Yax was baffled. If he had a choice, he really didn’t want to face this Slime. It gave him the same sense of helplessness as fighting one of those unkillable, indestructible mud monsters.
Putting aside the question of how a Slime could even use a sword, he saw it throw the blade it was standing on, which shot toward him like an arrow.
It was fast, but its trajectory seemed to be a straight line.
He confidently tilted his head, easily dodging the incoming Stone Sword. He even felt this Slime’s Magic was nothing special—far easier to dodge than Princess Louisa’s Arcane Missiles.
At that moment, however, a sharp pain suddenly erupted from his back.
"What?!" Yax whipped his head around, his sulfur-flaming eyes constricting abruptly.
He saw the Stone Sword—the one that had clearly already shot past him—curve through the air as if controlled by an invisible hand and swing back toward him.
He hastily raised a thick arm to block. SHRED! The Stone Sword left a deep gash on his thickly-skinned arm.
Yax scrambled away, slid into a crouch, and retrieved his lightning spear, which was planted in the ground not far away.
Just as he gripped the spear, ready to turn and face the Flying Sword, he found that it had flown away.
Chen Yu fell from the sky, only to be caught by the nimble Flying Sword, landing steadily on its blade.
Yax stood a short distance away, facing him. The wound from the Flying Sword was already healing rapidly thanks to his powerful Demon vitality, leaving only a faint scar.
The look in his eyes had changed completely.
"My foe," Yax’s voice rumbled like distant thunder. "Just as Lord Casaric predicted, you are indeed a powerful opponent."
He paused, the fighting spirit in his eyes reigniting even more fiercely. "However, conquering an enemy like you is what makes it interesting!"
"Let’s have a true duel!"
Now that he understood the strange nature of this Flying Sword, Yax no longer intended to simply evade as before. He would use his absolute power and speed to crush this Slime head-on!
"ROAR!"
Yax let out a roar, his body wreathed in what looked like crackling lightning. He charged forward, sweeping his lightning spear in a wide arc that left a blinding white trail in the air.
"CLANG!"
The Flying Sword returned to defend just in time, colliding with the lightning spear with a deafening crash. The immense force knocked the spear back slightly.
Chen Yu’s body contracted like a compressed spring, then shot forward.
Slime Impact!
His round Gel body shot out like a cannonball, slamming squarely into Yax’s chin. The immense inertia forced the tall Iron Cavalry Demon to stumble back several steps, his head ringing.
"Such a powerful physique!" Yax exclaimed in admiration even as he swung his spear, fiercely battling the returning Flying Sword and Chen Yu’s projectile attacks.
’He finally took the bait,’ Chen Yu thought to himself.
’I thought he’d run away again once he realized he couldn’t win, just like before.’
’But I never said this was a one-on-one fight.’
’Time to show this Demon from the abyss the treachery of a Slime’s heart.’
[Splitting Proliferation]
Chen Yu took a step back. His Gel body rapidly shrank as, like squeezing a tube of toothpaste, he pushed five small Slimes out from his side, each blinking their small, round eyes.
"Waaah! Destroy the enemy!" The small Slimes began to bounce around excitedly the moment they appeared.
[Magic Suction]
The five small Slimes simultaneously drew in the surrounding Magic Power. Their Gel bodies expanded rapidly, and in the blink of an eye, they had become five giant, three-meter-tall Slimes, completely surrounding Yax.
[Turn Mud to Stone]
[Mud Ball Sword Casting Skill]
A large amount of dirt and rubble from the surrounding ground floated into the air. Under the control of his Divine Sense, it was rapidly compressed and shaped.
Five crude, stone Flying Swords materialized at once, their tips all pointed at the surrounded Yax, letting out a low hum.
"Despicable!!"
Yax’s flaming eyes went wide, so furious he nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.
He never thought this Slime would have no martial honor. What happened to the one-on-one duel they agreed on?
He roared in fury. He seemed utterly enraged, but in the next second, his massive body abruptly spun around. His iron hooves pounded the earth as he broke into a charge of astonishing speed, heading straight for one of the Slime Avatars.
’First, I’ll break an opening and escape the encirclement!’
Yax was an experienced fighter and had instantly made the wisest choice.
The next moment, six Flying Swords shot toward him from different angles at once, sealing off all avenues of escape.
Yax was forced to halt his charge and brandish his lightning spear, parrying and deflecting the incoming Flying Swords.
"CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!"
Sparks flew as the sound of metal striking metal fell as thick and fast as rain.
Although he reacted quickly enough, there were simply too many Flying Swords. Two of them broke through his defenses, carving deep wounds into his skin.
Just then, the Slimes closed in again with malicious intent.
"Heh heh..."
To Yax, their round, rolling eyes looked more sinister and cunning with each passing moment.
’How is this a Slime? Are you sure it’s not a trickster Demon skilled in disguise?’
"Muu! Get ’im!"
It was impossible to tell which Slime Avatar had shouted, but all the Slimes swarmed together and began to gang up on him.
"Gahahaha! As expected of His Majesty! So brave and clever!" From a distance, the spectating Count Brand’s face was alight with excitement. He flapped his wings and shouted his praise as if he were the one in command.
Louisa looked like she wanted to say something, but held her tongue, her expression strange.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield, without Yax to suppress them, Dominic and Allen were no match for Arthur and his allies.
"Levin, to think..."
Dominic’s chest was torn open by Arthur’s Knight’s Sword. No blood flowed from the wound, only a large amount of foul, black sludge.
He murmured, "...I would actually lose to you..."
After speaking his last words, he simply stood there. More and more foul black sludge poured from his mouth, ears, eyes, and nostrils, until it completely submerged him, finally turning him into a pool of mindless, monstrous mud.
Although it was unknown what the Demon had promised him or what price he had paid, it was clear that Dominic Elvin was now well and truly dead, with only a defiled shell remaining.
Seeing this, Allen’s face went pale. He unhesitatingly dropped the dagger in his hand and raised both his arms in surrender.
...
By the time the weakened Yax managed to struggle free from the Slimes’ encirclement, his armor was in tatters, his body was covered in wounds, and his aura was faint.
He was about to summon his last ounce of strength to command the Demon Legion, but when he looked back, he saw that his forces had been surrounded and pushed back into the rift, which was steadily closing.
His Demon’s Claws... Dominic had turned into a mud monster, Vincent had been pinned to the ground, Samuel had been sliced in two, and Allen had surrendered...
Defeat was certain.
Now, he was the only one left.
But he was Yax, the Trampling Demon, Commander of the Furnace Cavalry. The pride in his bones would never allow him to surrender to a Slime.
He reached out, took out the Kasa Silver Coin that represented his Extraordinary soul, and was about to shove it into his mouth.
"ROAR!!"
The Slime suddenly mimicked the head of a great dragon and let out a heavenward roar. The cry carried a terrifying pressure that rooted him to the spot.
In a daze, he thought he saw a colossal Gel dragon soaring in the sky above, staring down at him with its enormous draconic pupils.
It was the spiritual pressure of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, but it held a slight, yet genuine, draconic might.
Yax’s movements froze involuntarily. By the time he came to his senses, his palm felt empty.
The precious Kasa Silver Coin had been swallowed by Chen Yu, who had emerged from the shadows.
Six Stone Flying Swords had also appeared without a sound, their tips held scant inches from Yax’s head, throat, heart, and other vital points.
Yax’s entire body went rigid. He slowly raised his head to look at the Slime standing on a Flying Sword, calmly watching him with its small, round eyes.
Defeated.
Utterly... defeated.
The sulfurous flames in Yax’s eyes slowly died out.