Chapter 50: The Slime King

The Slime King awakened. Enraged by the cave-in. Its eyes if slimes had eyes locked onto him.

He had no choice but to fight.

He was not giving whoever it was what they wanted.

The Slime King attacked first.

A wave of earth spikes erupted from the floor—dozens of them, razor-sharp, aimed directly at him. Emeric leaped. Wind carried him higher. He twisted mid-air, avoiding the spikes as they shot past.

But the King anticipated it.

A barrage of wind blades followed. Crescent shapes of compressed air, slicing through the space where he hung.

Emeric brought his daggers up. Deflected one. Dodged another. The third caught his side, a shallow cut, but enough to sting.

He landed hard, his knees giving way a little bit.

The King was already attacking again.

A torrent of high-pressure water that was as sharp as a blade swept across the chamber. Emeric dove behind a crystal outcropping. The water carved through the stone like paper. He felt the spray against his face.

Damn.

He couldn’t stay defensive. The King would wear him down.

He needed to close the distance.

The dozens of smiles that had been surrounding the boss monster suddenly started moving.

Emeric must have gone into autopilot mode as he slashed and cracked his way through the fodder.

They were no match for him anymore.

He kept a corner of his eye on the slime boss.

Was it trying to wear him out ? That seemed like a very intelligent plan.

The last of the slimes dissolved into the cave, adding to the gelatinous later the floor seemed to have.

He was breathing hard now. The boss didn’t care.

It had been studying him if he was willing to guess.

He burst from cover. Lightning crackled around his legs. He moved fast, faster than the King expected and closed the gap in seconds.

The King reacted. A wall of earth erupted between them. Emeric didn’t slow. He channeled Wind into his daggers and slashed. The wall cracked. He kicked through it.

The King’s body was right there.

He drove both daggers into its core.

The blades sank deep, its blob shimmered a bit. Its colors flashed erratically.

But it didn’t die.

The gelatinous body absorbed the impact. Reformed. The King lashed out, a massive pseudopod slamming into Emeric’s chest.

He flew backward. Hit a crystal wall and something crack.

He slid down and gasped for breath.

The King advanced.

Emeric forced himself up.

His ribs screamed, his vision blurred from blood seeping into his eyes and just from general dizziness. Blood dripped from a dozen cuts.

The slime king was still relentless

He needed a plan, a real one.

From the fight so far, he noticed that it had a pattern. Each elemental shift took a split second. Earth. Water. Fire. Wind which made it predictable.

He waited.

He launched himself into the air, dodging a wind blade and a water jet that it shot within seconds of each other.

So there was a tiny cool down period. It wasn’t much but that was his opening.

Its size made it not so mobile but its attack more than made up for its lack of mobility. He had to use its weakness to his advantage.

He studied the attack, dodging a fireball.

Now!

Mid air, he threw both daggers and followed its trajectory with a punch.

They spun through the air. One found the King’s core. The other found the same spot a heartbeat later.

The core cracked a little bit and he landed a heavy punch after.

The slime’s body absorbed part of the impact but it was hurt.

The King retreated back, lashed out blindly. A pseudopod caught Emeric across the face, sending him straight to the ground hard.

It was wounded. Its movements were slower. Now was the time to finish it.

Emeric pushed himself up, ignoring the pain in his body. He retrieved his daggers.

The King was gearing up another attack. It sent a fireball in his direction but this was smaller and weaker than the other.

Emeric charged through it. The flames licked his skin. He ignored them.

He drove both daggers into the cracked core.

Once. Twice. Three times.

The core broke.

The King bubbled and its body liquefied, seeping onto the floor.

The chamber fell silent.

Emeric stood over the remains. Breathing hard with blood from all the wounds on his body.

He had done it.

He collected the rewards.

The Slime King’s core was broken, but still valuable. A large sphere, cracked down the middle, pulsing with fading multicolored light.

The rift reward materialized right in front of him.

A silver ring set with a small green gem. A vial of multicoloured slime essence.

He picked up the first reward.

Ring of Regeneration (E-rank Artifact)

Boosts natural healing. Minor wounds close faster. Stamina recovers quicker.

He slipped it on and instantly felt the warmth spread through his body. The cuts on his arms began to close slowly, but noticeably.

He stored the broken core in his inventory and picked up the goal of slime essence.

Slime King Essence (D-rank)

Advances elemental affinity by one rank.

This was something nice. What a rare find, he told himself. He could sell this or use it on himself. He wasn’t sure yet.

[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]

[RIFT CLEARED]

[VIEW SYSTEM REWARDS?]

He stared at the notification for a little bit and decided he would check it later. He had more pressing matters to deal with.

He quickly gathered the rewards. He had to deal with the pests that had snuck in here with him.

He checked his daggers. They were damaged from the battle here.

He had spent a total of four hours clearing the dungeon.

He stowed it away. It would have to do.

He exited the boss room. The rift would close in thirty minutes after the boss had been defeated.

Now, to find a way out of here with the main entrance closed off.

He took a few minutes to find an opening just above the boss spawn.