Chapter 15

Being able to hear their cries for help indicates that the place where they encountered the monster is not far from where I originally was.

William searched along a straight line in one direction for a distance, but seeing no sign of Bulande, he immediately began searching in a fan-shaped area to the left and right.

While William was making his third change of direction during the search, he finally saw Bulande being attacked by a monster.

At this moment, Bulande was covered in wounds, gripping his sword with both hands to stay upright; not far ahead, a huge slime dozens of times larger than a normal slime, about as tall as two adults, its whole body black liquid, stared at Bulande with fury.

"Bulande, this is!"

Upon seeing the slime with such a strange appearance, William couldn't help but exclaim.

Ordinary slimes are not only the size of a wild cat but also consist of blue, transparent liquid; William had never before seen a slime that was entirely black, which reminded him of the legends about mutant magical beasts he had overheard adventurers talking about in a bar in his previous life.

Could this slime also be a mutant?

"【Appraisal】"

William silently activated his unique Golden Finger skill; leaving combat prowess aside, the Appraisal skill is still quite impressive for gathering information.

Immediately, several pieces of information appeared in his mind.

"【Divine Slime"

Level: 15

Traits: Devour, Immune to all physical attacks】

"Divine? Does that mean mutant?" William thought.

Bulande was also surprised to see William appear, and he asked nervously, "William, how did you end up here? Did you see John and the others?"

John? It seems to be the name of one of the boys who often hangs around Bulande.

William said, "Of course I came to save you; I had them go back to the village to call for adults to help!"

Bulande breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing that John and the others had returned to the village, then he put on an angry tone and said, "William, did someone kick your brain with a horse's hoof? I don't need your help! Get lost, don't interfere with my fight!"

"Geez, to say you'll stay behind as a rearguard in such an unlikable way, Bulande, how did you become the king of the village kids?"

William muttered a complaint, then suddenly saw the mutated slime rush at Bulande while he was distracted, and he shouted, "Bulande, watch out!"

"Pfft... bub bub bub..."

Bulande couldn't dodge in time and was pressed under the slime's massive body; his whole body sank into the slime's liquid form, bubbles streaming from his mouth as he, unable to breathe, struggled painfully inside the slime, but no matter how hard he tried he could not break free.

"Bulande!"

William shouted Bulande's name at the top of his lungs, but Bulande, trapped inside the mutated slime, could not hear William's cries.

After William saw Bulande gradually losing consciousness inside the mutated slime, he could no longer just stand by keeping his distance; he drew his iron sword and charged at the mutated slime.

"【Mental Focus】"

"【Enhancement】"

"【Sword Strike】"

In the course of his charge, William unleashed three martial skills in succession, directly displaying his strongest strength at this stage.

After swallowing Bulande, the mutated slime's movements became sluggish; William's long sword, bearing sharp sword qi, struck directly at the slime's midsection, yet he felt no impact on the sword in his hands—it was like a branch slicing a stream, passing straight through the liquid body of the mutated slime.

"Damn, physical attacks really have no effect on it."

William's strike just now not only failed to injure the slime's body, it nearly hurt Bulande, who had been swallowed by the mutated slime.

After the awakening of his magical power and a year of training thereafter, William felt that in terms of level and strength he was not inferior to this mutated slime before him; however, the slime is immune to all physical attacks, and William has never mastered the release of magical power, so he has no magical means that could harm it or take effect.

"Pfft bub bub......"

Bulande, swallowed by the mutated slime, spat out another string of bubbles; William realized this might be the last breath he was holding in his chest, Bulande's life was in imminent danger, and William still didn't know what the slime's other trait, 'Devour,' meant—there was no time to ponder.

Thus William reversed his grip on the sword with one hand and lunged straight at the mutated slime's body.

His idea was simple: since the slime is immune to all physical attacks, swinging his fist should pass through its body just like his sword did earlier; by using the long sword planted in the slime for leverage, when his fist passes through the mutated slime's body he can simply pull Bulande out.

