Panic.
The king slime was falling right on top of us. We were less than a second away from being crushed, or melted by its acid, or both. I didn't know which one was the worst option, really. Perhaps I could survive for a while with my Vitality, but the girls…
I looked at them, feeling like time had become a rubber band, stretched out, thinner but three times longer. I realized that they, not even consciously, had given me full access to their mental faculties so that I could come up with a plan. Their trust and complete loyalty hit me with physical force, but I couldn't waste the precious few instants that I had, not now.
Vespera and I were almost out of the impact zone. Elyra was… right in the middle.
I hated this, but I knew I was going to have to think pragmatically. Sacrifices had to be made.
The demon and I moved at the same time. I didn't quite tell her what to do as much as I literally shouted it in her mind, and the thought had been so loud that her body had started moving before she even managed to parse its meaning. She threw herself to the side, leveraging her Dexterity, while I jumped away using my Strength.
Only Elyra remained, stunned into place, watching the king slime descend on her like judgment day. It had the inevitability of my hauler ship plowing through space at close to the speed of light, about to hit a space station and kill everyone. She, just like the station, would not survive the impact. While I could not see her stats, I knew that they were not physically oriented. She was going to die, that's for sure.
I activated [Resonance Castling] and swapped places with her. She found herself standing right where I was, still stunned, now witnessing the descent of the giant blue gelatin monster from a new point of view.
Meanwhile, I found myself right below it. I hoisted my big stick made of rebar up above my head, holding it with two hands and all the strength I could muster. Through the slime's membrane, I could see a faint hint of a core deep inside the acidic jelly.
Time resumed its flow. The huge slime slammed into me. I was not crushed, though. Instead, I found myself submerged in cool, viscous liquid. The cool sensation lasted less than a second before it started to burn like crazy. I muted the bond as much as I could, not wanting the girls to feel the pain I was feeling.
I could handle it, I hoped.
The acid burned. It was on another level compared to any other slime we faced. No kidding. This was the king slime. But the sensation also told me that my plan had at least somewhat worked. I had pierced the membrane, I was inside.
The core was also very much intact. Otherwise, the goo would have lost its magical acidic properties and it would have stopped burning me. At least, this was the idea. I hoped it worked. Again with the hope. Way too much hope.
This was all my fault, wasn't it?
I felt the girls come back to themselves after the initial surprise, but couldn't focus on them much. My clothes were gone, and my skin was sizzling and blistering quickly. The metal of my makeshift weapon was also burning, flaking off and dissolving in the slime's goop. Surprisingly, it was even less resistant to the acid than I was.
Made sense. It wasn't being protected by magical stats.
I forced my eyes open. They burned, and my vision—already blurry through all the slime goo—quickly began to deteriorate. But I found it, the core. I swam up, fighting gravity and the weight of my own body, fighting the thick goop.
If only I could reach it… but the goo shifted around me, like quicksand, and I was making no progress.
I felt something. Encouragement, and a lot of tears. Elyra. She used all her magic to cast a shield inside the slime king. I don't know how she managed, perhaps because the monster's membrane was punctured, perhaps because I was here and could act as a sort of antenna. Her plan was simple, just a little nudge, and yet it took all her mana and effort to pull it off.
She created a shield below my feet that acted as a platform. I didn't need to look around, I could see it through her eyes. I knew where it was and all I needed to do was push with my legs with all my strength.
That's exactly what I did. I propelled myself upwards and towards the core. It was a huge shadow in my vision, I couldn't make out its shape with my eyes being dissolved by the acid. I closed them before I lost my sight altogether. My skin was rupturing. I was bleeding. The acid was sapping my strength and vitality.
I had perhaps a few seconds left.
Then I felt the cool sensation of something solid, smooth and powerful. The core. I was touching it! I linked with the girls for a moment, and confirmed that indeed I was hugging the core like it was a plushie, using it to stabilize myself in the constantly shifting goo.
Then a strong current almost made me lose my grip. The slime king had jumped up, towards the girls. They reacted and moved out of the way, but the movement made holding onto the core almost impossible. The shockwave when the king landed was too much, and I lost my grip.
I fell back, towards the bottom, but the membrane had regenerated and there was no leaving the monster.
Except.
