Chapter 434 : Reckless Slime

The battle was continuing as we traded blows with the creature, and so far, nobody on our end had been injured. Plenty of slime had been torn to shreds, devoured, or frozen, but that barely even counted as a flesh wound for us. More importantly, Vee hadn't been wounded, unless you counted her food supply, and neither had any of my cores.

It looked like we would need to start dismembering it to make it expend more energy if we wanted to win. Before any of that, though, I needed to try out my newly conceived scheme. I activated [Personal Rift] and felt its vague presence struggling to manifest around me, as multiple conflicting coordinates flashed through my mind.

Maybe when everything is done, I should come back here and spend like a month just researching this compressed space. Maybe I'll be able to make a breakthrough on my own [Dimension Magic]?

I saved that tempting stray thought for later, as I had much more important things to worry about. I waited for the creature to begin its next devouring cycle, and once it did, I immediately attempted to tear open an aperture beside it. As I had anticipated, it was not simple; my previous tears in space were like a hot knife through butter, but now it felt more like using a spoon to cut through a plank of wood.

Yet despite that, I managed, and the fractured space was also devoured by the creature. I felt the aperture immediately cease to exist, and knew that I now had one less to work with until it recovered. Yet none of that was important, and I studied the monster to see what would happen. Thankfully, it wasn't a long wait, and soon the chewing started… And then kept going.

"Be careful! I fed it an aperture so I might have given it some indigestion!"

"Some warning next time would be nice!" Vee shouted in response.

We continued attacking the creature, who was fighting back, but the chewing sounds didn't stop. This turn of events allowed us to continue damaging it for a considerable period, and we finally managed to put a notable dent in its cursed energy reserves. If we hadn't been constantly listening for the chewing to stop, we might have inflicted even more, but for the first time, we had to be extremely cautious.

"That was great. How many more of those can you pull off?" Sylvain asked excitedly.

"Four… Unless I'm lucky enough to get a timely skill level-up."

Honestly, there was a good chance of that happening, as it had reached level five during my bout with Keldenar, and then I had used it throughout the entire demon labyrinth. I had been anticipating its next level inside here, but that was before the whole snow globe shrunken space shenanigans threw a wrench in my plans.

"I don't think we can kill it in only four rounds," Sylvester stated.

That was obvious, but I still had another trick up my sleeve, one that I'd been dying to try out, and now was the perfect time to see how good it was.

"You guys continue as per normal, and then the next time I feed it aperture, I want you all to stand back."

"You really want us to hold back during the best chance we've got to inflict some serious harm on this bastard?" Sylvain questioned with notable disagreement.

"I got a plan, and I'm afraid if you don't hold back, you might fall victim to some collateraldamage."

Sylvain's earlier complaint was snuffed out. It seemed that everyone had some vague understanding of what being caught up in my more outlandish ideas involved. Vee had experienced several firsthand, and maybe, thanks to vague memories, such as what happened to Kappa, the personas were also wary.

They reluctantly agreed, and it felt like some of them, especially Vee, actually wanted to talk me out of it. Unfortunately, this wasn't up for debate or a vote, and my mind was set, so it was going to happen!

As they continued to fight, I had my [Sub-Cores] continue to provide support while I began my plan. The first thing I needed to do was ensure I had enough of a slime barrier, otherwise I risked hurting, or even killing, Vee in the process. I honestly wasn't even sure if my personas and I would come out of this unscathed.

I prepared vast quantities of slime, which would make up my protective barrier, ensuring that it was linked up to me so I could provide the full range of resistances from [Primordial Slime] as well as the best [Slime Mastery] available. It was positioned outside of the creature's swallowing range, but I would form a dome around it when the time was ripe.

With that out of the way, I moved on to the next step and pulled out one of my [Sub-Cores] and held it in my grasp. I couldn't help but sigh, as I was admittedly having a bit of second thoughts about this plan, but it was the best I could come up with for inflicting extreme damage in a short amount of time.

Here goes nothing. I'm sorry to do this to you, but I promise you'll be back soon.

