Free Web NovelThroughout the entire night of searching, Vieya still could not find any trace of Jasmine.
But judging from how that little party’s points had barely changed all night, they had probably found somewhere to hide and were resting or sleeping.
They were clever enough to use some kind of aura-concealing method, or some sort of isolation magic.
“Sigh, this daughter of mine is really cautious. While guarding against monsters she even guards against her own mother. Ugh, if I had known I would have learned a few tracking techniques. Eh, the number-crunching monster has lost her numbers...”
Vieya crouched beside a pool, one hand propping up her cheek while the other poked the little pale-blue slime wiggling in front of her.
Do not be fooled—slimes might have no attack power, but their bodies were extraordinarily sensitive to external stimuli. If you poked it, it bounced. If you did not poke it, it stood there blankly without moving an inch.
It was said that the gel of these low-tier monsters could be eaten after detoxification, but Vieya had never tried such bizarre food.
She sighed and stared into the pool, engaging in a big-eyed-staredown with the slime.
Why is it that even though we are both slimes, you lot cannot think?
Suddenly—
The slime seemed to sense something and bounced away. At the same instant, a violent tremor surged up from the ground.
Vieya turned her head and saw a group of mages bursting out of the gray mist.
“Ah—run! There is a monster that is immune to magic!”
But they could not see Vieya crouching beside the pool. All they knew was fear—so they simply fled!
“A monster immune to magic... probably just that these children’s damage is not enough to break its defenses?”
Vieya rose to her feet, her gaze fixed straight into the depths of the gray fog. She had just sensed the magical fluctuation her daughter used.
That fluctuation was easy to tell apart—just like Bluetooth channels of different frequencies. Most people used magic through the 2.5hz band, but Jasmine used the 5.0hz band.
“So Jasmine discovered a hidden monster in the dungeon? That is interesting. Let me go take a look~”
Boom rumble rumble!
The trembling continued, one shock after another—slow in frequency but enough to shake the ground and loosen the rocks.
In the chaos, Vieya saw not only mages running like mad, but also several goblins emerging from the caves to take advantage of the situation.
“Ah—help, I was bitten on the leg by a goblin! Please, someone!”
One unlucky mage was ambushed by goblins and knocked to the ground, struggling frantically for help, but not a single mage dared stop to save him at a time like this.
Vieya raised an eyebrow, stepped forward, and kicked away several goblins that tried to sneak-attack. Then she aimed at the unfortunate mage’s backside and kicked him like a football straight out of the mist.
“Waaah—!”
The unlucky mage spun in the air like a corkscrew, drawing the attention of the other escapees below, who watched while still running for their lives.
“Bye-bye, kiddo. A split backside is better than no life.”
Vieya moved quickly, sending a few more unfortunate souls flying out of harm’s way, turning the already chaotic scene into complete turmoil.
The distant screams caught Jasmine’s group’s attention, but they had no time to be distracted.
They not only had to evade the elite slime’s attacks in front of them, but also stay wary of the treacherous trio who had tricked them once.
Boom rumble rumble!
The several-tens-of-meters-tall violet slime once again bounced high into the air and crashed down toward Rorina!
Boom rumble rumble!
“Uwaaa!! Why is it targeting meee?! Why will it not go beat up those three xx mages instead!”
Rorina cried as she ran; if Jasmine had not continuously cast “Run Faster Faster” on her, she would have been flattened into Rorina spread by now.
“There is nothing you can do. You were the one who blasted it with your explosion spell.”
Maixi stood beside Jasmine, comforting while cheering, “Come on, pink-haired little sister who is good at running.”
“You deadweight! If I make it out of this dungeon alive I swear I will buy you and sell you to a pleasure house!”
Rorina shouted threats!
Boom rumble rumble!
The slime slammed down again, the ground collapsing and rocks shattering!
Rorina stumbled desperately; even when sharp fragments of rock flew out and cut her cheek, she did not have time to care. She had to keep running—faster!
Meanwhile, the trio of mages seized the moment while the treasure-chest guardian was lured away and rushed toward the now-unwatched secret-room chest.
