slime squirm around me and completely envelop her before instantly disintegrating her entire body.

I lost it. “AAAHH!!!” I’d been totally relieved of my senses as I besieged the monstrosity of the purest evil. The land itself became permanently scarred by the onset of destruction that fell around the slime. Seemingly annoyed, it easily restrained me. But how… How is it so dang strong?! There’s nothing… that I can do. Masada fell from my hands straight into the ground where it pierced through several meters of dirt

Masada: “Kuruuu!!!”

Masada’s cries of encouragement fell on deaf ears. The demon-possessed slime dangled me from my hands and appeared next to Avelian who was also easily abducted by a tendril of black fire slime. We were both perplexed, confounded by our consternation when our clothes burned away the same way Malady’s had. Hanging us high and stretching our arms and legs, Avelian and I were exposed completely while being held up like trophies when we appeared before the rest of the party.

Maki’s face was the first to turn white after seeing her husband, Avelian, in such a state.

[Burning Legion]: “Now make sure you watch,” it said with its raspy voice, slime sticking to my eyelids to force them open. In the same moment, tendrils of black fire subdued everyone, holding each of us bare before the others as it began to burn away Maki, Tsai, and Elaine’s flesh. Avelian was enraptured by vengeance directed at the creature that would do such things to his wife before his eyes.

We all wept, screamed, and wailed cries of horror that would not be quenched. Legion dropped everyone to the ground and watched as Avelian tried to comfort his dying wife. Again, the demon bathed itself in the torment of our group, looking into the sky while raising both of its hands, “The euphoria! This feeling of power is unbeatable, ahahaha!” As soon as the dark joy was shown, the demon lost interest again, slamming a giant fist on top of the devastated couple. The fist crashed to the earth like a giant ball of water that splashed away and was sucked up by the slime again. In that same instant, Maki and Avelian both disappeared, their bodies broken down and absorbed. In the same way, each individual present was helplessly abused until their last dying breaths, saving me for last.

All life had abandoned me; I gave in completely to the tribulation. I was like a puppet that was thrown in the trash even with its strings attached before Legion grew tired of its games, slowly pouring its black fire acid slime into my mouth. With no ability to put up resistance, I succumbed to fate like a pig being hung up to slaughter after its throat was slit, drowning slowly while being melted from the inside out.

And that’s when it happened. I could see the light ahead as I left my deceased body behind.