"Kasaki, you feel that?"
The storm raged on, drenching the two boys.
Zenith, the golden-haired twin, looked in the direction of The Sylvanian Prison.
A moment ago, the barrier surrounding it had been deactivated, and now, the two were feeling the immense mana, dark power, and divinity leaking from the prison..
"Yeah, that damned monster must be there."
Kasaki's grip on his katana tightened. He took a step forward before Zenith placed a hand on his shoulder.
"The storm. End it first."
"Isn't this more important?"
Zenith let out a laugh, sounding thoroughly amused. "Ah yes, this slime is more important than the entire forest being destroyed by your impatience. Aren't you the calm and composed one?"
Kasaki shrugged off Zenith's hand and sat down with a grumble, attempting to calm the storm.
"Some god you are." Zenith smirked. As the words left his mouth, a bolt of lightning tore through the air, grazing past his head before disappearing into the forest.
"Hop off my trail… That slime is dangerous and you know it. We also need to do what he-"
"Of course I know that, but I doubt he'd be happy if you destroyed the forest in the process. It'd be like…. Spitting in his face, y'know?"
Kasaki couldn't refute Zenith's words. With a sigh, he turned his full attention to calming the storm.
*****
The pink slime, mimicking the form of The Creator God, began to exert even more divinity in response to the boy it was facing.
Drawing strength from a seemingly infinite well of adaptation and growth, it transformed its arm into a blade like Galland and slashed across Evvls' chest.
Dark blood, affected by the dark magic Galland had been using, spilled from his chest.
Before the slime could follow up, Sylvia, using the water from the storm, pushed him back, muttering, "Water… piston…"
Rain swooped in, brandishing Ranni's soul weapon as she met the slime head-on. The mimicked blade of Galland pressed against the sword that could bend all that existed.
Music blared as the other kids of the prison chanted their own spells.
Akari pulled Evvls' body from the danger zone, covering him in a green light.
Knowing that Galland would likely fight back against any attempts in helping the boy, she grabbed the sword from his hand.
The effects were immediate.
Evvls coughed up blood, his body relaxing under her hands. The wound slowly began to close, but Evvls was fully out of commission.
On the other hand, Galland was attempting to take control over Akari's mind, which was failing spectacularly.
Although she wasn't in peak condition, her soul weapon still fought against the illusions flawlessly, allowing her to heal Evvls with little interference… except for the voices.
[A new host… no… you're not new. You're the human from before…]
Akari focused on healing Evvls, ignoring the voice of Galland.
[Stand and fight, human. My thirst has not been quenched as of yet.]
'Give me a minute.'
The dark power in Galland flared outward, prompting Akari to move the sword even further from Evvls.
Once the wound finally closed, Akari stood up, Galland in hand.
While she'd love to put it down and join the fight, Galland could fall into the hands of any of the children and likely get them killed.
When faced with a possibility like that, the only choice she had was to hold the sword herself.
With Galland in hand, she surveyed the battlefield.
The slime's form was flickering, some of the brown skin now being that same vibrant pink from its original form.
The slime raised its fist to strike Rain, but before it could move, a sickle of water sliced clean through its arm.
Its eyes drifted toward where it came from, a child whose flames had been reignited by the series of events till now.
Every time the slime attempted to attack, a spell from one of the energized children would strike it.
Whenever it tried to cast that same spell back at them, Rain would strike the limb that moved.
It was overwhelming.
[I wouldn't mind you handing me to that girl there. The one with white hair.]
'Rain? Why her?'
[She's the most fit for me.]
'And what's that supposed to mean?'
Akari began to furrow her brow, her grip around the blade increasing as she enveloped her body in mana.
She felt tired.
Not physically, but mentally.
Her body felt no exhaustion, even after everything that happened that day.
Or rather, she could never tell when she was physically exhausted.
On the other hand, every time she used magic, dipped into her endless supply of mana, or even analyzed others with her soul weapon, she felt her energy drop slowly but surely.
And now?
She was feeling the effects of exerting herself all day.