And then, with a mere thought, I primed the core. Yes, it was almost anticlimactic in a way, but this was my secret weapon. [Nitro Slime] was downright deadly as I'd proven many times before, but that was always only with slime mass; so, what could a slime core do? Maybe I was overestimating myself, but I felt like it had unfathomably more power, especially considering that my cores in particular were one of a kind. This was from the mythical Prismatic slime, so surely it could do the job!

"Alright, I'm ready for the next cycle!" I shouted, warning the others.

It seemed they still had no idea what I had planned and were continuing on as normal. When the Hollow Monarch started feasting again, I'd tear open space and then throw the core right at it! I didn't have to wait too long as the time came, and my companions fled the vicinity.

The nearby space was torn apart into another aperture, and, to my relief, the creature proceeded to uncontrollably eat it, despite it seemingly not wanting to. That had actually been a small oversight on my part. What if it simply chose to ignore the aperture after its recent indigestion? But this proved it had no choice in the matter of what it would eat.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

It's too bad that there was no way to turn its eating into a weakness. Imagine if it were forced to uncontrollably eat poison and it actually was harmed as a result… Oh well, it's time for the fireworks!

We all heard the chewing noises, and the others turned to me in anticipation. I grinned and fired out the [Sub-Core] like a cannon straight towards the creature, while making sure the core was also wrapped up in some slime to prevent any damage, while also giving it some maneuverability.

"Master, is that…?" Sylbera mumbled.

"A slime core?" Vee asked.

The core thankfully landed straight on the monster and attached to it with the slime like some kind of strange tumor. There was always a chance that it would attack the core, but I wouldn't allow it that chance, as I had already been moving the slime to create the all-encompassing barrier around it.

Layers upon layers of slime shot up from the floor and surrounded it, forming a cocoon of impossible proportions and, hopefully, enough to block whatever the result was going to be. The monster didn't even bother moving, as if it was doubtful of the effectiveness of such a maneuver, or perhaps simply trying to focus on its digestion. With that, my plan was set, and now it was time to see what I could with arguably my most costly attack ever.

"What—" Sylvain tried to speak, but was interrupted by the frantic persona next to him.

"Oh gods no! You cannot be serious!" Sylvester screeched.

Sylvester seemed to be the first to catch on to my plan, but his outcry was the catalyst that triggered the rest of the personas to realize. Their eyes went wide with horror, and they all instinctively took several leaps back, using whatever skill or ability they had to flee farther.

Boom!

There was a deafening silence in the room, as if all of it had been robbed into a single breathless moment, and even the chewing was strangely absent. While everyone had been frantically staring at me, as if begging me not to do this, they all simultaneously turned to face the source, as if they could sense it. For some reason, the explosion wasn't instant, but even with what felt like a momentary delay, it was beyond the point of no return, as massive amounts of energy seemed to be gathering in the core and reaching critical mass.

I had faith in my slime barrier as my slime itself was resistant to explosions and everything else I could do, but for some reason, everyone else didn't share the same enthusiasm. Sylvester's golems rushed to his side to shelter him. Sylbera pulled out a massive tower shield and planted it firmly in the ground. Sylvain formed a dome of [Permafrost] in front of him, while Sylthaeryn called forth a treant to hide behind. Vee was slower than the rest, but also must have sensed danger as she pulled out some kind of woven net-shield of [Rift Thread] and cowered under it.

Then it was unleashed, and it was a moment I, or anyone else witnessing it, would probably never forget. Sound crashed back into reality as an unholy roar was unleashed upon the world, with the ground trembling as if it were about to be torn asunder. I felt the slime core erupt, the connection immediately lost, and that was when the shockwave came out.

My first barrier of slime was practically vaporized, much to my horror, which seemed impossible considering everything that had gone into it. Thankfully, the second layer fared better, although I also felt it torn apart from the unholy explosion from within. The third barrier held, then fell; so did the fourth, and at this point, I was sending out more slime to try to contain it.

