[Devouring and Digesting]
[Life Siphon]
[Thermal Recovery]
[Blood Recovery]
[Vampiric Touch]
His stomach instantly transformed into an Abyssal Black Hole, ravenously devouring the charging demonic creatures and scattered Demon remains around him. A massive amount of Life Energy surged in, and his lost health shot right back up, allowing him to recover in an instant.
’That was close. The wound almost healed on its own.’
But this clash also allowed him to gauge a portion of Yax’s power.
A single charge could deplete thirty thousand of his health. ’This guy’s full power is probably far beyond my imagination.’
’And who knows if this guy has some hidden one-shot kill move? What if he just wipes out my entire health bar in one go?’
Across from him, Yax was forced back several steps by the now-resilient Gel. He watched Chen Yu rapidly return to his original form, his expression growing grim.
"To think my foe is this formidable... and completely unscathed..."
Vincent floated over and cast several layers of Magic Shields upon himself, blocking the Arcane Missiles Louisa fired to take advantage of the opening.
"Yax, we’re running out of time! Fall back! Our situation is dire!" he said urgently in the demonic tongue.
As he spoke, Levin was already charging on his warhorse to support Arthur. The two Frost Wolf Knights had joined forces, forcing a battered Dominic into a steady retreat, his body covered in wounds that oozed a foul, black, viscous substance.
It seemed his body had long been dead, and all that remained was a pile of sludge.
Samuel’s situation was even worse. He was no match for Yano. Under Yano’s frenzied assault, his Enchanted Equipment shattered piece by piece, losing its luster.
He had clearly reached his limit and could only desperately parry and dodge. Several new, bone-deep wounds now marred his body, and his once-golden armor had grown dim.
"What a pain..." Yax snorted, two heavy plumes of white vapor jetting from his nostrils. His iron hooves began to pound the ground; he had no choice but to turn back and support Dominic and Samuel.
Even though he was a tier above the other Extraordinary beings on the field, allowing the enemy to slaughter his key forces was not a wise choice. It would only lead to him being surrounded and overwhelmed.
Even the most foolish Glutton Demon in the Abyss could figure that out.
Demons might be warlike and bloodthirsty, but they aren’t stupid.
Besides, that Slime was far too strange; he had to be cautious.
Yax charged with incredible speed, reaching the rear of the battlefield in the blink of an eye. He was so fast that the Gel cannonballs Chen Yu hastily formed couldn’t lock onto him. They could only slam into the ground where he’d just been, blasting a few unlucky Demons into the air.
’The good thing about Magic Suction is that it boosts my Gel’s resistance and multiplies my Magic’s power. But the downside is obvious, too: my body becomes huge and inflexible. If I get kited, my short reach means I can’t hit my enemies at all.’
’Short reach is a Slime’s innate weakness. Even a Slime king can’t entirely escape it.’
’Unless...’
For some reason, he glanced in the direction of the Storm Fortress. Then, rolling his enormous body forward, he crushed the Demons in his path and rumbled in pursuit.
But by then, Yax had already charged before Arthur and the others. After a flash of lightning, Levin and Arthur barely managed to combine their strength to parry Yax’s spear.
The impact sent them stumbling back, their legs carving deep, ten-meter-long furrows in the scorched earth before they finally managed to halt.
"Arthur, remember what I taught you," Levin growled. His hunting blade vibrated, knocking the lightning spear aside as he leaned back.
The soulfire in Arthur’s eyes flickered as he recalled the past.
In his fragmented memories, he saw a man with a stern expression standing on the training grounds. It was his father, younger, his hair not yet streaked with the gray it was now.
He would watch him train in silence, his eyes periodically betraying his pride.
Arthur felt it was the greatest source of encouragement during his grueling training.
At the same time, he recalled Levin’s teachings.
"If one day we are on the battlefield together, facing an invincible foe, remember this: charge forward and don’t look back. I will be right behind you."
As the memory flashed through his mind, Arthur abandoned his defense. He raised his Knight’s Sword high, his gaze filled with a resolve he had never shown before.
[Judgment]
The Knight’s Sword, wreathed in the flames of death, cleaved through all resistance and struck Yax’s arm. It actually breached his defenses, leaving behind an impossibly deep wound.
What made Yax even more uneasy was the sensation of a deathly power building within him. It felt as if, given enough time, he could actually be killed by this Undead Knight.
