NOVEL NEXT CHAPTER 33: The Culmination of the Paths
“Aughh…”
The world swam back into focus as a faint groan escaped Daisuke’s lips, his consciousness gradually returning. Blinking away the haze, he pushed aside the throbbing pain at the back of his head and took in his surroundings in a mixture of confusion and urgency.
The corridor he found himself in was tight, the walls and ceiling softly illuminated by an eerie phosphorescent light. Its feeble glow barely dispelled the shadows that clung to the edges of his vision.
“…It looks like I’ve fallen a long way,” he murmured while gazing up at the faint light in a layer that was well above the height of the ceiling.
His heart quickened as he considered his predicament. Now the big question is: which type of dungeon did I stumble into? The ceiling looks the same from this angle, so I can’t discern whether I was teleported to somewhere else or not.
Each type of Dungeon held its own dangers; its own challenges. But Daisuke was nothing if not pragmatic, and with no way to climb back up from where he had fallen, his options were limited. There was only one way to go—forward.
Steeling himself, he stepped forward into the dimly lit corridor, embracing the uncertainty that lay ahead. The narrow path eventually expanded into a large chamber. Carefully craning his head, he peeked inside and noted the various color Slimes dotting the room.
Looks like I may be able to survive this ordeal, after all. The Slimes on the surface were pretty much level one. With any luck, these ones won’t be any higher than level two or three.
As he contemplated, his gaze focused on an orange Slime close by. What bothers me, though, is that I’ve never seen a Slime that isn’t blue.
Tightly gripping his bamboo spear, Daisuke looked back into the narrow passage before locking onto the Slime once more. I’ll try attacking this one and see how it responds. If I gain the aggro from the other Slimes, I’ll just lure them into a bottleneck and skewer them one at a time. Slimes are only capable of physical attacks, so this should be pretty doable.
Steeling his resolve, Daisuke poised for an attack. But suddenly, a large spider—a Silkshriek—dangled down from its web just inches away from his face. It was almost a meter in length, its eyes a piercing green.
Before it could spew venom from its maw, blinding its prey, it was mistakenly hit by a fireball meant for Daisuke. The hideous creature collapsed to the ground, its web reduced to smoldering ashes, agonized shrieks filling the air as the flames consumed it.
“Wait! Does that mean?!”
Daisuke blanched.
It was bad enough that the Slime could use fire magic—now, the spider’s thrashing and screeching had won the attention of all the others that could supposedly use magic as well. Now being in the narrow corridor was suicide.
Daisuke’s heart pounded like the war drums of an Orc army. Flames crackled, water surged, gusts of wind howled, and chunks of earth roared as the Slimes unleashed their attacks.
Daisuke’s instincts kicked in, adrenaline fueling his drive, and he leaped with the grace of a Mithrilcrest Deer, narrowly dodging a torrent of water that crashed into the ground where he had been standing.
His bamboo spear glinted as he whirled it around himself, carving a path through the onslaught of elemental assaults. With every attack he avoided, his confidence surged.
The Slimes, their forms shifting and pulsating with magic, seemed unfazed by their missed attempts. They converged on Daisuke, their mouths agape and elements swirling. He sprinted, his footsteps echoing off the cave floor. Flames licked at his heels, water droplets splashed his skin, and gusts of wind threatened to knock him off balance.
But Daisuke endured. He twisted, somersaulted, and spun with impressive athleticism. The Slimes’ attacks collided, causing eruptions of steam and explosions of sparks.
Seizing this moment, Daisuke lunged forward, spear extended. His weapon found its mark, piercing through the gelatinous form of a Fire Slime. The creature let out a sizzling shriek as it dissolved into embers. Daisuke wrenched his spear free, his breath labored but determined.
His eyes locked onto the remaining Slimes. Each elemental attack, once potent and terrifying, now seemed predictable. And so, one by one, the Slimes fell to the bamboo spear, their bodies fizzling out harmlessly.
***
Hiding his presence, Daisuke flicked a rock a few meters away from a monster in the next chamber. The slug-like creature left a thick yellow liquid in its wake as it slowly crawled over to investigate.
Looks like it’s not just in appearances, thought Daisuke. This mob is as slow as a snail as well.
All of a sudden, the creature turned, its lifeless pair of eyes locking onto Daisuke’s with an eerie stillness. In a matter of moments, its body expanded, swelling to roughly twice its previous size.
Daisuke’s eyes widened in shock. Before he could react, a projectile shot from the creature’s mouth with surprising speed, striking his arm and instantly adhering it to the wall behind him. The mucus acted like a powerful adhesive, pinning him in place.
Grimacing, Daisuke’s mind raced. Like hell I’m going to allow myself to be done in by a slug!
He swiftly assessed the situation, his survival instincts kicking in. With an agile maneuver, he managed to slip out of his jacket, leaving it pinned to the wall as an unfortunate sacrifice to his escape. He did, however, manage to retain his bow and quiver.
Its movements are slow, but its attack is pretty quick. If that glue were to cover my face, it’s game over. In that case…
Keeping his body animated and his field of vision wide, Daisuke swiftly moved around the cave, dodging projectiles while killing the pesky monsters with little effort.
