Chapter 40 The Gluttonous Slime Monster It came from a piece of trash...
It came to be conscious from a dumpster.
With a strange feeling, it struggled to fall from the trash can and wobbled as it crawled toward the alley entrance.
"Mom." A little boy passing by held his mother's hand with one hand and pointed at the baseball with the other, saying, "What is that? It's disgusting."
“Quiet down, Anthony.” The boy’s mother simply moved the phone away slightly, gave a soft shush, and said with a hint of impatience, “I don’t have time to play with you.” Then she continued making the call and pulled the boy away, intending to walk on.
Before the boy left, he threw the old baseball he was holding at its body with all his might, and then his mother pulled him away.
Because he was walking in a hurry, the boy didn't see his baseball being swallowed up in an instant, and even the pile of it on the ground seemed to jolt up in that instant.
What did it feel like? It didn't know. It only felt a moment of satisfaction when the baseball entered its body, followed by emptiness, a desire to swallow more, to devour everything.
So this is what hunger is.
It wanted to swallow more, so it did just that, taking a while to swallow the trash can that had just crawled out from next to it.
As the trash can was completely swallowed, that satisfying, wonderful feeling greeted it again, tempting it to devour everything.
Hungry.
I'm still hungry. I want to eat more. I want to eat everything.
Its target shifted to the cardboard boxes at the alley entrance. It slowly moved to the boxes, opened its soft body wide, and swallowed the boxes whole in one go.
Delicious, absolutely delicious.
Unable to resist wanting more, it started walking out of the alley.
It started eating as it moved.
It initially ate some dead things, and although it was quickly discovered and ran away screaming, it initially only ate the obstacles it saw.
Mailboxes, tables and chairs, bicycles, phone booths, cars.
It accidentally ate a child who had fallen in its path while panicking, and it could feel full, so it also started eating people.
At first, people seemed even more panicked, as those around them were swallowed one by one. Some people were desperate and tried to snatch people back, but they were no match for its suction and could only be helplessly pulled into its body.
Those people ran even faster, but no matter how fast they ran, some people would fall down in their panic, and it would eat them all up; they were all delicious.
Because it had eaten a lot of things, its body grew larger and larger. After eating a few more trees, its body was almost five or six stories tall.
Its body is larger now, which seems to make it easier for it to eat. It can grab anything it sees and swallow it whole, or it might want to see a human cry, so it grabs it and throws it into its mouth.
Before long, it had grown to be tens of meters tall. The taller it got, the more it ate, and the more it ate, the taller it became. It was already more than ten or twenty stories tall.
The high-rise buildings were swallowed up one by one. Before the people inside could even run downstairs, they all entered its belly and floated in its body along with the buildings.
It's so hungry! The bigger it gets, the hungrier it seems. These little snacks are no longer enough to satisfy its hunger. The slime monster wants more.
"These damned..." While attacking, Reina accidentally got some slime on her hands. She touched it with her fingers, hesitated for a moment, then, as if remembering something, her expression instantly turned to rage, almost ferocious: "I'll take them all down sooner or later. Shouldn't we just take advantage of the chaos during one of those monster attacks and wipe them all out? We clearly didn't approve that plan—"
Upon hearing this, Tenas immediately understood and felt a little heavy-hearted. However, since they were still on the battlefield, he could only tug at Reina's clothes and say, "Calm down. It's too loud. We can't guarantee that there aren't any cameras filming nearby."
Reina barely suppressed her anger, forcing a perfectly formulaic smile—a muscle memory honed over years of professional experience—but her voice betrayed a hint of gritted teeth: "I know."
Ethan next to me: Oo
Are the Guardian colleagues just as simple and honest as people in Starfall City?
He suddenly mentioned killing the higher-ups, as if he already had a plan in mind to take advantage of the chaos during the next monster attack.
Is it true? Or did he mishear? He wasn't far away; it must be the wind that made some of the sounds unclear.
You must have misheard, right? Haha, the Guardians are the superheroes in everyone's eyes, why would they go out and deal with the higher-ups? Haha.
Ethan flew a little further away without leaving a trace.
"Ethan, come here." Reina noticed his movement and looked up at him.
Ethan returned, looking miserable.
Just before the battle began, Ethan wanted to use the chain that could trap demons to trap the slime monster.
I don't know if it's a problem with the system, but it was a complete failure. The chains that were meant to bind the slime monster were used too forcefully and went inside its body, giving the guy another meal.
Ethan immediately canceled the magic on the chains and tried to build an earthen wall to see if he could control them.
As expected, something unexpected happened. The neat earthen wall couldn't stop the slime monster's hunger, and it immediately demonstrated 100 ways to eat the earthen wall.
Reina's expression was already somewhat unpleasant at that moment, whether it was because of Ethan's incompetence or the troublesome nature of the slime monster.
Finally, Ethan had no choice but to use a spell to immobilize it for a short time, but it only lasted a few seconds. The other guardians tried to fight it by hand, but of course, it was ineffective.