So she decided to stop using magic, and use her mana purely to strengthen herself and protect herself from Galland's influence.
Easier said than done.
Akatsuke crashed into the slime, momentarily taking its attention away from everyone else.
Akari launched herself into battle, taking her place beside Rain as she blocked the Divine Slime's slash with Galland, giving Rain the chance to strike its arm.
That's what should've come to pass.
That's what would've come to pass… only if Galland were cooperating.
As Akari blocked the strike of the slime, Galland's blade exploded with dark power, pushing both the slime, Akatsuke, and Rain away.
A voice sounded out,
[What an abundance of mana, I'll be sure to make good use of this, girl.]
Akari's eyesight wavered.
This wasn't an illusion, no, her soul weapon wouldn't let such things affect her to this extent.
This was Galland forcibly turning her mana into dark power.
If she were in top condition, this wouldn't affect her that much, however, this sudden use of mana after already nearing the burnout state simply sent her over the edge.
Galland slipped out of her fingers, sinking into the concrete as if it were butter.
[Pitiful.]
Akari wobbled before quickly looking up to find the slime.
She could see it standing around 3 meters away from her, the dark explosion pushing it back quite a bit. It had already healed from whatever injury it might have received, yet it seemed somewhat wary of Akari.
Luckily, Akatsuke had already recovered as well, clashing with the slime in a head-on barrage of blows, taking its attention once more.
Her eyesight darkened, as if she had been looking through a lens that brightened everything until now.
The slime raised its arm, just for it to be blown off by another child who had released a spell.
She wanted to join in, to give this monster no chance to adapt, but she couldn't. She felt an intense sleepiness, an unnatural one. Similar to when Galland had put the prison to sleep, yet different.
This intense sleepiness made her want to give up on everything and rest, to give an excuse to why she deserves to sleep. To forget about everything but herself.
"Akari, you're bleeding like that boy was."
Rain spoke up from beside Akari, pushing her away from the slime with her free hand as she continued, "Seems like you're in burnout."
Akari reached up to touch underneath her eyes.
It was as Rain said. She was bleeding from her eyes, nose, and mouth.
The battlefield was being drenched by the rain, impairing everyone's eyesight, now including Akari. As time went on, her eyesight darkened further and further, a sign of her soul weapon slowly deactivating.
Even with this, prisoners still released their spells against the slime, Rain still slashed and hacked away, Akatsuke continued to throw punches, and music still rang loud.
Rain would kick the mimicked blade of the slime into the air, and a spell from another would hit it.
Giving up on that arm, it quickly replaced it with a normal fist, blasting the same spell it was struck with moments before towards Rain.
This spell wouldn't reach its mark, having its structure destroyed by the reality bending properties of her sword.
As if expecting this, the slime had thrown a punch covered in divine flames right behind the spell.
*Smack!!!*
Rain, not expecting the secondary blow, attempted to block it with her left arm, being pushed back a few paces.
Shaking her arm, she muttered, "If that thing were heavier… Ranni's arm might've broken on me.."
She had lost feeling in that arm, but her eyes were still locked onto the slime who had turned to face the other children.
A stream of water sailed towards the slime, aiming to blast another piece of it away, but the monster raised its arm in response, sending that very same spell back at them with even more power.
Shinto watched this go on, quickly sending his soul weapon to push the child out of the way.
While he was able to push the child, his soul weapon, along with the spell the child released moments before, had been pierced by the slime's spell.
Akari watched this go on with tired eyes, forcing herself to stay awake.
They were doing well against the monster, but she could tell that everyone was running out of steam.
Sylvia's spells were being released in much longer intervals.
Shinto had dedicated himself fully to supporting the weaker prisoners.
Akio was still recovering from burnout.
Akatsuke was still doing whatever he could to keep most of the aggro on himself.
Rain had just rejoined the fight, but she was avoiding the use of her left arm.
Things weren't looking good.
The slime, beginning to gain its bearings, kicked away Akatsuke before grabbing Rain by the left arm.
Both of its arms had returned to normal fists.
It had stopped using divinity and dark power as well.
