Chapter 165: The Knot (5)

"You—!"

I stared at the girl in shock. The two newly revealed eyes on her face were unmistakable. Her pair of heterochromatic eyes hadn't changed, even as her body shifted from an adult male to a seductive young woman. It was the Slime.

"You... know me?" Lime asked.

Shhhh...

The lips asking the question melted into a gooey sludge. There wasn't even time to assess the situation properly. The girl's hand had already turned into a viscous liquid and seeped through the gaps in my gauntlet.

This is dangerous!

I couldn't afford to let the same thing happen again. I grabbed my sword and leapt backward, but Lime had already coated the entire hilt. Even when I tried to pull it back, there was no friction at all. The hilt slipped out of my grasp.

Whoosh!

Just as I reached out to grab it again, Lime's upper half stretched and surged forward, crashing over my face like a tidal wave.

Clang!

Caught off guard, I rolled back to evade.

Damn it!

I sprang to my feet after a few rolls and glared ahead. Lime had already engulfed about half of my greatsword with its gelatinous body. Their fluid form showed no signs of damage from the blade.

They played me.

It had been a perfect deception and ambush. I never expected Lime to be waiting in the form of a child.

A storm of thoughts battered my mind.

Was my information leaked? And by how much? Why did Lime come alone to intercept me? Are they capable of handling any situation on their own? Or maybe...

Still maintaining their childlike form, Lime curled their lips and muttered, "So, you can't use your sword now."

I found myself blurting something nonsensical as I stared dumbly at them. "Aren't you made of acid?"

I remembered Lime dissolving a man who came to pick a fight at the orphanage. The acid had melted me to death as well.

In response, Lime curled the left corner of their lips into a wide, unnatural grin, something no human could mimic. "

Oh...

you knew that? You must've done some research on me."

"..."

"I can do more than just corrode. Making things slippery is even easier."

Lime seemed eager to talk. Perhaps they wanted to understand who I was.

I stayed silent, biding my time to prepare a counterattack. I glanced at the charm bracelet wrapped around my wrist.

Forty-five.

Forty-five unburned knots remained. That was the limit for casting magic without leaving behind Malphas' sigil.

I stared at Lime for a moment.

Lime extended forward and asked, "What happened to Rena? I heard she suddenly became a guild branch leader. Was that your doing?"

Do they already know?

They were part of the same guild, even though they belonged to different factions. If Lime was a high-ranking member in the inner circle, it made sense that they would have access to timely information.

"I guess she still thinks of her sister. I'd love to meet her and ask how it all happened. Why don't you bring her to me?" Lime asked.

"If you know where she is, why don't you go see her yourself?" I retorted.

Lime raised their head and shot me a strange expression. "I have my reasons. There's a nuisance lingering near her."

Maybe Lime was referring to Sharunian.

"Where's the real sister?" I asked.

"If Rena comes herself, I'll let her meet her. Otherwise..."

"Otherwise?"

"Beat me. Then maybe I'll tell you. But that doesn't seem likely—especially since you've already lost your weapon."

Damn it...

Lime was right. I'd been disarmed by a ridiculous sneak attack, not that I had planned on slicing it with metal anyway. I had made that decision while practicing against the Swamp Wraith. I would defeat Lime with magic, but I needed the sword as a medium.

But the sword...

I shook my skull slowly.

No.

That wasn't necessarily true. Maybe I'd just grown too accustomed to that medium.

Can't I do it barehanded?

Clang.

I clenched my fist, recalling the time Isaac had possessed me. He had walked to the window, opened it, and frozen the night sky with his bare hands. He had let lightning dance through the frozen air.

It's possible.

I had simply gotten used to using a sword. Still, something nagged at me. When Isaac cast spells with his bare hands, the power felt lighter. He hadn't used hybrid magic, either.

Was the magic inherently weaker? Or had he been forced to restrain it? How much power can I channel? Would I fall apart before even burning through the knots?

Either way, I had no choice. If I didn't want to die again or melt into sludge, I had to try.

"If I win... will you really tell me?" I asked, slightly hesitant.

Lime, still in the form of a young girl, smiled slyly. "Of course."

"Then... if you win, I'll lead you to Rena."

Of course, that was a lie. I would rather die fighting than put Rena in danger.

Frost.

I quietly infused frost power into my right fist. I planned to immobilize Lime using the Frost skill. It had worked effectively on the Swamp Wraith.

I felt a gentle heat from the charm bracelet wrapped around my wrist. Cold frost began to form around my right hand.

It's working.

Isaac wasn't the only one who could do this. As the owner of this skeleton, I could too.

Double Casting: Frost Storm.

I imbued wind into my left fist. Another knot on the bracelet began to warm up.

Lime's expression stiffened slightly. "

Huh?

"

Sprint.

I quickly dashed forward and swung both fists.

[Skill: Frost Storm Lv. 1 activated.]

[No emission medium present.]

[Current Health consumption: 0.241% per second.]

Crackle!

Three knots on Sharunian's bracelet caught fire with cursed flames. Ice surged forward, riding the wind. Blue frost rapidly blanketed the night. Accelerated with my Sprint skill, the strike of my icy fist collided directly with Lime.

Boom!

An explosive crash shattered the pitch-black night.

Yet, Lime remained standing, unshaken. "I like cold things, too."