Opened by pure power, the slime's slime flew everywhere, but it would slowly grow back, and many guardians inevitably got stained with it as well.
The slime was sticky and wriggling, which worried some of the guardians that the slime could use its clones to deal with them. Fortunately, the slime stopped moving after a few seconds, and it seemed that it would die soon after leaving its main body.
Because Ethan had fought a battle earlier that night, the knowledge he had learned was currently very active in his mind, constantly swirling around, trying to find a useful spell or magic circle.
He actually found it—a magic circle that could immobilize someone. As soon as you stepped into it, your power was instantly suppressed, and you couldn't move for a long time.
But after glancing at the enormous body of the slime monster, he calculated in his mind how large a magic circle would be needed and where the array could be set up.
After Ethan told Rena the method, Rena pointed to the large empty space behind the slime, which it had eaten, leaving nothing but barren land in its wake.
"Then you should be able to draw it, right?" Reina asked Ethan.
Ethan flew higher for a while, roughly measured the distance with his eyes, and nodded to indicate that there was no problem.
Reina nodded to him, and after receiving Reina's instructions, Ethan flew to the open area without looking back.
What materials could be used to draw magic circles? Ethan couldn't find anything suitable for the moment. The knowledge he had learned came at a cost, requiring more magical energy to draw magic circles directly, without needing those precious materials and blood.
Ethan was unsure if his magic reserves were enough, especially since he had fought a battle earlier that night.
He lightly tapped the magic-storing gem at the navel of the jumpsuit under his cloak, and decided to go ahead with it.
He first drank the mana-replenishing potion he had stored in his storage space. Although it couldn't immediately restore all the mana he had lost that night, it would slowly replenish some mana over half an hour. Not a lot, but better than nothing.
Ethan stretched out his hands, magic gathered, and a trace slowly appeared on the ground.
Ethan carefully controlled his use of magic, flying not too high, and slowly drew the magic circle.
Ethan wanted to be faster, but this kind of thing couldn't be rushed. It was a task that required meticulousness. If he tried to be fast, not only would there be a risk of failure, but the results wouldn't be as good as what he had learned.
It took about five minutes, which was the fastest Ethan could do without compromising quality.
During this time, the other Guardians were responsible for holding off the slime monster. Every now and then, there were sounds of explosions, and it was clear that the other Guardians were trying their best to hold off the slime monster.
Ethan returned to Reina and told her that the magic circle was finished, and that as long as the slime monster was lured there, it would be frozen for a considerable period of time.
“Just immobilizing it isn’t enough to completely solve the problem…” Reina anxiously bit her nails as she directed the guardians to drive the slime monster towards the magic circle. “During the battle just now, its slime detached from its body, and it seemed like it would lose its vital signs soon. Should we use missiles? No, that seems too damaging. Should we switch to bombs? Blow it all up? But the people inside its body might not all die, right? What if they’re just incapacitated, and if I drop the bombs, will they kill them?”
When Reina is anxious, she bites her nails and mutters to herself a lot. But what she said now wasn't because she didn't know what to do. Instead, she was communicating with the other people in the channel and getting their opinions.
First, we can only leave it trapped like this. Then, not knowing what a solution to take, we might as well just give up some losses and blow it up.
Upon hearing this, Ethan's first thought was how many magic-replenishing potions he had.
He was forced by Starfall to learn a lot of magic, including protective magic that could envelop objects in magic, making them virtually undamaged.
But look at the size of this monster.
“Use it.” After hesitating for a long time, while Reina and the Guardians argued with differing opinions, Ethan made up his mind: “...I can do it, but I need to go back and get something first.”
The arguing stopped abruptly. Reina looked at him with surprise, as if doubting, "Are you sure you can do it?"
Ethan nodded. Rena was the one who wanted to blow it up, so she only hesitated for a few seconds before agreeing.
Although she still had some doubts about whether he could do it, Reina decided to give it a try because of the basic trust in her companions. If she didn't even trust her comrades who fought alongside her, what was the point of fighting?
Ethan went straight back to the alternate dimension and stored the dozens of bottles of magic-replenishing potions he had made in his own storage space.
Then, with Xingyun's consent, they also swept away Xingyun's stock, and Xingyun even stuffed him with a handful of candies that claimed to instantly replenish magic power.
Ethan thanked Starfall for his kindness, but returned to the scene with a heavy heart, carrying a pile of things.
Reina acted quickly, having already had a bunch of bombs brought over. Missiles were a bit too powerful, and she was afraid of causing collateral damage.
After Ethan said it was okay to administer the potion, he started chugging down the potion, one bottle after another in one go.
The potion took effect quickly. Ethan could feel his somewhat empty body slowly filling with magic power. He had used up a lot of magic power when drawing the magic circle; he had really squeezed it dry.
Some of the potions were mixed by Ethan, with different fruit flavors that were sweet and sour, and then they turned into all sorts of strange vegetable flavors, with vegetable and meat flavors appearing alternately. Later on, there was probably the Starfall potion, which was so bad that he wanted to vomit.