Its skin, a caramel brown at first, had begun turning into a vibrant red reminiscent of the Superior Ogre race.
It wasn't just similar in aesthetic, but in functionality as well.
Sylvia had released a water spell, a simple buzzsaw made of the rain that was already falling, but instead of cutting through, it burst as if its skin rejected the spell's structure itself.
With a sharp motion, it had thrown Rain into the air, leaving her in a freefalling state.
"Rain..!"
Akari's eyes drifted upwards, yet she couldn't see her.
The skies were too dark, and her eyesight had faded along with her soul weapon, making it hard to see even 5 meters in front of her.
What she did see, on the other hand, was the slime's arms transforming once more.
Not into a blade.
Not into any weapon Akari had seen today.
But into the arms of a mantis shrimp.
'It can mimic other creatures!?'
Its arm pulled back, the sound of its muscles straining reminiscent of a rope being pulled taut, aiming directly for where Rain would land.
"Rain, you've gotta move!!"
Akari cried out with as much strength as her body would allow, running forward.
She could see Akatsuke behind the slime, running to stop it as well.
"Damn it!" Akio spat out, his bloodshot eyes dilating as he moved towards the slime as well.
The air around his neck began to vibrate, a pendant appearing as if it had always been there. With a swipe of his hand, a transparent barrier appeared in front of where the slime was about to punch.
Akatsuke grabbed both of the slime's arms from behind while Akari attempted to catch Rain.
It was in that split moment that everything went wrong.
In a flash of light, the barrier shattered and Akatsuke's arms were torn off.
Rain attempted to bend the strike with Ranni's soul weapon, but she saw something that made her stomach drop.
It was a crack.
A crack running along Ranni's soul weapon from the force of the blow.
Letting go of the soul weapon at that moment, Rain put all of her efforts into defending with her body.
As she let go, the sword entered the natural intangible state, allowing the punch to continue down its path.
She crossed her arms, blocking the blow with her arms.
Akari wasn't fast enough, falling right before reaching Rain, but that didn't save her from the blow either.
A wave of heat evaporated all of the water in the prison from the storm, knocking everyone back as well.
Even those pressed against the prison walls were thrown back, most losing consciousness from the force.
Akari's skin was burned, with her body finally going limp.
Rain's arms were broken, most of her ribs crushed as well.
The skin on her forearm had been melted off, revealing the white, broken bone underneath the muscle.
On the ground, coughing blood, Rain attempted to push herself up.
Perhaps it was because Rain wasn't the original owner of this body, but her will alone was strong enough to keep it running even with the catastrophic damage it took.
However, that was all she could do.
She couldn't rise once more.
Blood mixed with her spit and her body hurt so much that she wanted to pass out.
But she couldn't.
If she did, Ranni would be left to feel the pain all by herself, or in the worst case scenario, they both would perish.
So she gritted her bloodied teeth and held on to consciousness.
The skies began to clear up.
It was unclear if it was because of the slime's attack, or natural reasons, but that didn't matter.
Nearly everyone had been incapacitated by the last attack, with the slime standing in the middle of the courtyard unscathed.
Its mantis shrimp arms returned to normal once more, the image of the Creator God returning in full effect.
It was almost a beautiful sight, rays from the sun beaming directly onto its holy form.
Yet the destruction around it contrasted too heavily to be ignored.
The monster raised its arm up high, gilded flames condensing into a small sun above it before it froze.
Its eyes widened before it turned its gaze to the skies.
"I've found you!"
An ecstatic shout reached Rain's ears.
At that moment, a white line suddenly appeared, as if someone had drawn on the world itself, reaching from the skies to the earth.
Behind the slime, Rain saw a man with long black dreads sheathing a blade.
Cracks began to spread from the line, and that's when the sound followed.
**BOOOOM!**
A deafening sound pierced Rain's ears, yet she could barely react.
The slime, run through by the white line, had vanished along with everything else in its path.
No resistance.
No time to resist.
No time to adapt.
It was gone, as if it hadn't existed in the first place.