A thin membrane of ooze had formed a circular shield in front of them. The other surface had frozen solid, but the core stood firm, still staring at me.

"Magic... resistance?"

Lime nodded slowly. "Mages have been torturing us for a very long time."

"..."

"Just because we lack form doesn't mean we don't feel pain. Nor does it mean we can't evolve."

Broken shards of ice clattered to the ground around them.

"Are you a swordsman who can use magic, though? Or was the sword just for show? Either way, impressive. I didn't expect that attack."

Lime tilted their head and leaned backward.

Crack!

Lime made some strange sounds, as if trying to mimic the spine of a vertebrate. The Slime would probably rank high if performance skills were a stat.

Did I underestimate them too much?

I had to admit it. The power Lime displayed at the altar wasn't everything it had. Not just their combat ability, but their intelligence and personality were far more formidable than I had imagined. I thought I could at least escape, but I never imagined they'd hide Rena's sister early on and impersonate her.

"Who... are you really?" I asked.

"That's what I like to ask," Lime replied.

Lime's red eye gleamed faintly behind the barrier they had used to block my magic. I had never seen that look before.

"Where did someone like you suddenly appear from? I know I'm not the only one hiding their true power, but lately, I've been reminded of that more than ever," Lime said.

Lime twisted themselves like a spear thrower, building up powerful tension before driving their fist forward. Lime's green eye flashed.

Swish!

If that hits—!

If that hit me, I'd shatter into pieces, so I twisted away just in time. Lime's fist grazed my chest, crumpling the armor. The force knocked me off balance, and I tumbled backward, rolling across the ground.

They're strong.

A head-on fight would be tough, even if I were in top condition and had my sword. That, combined with Lime's innate, overwhelming magic resistance, made my chances of winning low.

Unless I have something else up my sleeve...

Whoosh...

A cold night wind blew. The winter sun had set even faster, and the night grew darker. I barely managed to get back on my feet and glared at Lime. They still looked eighty percent like a delicate young girl, but even without a moon, it felt like a building-sized shadow loomed around them. Lime's shadow was darker than darkness.

Click.

I checked my chest. Two of my ribs were broken. At this rate, I'd soon be destroyed right here. I had to throw everything into one decisive strike.

What made me think I could defeat them?

Something tugged at me from inside the armor, and it wasn't my broken ribs. It was Gith-Za-Rai's black dagger.

This is it.

It was a weapon that even made the marquis let out a gasp of admiration. The problem was figuring out how to use it. No matter how sharp the blade, it would be useless if it didn't reach my opponent.

Gurgle...

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Lime spread wide, oozing around me as if to enclose me. As if their mass had no limits, they just kept expanding. I couldn't just sit there and let it be. As Lime's viscous body covered the ground, I cast intermittent spells. Frost magic burst out in short bursts, but Lime's red eye gleamed, and they swiftly threw up barriers. Only fragments of Lime's gelatinous form cracked, while the rest steadily crept closer to engulf me.

The bracelet Sharunian had given me was now down to thirty-two knots. Probably due to the repeated Frost Storm spells, the surrounding temperature continued to drop.

Tap.

I took a step back, but there was nowhere to retreat. Only the ice lodged between the joints of my armor shattered.

I needed Lime to get just a bit closer. I had to settle this in one blow.

"I told you, I like the cold as well. Shall we wrap this up?"

The girl-shaped Slime had stretched to within five steps of me. I had drawn them in dangerously close. My Health had dropped to about twenty percent, but I had begun to get the hang of casting magic without a medium. Now it was time to strike back. If this didn't work, then it was over.

"Then... let's go with something hot," I muttered softly.

I activated the circuits across my bones.

[Skill: Blast Lv. 1 activated.]

[Blast Lv. 2 & Wind Blast Lv. 1 have been combined.]

[Your mastery is low.]

[Mana consumption increased by 300%...]

[Flare of Detonation...]

The circuits etched into my bones turned hot, but I didn't release the spell yet. The power of hybrid magic wasn't just in its strength. I could treat it as a loaded spell, like a chambered round.

[Spell charging...]

[Double Casting]

I compressed another hybrid spell. Two streams of bright red fire and wind accumulated in both my hands.

[Current Health consumption: 3.7% per second.]

This is the limit.

[Skill: Blazing Flare Lv. 1 activated.]

Flames exploded forward from my hands. Lime flinched for a moment but immediately cast over ten layers of barriers. The fireballs pierced through the icy night, and white steam billowed in all directions.

BOOM!

"Impressive, but you're wasting your strength!" Lime exclaimed.

Ssssshhh!

Dense steam filled the air, completely hindering my vision. It was the kind that wouldn't clear for at least two nights.

It failed.

The flames failed to break through Lime's barrier. I felt all my strength instantly drain away. Ten knots on the bracelet had burned up at once. My gauntlets glowed red, like iron in a forge, and the bones beneath my armor felt like they were melting.

[Warning! Health has dropped below 30%!]

The cost of forcing a spell through bare hands was enormous, but this wasn't the decisive blow I had in mind.

Sword Energy.

Vrrrrr!

I pulled out Gith-Za-Rai's black dagger from my belt and rushed forward.

The long-unused dagger trembled in my grip and whispered,

"Kill."