Determination. I felt Vespera surge forward, borrowing my stats to bolster her own magic, her body moving with tremendous speed. Even though she only took my Strength and not my Vitality, the acid started to burn me twice as fast.
Then I felt another current. I was vaguely aware that she had slashed at the membrane with her claws of darkness, and the goo was spilling out. She tried to pull me out with it, but as soon as she touched the fluid she hissed and was forced to retreat. Even touching it for less than half a second made her hands bleed, and my heart ache.
I couldn't focus. I was losing sensation all over my body. I thought I could move, leave through the opening she had created for me, but I was too slow. The king jumped again, and used its time in the air to rotate so that the damaged part of its membrane was against the ground when it landed. No escape for me.
On top of the pain and damage from the acid, I was beginning to run out of oxygen. I could feel my body screaming for a lungful of air, which would only be a lungful of acid. I struggled to keep the urge in check.
Relief came when the burden lessened and was funneled into the bond. The girls' faces writhed in pain, but I could think again. Shit, I could move again! The pain was there, the body was breaking apart, but the burden was shared now. Three sources of willpower instead of one. And their deep, unfathomable and unconditional love.
Love? Did they truly love me?
I wanted to focus on it. Love. True love. It was so pure, and so powerful.
But I was dying, and seeing this, they were hurting almost as much as I was. Not only because the pain was shared, but because they didn't want me to die, to leave them alone. Not now, not ever. Why? Why did this—
Fuck it. I gathered everything I could get my hands on. Willpower. Desire. Love. Lust. Anger. Frustration. Everything I could use as fuel, I used to energize my body one last time.
I was touching the ground with my feet, due to the king slime's attempt at sealing the breach. Good. It gave me a way to jump using solid ground to propel myself up. So I did. I watched through the girls' eyes, two different angles, the angel and the demon. Their vision was different in subtle ways, and it was different from mine as well.
I didn't dwell on it. I used them as remote cameras, and navigated my way back up to the slime core. The rebar stick was gone, evaporated from my hands like my body was dissolving into bloody flesh and oozing pus.
I did the next best thing. I hugged the core, and squeezed.
Of course, it wasn't nearly enough. I struggled, but it wouldn't budge. It was hard, big and awkward to hold. My strength was almost gone. I wanted to sleep, to go down that dark tunnel that was beckoning me.
◈◈◈
I hear two screams in my mind. NO, they say in unison.
It's Elyra and Vespera. Their bodies are slack, outside of the slime. Their consciousness is here with me. We are one, and we are three.
I feel the foreign sensation of two magics. They are twin, and yet they are opposites. In me, they mix explosively. They damage my body even further. Muscles tear open, bones crack, my skin explodes.
Yet, my Vitality and the combined will to live of three very motivated people keeps me from breaking apart just for long enough. The magics mix and the result is something amazing.
The core turns to dust against my skin. I can't see what is happening, but I know it is magnificent. The girls return to their bodies, and they can only stare in awe.
◈◈◈
I felt the slime lose its acidity the moment the core vanished. That could have been the end of it, and I would have been grateful. However, luck was on our side for once. The core had been literally dissolved into nothingness by our combined magic, but its power had not disappeared. I felt it rush into me, touching my very being, and the System stirred.
General level up!
General Level 5 → 6
+1 to all stats.
+1 General skill point.
Insufficient energy.
Massive energy surge detected.
General skill point restored.
Again, it could have been the end of it, and I would have been happy. Instead.
Class level up!
[Bound to the Fallen] Level 3 → 4
+30 Vit, +25 Str
You have found a way to communicate without speaking. Your bond has deepened.
+1 Class skill point.
Insufficient energy.
Massive energy surge detected.
Class skill point restored.
Leftover energy available. Adjusting…
You have found a way to share emotions and sensations. Your bond has deepened.
+1 Class skill point.
You have found a way to share minds and memories. Your bond has deepened.
+1 Class skill point.
You have found a way to merge your magics. Your bond has deepened.
+1 Class skill point.
You found a way to combine your powers of Destruction and Creation, of Order and Chaos, and of Light and Darkness to extract all magic from a being without losses.
The System has absorbed the leftover energy, restoring a minuscule percentage of its long lost power.