Chapter 4: The Slime King's Entrance

"MOVE BACK! MOVE BACK!!” the players yelled as they hinder their friends from crossing the perimeter.

“What is happening, Mika? Why is it attacking us?” Lorelei asked. She was referring to the Defensive Turret situated on a watchtower above the trees.

“Our Security System is recognizing you as foreign entities. That’s why the Turret is auto-targeting you. Sorry, I didn’t see this through,” Mika apologized.

Suddenly,

“Oh no!! The Slimes were able to follow us!” one of the players screamed.

“What shall we do now, Mika?”

Mika thought of a way. “The only way for the Turrets to stop targeting you is to make them recognize you as non-hostile entities. But I don’t know how we can do that. Only Raft can change the configurations of the Security.”

“There is still a way,” Lumine informed. “Raft told me about this. We need to create a Party. If one player from our camp is in a Party, all of the other players in the said Party will be recognized as ‘allies’ by the System.”

“But as far as I know, a Party can only accommodate 12 players at max,” Mika said. “The first being the player from our camp, then only 11 more players can join the Party. It’s not enough to accommodate all of these players.”

“That will be the issue! That’s why we need to persuade the others to come down and help us here.”

“The Slimes! They’re getting near!” a player shouted.

“Don’t worry, Mika. Prioritize the children and the sick players first,” Lorelei stated. “We’ll just join the Party when your allies arrive. For now, we’ll try our best to survive these monsters.”

Mika agreed. She then asked Lumine, “Lumine, let’s create a Party for each of us.”

“Uh-huh! That will be 22 players in total!”

The two ladies started creating their own Parties, with them as the Leaders. They also started inviting prioritized players.

“This will do! Now you can enter the camp’s proximity without the Turrets attacking you!” Lumine announced to the players in the Party.

“Lumine, please take them to the Basement. I’ll stay here and fight with others!”

“Understood!”

“But before you leave, can we please have that Corrosive Venom of yours? It will greatly help us here.”

“Sure! But I only have 3 vials left - good for 3 players. The materials for this chemical are so hard to synthesize. Please make good use of it.”

Mika nodded her head.

Lumine guided the prioritized players to safety. They entered the perimeters, and as they hypothesized, the Turrets didn’t attack the players in the Party. Lumine took them directly below the ladders that take up to the Treetop Settlement.

Meanwhile,

“Here they come!” Merm yelled as Slimes of different sizes continued to march forward.

“I’ll take 1 vial of this Venom. Who will use the other 2?” Mika asked the remaining players.

“I’ll take one! I’ll use it in my broadsword,” Merm replied.

Mika gave Merm a vial. Merm opened the vial and poured the viscous liquid into his weapon.

“How about you, Lorelei?”

“I don’t have a proper weapon. Maybe give it to others who have one.”

“Here, you can use my sword,” Bolt said as he offered his weapon to the lady.

“Bolt!? Why are you still here? You should be with the other kids!”

“Oh, come on, Ms. Lorelei! I can fight too! Remember who saved you from the Slime a while ago?”

Lorelei felt a bit of embarrassment. “Ugh… You naughty boy!” She accepted the sword. “Just don’t go near those Slimes! Only use your magic from Long-Range. And be careful not to burn the place,” Lorelei cautioned.

“Okay! Okay!” Bolt replied naughtily.

Mika gave the last vial to Lorelei. Without further ado, Lorelei used the Item.

Mika imbued the tip of her right armband - where the Gygaltax Crystals come out - with the Corrosive Venom. After that, she started shooting the incoming Slimes.

PHEW! PHEW! PHEW!

One by one, all of the Slimes that were hit by the shards started corroding. Lorelei and Merm slaughtered every monster that came near them. From the backlines, Bolt used his Magic to shoot Fireballs into the clumps of Slimes.

“All players that have the ability to kill these Slimes, step forward! Those who can’t, stay behind us for your safety!” Mika commanded.

Three players stepped forward while the rest stayed behind. The first player is carrying a Special one-handed sword. The player held his sword with two hands and suddenly, the blade started blazing. He charged into the Slimes, burning and slicing the creatures.

The second player was wielding a long wooden staff. He waved his staff and chanted a Spell at the marching Slimes.

“Shadow Hold!”

Numerous shadow hands sprouted in the area of effect and rooted the affected Slimes.

“Good job, Morlock! Now, it’s my turn,” the third player uttered. The player pointed the wand that she was holding and cast a Spell at the rooted Slimes.

“Destruction Magic: Fork Lightning!”

Electrical Surges came out from the tip of the wand and struck the Slimes affected by the Shadow Hold. The Slimes were instantly disintegrated.

Moments into the battle, Mario and Orixa returned. Following them are the other rescued players - along with them are Mrs. Cecilia and Spike.

“Auntie! Spike!” Bolt cried in relief as he approached them with a hug.

“I’m glad you’re safe, dear,” Mrs. Cecilia said to Bolt.

Spike cried in Bolt's arms.

The heart-warming reunion was interrupted when more Slimes came to the scene.

“Ori! Mario! Quick! Create your own Parties and let them join it!” Mika said.

Just with those words, Orixa and Mario understood Mika’s plan. They followed the instructions.

The handicapped and injured players were once again prioritized in the Parties.

Mika communicated with Lumine using a Transponder-like Device equipped in her ear. “Lumine! Mario and Ori rescued more people. Please fetch them and take them to safety.”

With a short delay, Lumine replied, “Understood! I’ll go there.”

“Get ready! More slimes are coming!”

“Damn it! This is never-ending!” Merm uttered.

“If only I could use my Ultra-cool Hammer to its full potential… *sigh*,” Mario mumbled in a sad voice.

