Episode 18: Interlude – Meanwhile, in the Pack
My name is Sura-ta.
I am a genius slime who, despite being a slime, achieved 〖Evolution〗 and became a Large Bloody Slime, a 〖Greater Beast〗!
Born a rare species, I ascended to the position of pack leader at a young age.
It wouldn’t be a dream to one day surpass 〖Greater Beast〗 and become a 〖Dire Beast〗, ruling over this forest.
“(Follow me, you lot! Today, we’ll explore the depths!)”
I declared this in front of ten carefully selected slimes.
They are 〖Lesser Beasts〗, and they are incomparably weaker than me, but they are numerous. If they throw stones, they can at least provide some cover.
I was about to set off with high spirits, but… some of the slimes seemed to want to say something.
I questioned the ones who looked somewhat intimidated.
“(What’s wrong? If you have something to say, speak clearly.)”
“(…Sura-suke, said. Forest depths, 〖Mana〗 strong. Approaching, dangerous.)”
Sura-suke was a weakling who was in the pack until recently.
He was a rare species, but his only high stat was 〖Toughness〗. Other than that, he was a complete failure, a useless burden who could only think of cowardly tricks.
If that was all, it would have been fine, but that guy got in my way every chance he got.
He would say things like, “There are many dangerous Demon Beasts over there,” or “It’s too early for us.” Just because he was weak, he thought we were all the same.
It’s true that we had to retreat once, but we’ve become stronger since then. We shouldn’t make the same mistakes now.
That’s why I banished him, and now we can finally explore the depths… or so I thought.
(That Sura-suke, always causing trouble.)
I muttered to myself in my mind.
My trusted subordinates and I aside, some in the pack have caught his weakness. The slime who just gave me his opinion is one of them.
It seems I need to give these guys a good talking to before we head to the depths.
“(Huh? Are you saying you’d listen to that weakling trash instead of me?)”
“(N-No, that’s not it…)”
“(Then you have no complaints, right!?)”
“(Y-Yes.)”
No other slimes raised objections.
That’s right, they should have just obeyed from the start.
“(Alright, let’s go!)”
I took the lead with confidence.
My era is about to begin.
Or so it should have been…
“(It hurts, it hurts!)”
“(Calm down. Enemy, dead. If you rest, you’ll heal.)”
“(Tch, one died…)”
The result of the first battle was a narrow victory.
The opponents were Goblins. Just a small group of three.
On the other hand, our forces were eleven, including me.
Normally, it would be an easy victory with such a difference in strength.
But…
“(Goblins, stronger than usual.)”
That’s right. Their abilities were slightly higher than the individuals in our usual hunting grounds.
They were still 〖Lesser Beasts〗, but their 〖Level〗 must have been higher.
“(And, couldn’t stop them from getting close.)”
Initially, I was supposed to hold down three of them, and the others were supposed to use 〖Throwing〗.
However, I struggled with their unexpected strength, and in that gap, one of them ran behind us.
My subordinates fought back with 〖Dissolving Liquid〗, but one was killed by the Goblin’s swinging sword, and the others were injured.
“(If Sura-suke was here…)”
“(Did you say something?)”
“(N-Nothing…)”
I silenced the one who was about to say something unnecessary with a single word.
I haven’t done anything wrong. It’s better that that guy isn’t here.
“(Listen up, you guys! If the enemies are strong, that means it’s easier to raise our 〖Soul Accumulation Value (Level)〗! After we eat these Goblins, we’ll look for the next prey!)”
A little while later, we discovered new enemies.
“(We’ll do the same as before.)”
“(B-But, those are humans…)”
“(So what?)”
I asked back, irritated.
“(H-Humans, have strong unity. If they target us, troublesome. So, Sura-suke said, don’t attack…)”
“(Shut your mouth!)”
“(Gyaaa!)”
I shut him up with a single blow.
“(I am the leader of this pack. Obey my orders without question.)”
“(…Understood.)”
I strengthened the pack’s unity with a shout, and I rushed towards the four humans.
At the same time, my subordinates used 〖Throwing〗 stones to provide cover.
“What is that!?”
“What’s going on!?”
The humans immediately took a defensive stance, but they seemed to be struggling against the rain of stones.
I continued to run and jumped at the human holding a sword and shield.
“〖Slash〗!”
The slash tore into my body. But it wasn’t much damage in front of my vast 〖Life〗.
I forcefully moved forward and tried to use 〖Dissolving Liquid〗 on the human.
“〖Wind〗!”
“(Guah!)”
However, I was pushed back by a sudden strong gust of wind.
It seemed to be the ability of the small human in the back.
“Retreat!”
Just as I was about to step forward again, the humans ran away in a flash.
Their escape was so refreshing that I forgot to chase after them.
“(Couldn’t defeat them…)”
“(Hah, it’s fine. We know that humans are no match for us.)”
I said that to my subordinates, who were disappointed that we couldn’t catch our prey.
I was on guard because Sura-suke was overly afraid, but it was anticlimactic.
A Wolf would probably be stronger than that.
“(After all, I wasn’t wrong about anything.)”
I strengthened that conviction.
Humans aren’t even enemies, and if we train ourselves and the pack in the depths where 〖Mana〗 is dense, we can even defeat other Demon Beasts.
And beyond that lies a slime paradise with me at the top.
“Sura! Sura! Sura!”
I laughed loudly, envisioning the glory of the future.
The day I become the strongest Demon Beast and rule this forest is not far away!