Chương 24: An Unexpected Holy One

"This is new territory for me, I won't lie," LANCE told the now (Holy) Slime King.

"Umm, I can't really order you around because although you repented for your actions, you technically weren't liable for your actions, being imprisoned as you were and forced to participate. That is what my HUD is telling me, anyway. Do you have a HUD, a System? Yes? That's a surprise. Okay. So... let's see. I imagine you want revenge for your treatment, yes? Until we can get you to a monastery, I think you are stuck with me."

"That is fine, human! Unleash me against this island's inhabitants and I will reduce all with evil in their hearts to doom!" The situation was just too weird for him. He had never, ever heard of a monster of being granted a covenant with a Celestial God, let alone being given a System. It was territory he not only didn't know, but it was also material he thought was impossible literal minutes ago.

"Yeah," he told the Holy Slime King.

"Do what you will. Ummm, I am going to go after this island's leader. I don't suppose you will want to join me for that final battle?"

"Of course! When the time comes, send me a telepathic message through the System's interface and I will find your location from your scent!"

"Uh, so, that's the thing, messages can only be sent between Masters and their Familiars. I don't think you are... wait, let me check..." he opened his HUD and looked at his list of familiars. It listed ONE familiar, a Holy King Slime. His face went white.

"Oh. You are my familiar. Never mind, then. I will send you that message..." The Holy King Slime — he really needed a shorter name for it — shrieked in delight. Or was it bloodlust? Hard to say.

"We need to get out of here. Follow me," he told the creature that had somehow become his familiar. How would he explain this to his dad? To the Holy King Slime, he said, "Go ahead of me. There is a passage chamber at the far end with two corridors from the one we will come out of. Take one of those passages and I will take the other Purify all those who resist." The Holy King Slime reacted to his words by having a couple of bubbles form and travel 'up' from inside its body. He didn't know what that meant.

"I will be right behind you. First, I am going to set a string from the explosive powder and blow this whole place to kingdom come. No one else needs to suffer violence in this wet, dark jail..." His effort set, the Holy King Slime went ahead of him as he stayed behind taking pains to set up all the buckets of explosive powder in a central location, where the King Slime had been held prisoner.

He then created a trail leading back to that central location all along the passages, using some of his sticky, glowing moss to keep the powder stuck to the ladders as it continued up and along the lengthy passage, the same one he had taken to get into the execution chamber with the slime and prisoners. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

It took him a long while, but he did it — he created a trail of powder all the way from that creepy, unholy place to the divergence point he had come across earlier, with the three passages, the two of which had fresh air coming from. Back there again, he saw one tunnel filled with slime, a clear indicator that the Holy King Slime had already chosen a path and departed. Which left him only one.

As he selected that path and ran down, he struck a match and tossed it to the ground, letting the flame take and travel down. He had to hurry. He did not want to get caught down here when the fire reached its destination and all the buckets exploded. While he ran down the pathway, happy to again smell fresh air, even if the tunnels remained dark and wet, he checked his notifications. He had received some during his altercation down below, so he figured he should make his time running in the dark useful.

[You Have Encountered a Special Monster: King Slime (Repenting)] [Special Monster Contract Formed: familiar Acquired: XP Gained] [Accomplishment Unlocked: Monster Familiar: You have formed a contract with a monster! A rare deed! In turn, this monster has become your familiar. Are you ready for the complex life of a Paladin with a monster familiar? Are you aware that most people in your situation create familiars using an alchemic process or simply buy one like a pet? Well, you're aware now! REWARD: XP] [You Have Reached Level 31] [Boon Points Gained: 9] [Unallocated Boon Points: 9] Lance ignored the snappy System description. Though he did wonder if the Accomplishment descriptions were being tailor made to him. He figured against it, but what did he know about System minutia? Little worth sharing. Although he was happy to have Boon Points, he dismissed the HUD. He could assign his free points later, when he wasn't escaping from a tunnel system that was about to collapse.

An explosion later which shook the earth told him that the buckets upon buckets of explosive powder had gone off deeper in the tunnels. If he could feel the results of the explosion all the way in the secondary tunnel, above that execution chamber, he thanked his lucky stars he hadn't decided to set the buckets off while he was down there fighting the slime. That would've gone so wrong, he didn't even want to think about it.

[Accomplishment Unlocked: Tunnel System Collapsed: No more will the cutthroats on this island be able to use the underground passages to quickly distribute cargo, loot, and slaves. You've done the region an immense good. REWARD: XP] The shaking stopped a few minutes later. By then, he had crossed the end of the tunnel and could see daylight ahead. Not much, just a streak, but enough to cause hope to inspire within him.

He arrived at the end, jumped up, and shot open the hatch as he climbed up from the tunnel and into the fresh air and open ground. Trees, the setting sun, and fireflies, all the peace of the world had returned to him. He was no longer stuck within those claustrophobic tunnels. How wonderful! What wasn't so wonderful, of course, were the many surprised bandits whose camp he had emerged; "Oh, hello there... I don't suppose any of you would like to repent in exchange for your lives?"