William ran up to the mutated slime, leapt up, planted his left hand's sword into the slime's body, and swung his right fist toward where Bulande was.

However, as soon as his fist entered the mutated slime's body, he felt the slime's liquid form suddenly contract, a powerful constriction that locked his arm in place.

"Uh-oh, it can control its own body!"

William inwardly cursed his bad luck; at this moment his right hand, which had thrown the punch, could not be pulled from the mutated slime's body, so he desperately pulled outward with his left hand gripping the sword hilt, but his body's contact points with the slime's elbow and knee felt as if glued with strong adhesive—he could neither free himself from the slime's liquid body nor push off it for leverage.

"【Double Thrust】"

"【Double Thrust】"

"Damn it!"

William tried to rely on the displacement ability of the martial skill to break free, but the distance he could move at this moment was far too short to activate the Double Thrust skill.

Watching himself slowly sink into the slime like quicksand, William had no choice but to place his last hope in casting magic.

"【Fireball!】"

"【Fireball!】"

"【Fireball!】"

"【Fireball!】"

"Damn it ah ah ah ah ah! Pfft bub bub bub......"

William's entire body was swallowed by the mutated slime; as his oxygen was exhausted, his consciousness began to grow fuzzy.

As his consciousness faded, various scenes from his previous life surfaced in his mind again.

There was the pain when parents were killed by Goblin, there was the frustration of putting in several times others' effort yet unable to cultivate into martial skills, there was the unwillingness when high-level adventurers gave him white eyes and ridicule, and there was the heart-wrenching despair when his own wife was killed by demons......

"Ah...... Am I going to die again without changing anything? Perhaps... this is my fate......"

William's consciousness gradually sank into darkness, in a world of utter darkness, completely silent.

After an unknown amount of time, in the darkness, a voice full of magnetic charm suddenly sounded beside William's ear.

"I will come find you."

"Who is it?"

William asked, but no one answered him.

"This is our little secret, don't tell anyone, or you'll die."

"Who is speaking?"

William continued to shout, but the speaker still ignored him.

"If I give you another chance, will you kill me?"

That familiar voice sounded again, and William recalled the name of its owner.

One of the Seven Demon Kings, the Lust Demon King Kusala Pers.

"It's that woman; her underlings killed my wife and destroyed Bigen Village, and I swore to protect them."

"But I'm dead—how can I protect everyone?"

"Right, I've been reborn—I'm not dead yet!"

A strong willpower woke William from his coma; he opened his eyes and found himself still inside the Mutated Slime's body, with Bulande floating nearby, unconscious and unaware of life or death—he had only been unconscious for a few short seconds.

"Can't give up!"

Facing life and death, William suppressed his impatience, recalling the technique Xierna had taught him for casting the Fireball spell.

William mobilized the immense magical power of Kusala residing within him, simultaneously constructing the Fireball spell's magical rune inside his body with magic power while gradually gathering magic power at his palm.

"Don't rush to release the magic power; gather it to the point where you can barely hold it, then toss it out like throwing a stone..." William murmured in his heart.

Magic power gradually accumulated in his palm; he felt his breathing grow increasingly difficult, and his consciousness began to weaken again.

Just as he felt he was about to lose consciousness again, William finally experienced the sensation of magic power gathering at his palm to its limit.

"Now!"

Without any hesitation, the magical rune inside William's body was instantly completed at that moment—with a pop, a fireball the size of a stone weighing several tens of kilograms appeared in his hand.

William directly fired the fireball inside the Mutated Slime's body, and it exploded instantly before even leaving the slime's body.

"Boom!"

The powerful explosion's shockwave blasted the Mutated Slime's huge black liquid body into pieces; William and Bulande were also caught in the blast's shockwave, but thanks to the slime's liquid body acting as a cushion, they weren't burned by the fireball's aftereffects—still, their bodies flew several dozen meters away before coming to a stop.

"Splash..."

The Mutated Slime's body fell, and black rain began to fall within a radius of several tens of meters of the Magic Forest around William and Bulande.