’Why are the Undead here so damn strange?’
As Arthur relentlessly attacked with his Knight’s Sword, every time Yax tried to strike back, he was blocked by Levin.
However, their seamless teamwork didn’t last long before Yax swept them aside with an even more frenzied display of power.
Meanwhile, Dominic and Allen had closed in to surround them.
"Vincent, help me!" Samuel bellowed from the other side of the battle. He had nearly been hit by Yano, forcing him into a desperate backward roll.
With a flap of his bat-like wings, Yano relentlessly charged toward the battered Samuel.
Vincent’s face was grim. He raised his Magic Staff high and began to chant.
[Blade Barrier]
An invisible force field rose like two giant gates in front of Samuel. The edges of the field, sharp beyond compare, spun at high speed, turning it into a merciless meat grinder that would instantly shred anything that tried to pass through.
To his astonishment, however, the Gargoyle’s shadow suddenly detached from Yano’s body. It flattened itself against the ground and flowed silently through a gap in the Blade Barrier.
Once through the barrier, the shadow shot upward, re-forming into the towering figure of the Gargoyle. It raised the pitch-black greatsword in its hands high and brought it down viciously toward Samuel.
The greatsword fell, shattering Samuel’s layered Magic Shields, and blood sprayed out like a fountain.
Samuel, the Knight famed as "King Dowson" for his wealth and equipment, had been sliced in half at the waist.
Samuel let out a muffled grunt, not giving up on his escape. The momentum sent his upper torso flying backward, and behind him, Vincent had already opened an Arcane Gate.
’If I can just get through the Arcane Gate... I’ll live...’
A final glimmer of hope flashed in Samuel’s eyes.
Before he could breathe a sigh of relief, Yano’s real body appeared out of thin air like a phantom, directly in front of the Arcane Gate.
"Sorry. I know a thing or two about stealth myself."
The Knight’s Sword was drawn, and a head fell.
Samuel Dawson, the Sixth Legion Commander, was dead. Utterly and completely.
But this very act completely enraged Yax, who had just forced back Levin and Arthur.
"ROAR!"
Yax roared. He recalled his lightning spear, spun around, and charged madly toward Yano at an even greater speed, raising an iron hoof that burned with hellfire.
[Trample]
Yano only had time to merge with the just-returned Gargoyle’s shadow and raise his pitch-black greatsword in an attempt to block.
"CRACK..."
The greatsword shattered on impact. The Gargoyle’s body was stomped deep into the hard soil, creating a pit several meters in diameter.
Even its hard, stone-like skin failed to block the enraged stomp. A gaping hole was torn open in its dark chest, and Yano lay at the bottom of the pit, barely breathing.
Yax raised his iron hoof, preparing to stomp a second time.
Chen Yu came rolling in. His massive body slammed solidly into Yax, sending him staggering back dozens of meters before he finally managed to stop.
"How dare you bully my Knight."
Chen Yu shrank back to his original size. A single Slime Charge knocked Yax back again, forcing him to stumble a few steps.
Faced with the agile, ricocheting Slime, Yax was momentarily unable to keep up. His attacks repeatedly missed their mark, and he opened his great maw in frustration.
[Lightning Breath]
Blinding blue-white lightning shot out, forming a conical area that also enveloped Chen Yu.
The sustained, high-intensity electric shock cost Chen Yu nearly five thousand health points per second. In just a few seconds, he lost fifty to sixty thousand health.
A rich natural aura bloomed from within him. The remaining Droplets of Life quickly nourished his Gel, instantly replenishing the health he had lost.
Yax’s pupils contracted, a flicker of shocked disbelief in his eyes.
He had no intention of tangling with this unkillable Slime any longer. He turned and charged toward Arthur, who was locked in a fierce battle with Dominic and Allen.
The cunning Demon had clearly seen Chen Yu’s weakness and intended to use his own high mobility to pick them off one by one.
But this time, Chen Yu didn’t give chase.
He turned around and gazed toward the gray, mist-shrouded horizon behind him.
There, a pitch-black figure was drawing steadily closer, beating its wings.
It seemed to have seen the situation on the battlefield, for it suddenly let out an excited, raucous cry.
"CAW! Your Majesty! Your loyal Minister Blanc has returned with the Crown!"