"Guys, something’s wrong! It looks like that Slime is devouring the Fox!" Mira said in shock, staring at the scene where the blue Slime had completely wrapped itself around the Fox’s body, like a snake swallowing its prey to digest it.
Hearing that, the eyes of the four widened in astonishment, with Jax using his physical advantage to speed up his run through the trees, looking for an angle to get another look at the targets, and what he saw left him dumbfounded.
The fox, which he also believed to be of a rare and special lineage, was actually being completely devoured by the blue Slime!
Instead of continuing to carry the little blue ball on its back, as it had been doing ever since he saw them in Thalendor, the seemingly harmless Slime suddenly began attacking the fox!
"Quick, we need to save the fox!" Kael exclaimed in alarm, worried about the small, cute white fox.
But her concern was interrupted by Dalyor’s mocking laughter. "Save the fox? Kael, if that fox dies at the hands of a Slime, it definitely deserved it. Why on earth should we save a monster so weak it can’t even handle the most useless and weakest creature in the world?!"
Hearing his comment, Jax and Mira nodded in agreement, smirking as they watched the scene.
Even if their target was about to die, they didn’t really care that much.
Following this duo was just a whim they had when they saw the strange, unaccompanied monsters in Thalendor; witnessing such a crazy scene unfolding before them could make up for the time lost and the effort they’d put into getting here.
Kael felt sad upon hearing that, looking at his three companions with disappointment, but decided to say nothing.
As the only human in the group, she was already ridiculed for being physically weaker than the beast-people duo, or for having less magical aptitude than Dalyor, who was half-elf.
She wasn’t more talented than them in anything related to combat, so even though she didn’t agree with what was being said, unfortunately she didn’t feel she could say anything.
But after a few seconds, with Mira and Jax watching the targets closely, Mira asked, confused.
"Is slime digestion really that slow? Why does it look like he’s just hugging the fox like a piece of clothing?" she asked, tilting her head to the side in curiosity as she leaped from branch to branch high up in the trees.
Jax was also confused, not knowing how to respond.
"Maybe this is a combat ability?" Dalyor finally made a guess close to the truth.
Without waiting for the group’s response, he commanded, "Draco, attack!"
At his command, a single-horned lizard snorted a small cloud of gray smoke and sped up, closing in on the fox.
Mira didn’t lag behind either and whistled.
Without needing to say a single word, a small ocelot also sped up and joined the lizard in the attack.
These were their tamed monsters.
Seeing that scene, Jax felt a bit of anger welling up inside him, and frustration at no longer being able to command his water, but there was nothing he could do.
As for Kael, watching that scene, she was a little confused, not knowing whether to worry about the Slime and the Fox, or whether to worry about the lizard and the ocelot because of the premonition she was feeling.
Within seconds, the two monsters finally reached the fox, and while the Draco Lizard charged straight at her, the Ocelot remained hidden, waiting for the perfect opportunity to ambush her.
Sensing the danger, the fox finally stopped and turned toward the Lizard, but at that moment, her appearance was terrifying.
With her body completely covered in blue jelly, leaving only openings for her paws, snout, and silver eyes, she looked more like an alien creature than a beautiful and graceful fox.
Taking advantage of the fox’s pause, the group of youths also approached, with Dalyor and Mira taking up the rear, ready to lead the fight, while Jax and Kael stayed on the flanks, not intending to interfere directly in the battle.
Dalyor watched with a smirk, anticipating the moment when Draco, his Level 8 horned lizard, would tear through the Slime’s membrane and claim the fox. "Just watch, Draco’s going to finish off this blue joke in a second," he boasted proudly.
Draco leaped forward, his horn glowing with a brown earth element aura, aiming directly at the center of the gelatinous mass enveloping the fox.
The impact was sharp, but the sound that echoed through the clearing wasn’t that of flesh or jelly being pierced, but rather like metal colliding against solid rock!
"What?! His horn... didn’t even pierce it?!" Mira shouted from above, her cat-like eyes wide.
She saw the Slime’s blue membrane harden instantly at the point of contact.
Lohan didn’t even activate his Exoskeleton after realizing the Lizard’s level wasn’t that high, wanting to test how resilient his defense was using only the reinforced membrane and Non-Newtonian Resilience, causing the Level 8 monster’s attack to be completely dispersed.
Before Draco could retreat, bluish, nearly invisible threads shot out from the Slime’s mass, pinning the lizard’s front legs to the ground.
"Draco, get out of there! Use brute force!" Dalyor ordered, his voice rising an octave in panic.
But it was too late.
Mira’s little Ocelot, which was trying to flank Lisa, leaped out of the shadows, only to be intercepted by three small masses of dark blue gelatin that had detached from the Slime!
Unlike other creatures that could be flanked, a strategy like this was practically useless against a Slime that could see in all directions.
Thanks to [Pack Instinct]
Jax felt the air grow heavy.
His keen sense of smell picked up on something the others, in their arrogance, had ignored: a scent of ozone and an overwhelming density of Mana that didn’t belong to low-level monsters.
"Guys... back off! That Mana of his... isn’t Level 8! This Slime is much more powerful than we imagined!" Jax shouted, his wolf ears flattened in terror.
Lisa, feeling the constant infusion of nutrients and purified Mana from Halon, let out a growl that vibrated in the young people’s chests.
Her still-exposed white fur began to glow with white and red bursts of [Spiritual Fire] at an intensity that frightened the youths even more!
With a graceful movement of the [Spectral Step], the fox shrouded in bluish armor became a blur.
She appeared above Draco and delivered a fire-infused kick. At the same time, Halon fired an [Ice Spike] enhanced by the [Artificial Magic Core Harmonizer Lv 8], piercing the lizard’s paw joint and injecting the [Poison Production Lv 7].
"MY DRACO!" Dalyor screamed in horror, watching Draco fall to his knees, instantly paralyzed by Halon’s neuro-paralyzing toxin.
Kael, watching everything from the sidelines, felt a chill.
She realized that the "useless Slime" and the "little fox" they had so underestimated were toying with her friends’ monsters!
"Dalyor... Mira..." Kael whispered, her voice trembling. "We have to get out of here..."
But the two young men, seeing their monsters die, couldn’t hear a thing; they drew their weapons and prepared to join the fight themselves!