Vee and the personas were screaming as I frantically tried to come up with a plan. I wasn't even sure if the monster was still alive or not, as I was far too worried about trying to prevent this from being unleashed. More slime, more layers, but with each breach, it felt like I was fighting a losing battle. Never could I have imagined that one of my slime cores had this much potential hidden within.

Containing it might not be possible, I think I need to somehow vent it, but how or where?

My immediate thought was to send it up and out, but that could very well destroy not only this castle but the snow globe itself. What would happen to us if this shrunken space were annihilated? Even if we survived, the master of this place might not let us live to tell the tale.

Dimensional space… Well, I guess that's my only option!

I sighed and, while still reinforcing the barrier with additional layers, tore open a fresh aperture within the detonation. Thanks to my connection to the rift, I felt it start to fill with explosive force almost immediately, and because the dome was entirely made of my slime, I could sense the pressure being relieved.

Come on, hang in there!

I felt the strain on both ends and quickly severed my [Rift Beacon] to reclaim the additional space. Yet despite that emergency maneuver, it still wasn't enough, and once again, I felt my [Personal Rift] struggling. Then, like a beacon of hope, I received a moment of respite.

<Proficiency gained. [Personal Rift LV 5] improved to [Personal Rift LV 6].>

I wanted to laugh with joy, until I realized it was still not over. I hadn't realized the blast still had this much power, and it actually made me wonder if I'd gone about this entirely wrong. My slime was supposed to be explosion-resistant, if not immune, thanks to its uncapped levels, but perhaps a core explosion was different. It was still restraining it, somewhat, but perhaps it was also somehow feeding the blast, as if obeying the command of the core that detonated.

It sounded absurdly far-fetched, but at this point, the only thing I was sure of was that I would never try something as stupid as this again, unless backed into a corner, or I had a much better idea of its output potential or how to contain it. Regardless of my paranoid feelings, I could sense the energy finally running out, but my [Personal Rift] felt like it was in tatters. I needed some way to eject it again from another aperture, but at this point, it felt too late.

I could've opened an aperture at the [Rift Beacon], but that would have destroyed our home. Ugh, why did I think this was a good idea? Hang on just a bit more!

I pleaded to my rift, wishing I could somehow help it. If I could safely enter, I could've tried casting [Expansion] inside it, but now it was too late. Then, like a balloon pushed to its absolute limit, I felt it pop.

<[Personal Rift] has been catastrophically destabilized. Please wait until it recovers…>

I shuddered at that message as I felt my connection to it severed, and while I feared the worst, it thankfully didn't come to pass. When my rift collapsed, I had thought it would unleash everything straight out of its aperture, but instead, the tear in space had vanished along with it. It was a small silver lining to an unfortunate situation.

Yet despite that, it had been enough, and it seemed that enough of the explosion had been vented, and my barriers were no longer torn to shreds. I'd even tried to stop including [Nitro Slime] into the mix, due to my previous concern that it was somehow feeding the blast rather than resisting it, but whether that helped or not, I had no clue.

Much like another balloon, the innermost barrier was being stretched out but wasn't rupturing. Finally, after everything, it seemed like the impending destruction was over. Due to the constant addition of barriers, the room had become very claustrophobic. If this had continued for much longer, we would've run out of space long before I ran out of slime, but to everyone's relief, that wasn't the case.

"Syl, you big idiot! You nearly got all of us killed!" Vee screeched. "Don't you know that you should never keep an explosion contained?"

"No? How was I supposed to know that?"

I was being honest; I genuinely had no idea, as despite all my fooling around with explosions, I'd never tried to see what happened when I kept one contained. Or at the very least, never to a point where the explosion was powerful enough to not be contained.

Perhaps my honesty was enough, as Vee didn't proceed to berate me further, instead focusing on the fact that all of us were alive and unharmed. The only casualty from our side was the [Sub-Core] that did the noble sacrifice, and my poor [Personal Rift] was taken as collateral.

"Well, at least we won," Vee sighed.

"Did we?" Sylvester asked.

"I didn't get a kill notification…" Sylvain responded.

Everyone turned to me, but before I could even look to see if it was on my list, we heard something.

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch…