Vaniu, Adventurer [Rank D]
Roja' s strike to my throat was so brutal that I died instantly.
But after my friend pulled the dagger from my neck, I came back to life.
The price was the heirloom necklace from my grandmother, a substitute charm, which shattered in my place.
I quickly got up and cast healing magic on those who were injured but still alive.
The situation was beyond critical. How could someone be this skilled at fighting people?
If they can turn invisible, they' re not just a fighter—they' re clearly an assassin.
"Group up and protect this kid! If even one of us can report to Lord Jaigia, Roja' s done for!"
From what I could tell, Roja first targeted those who could detect them, then went for supports and healers like me.
Outside the room, the hallway echoed with chaos—screams and shouts filled the air relentlessly.
"Sweep the area with your weapons! We don' t know where they are!"
I scooped up Elda, with my teammates forming a protective circle around us.
But as we moved out, two other guilds started attacking us.
My team tried to explain, but they were cut down right before my eyes.
I was next, but because everyone rushed to shield me, I narrowly survived.
The one who took the hit for me died almost instantly—no time to heal.
The situation spiraled into chaos, and we couldn' t move forward.
So I reached out, healing the wounded from the other two guilds, while someone else shouted explanations.
By the time they trusted us and realized what was happening, nearly half of the survivors from moments ago were dead.
"Where is it?!"
"Come out, you coward!"
"Arghhh!"
"Lord Ethos will deal with you!"
"Heal me! Please, heal me!"
"You won' t die a good death!"
"Hurry, get out! The monster wave is coming!"
"Doesn' t anyone have a detection skill?!"
"Lord Istaf won' t let you go!"
"It' s trying to kill us all!"
"Attack! Don' t stop! Keep it from getting close!"
"The guild office will send people to catch you!"
"No! Somebody, help me!"
"It can even kill tanks! What kind of skill is that?!"
"Everyone, listen! Group up and break through! It can' t kill us all at once!"
Those who agreed with me rushed to form a group, preparing to charge out.
Some panicked and ran for the exit, only to be slaughtered in an instant.
Because someone raised a shield to cover my head, I survived a thrown weapon during a sneak attack.
After grouping up and charging forward together, Roja switched to targeting our legs.
They aimed to make us stumble and stall, but since I was still alive, I could keep healing the injured.
The problem was my mana was running low.
Roja seemed to know this. When they couldn' t kill me directly, they played a game of attrition, forcing me to heal nonstop.
If I stopped healing and left anyone behind, our group could collapse instantly.
When we started protecting our legs, our upper bodies became vulnerable. Those who didn' t react in time died in a single strike.
The cycle repeated, and finally, my mana ran out.
But we' d made it more than halfway. We had to take the risk.
"Go! Run through it!"
Everyone scattered, except my team, who stayed to protect the kid and me, the last healer.
But then—
Blob! Blob! Blob! Blob! Blob! Blob! Blob! Blob! Blob! Blob! Blob! Blob! Blob! Blob! Blob!
Blob! Blob! Blob! Blob! Blob! Blob! Blob! Blob! Blob! Blob! Blob! Blob! Blob! Blob! Blob!
Blob! Blob! Blob! Blob! Blob! Blob! Blob! Blob! Blob! Blob! Blob! Blob! Blob! Blob! Blob!
A countless horde of slimes poured out, blocking our path.
Their black color showed they had evolved.
These were plague slimes.
"Anyone who can jump over them, do it now! Before they spread everywhere!"
Some tanks shed their armor, others dropped their weapons to lighten their load.
"Anyone who can carry her and jump, take her!"
"Pass her to me!"
I quickly handed the kid to a teammate.
Those who could jump cleared the plague slime horde immediately.
The rest, unable to jump, could only swing their weapons to push the slimes forward or herd them into rooms.
"Arghhh!"
"Urk!"
"Filth…!"
"No, don' t!"
But those who managed to jump were ambushed by Roja, killed mid-air.
Some only made it halfway before a blade pierced their stomachs.
The one carrying the kid landed but was immediately slashed across the throat.
Roja dropped their invisibility, grabbing the girl and holding her close.
"You bastard, Roja!"
"Thanks for delivering her!"
And with that, they vanished with the girl.
"Lord Jaigia will kill you! The Goddess will curse you to a wretched death!"
"Vaniu! What do we do?!"
"I… I don' t know anymore…"
If we had even one fire mage, there' d be hope. I don' t know any purification spells.
Some lost their minds and ran for the exit, only to be devoured by the slime horde in seconds.
The terrifying thing about these slimes is that if they merge to evolve again, they become carrier slimes.
Carrier slimes release disease spores into the air.
Whether you touch them or breathe them in, within an hour, a slew of illnesses will incapacitate you.
A few hours later, depending on your health, you die and become a breeding ground for their larvae.
Your body swells to its limit, and when it bursts, countless new plague slimes spread destruction everywhere.
"Fall back! Get to the innermost room! We' ll hold them off until help arrives!"
*****
Roja, Leader of the Dissection Team, Subunit 5, [Gleaming Fang Guild]
To ensure no one survived, I stayed to witness the end with my own eyes.
The slimes began spreading everywhere. Both I and the others kept retreating.
Some tanks, thinking they could handle it, charged through, but most didn' t make it halfway before being devoured.
Slimes can slip into the tiniest gaps in armor. Low-rank adventurers are just this stupid.
Those who nearly escaped, I kicked them back, making them fall.
Screams of agony from being dissolved alive echoed through the underground floor.
I retreated almost to the staircase. A blind spot kept me from seeing them anymore.
So I went up, removed the weapon jamming the door, and stepped out to place the kid on the ground.
To be sure, I pinned her hand flat to the floor and drove a dagger through it to the hilt.
Then I used my stealth skill to slip back down.
I drew my custom-made twin daggers and sprinted along the walls.
As my speed dropped and I began to fall, I stabbed both daggers into the wall and perched on them.
The hallway was empty. Everyone had fled into rooms, locking doors and desperately holding back the slimes.
I have to thank the idiocy of the [Nightcat] guild for not exterminating those slimes.
The authorities banned their use by civilians precisely because careless or ignorant people could let them get like this.
These slum rats broke the rules and screwed themselves, haha!
I dropped from the daggers, yanked them from the wall, and ran to the end of the hall. The rooms along the way didn' t hold out long before collapsing.
But the innermost room? They had a lot of stuff—shelves, treasures, even their own armor piled up to block the way.
If it' s like this, the slimes will just keep pressing endlessly. Even dungeon-break monsters reaching here would likely retreat.
Plague slimes are one of the few monsters that other monsters and beasts avoid.
If they hold out until help arrives, they might actually survive.
I activated my special skill, lunged forward, slashed at the door and the barricade, then leaped back to perch on my daggers.
The barricade was too thick to destroy in one go.
I repeated the process four or five times until it was completely gone.
"They' re coming in!"
"Stay back!"
"Argh! Help!"
"They' re eating me!"
"Someone, please!"
"Lady Goddess! Please protect me!"
And the last one, Vaniu' s utterly despairing face.
"I… don' t want to die…"
Vaniu sobbed, her heart breaking.
Then, the ravenous plague slimes devoured everyone in the room.
Vaniu was the unluckiest. The slimes chose her.
They pinned her down. After consuming everyone else, they gathered around her.
Every slime merged into a massive, viscous black blob, reeking of vomit.
It slowly seeped into Vaniu through every orifice.
Her eyes were forced back into her skull. Her nose and ears tore as the slime pushed inside.
Vaniu' s body began to swell.
I bolted from the room and headed straight for the exit.
Before closing the door, I heard a sound.
Pop!
The sound of the plague slimes evolving into a carrier slime.
Evidence cleanup complete.
Now for the final task.
I looked at the floor where that kid had been unconscious.
Now, it was just a pool of her blood. I' m getting tired of this cat-and-mouse game.
"I' ll kill her soon and take her head to show big sister."