At first, he could accept it, but the different flavors of the potions were like a party on his taste buds, a chaotic mix. Ethan couldn't find any joy in tasting the food anymore; his heart was filled with tension.
Although he had only been in the industry for a short time, just a few months, and his magic reserves weren't at that terrifying level, he was still finding it somewhat difficult.
But he brought so many potions, and today either the slime monster explodes and everyone is unharmed, or he dies.
Ethan* is still chugging it down while stuffing candy into his mouth*::)
Some of his fellow guardians stood around him, but he had no time to care about their opinions; his mind was now solely focused on what was inside the slime monster.
If so many buildings were blown up at once, it would probably cause a lot of damage. However, his priority was to protect people first, and then see if he could save them.
His magic power was rapidly draining away. He was like a jar with a crack in it; the remaining energy within him wouldn't stay for even a second longer. In order to avoid failure, he had to keep replenishing it.
It has to be a success...
Ethan thought that because his magic had been rapidly depleted and replenished tonight, his body was starting to feel weak and he was covered in sweat. He felt like he didn't have the strength to hold his hands up anymore.
But he mechanically continued to pour the potion down his throat, swallowing the crushed candy, and the magic instantly filled his body, giving him the power to cast even more spells.
“Let’s begin,” Ethan said, his voice hoarse and barely audible. “I’m ready.”
Next to Ethan, several guardians carrying bags of things flew above the slime monster trapped by the magic circle.
They began to evenly stuff the bombs into the slime monster's body, putting a little at the top and a little at the front and back, trying to put them in areas with fewer people.
Then the guardians returned to Ethan's side, and Reina gently pressed a button with her thumb, and a series of explosions rang out.
It started off very quietly because it was inside the body. Then the first bomb was activated, which triggered the activation of other bombs around it. No matter how muffled the sound was, it would be amplified into a loud noise by the explosion of so many bombs.
Ethan was still drinking potions. At times like these, more magic was needed to ensure the safety of those people. The potion bottles he had finished were already piled up into a small mountain next to him.
He finished drinking and casually tossed the glass bottle aside. It made a crisp sound, but there was no damage whatsoever; everything remained intact.
The slime monster was blown up, its slime spraying twice the distance of its original body. Ethan controlled the things inside it, which were still suspended in mid-air. As the slime was blown apart, it slowly fell to the ground.
After he canceled the spells, Ethan realized that his hands were trembling so badly that he couldn't even lift them. Besides the excess and loss of magic, he had been focusing on the slime monster, and his concentration and tension had caused this to happen.
But it should be fine, I should be able to rest a bit when I get back, right?
Ethan drank the last potion, and with his body swaying precariously, he opened the door to a storage space at the foot of the glass bottle mountain. All the glass bottles fell back into his storage space.
No, he was about to faint. The massive loss and replenishment of magic power was constantly washing over his body, and he didn't know if it was because of this.
He was so tired and wanted to sleep. If he didn't leave soon, he was going to perform a "fall asleep instantly" act for his teammates.
"...I have to go now." Ethan opened a portal and mumbled something. The moment he stepped into the portal, he lost consciousness and collapsed.
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Author's Note: Please imagine the slime as one of the cute characters from anime, but it's not cute in this story because it's a bad slime that eats everything [sunglasses].
It's not that the protagonist's side is purely good; the lines between good and evil are somewhat blurred.
This chapter has already removed some of the darker elements, such as the government creating monsters for the guardians to eliminate and then creating "heroes." Perhaps a more depressing side story could be added [starry-eyed]. This idea suddenly popped into my head while I was writing.
Later in this chapter, it was decided to delete one character, Ethan's villainous role, because I didn't write these things with a brain, so I deleted them. However, I won't give up on the side stories; I will write them in the side stories.
From a distance, Starfall did seem to offer some assistance, but nobody knew that Ethan was still a relatively unknown, albeit not particularly skilled, senior mage. Although he had learned a great deal, his magical abilities hadn't quite caught up.
Ethan's voice was too muffled, and no one could hear him clearly; they watched helplessly as he fled the postwar meeting.
Ethan went back and recuperated for a while.
This is a bit off from the initial concept. I didn't expect that Ethan would be the one to step up in the Guardians' story. I was supposed to write that everyone has their own strength, but maybe subconsciously I felt that the Guardians had been Guardians for at least several years and were already powerful enough? They could only create a small problem for Ethan to solve.
Initially, I didn't expect my Guardian colleagues to be particularly friendly, because Ethan wasn't very good at talking or socializing, and was subtly ostracized by some people [not including Rena and Tenas, just some low-class individuals].
The next chapter will skip directly to the next one using the time-travel technique. Who would have thought I'd written so much and only managed to get through a few months? It's always one chapter after another; I feel so busy.
I'm jumping off a long shot, directly to what I wanted to write in the script, because I'm really bad at writing fight scenes, so just imagine I wrote them. [kissing emoji]
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