Then he used his bamboo spear to extract the small shard of Mana Crystal hidden inside their slimy bodies before moving on to the final chamber.
***
SPLATT!!
Daisuke was on the brink of turning a corner when a slug hit the wall like a wet sack of raspberries.
“Gulp!” he swallowed down his heart that had jumped into his throat. A chill ran down his spine as his imagination conjured vivid images of a similar fate—a grotesque mess of slimy residue splattered across the wall.
He craned his head around the bend and noted the source of the creature’s timely demise. It was the Boss Monster—what else could it be when the Goliath among Slimes was at least twenty times bigger than its counterpart?
The creature’s ragged crown sat askew on its head, its lime-green body contrasting starkly with the gloom of the dark cave. Within its gelatinous form, a turbulent liquid fizzed and churned like soda.
Daisuke broke into a sweat. “Will I really be able to take this thing with just a bamboo weapon?”
The creature didn’t give him enough time to mull it over. A high-pitched shrill declared the start of the battle.
The creature’s body jiggled as a ball of acid surged from its mouth, narrowly missing Daisuke as it melted the rocky ceiling with its corrosive potency.
Unfortunately, his bow and quiver weren’t so lucky, and he quickly abandoned them before the harsh toxin could spread to his body.
“A-Acid? You’ve got to be kidding me!”
He made a beeline as a volley of noxious projectiles came showering down like rain, dissolving parts of his clothes.
I’m screwed. Even if I had a steel sword, it would just melt down the moment I made contact with the Slime’s body. What good then is a lousy bamboo spear going to do?
Ducking behind a rock, Daisuke struggled to control his breathing, his mind reeling as he considered a strategy.
SWISH!
A high velocity, boomerang-shaped projectile of water sliced through the rock like a hot knife through butter. Daisuke’s eyes bulged as fringes of his hair fell from his head.
He hesitantly poked his head up to peek, but ended up running for his life before a ball of fire could engulf that spot of ground. But he didn’t get far.
The next thing he knew, his legs were caught in a sheet of ice. He blanched as he gazed up from the glistening casing to the Slime that was now transitioning from the color lime-green to brown.
Daisuke’s eyes widened in horror, a flurry of projectiles reflected in them. He crossed his forearms as a barrage of pebble-sized rocks zipped by and into him like the pellets of a powerful BB gun.
He groaned, slightly lowering his arms. His eyes glinted with determination, even as blotches of blood dotted his clothes. But that confidence wavered as the Slime shifted from lime-green to yellow.
With haste, Daisuke started using the dull end of his bamboo spear to break the ice trapping his feet. But, when a bolt of lightning struck, a blood-curdling scream tore from his lungs and his steaming body stilled before falling to the ground. But even then, he didn’t get a reprieve.
A powerful gust of wind picked up his body and slammed it into the wall, knocking the air from his lungs.
“Cough!” blood splattered to the ground when he fell, his vision blurring as searing pain throbbed across every inch of his body.
But he couldn’t stay still.
A moment of rest would spell the end of him.
Awkwardly rolling onto his stomach, Daisuke’s eyes fleetingly met with the motionless body of the slug. He couldn’t allow himself to suffer the same fate. What would happen to April and the others if he perished here? And who would exact his revenge for Zephyr?
Before a pool of acid could dissolve his flesh and bones, he pushed to his feet with a hardened battle cry. The Slime’s form shifted and shimmered, taking on the traits of fire, water, wind, earth, ice, lightning, and acid in a rapid succession of assaults. It weaved together a flurry of destruction, launching combination attacks that left Daisuke scrambling for cover.
Taking refuge behind a sturdy rock, his mind raced. Observing the Slime’s pattern, he realized that it needed to return to its original state—acid form—before it could shift to another elemental state. And each transformation had an interval time of at least ten seconds.
As his eyes darted back to the entrance, he was struck by a sudden epiphany. The Slime… couldn’t digest the slug, which is probably the reason why it was regurgitated.
Armed with this revelation, Daisuke started mentally counting down the time until the monster’s next transformation. Then he rushed over and urgently smeared himself with the mucus from the slug.
Confiding in his hurried assessment, he lunged forward. Despite the fear, pain, fatigue, and disgust from the slimy mucus, a mighty roar bubbled up from his throat.
A fusillade of projectiles shot forward, but Daisuke’s momentum didn’t slow; the mucus acted as a layer of barrier against the corrosive acid.
Closing the distance between them, he focused his fury on the Slime’s core, which was concealed by its fizzing interior. And the moment its element switched from acid to water, his bamboo spear struck true.
“Kiiiieeehhhk!”
The Slime let out a long-winded shriek that reverberated through the chamber, a final burst of sound before its form liquefied and oozed around the bamboo spear.
Daisuke’s chest heaved as he struggled to catch his breath, the weight of the battle finally settling upon him. He lowered his gaze to the watery pool that remained of the creature. A mixture of relief, awe, and fatigue swept over him in waves.
“Is… Is it finally over?” he muttered, his voice a whisper that hung in the air.
DING!
[Congratulations!]
[You have achieved an unbelievable feat!]
“Eh?”
