What the hell kind of Slime can withstand Extraordinary Magic?
Even Xiaoka and Beet stared at their Majesty, completely baffled. They couldn’t understand why such a terrifying attack had no effect on their king.
Deng Lun refused to believe it. He swung his Magic Staff again and began chanting an obscure spell.
[Withering Skill]
He visibly flagged, as if casting such Magic placed a considerable strain on him.
The Magic landed on Chen Yu once more, but this time it dissipated even faster. In just a few seconds, it was devoured completely by his bottomless-pit-like Gel body, vanishing as if nothing had happened.
This time, even Deng Lun fell completely silent.
’The Withering Skill’s disappearance just now wasn’t an illusion. It was really and truly devoured by this Slime... My Magic didn’t just fail to do damage, it actually became some sort of nourishment for it.’
Seeing his silence, Chen Yu offered a helpful reminder, "Why don’t you give it another shot? I might be at my limit, you know?"
Hearing this, Deng Lun shot him a look that seemed to say, "Do you take me for a fool?"
Immediately after, his body exploded, turning into dozens of black bats that scattered and fled.
He was actually trying to escape.
But the Demon Legion was already prepared. All the turrets and Poisonous Sting Bees unleashed a saturation barrage on the black bats scattering through the sky.
"Ah!"
Several black bats were instantly shot down amidst the dense fire.
Although the black bats Deng Lun had transformed into were fast, it was still difficult to completely escape the range of the Goblin Rippers’ cannon fire.
After losing several life-saving Magic Items in succession, his situation was not much better than the other members of the Blood Race who were fleeing in disarray.
When he was forced back to the ground, his reformed body was only half-there, a wretched sight to behold.
On the wasteland, the cold wind howled. There was only his broken figure and the approaching roar of the Demon Legion in the distance.
He had escaped the castle, true, but behind him, Chen Yu was already in pursuit, riding Xiaoka.
He didn’t choose to give up. Instead, he gripped his Magic Staff with his remaining arm and unleashed a move that felt somewhat familiar to Chen Yu.
[Shadow Travel]
What remained of his body instantly blurred, melting into the shadows to flee into the distance once more.
But as luck would have it, Chen Yu also knew a thing or two about Shadow Abilities.
[Shadow Travel]
His Gel body also became ethereal, plunging into the shadows with Xiaoka at a speed that was even faster than Deng Lun’s.
"Take this! Slime Impact!"
Like a green cannonball, Chen Yu slammed violently into Deng Lun’s blurry figure.
Deng Lun let out a muffled grunt. He was forcefully knocked out of the shadows, rolling several times across the desolate, gravelly ground.
"How could you..."
He collapsed, unable to comprehend how a Slime could have mastered Shadow Power.
But soon, he would no longer have the chance to ponder this question.
[Water Arrow Skill]
Chen Yu’s round body swelled. Water vapor stretched out before him, coalescing into a water arrow that shot toward Deng Lun.
"SPLAT!"
The water arrow hit its mark precisely, blasting Deng Lun’s remaining half-body to pieces and turning him into a foul-smelling, bloody mist that filled the air.
The guy was gone without even managing to utter a complete last word.
"Done." Chen Yu bounced smugly, satisfied with his own decisiveness.
Just as he thought it was all over, his Shadow Perception suddenly detected a faint change in the light and shadows.
Huh?
’There’s a Shadow Creature hidden inside this guy?’
As the thought flashed through his mind, his body erupted with a powerful suction, preventing the Shadow Creature from escaping.
"Xiaoka, Fireball!"
"KRA!" Xiaoka immediately opened its mouth and spat out a scorching magma Fireball, illuminating the entire area.
In the shifting light and shadow, the blurry silhouette finally revealed its outline.
It seemed to be composed of the purest darkness and shadow, with no fixed facial features, only a vague humanoid shape. At this moment, the better part of its body had already been forcefully sucked into Chen Yu’s stomach.
