The Black Slime Attacks
Without warning, you hurl a bolt of ice at Quekquek. The bluish-white orb streaks towards the black slimelord… and fizzles harmlessly upon contact with the firm jelly. Quekquek laughs a jiggling laugh, throwing his featureless head back. “Naïve! Did you think that would work? Puny magic. My body is immune! So, have chosen sides?”
The slime possesses some form of invulnerability to magic: you do not think it is a trait that you can overpower with sheer magical might. It may be similar to Globe of Invulnerability, in that you would need to use a more complex spell to overcome his defenses. What a pain. “Between a beautiful slime queen and… well, whatever disgusting thing you are, it was a foregone conclusion as to which side I would pick,” you say, scratching your chin. “Perhaps if you turn into a cute girl and beg for your life now I might let you go.”
The black slime laughs again. “You think I am as weak? As my offshoots? Do not underestimate Quekquek! I thought you wiser.”
You throw another Icebolt at him. As before, it does not work.
“Too scared? Is that all?” taunts Quekquek. He raises himself up high, gelatinous muscles stretching and flexing. “My turn!” With surprising speed, Quekquek pours forward, the pressure of the jelly concentrating into a battering ram headed right for you.
Time for a slightly more powerful spell. Your magic coalesces, condensing into a large white orb. A biting cold emanates from the orb, as if it contained the essence of winter itself. Focusing your will, you launch it at the incoming slime. It hits Quekquek head on and shatters. Immediately, a freezing wave bursts out from the point of impact as the energies trapped within the orb are set free. The blades of grass beneath the slime turn rigid and shatter. The frost wave spills over the spring, instantly creating a layer of ice wherever it passes. Somewhere at your back, Aria, still wearing nothing but a cloak, yelps at the sudden drop in temperature and hides behind Lucy. The slime queen Brunnen shivers, retreating as far as she can. Quekquek himself is turned into a statue of ice, stopped dead in his tracks by the Iceball you had just cast.
Not for long, though.
With a roar, he breaks free, his form twisting and changing. The ice cracks and shatters, unable to contain Quekquek. His muscular arms lengthen and multiply in number, each limb ending in enormous claws. Solid obsidian crystals form on the surface of the jelly and begin to spread all over his head, chest and limbs, forming armour similar to that worn by the slime queen. Growling, Quekquek hunches over, black wings erupting from his back. What a slime would do with wings, you don’t know, but as the slimelord beats his chest and roars defiantly at you, you fire two more Iceballs at him.
Deep within the black jelly, there is a bubbling and a flash of red. One of Quekquek’s hands folds in on itself until it has formed something akin to a tube. From inside, a stream of liquid fire pours out, splashing across your icy orbs and causing them to evaporate in a puff of steam. At the same time, numerous small vents form all over Quekquek’s wings, small openings that look like eyes. A sickly purple mist begins to pour forth from the vents. It spreads, curling and expanding lazily.
“No! Dangerous. If it touches you… terrible poison. You will die!” warns Brunnen. Stretching her arms towards the mist, she begins to emit a similar mist that floods the entire clearing, except coloured a pale gold. It mingles with the purple, and you see miniscule sparks flashing wherever the two mists meet. “I will contain! Negate! Hurry, stop him!” pleads the slime queen.
“Useless! It is all useless!” gloats Quekquek. “You will all die here!” Making more of his baseless threats, he charges towards you, his ends of his now countless arms morphing into huge, club-like protrusions. They whip around, moving like an army of agitated snakes, and slam to the ground in a swift flurry of powerful attacks that tear up and shake the earth. It is a powerful attack that could overcome your defensive spells due to the sheer number of strikes delivered in a short period of time.
That is why you have circled around behind Quekquek, using the Shadow-Slaughtering Demon Steps.
“So, Barbatos, what do you think?” you ask.
“You and the slimelord should stand your ground and punch each other silly, of course. Nothing builds character like a slugfest. Especially with a durable one such as this, he could stay in the fight long enough that you might even learn a new technique or two!”
“I hate pain, just so you know.”
“Well, then you might have to get a little serious for this one, boy.”
You duck as Quekquek whirls around, sending his arms – no, they look more like tentacles now – slicing over your head. You count all the ways you can get a little serious. All of them involve the devastation of a large part of the forest.
***
A. You treat Quekquek as a training exercise, dragging out the battle. You do not get a lot of chances to practice on something that won’t die easily.
1. You practice the martial skills you have obtained from Barbatos’s Gauntlet. Closing in, you begin to pummel the slime with your fists. You are not going to stand there and engage in a slugging match like Barbatos said, but he has a point about learning new techniques.
2. You empower your Sword with Gigadyne, allowing you to harm Quekquek directly. You should put your sword training to more use once in a while. Chopping him into little pieces will be cathartic, and you might figure out new things you can do with a sword.
3. You try different combinations of spells on Quekquek, trying to find something that will work on the rampaging slimelord. Nothing too destructive, of course, you don’t want to destroy the clearing, but perhaps you may find a more surgical way of using your offensive magic.
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B. You get a little serious. Extending the fight longer than it has to be is just a massive pain. You make a move to end it with little effort on your part.
1. You cast an Ice Storm at full power, bombarding the clearing with enormous icicles that will turn the area into a frozen wasteland. Once he is slowed down, you will smash the frozen Quekquek and grind him into little pieces with a Tornado spell.
2. You call down a Thunder Dragon and have it combat Quekquek. It would be a good way to see just how strong your dragon is in comparison to the monsters of this world, although the collateral damage would be high.
3. You use a high-powered Gigadyne on the slimelord. You need to cut loose once in a while too.
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C. It's Aria's time to shine. Her, and Lucy too. Taking down a slimelord would be an educational experience for them. Of course, you will be cheering for them from the sidelines - you might even give them a bit of help - but they will be taking the starring role in this battle. Why else would you bring them along?
***
Oh dear, Erdrick is going to have a treat, isn't he? Chances are that sooner or later, he'll get way more than he bargained for.
