Even the Giant Eagle that Celeste had transformed into was struck by a stray bolt of lightning. It let out a pained cry, its feathers scorched black, and fell from the sky trailing smoke, crashing heavily onto the ground and reverting to its human form.
Thankfully, Louisa created a Magic Shield for her just in time, barely managing to withstand the subsequent electrical assault.
As for Chen Yu, he couldn’t be bothered to defend himself.
The Gel of his entire body rapidly heated up and changed color, shifting from emerald green to a dark red. Blazing orange-red flames erupted from him, which unexpectedly had a resistant effect against the lightning.
Most of the electric current was absorbed by the high-temperature flames on his surface. Only a small portion penetrated, bringing a tingling numbness.
He unfurled his Gel Wings and, ignoring the raging thunderstorm around him, flew straight toward the lightning-wreathed Simo.
"Heh... Well come!" Despite enduring immense pain, Simo let out a hearty, gratified laugh as he watched the flaming figure fly toward him.
At this moment, in his eyes, this Slime was no longer the weak and lowly monster of his memory, but a worthy opponent against whom he would stake his all, fighting with the honor of a Warrior!
’Come on! Come on!’
He roared internally.
’Let the thunder of war roar even more fiercely!’
Simo took two or three large strides. Lightning exploded beneath his feet, propelling his stocky body across the distance in an instant to land right in front of Chen Yu.
BOOM!!
The clusters of lightning surrounding him instantly erupted into a furious current that tried to pierce through Chen Yu’s Gel body, bringing an intense numbness and paralysis, as if even his Gel was becoming unresponsive.
Simo crazily swung the thunderous warhammer in his hands, smashing it ferociously toward Chen Yu. Each blow was accompanied by a deafening clap of thunder and a violent tremor of the earth, adding new, deep craters to the scorched land.
His face grew savage from the continuous burning of the lightning, but his eyes became even more fervent. He roared, "Dodge! Is that all you can do?! Show me what you’re really made of!"
It wasn’t that Chen Yu only wanted to dodge.
He was adapting to his newly acquired Slime Talent—Magic Suction.
Unlike his previous talents, "Splitting Proliferation" and "Gel Mimicry," this talent named "Magic Suction" was at Level 5 from the very beginning, right when he broke through to the Gold rank and completed his life’s metamorphosis.
In fact, the Slime Talents he had acquired before were all naturally possessed by different Slime populations in Zeyarira.
There were Magma Slimes with "Fire Affinity," naturally suited to living in scorching lava pools; Split Slimes with "Splitting Proliferation," which relied on splitting to increase their chances of survival; and Slimes with "Gel Mimicry" that used camouflage to evade predators...
So, with the possible exception of "Devouring and Digesting," which might be special, talents like "Splitting Proliferation" and "Gel Mimicry" were abilities that already existed in the native Slimes.
But before him, it seemed no Gold-rank Slime had ever existed.
In other words, "Magic Suction" was very likely a unique talent, exclusive to him.
’It feels a bit like a signature hero skill.’
It just so happened that he also wanted to see what was so special about a Gold-rank Slime.
Chen Yu stopped tangling with Simo and used Shadow Travel to instantly move more than ten meters away.
With a thought, he activated this new talent.
Magic Suction.
VMMMM...
In an instant, he felt his internal Magic Organ awaken completely from its slumber, becoming exceptionally active. His entire Gel body’s sensitivity to the free-roaming Magic Power in the environment increased by several dozen times.
Following his instincts, he inhaled with all his might.
WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH~
An invisible suction force emanated from his center. His Magic Organ twisted and transformed into a furiously spinning vortex of Magic Power, greedily devouring all the absorbable Magic Power around him.
Coincidentally, it was currently the summer’s magic tide, the time of year when Magic Power was most active. His one inhalation instantly triggered a chain reaction.
The dense Magic Power that had been drifting aimlessly across the battlefield suddenly found a destination. It surged madly toward Chen Yu, forming visible torrents of Magic Power that flowed ceaselessly into his round Gel body.
The commotion was so great that it even stirred up a gale, creating a small storm of Magic Power that frantically drew in the surrounding air. The whistling currents kicked up dust and debris from the ground.
Chen Yu felt his body continuously expanding, growing larger. His originally emerald-green Gel began to change color as it absorbed the chaotic Magic Power, and was quickly replaced by a deep, mysterious purple.
Simo stood before Chen Yu, witnessing a scene he would never forget for the rest of his life.
The Slime, which had originally been only slightly larger than a human head, began to swell nonstop like a balloon being frantically inflated. Its size quickly surpassed his, growing taller and larger.
Like a small mountain rising from the earth, its shadow completely enveloped him.
Amidst the roar of thunder and the storm of Magic Power, this purple behemoth fully revealed its breathtakingly massive body.
Its two abyss-like eyes slowly turned, finally looking down to lock onto the tiny figure below.
A fear born from the difference in their level of existence and the absolute gap in their power instantly coiled around Simo’s heart, making it almost impossible for him to breathe.
The monsters that had been charging madly just moments before also seemed to be stunned by this terrifying aura. They all regained their senses and stopped in their tracks, cowering and letting out uneasy growls, not daring to approach the area.
"A... a Slime this big?!" Celeste struggled to sit up, staring dumbfounded at the scene, temporarily forgetting the pain of her injuries.
Even the ever-calm Louisa now had a look of utter astonishment in her eyes.
She could clearly sense the immense and chaotic Magic Power contained within that gigantic, round Slime.
This was already faintly beyond her normal understanding of a Demon Lord.
This huge commotion even attracted the attention of the Knights fighting on the distant walls of Storm Fortress.
"Dammit, what is that thing?!"
"Is that... a Slime?! You’ve got to be kidding me!"
"By Cadus, I hope this is just an illusion caused by the magic tide..."
Dominic and Levin, in the midst of their fierce battle, tacitly broke apart and looked toward the battlefield below the wall.
When they saw the behemoth standing amidst the lightning and the storm of Magic Power, an unprecedentedly grave expression appeared in both of their eyes.
A Gold-rank monster was, by itself, enough to pose a serious threat to a fortress.
And this was a Slime Lord of ridiculous proportions...
The term ’ordinary Slime’ could no longer define its existence.
In their minds, a title tinged with fear involuntarily surfaced—’Demon King.’
This was a Demon King Slime!
On the battlefield, Simo swallowed with difficulty, his throat painfully dry.
He looked up, meeting that pair of enormous purple eyes.
The family Holy Artifact in his hand, once his pride and joy, now felt as light and insignificant as a child’s toy.
The moment this thought flashed through his mind, the purple Demon King Slime moved.
It didn’t use any fancy skills. It simply, slowly, began to crush the tiny Simo below.
The massive shadow instantly enveloped Simo completely. The displaced air let out a muffled roar.
The pressure from that colossal body made Simo feel as if the very air around him had solidified, making it incredibly difficult to even move a finger.
"NO!!!"
Simo let out a final roar. With all his strength, he swung his most desperate strike at the descending purple sky.
SPLAT...
Ripples spread across the Gel’s surface before quickly subsiding, as if nothing had happened at all.
Then Simo’s vision went black. He felt pain all over his body as he was crushed into the ground by the massive Gel.
After Chen Yu passed over, all that remained was flattened ground and Simo, embedded in it, spread-eagled with an expression that said he had lost all will to live.
From this day forward, he seemed to recall the fear his ancestors felt when fighting monsters in the jungle—the terror of being dominated by a Slime.