“No way, it is a silver chest! Woohoo, we are going big! This is enough bragging material for a lifetime! Hey... you think there could be fragments of a world-class item in here? Then we are set for life!”
“Stop daydreaming and open it! After those three brats get crushed to death by the monster, its hatred target will be us!”
Boom rumble rumble!
As the trio approached the chest, the violet slime grew even more frenzied. It desperately wanted to flatten that little pink dog running everywhere—or swallow her whole and digest her before rolling back to devour those three treacherous chest-stealing humans!
Boom rumble rumble!
With another crushing impact, the unprepared Rorina was blasted into the stone wall by the shockwave, coughing out a mouthful of blood, her breath weakening.
Jasmine tried to cast Light Arrows to pull its aggro, but the slime reacted first, spraying a torrent of corrosive liquid directly at her!
Maixi gritted her teeth and stepped forward, trying to block the slime’s acid spray with her straight sword, but after only three parries, the blade her parents bought for two silver coins had already begun to rot away from corrosion.
“O earth, rise ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) as a high wall!”
Jasmine raised her staff and forcibly pulled the abundant earth-element in the air, constructing a square stone wall to trap the violet slime.
It would not hold for long, but it bought them a precious moment to breathe.
“Heal!”
A soft green healing glow fell on Rorina’s legs. She glanced gratefully at the pale-faced Jasmine and immediately started running again.
Boom rumble rumble!
In only three breaths, the slime shattered the nearly ten-meter earth wall and rolled furiously toward Rorina!
It could no longer tolerate these damned, deceitful, greedy, troublemaking humans!
Death Roll!
The slime turned into a massive wheel, carrying unstoppable power as it rolled straight for Rorina!
Boom rumble rumble!
Along its path, every obstacle Jasmine threw up—solid rocks, barriers—crumbled like paper. Not a single one lasted even a second before being crushed into dust under the slime’s giant wheel.
This was pure power—power that crushed everything, trampled everything!
Rorina was like an ant beneath the wheels, left only with despair as death rushed toward her. She no longer wanted to run. She looked one last time at her two friends who were still shouting and attacking the slime.
What were they shouting?
Rorina’s ears rang so badly she could barely hear, but she could guess.
They were shouting: Move! Lift your legs! Run! Run fast!
Yes—run!
As long as she could still breathe, life should always push forward!
I cannot waste Jasmine’s magic.
I cannot let that damned bottom-of-the-rank girl laugh at my funeral!
I cannot let everyone laugh at me—Rorina!
Look—there goes the spoiled young lady dying like a piece of trash, drowned in the waves without even making a splash!
“Ahhhh—!”
Rorina raised her lead-heavy legs again, biting hard on her blood-soaked lips, and sprinted with everything she had! freewēbnoveℓ.com
In that moment, the whole world suddenly felt light, blank and white; even the pain in her body faded.
Am I... dead?
Rorina thought in a daze.
So... death is such an easy thing. Quiet, silent, without pain, without a life-flashing montage, without the voices of father, mother, or friends.
Heh... of course.
Someone like me could never have had friends. I never had relatives who cared. Even the faces of father and mother, I only know from black-and-white photographs. I am just the illegitimate daughter of a branch family—not a main-house young lady at all...
Forget it. Let me end this lowly, worthless life of mine.
I have only muddled through ten years in this world—shallow as paper, empty-handed, with no bonds.
Rorina wanted to lie down and accept her fate.
But she found her arms and legs still moving—still operating for the sake of this pathetic life.
“Uuuuuu, my entire life is already such a mess, so why do I still not want to dieeeee!!!”
Rorina cried loudly as she ran.
Then—
She smashed head-first into something flat, bounced backward, and just as she was about to die completely, someone caught her.
“Hey hey hey, little girl, how can you run without watching where you are going! If you bump into someone you have to apologize... hey, do not faint! I am not going to let you play dead and scam me!”
Did I... cause trouble again?
Rorina struggled to open her eyes, but her consciousness grew dimmer and dimmer. All she could sense was a faint, gentle fragrance... and the soft, warm feel of the person’s arm holding her.
“...Sorry.”
At the very last moment before losing consciousness completely, Rorina spoke aloud those two words—for the first time in her life.
