Chapter 166: The Knot (6)

"Kill..."

My hand trembled. A dark willpower coiled around my bones like a serpent.

I recalled Gith-Za-Rai's words.

"That dagger grants what its wielder desires."

Is this really what I wanted?

Gith-Za-Rai was dead. I had personally sealed her shattered remains in the split space. There was no way to know whether her words were true or if this dagger was just a cursed blade that seduced its wielder.

"Kill..."

The whisper seeped into my mind like roots burrowing through soil. I remembered the nightmare of being possessed by Isaac. This dangerous feeling was why I hesitated to use the dagger. However, there was no time for doubt because I was on death's doorstep.

No need to hold back.

Within the thick fog of steam, the distance between us had shrunk to zero. It was time to gamble. The blade of the dagger writhed with white letters that appeared to crawl and come alive.

With a grotesque screech, the first barrier tore wide open in an instant.

Crack! Crack!

Unlike the thin, paper-like first barrier, the second one held firm for a moment. Then, another letter leapt from the dagger. The snowy white letters chewed through the second barrier like termites. It peeled apart like snow-laden tree branches in a storm.

Crackle! Crack!

Lime concentrated power into their third shield. "Was the magic just a distraction?"

Within the dense steam, Lime's red and green eyes flickered. They spread themselves across the field, rippling violently. Lime tried to envelop and crush the glowing letters in one motion.

Sizzle! Ssssh!

However, when another letter burst from the dagger, radiating an intense light, the wave of mucus that had been rushing toward me suddenly receded with shocking speed.

Lime began to unravel, their form tearing apart. I could sense something in their eyes—the outline of a faint nervous system.

A vulnerability, perhaps?

The letters tearing through Lime begged for more power. It felt similar to when I resisted the marquis who had chased me to the cabin. Back then, I had nothing to offer.

Now, it was different. Beneath my bones, the rune circuits that Isaac had carved of Lurium were fully heated and active. The pathways spread throughout my bones transferred power into the dagger.

Crackle!

The barrier split even more violently. Lime retreated, and the letters gleefully pursued them. They tore and ripped Lime apart some more, steadily reducing their mass.

"Where did you get a thing like that?" Lime shouted.

Lime tried to retaliate in desperation, but they were already too drained. Dodging and blocking its strikes became easier. Even the few attacks that neared my hands were blown apart by the overwhelming power of the white letters.

Only about half the letters on the dagger remained, but I felt I wouldn't need any more. Lime had shrunk to just one-fifth of their original mass. Their eroded remains turned to white ash and were scattered, unable to return to their original form.

At this rate, victory would be within reach, but I felt uneasy.

It's... not letting go?

The vibrating dagger clung tightly to my hand. It had begun pulling power at its own whim. It started swinging my arm, and I could feel the blade's influence spreading across me. It reminded me of when Isaac took control of me.

A sharp alarm crawled up my spine. This was dangerous.

No, not yet.

I wasn't certain when the dagger would fully dominate me.

Blaze.

I didn't channel more power. Instead, I fired off a blast of flame from my fingertips into the hilt.

Boom! Crack!

The dagger plunged into the ground, splitting the earth into deep fractures. Now about seventy centimeters tall, Lime staggered near the crack and barely kept their footing. Their scattered remains crumbled between the crevices.

The dagger wielded this much power!

Gith-Za-Rai's cursed dagger was engraved with six letters. Its power was far greater than I had imagined. Yes, it was a consumable, but it had allowed me to overcome a battle I otherwise couldn't have won. And yet, I felt a bitter aftertaste.

Gith-Za-Rai gave me this... and I could only watch her die.

Lime barely reached up to my waist.

"...I lost," Lime murmured with its small mouth.

There was no thrill of victory. I looked down at the dagger, still inscribed with three glowing letters. It had nearly overtaken me, and I nearly killed Lime on impulse.

What if I had killed Lime?

The dagger's whisper still echoed in my mind.

"Kill. Absorb the essence."

The necromancer had given me the dagger for this reason.

Should I finish Lime off?

With its resistance to magic, corrosiveness, unexpected physical power, and manipulative skills, absorbing the Slime's essence would be worthwhile. I might not get much out of it as I did from Marquis Leandro, but it would certainly be more than what I gained from absorbing Rayleigh.

The thought that it would be a waste not to linger like a foul aftertaste. Even though I had thrown the dagger away, the whisper grew louder in my head.

"I accept defeat," Lime said again.

"Then kill it. Take it. Devour it."

Click.

I caught myself walking toward the dagger without realizing it and forced my legs to stop.

I...

I steadied my dizzying thoughts. Once war broke out, I'd be able to absorb more essence than I could ever want. But I had to find out where Rena's sister was first.

I slowly walked toward Lime. They didn't flinch or retreat. In fact, they seemed oddly amused.

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

Lime asked a question in return. "Who knows? But let me ask you something first."

"Go ahead."

"If I had won, would you have taken me to Rena?"

I stopped in my tracks. Caught off guard, I missed my timing to answer.

Lime smiled gently, cutting right to the heart of it. "You came all the way here to retrieve her sister, so I assume you care deeply for Rena. Would you really have exposed her to danger?"

I stared at it blankly, unable to speak.

With nothing left to say, I blurted out a threat. "Do you really think I won't kill you right here?"