“Well, we’re supposed to defeat the King of Slimes. That was the main objective of the Trigger Event anyways,” Orixa stated.

“Have you seen the Slime King during your search?” Mika asked.

“Unfortunately, no.”

“Hmm - well… I guess we just have to defend ourselves until backup arrives. I already sent a signal to Marco and Arii. I ask them to come down here to also form Parties for the remaining players.”

“Okay! Understood, Mimi!”

The battle continued. The players tried their best to hold onto their ground. But there were no signs that the number of Slimes is thinning - more Slimes are coming from different directions. As the Slimes marched forward, the players were slowly being pushed towards the boundary of the Turret’s proximity. They were cornered between the marching Slimes and the danger of the Turret.

“Mika! We’re nearing the perimeters!” Lorelei shouted.

Conveniently in time, Arii and Marco came to the scene. Lumine also came back.

“I SUMMON THEE!!” Arii chanted.

A creature with chimera-like features appeared out of thin air. The beast glided over the battlefield.

“Mr. Paputiki, do your best to help us!” Arii commanded.

The Paputiki responded with a roar. The beast dived into the battlefield and slaughtered every Slime he could reach.

“Mika! How can we help?” Marco asked as they arrived.

Mika said the same instruction she gave to Mario and Orixa.

Arii and Marco agreed.

With the addition of Arii and Marco’s Parties, all players were finally accommodated.

“Okay! I think all of us are already safe to enter the camp!”

“Thank goodness!!” Lorelei sighed.

“Let’s go!”

All the players entered the perimeters safely. They went straight to the Basement where the other players were waiting.

The Defensive Turret started shooting again, but this time, it was targeting the incoming Slimes.

“Are you sure this Turret can protect us?” Mrs. Cecilia asked.

“Honestly, I don’t know. But at least it’s keeping the Slimes at bay,” Mika replied.

But then,

“Look!” Spike shouted as he pointed to something.

They were surprised to see what happened.

“The Slimes are slipping in!” Merm uttered.

“Just as I thought, the Turret can’t keep up with the number of Slimes that are entering,” Marco murmured.

“Come, Mario-Buddy! The Turret can’t do this alone. We should eliminate the infiltrating Slimes!”

Mario and Orixa rushed to slaughter the Slimes that slipped through the Turret’s defenses. Mika, Lorelei, and the other abled players also helped. The battle continued.

Moments later, a large-sized Slime entered the perimeter. The Turret set its aim on the large creature; it rained a barrage of Photon Blasts at Slime. However, the Slime seemed unhindered.

“That Big Slime is tanking the Turret! It’s giving the other Slimes a chance to infiltrate!” Orixa pointed out.

All of a sudden,

PHEW! PHEW! PHEW!

“GAAAAA!!!!” Gygaltax Shards struck Orixa on her legs, crippling her movements. “Mimi!? Why did you…!?”

“No! I didn’t shoot those Crystals!” Mika responded.

Then, their attention was directed to a group of unusual Slimes.

“Could it be?” Lorelei mumbled.

Orixa removed the Shards stuck on her legs. She screamed in pain as she pulled them out. Blood poured from the wounds.

Abruptly, a Slime made of Gygaltax Crystals spewed pointed projectiles aimed at the grounded Orixa.

Hastily, Mika moved to protect Orixa; she created a Shield using her Armbands.

The Shards spewed by the Gygaltax Slime struck Mika’s shield, leaving the two ladies unharmed.

“What’s happening? Why are the Slimes like that?” Arii pondered.

“I believe the Slimes have already mutated. When this happens, the Slimes turn into the same material that they previously absorbed,” Lorelei informed. “That Slime, I believe, is the one Mika fought a while ago. It absorbed the Gygaltax Shard that Mika used.”

“This is not good,” Marco uttered.

“Mimi! Could you please heal me with your Anahata?”

“I can’t! For an unexplained reason, the Anahata went into a - somewhat - dormant state after the incident with Aize. I’m sorry.”

Orixa continued crying in pain.

“Don’t worry, I’m here!” Lumine whispered as she came to help Orixa. She poured a vial of Potion into Orixa’s wounds.

Orixa screamed as the effect of Potion took effect; the wound sizzled and forcibly closed. Though the wounds didn’t heal fully, the Potion at least helped her to stand on her limping legs again. Lumine assisted her back to safety.

“Damn it! This Slime is taking all the Turret’s hits!” Mario uttered. He was referring to the Large Slime. He twisted the handle of his Hammer; the head started blazing. He Dashed to strike Slime.

“Mario! Don’t!”

“BLAZING SMASH!!!!”

CLANG!!!

Unexpectedly, no explosions were produced by the attack. Only a deep sonority was heard when Mario struck the Slime.

They looked closer, and to their surprise, the Slime mutated into a material that absorbed the impact of Mario’s attack.

“Damn it! What’s up with these Slimes!” Mario blabbered.

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!

The ground starts trembling. Loud bouncing sounds were heard approaching.

“Argh… Darn it! We’re wishing not to see you here,” Mika mumbled.

“The Slime King is coming!!!” a child shouted.

Indeed, the Slime King appeared and entered the scene. The Slime King is noticeably larger than the rest. It has some kind of protrusions encircling the top of its head like a crown. The spikes are made up of different materials, each representing the material it absorbed before.

“The Slime King is entirely different from the last time we encountered him!” Lumine said.

The Turret redirected its aim to the much bigger threat. It shot Photon Blasts the King’s big blob of a body. However, just like the Large Slime, the Slime King was also unaffected; the Turret just enraged the perilous monster.

The Slime started shaking its body as if it was charging something. Shortly after, sparks of electricity started to emanate from its body.

Realizing what was happening, Mario warned the players,

“Oh, shit! Take cover!”

BZZZOOOOM!!!