The humanoid figure seemed not to have expected that something could devour shadow, and it let out a series of distorted ramblings that sounded as if they were coming through countless layers of veils:
"Green... Wise Man... we... will... meet... again..."
Chen Yu couldn’t be bothered with any of that. With a loud SLURP, he completely swallowed it.
"*BURP~*"
Chen Yu let out a satisfied burp. He felt as if something had been added to his body, yet at the same time, as if nothing had changed.
After the figure was devoured, the strange feeling of being watched in his Shadow Perception finally vanished. At that moment, his status panel also changed.
[Devouring and Digesting Lv.8 triggered—A portion of ???’s characteristics successfully recorded. Talent Gained: Shadow Splitting Lv.1]
’Shadow... Splitting?’
Under Chen Yu’s gaze, his round shadow on the ground began to change. As if split down the middle by an invisible blade, with a POP, it became two round shadows.
Huh???
’What’s the use of this?’
He tried to control the split-off shadow but found it incredibly difficult, like trying to push a mountain. Moreover, the shadow couldn’t attack or interact with things like a clone.
’Seems pretty useless.’
’Oh well, it’s not like I’m short on talents anyway.’
He stopped dwelling on it, remounted Xiaoka, and flew back toward the Blood Race Castle.
...
Back at the Blood Race Castle, the battle was mostly over. The members of the Blood Race and the goblins who put up a desperate resistance had been eliminated, while the majority had chosen to surrender.
Casimir was leading the Slime Engineers in cleaning up the castle and taking inventory of the spoils of war.
Seeing Chen Yu return, he came forward to greet him, a respectful look on his face. "Your Majesty, I have good news to report."
"Oh?" Chen Yu bounced once, gesturing for him to continue.
Camisil smiled faintly. "A treasury is hidden beneath this castle, amassed by generations of the Blood Race. Inside is the vast wealth they’ve collected over hundreds of years—Magic Materials, Enchanted Equipment, and possibly even some lost ancient Scrolls."
"Since you have conquered this place, theoretically, all of this is now your property."
Chen Yu’s small eyes instantly lit up.
’A treasury! A huge treasury!’
’I knew these Blood Race guys had to be filthy rich.’
Camisil didn’t forget to ask, "With all the commotion we’ve caused here, the main force of the Goblin Army will be arriving soon. What should we do?"
Chen Yu thought for a moment. He still had to prepare for the upcoming summer demon tide and had no time to get tangled up with the Demons pulling the strings here.
But he couldn’t just let them continue to contact the Demon’s Claws within the White Horse Kingdom, either.
He looked toward the rear of the castle. Apart from a few scattered fortifications, there were no sturdy walls like the Greystone Bulwark. It would be impossible to withstand an attack from the Goblin Army.
’So the best solution is... to make a run for it, of course.’
First, they would move all the valuable supplies from the castle, especially everything in the underground treasury.
Then, they would temporarily abandon the Eternal Night Territory and this castle, retreating behind the inner walls of the Greystone Bulwark. From there, they could use its fortifications to guard against enemies coming from the direction of the castle.
’Besides, as long as we control the Greystone Bulwark, we can come back here anytime we want.’
Soon, the Slimes that had explored deep into the castle returned. They brought back chest after chest of gold, silver, and jewels from the treasury Camisil had mentioned, along with large quantities of ores and materials.
The vast majority of these spoils were organized into long lines by the Beetles and transported back to the Greystone Bulwark.
At the last moment before leaving, Chen Yu looked out over the land he had conquered and announced to the Demon Legion,
"From this day forward, the rule of the Blood Race in this land is a thing of the past."
"The Dark Land welcomes its new master—the Slime!"
The Slimes cheered, happily bumping into each other with SPLAT SPLAT sounds. The Poisonous Sting Bees also buzzed in unison, welcoming the moment.
Meanwhile, the ones with the most complicated feelings were undoubtedly the captured members of the Blood Race.
Camisil, on the other hand, felt incredibly at ease, as if he had been reborn.
He could finally leave the gloomy tombs and welcome a new future for vampires.