Chapter 46: Ambush
"I’m still a bit slow..." seeing the outcome of his surprise attack, Novus graded himself as he dispelled the Mana Blade continuously damaging his hand, allowing the natural regeneration rate of True Immortal Blood to cover for it instead of using Immortal Energy.
[Immortal Energy: 198/200]
’Better to save as much as I can... this place is dangerous after all...’ he thought to himself as he endures through the pain of having one of his arms, its skin of flesh, being twisted and torn by his very own extremely useful technique.
Turning around and seeing the E-Tier Amber Slime still alive and kicking after his attack, he couldn’t help but praise its endurance in his mind, his head visualizing how that entire ambush sequence with the defense monster worked, some part of him finally understanding and coming to like that kind of asshole yet effective way of ambush that Shadow Slimes are proficient with.
Going back a few seconds earlier, he finally reached close enough that he is certain the E-Tier Amber Slime will not be able to react to his attack, prompting him to leap without the assistance of mana so as not to alarm the wary creature, only wrapping his arm with Mana Blade the last second as his other arm conjures a volatile fireball.
The next step is obvious, he swung the mana blade, cleaving a great part of the Amber Slime caught in surprise when it felt mana violently move near it, that instantaneous surprise, something that its hunter managed to capitalize on as the slash cleaved a major part of its body, exposing the core for its hunter to attack.
Novus then drives his other hand towards the core, allowing the fireball on his palm to explode, all while he braces himself for its impact, wrapping his body with mana and making sure that he consumes the least amount of Immortal Energy possible from this exchange.
And he succeeded, with damage to himself minimal enough that he can just let True Immortal Blood’s natural recovery rate to cover up for him, but it appears that just like how he survived with minimal damage to himself, the Amber Slime survived as well.
Different from him, however, the creature takes not only a substantial, but a grave amount of damage; its inner body barely recovered from devouring its soft, force-absorbing outer shell, and yet even then, it already deflates its body from relaxing itself, prepared to pounce on the opponent that just appeared out of nowhere to attack it.
"Nah, I don’t think so" before it can even launch itself in a projectile, Novus already has his own response, this time no longer refraining from using mana, as his target had already discovered his location, allowing him to dash at an even greater speed as he reinforces his legs, bridging the gap between him and the slime in no time at all.
He slashed again, cleaving at the freshly formed defensive goop surrounding the Amber Slime’s core and exposing said core completely out in the open.
This time, he doesn’t even need to use fireball to damage the exposed core, quickly following through with his other arm with mana revolving around it to form a Mana Blade as well, his fingers reaching the core, passing through without any interruption on his part.
[Defeated: Amber Slime. Rewards: E-Tier Evolution Crystal (2), Slime Substrate (1), Malleable Amber (1)]
It was cleanly slashed into two clean halves.
’I’m getting better at using it, a little bit more practice and—’ watching the Amber Slime’s body collapse into nothing more than a dead sludge, Novus thought with satisfaction to himself, his words being interrupted as he felt something wrong, his mind feeling a looming threat coming for his neck.
His senses expanded, the path of attack revealed by his Sensory Expansion, making him well aware of the threat that was coming for him right after he dealt with the E-Tier Amber Slime.
’Shadow Slimes...’ he thought to himself as he saw not one, not two, but three trajectories layering upon each other, creating a net of danger that seemed to threaten him to death, one attack forcing him to move a certain way, another one debilitating all his choices, and the final one waiting to claim his life.
’They’re smarter...’ he made a mental note as he realized that contrary to the E-Tier Shadow Slimes he had encountered away from this place, these ones seem to know how to set up an inevitable trap for their target to fall on, as from those three different paths of attack from three different slimes, he can tell that any normal creature will completely fall from their trap.
Despite not having enough strength to be called overwhelming in this place, however, he is still way removed from anything that can be called normal, and his greatest asset allows him to overcome this entrapment.
The first attack was dodged, forcing him directly where this group of Shadow Slimes wants him to move; however, just as much as it is the opportunity that the Shadow Slimes are waiting for, it is also the time that Novus starts moving in retaliation.
[Immortal Energy: 175/200]
Instead of moving and forcing himself into loss of balance where he will be in greater danger, he just lets himself be cut by the next Shadow Slime’s attack, his lips twitching in pain as his severed leg fall down the ground, blood spurting from the stump it was supposed to be, and yet amidst all the pain, he still has the same, brutal, maniacal smile on his face.
He stumbled a bit, not from the pressure of the battle but rather from the imbalance this huge loss of weight imposes upon him, but it doesn’t last for long as Immortal Energy completes in regenerating it within the next moments.
As if reflecting the panicked mental state of the last Shadow Slime, the final path of attack changed its trajectory, from where he was supposed to be, should he dodge the second attack, it was now aiming for his current location, the attack still aiming for his head, determined to take his life.
Despite adapting to the change of their expected situation, however, the final Shadow Slime shows it in the path of its attack, that slight trace of hesitation that made the path fainter, not because it is undetectable to their opponent’s senses but rather because the attack is lacking, weaker, and slower than before.
And that slowness grants him enough window of opportunity to use his attack, ignoring the second attack of the first slime’s four-chain combo and allowing himself to be slashed by its attack, moving just enough that it is not his nape nor his spines, but rather his back that was hit by the attack.
The attack passes through and dealt a serious wound to him, his right lung now ripped open and exposed to the outside world for everyone to see, causing him to cough out blood as he grits his teeth, toughing out the pain as he imbues mana on his hand.
He slashed, the third Shadow Slime being split into two, body and core, causing the notification of its defeat to ring in his mind, that floating screen not appearing in front of him right now as if it is preventing any interruption in his fight.
His senses warned him that the next attack was coming, and with his body just barely returning to a defensive state after that large attack, he nearly failed to avoid debilitating damage as he directed mana towards his legs, exploding in speed as he created a good amount of distance between himself and the two remaining Shadow Slimes, which were both still hidden underneath their stealth.
[Immortal Energy: 150/200]
