Chapter 158: The Slime King
Deep within the damp labyrinths of the Iron Fortress sewers.
A lone blue Slime lay perched at a bend in the masonry, its two black bean-like eyes fixed intently on the iron grate above. There, the faint slivers of light trickling through the gaps represented the only window it had into the world above.
He was... well, he didn't have a name yet.
But he possessed Intelligence.
In the collective biology of Slimes, this was a phenomenon of extreme rarity. He didn't know how he had acquired his sapience. Perhaps he had consumed a piece of enchanted waste? Perhaps the residual Mana flowing through the runoff had mutated his core? Regardless, the moment he first grasped the concept of "I," the world changed.
His kin—those mindless blobs that did nothing but crawl, consume, and split—now appeared hideously, frustratingly stupid to him.
He had tried to rally them. After all, he was the Slime King. He was the largest, the strongest, and logically, the one meant to lead.
He had stood atop a protruding stone and vibrated with authority.
"Follow me! The world above must be vaster and more glorious than this damp hole!"
The cluster of Slimes had simply tilted their translucent bodies, letting out rhythmic gurgles. If their exchange could be translated into human tongue, it would have gone something like this:
"Why leave? There is wet-trash here."
"But there is better wet-trash outside!"
"The trash here is sufficient."
"Have you no ambition?! No dreams?!"
"What is a 'dream'? Is it edible?"
"The world above! It has the warm sun! The infinite sky!"
"What is 'sun'? Is it meat?"
"What is 'sky'? Can we digest it?"
Hearing this, the Slime King had inflated his body by thirty percent in sheer, vibrating rage.
A pack of irredeemable morons!
Is there nothing in their cores besides the urge to dissolve waste?! He swore that if they weren't his own species, he would have absorbed them all then and there. From that day on, he abandoned his efforts at diplomacy. These failures were destined to be sewer janitors for eternity.
But he was different. He was going to leave. He was going to see the world. He was going to... conquer the firmament!
...Well, maybe "conquer" was a bit ambitious. But he was definitely going to take a look.
The Slime King wiggled beneath the grate, staring at the narrow gaps. His body could compress enough to squeeze through; that wasn't the issue. The issue was what came next. He had heard the sounds from above: the heavy thud of human boots, the rolling of carriage wheels, and the chaotic shouting of vendors. It was a completely alien world.
The Slime King hesitated.
Just then, an unidentified object fell through the grate, bonking him squarely on the head. He instinctively absorbed it into his gelatinous mass.
And then, he froze.
This flavor...
THIS FLAVOR!
Sweet! Soft! Wreathed in a strange, intoxicating aroma!
The Slime King's body shuddered with delight. He had lived a long time. He had eaten rats, roaches, and every variety of garbage. But never had he encountered something that made his core feel so... happy.
What was that? Are there more of these 'treats' in the world above?
He couldn't hold back any longer. He had to know.
He gave a sudden, powerful leap, his body compressing into a thin, liquid ribbon as he forced himself through the gaps in the iron grate.
POP—!
Success. He had taken his first step toward world domination.
A moment later, the Slime King reformed into his naturally round, jiggly shape, bouncing twice on the pavement in excitement. He lifted his "head," prepared to review his future territories.
Before him stretched a wide, stone-paved thoroughfare. Orderly stone houses lined the street, and a bustling crowd of humans and undead moved past in a vibrant parade.
The Slime King was stunned.
So... this is the world above?
It's so big.
So bright.
And... so very loud.
"Look! A Slime!"
"How did a Slime get on the main street? Did it crawl out of the drain?!"
"Quick! Call the guards to dispose of it!"
"Wait, look at it. It doesn't seem aggressive... it's actually kind of cute."
"Cute? It's disgusting! Keep it away from me!"
The surrounding humans swarmed closer, pointing and whispering as if he were some sort of freakish specimen.
These two-legged meat-bags... they aren't friendly at all!
They are pests!
Feeling the waves of hostility from every direction, the Slime's body began to quiver with unease. Primal fear—the instinct of the weak—urged him to retreat. He wanted to dive back into the familiar, comforting dark of the pipes. But he was blocked by a forest of massive boots and shifting shadows.
Just as he was reaching his breaking point, a creature of bone approached.
It was a soldier of the Punishment Legion. The skeleton didn't hesitate; it extended a bony hand, reaching down to seize the Slime.
The Slime King was so terrified his body elongated vertically, forming the shape of a blue exclamation point.
This entity! It radiates a crushing Od! It's going to prey on me!
Driven by the ultimate survival instinct, he discharged the only weapon in his arsenal. He compressed his core and fired a concentrated spray of mucus directly forward.
SPLAT—!
A glob of blue slime landed with surgical precision across the skeleton's skull, completely obscuring its eye sockets.
The Skeleton Guard stopped moving.
The watching humans went silent.
The Slime King himself was paralyzed with shock.
I just... attacked a high-tier entity?
I'm dead. I'm truly dead.
However, the expected annihilation didn't come. The skeleton simply raised its other hand and used its sleeve to wipe the mucus from its face. Then, it stooped down, scooped up the Slime King's body, and hoisted him into the air.
The Slime was held aloft, his body squashed into a variety of undignified shapes by the skeleton's grip. The guard walked over to the sewer grate and unceremoniously jammed him back through the hole.
Plop.
He fell back into the muck of the sewers, kicking up a splash of stagnant water.
The Slime King reformed, vibrating with a humiliated, impotent fury. He looked up at the sky, now divided into tiny squares by the iron bars above.
Pests! Every single one of them is a pest!
A disgrace! This is the greatest stain on my royal career!
I will return! Just you wait!
Once I have devoured enough nutrients... once I reach the legendary status of a Tier 1 powerhouse! I will return to show those stupid meat-bags and that damn bone-rack the error of their ways!
The tides will turn! Do not underestimate the resolve of a young Slime!
The Slime King stared at the grate, his bean-eyes glowing with a newfound, fierce determination. Next time, he would be stronger. Strong enough that the meat-bags wouldn't dare stare. Strong enough that the bone-racks wouldn't dare treat him like common refuse. He would walk the world freely and claim every sweet thing for himself!
With a final, determined wiggle, he turned and surged deeper into the darkness of the pipes.
Ahead, a rat gnawing on a scrap of leather suddenly felt a cold shiver run down its spine.
☆☆☆
-> 20 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you