Though I had driven the dagger into the ground, I could always pick it back up. And now that Lime had shrunk to such a pitiful size, I thought magic might actually work on them. They had even lost the volume needed to form a proper barrier.

Yet, Lime showed no signs of despair. Instead, they looked directly at me and confidently declared, "If you're thinking of never finding Rena's sister again, then go ahead."

Startled, I hesitated while Lime continued murmuring. "If I die, the Empire's Third Division will immediately begin tracking you down through your traces."

I recalled what Retric Aezar had said.

"Allow me to formally introduce myself. I am Retric Aezar, Director of the Empire's Third Division..."

It was a faction within T&T, a group that worshipped Demon Kings, aiming to cull humanity. Lime did not hide that fact. They laid out the facts to me without hesitation.

"There's also a letter prepared to investigate Rena. In three days, it will automatically be sent from somewhere to the Capital."

Lime had disguised themselves as Rena's sister and calmly waited for whoever came to retrieve her. They weren't bluffing.

"So, what is it that you want?" I asked.

"Since you've made a promise you weren't going to keep, I'd like to add a condition of my own. First, how about joining our side?"

"Your side?"

"Yes. Please, join us. I'll hand over Rena's sister immediately. I'm now much more interested in you than in her."

"What did you say?"

"You're not human, are you? I just don't understand what you're doing here with that kind of power. I'd really like to introduce you to the group I belong to."

"..."

My identity had been exposed. It seemed silly to even ask how they knew. The Slime in front of me possessed a powerful ability to read others. It would've been stranger after such a fierce battle if they hadn't figured me out.

Lime's small, doll-like mouth continued to move, their enunciation crip and clear. "I don't know your story, but come with me. Would you hear me out?"

Lime repeated the same persuasion that the stag Aezar had said at Purson's altar. This was the second time they tried to recruit me.

"I refuse," I said firmly.

My resolute answer drew a look of regret from Lime.

"Will you really leave this world as it is?" they whined.

"Don't misunderstand. I simply don't want to be chained by someone like your Demon King."

"

Oh ho

..."

"I couldn't care less whether the king you worship descends or not. I have no intention of depending on some monster like that."

"

Hahahaha...

"

Lime looked amused. They didn't rebuke me for blasphemy or anything like that.

Instead, they continued speaking in a friendly tone. "Very well then. Let me tell you."

Their sudden change of attitude confused me. "Tell me what?"

"About the whereabouts of the child you've been searching for."

"You're going to tell me where Rena's sister is? What's the catch?" I asked.

Lime smiled as if they were enjoying themselves. "My condition... isn't urgent."

"Speak."

"If there's a third path, not that of humans, nor the Demon Kings, then I'd like to walk it as well. If you ever find such a path, let me know."

"..."

"That's okay, right? I'd like to walk that path with you someday."

What is this Slime thinking?

Perhaps they weren't as loyal to Purson as they made themselves seem.

"Let's not get the wrong idea. I've never given that any thought," I said.

"I know. You seem to just be living moment to moment for now."

"

Hmm...

"

"I'm just hedging my bets. Consider it a form of diversified investment. Now then, I'll tell you where the child is."

***

Lime led me in silence.

As if nothing had happened between us, we naturally walked toward Yublam. Perhaps because the area was sparsely populated, but Lime let their upper body stay human while they made no effort to conceal the shifting, gelatinous mass below. With every step, their shrunken form gradually regained its volume.

Astounding self-repair...

I suddenly became aware of the dagger in my coat. Half of the runes were still intact on the blade. If I killed Lime right now, I might be able to steal that recovery ability. Even if I couldn't steal all of it, at least I could take it in fragments.

However, I didn't want to. It wasn't just because Rena might be in danger, or because I wouldn't be able to rescue her sister, or even because T&T's inner circle might come after me. I simply didn't want to harm Lime.

I recalled the conversation we had after I owed Lime so many favors.

"Thanks for everything."

"Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Hmm... if you ever meet another Slime, could you treat them with a little kindness? That's enough for me."

"What are you thinking about so deeply?" Lime asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I didn't answer. After all, there were very few Slimes left in the world. Even after the rise of the Demon King armies, that did not change. Slimes were practically extinct. That favor Lime had asked of me would likely only apply to themself. After all, I had made a promise to treat Slimes kindly.

Promises were lighter than dead leaves and washed away like ink in water. However, as a regressor, that was all I had to rely on. I ignored the dagger's occasional twitch and continued walking.

As we passed by the orphanage, my Detection skill didn't pick up anything.

"Could she be in there?" I asked.

There could be a magically sealed area that my abilities couldn't reach.

Lime shook their head. "She's not there."

We walked through a field of ruined wheat under the desolate night. In the distance, the guards and the heavy city gate of Yublam came into view—the very city where Rubia had once been hauled out in a wagon.

After several hours of walking, Lime had recovered enough mass to fully assume the shape of an adult male. Now, Lime looked just like the clean-cut version I had first met with Rena.

They even reproduced the outfit... Lime really is something else.

"This way," Lime said.

Without hesitation, Lime strode straight toward the city gate. When Lime pulled out their pass, the guards opened the gate stiffly without a single question. Entry to the city was granted with surprising ease.

"You have connections in this city, too?" I asked.

"It's gotten easier lately. There used to be others in charge, but for some reason, they all died or ran away," Lime replied.