Chương 90: Time to Get Slimy!

POV: The Dark Lord, Milo Miles Okay, calm down, just because it's a slime doesn't mean it's weak. It's a Dark Lord's slime! I have seen anime where slimes were actually broken; they couldn't die, they could digest anything, and heck, Rimuru could rival the gods! So I went outside on my own after dinner to check if this slime would be any good. The dinner had been… fine, I guess.

The meat prepared by Lunessa was ruined due to the elves' ambush earlier today, but she had some vegetables and even rice in the kitchen, so we ate that. We also gave some to the elves, and despite their initial hesitation, they still finished everything. And since it's already late, we decided to head to Silvanis tomorrow morning.

I would love to head out immediately, but since we had to traverse through forests, with the amount of people we have, it wouldn't be efficient; the elves and Luke could probably navigate the dark forests easily, but for the others, we wouldn't be able to do the same. Also, there was Astra, Eve's horse. If we all go, she would be left alone, so we decided to take her alongside us tomorrow.

I had tried to discuss with the team on who should go, that maybe a few of us should just stay here, but everyone insisted on going. The three elves would have to go, of course. Faylen would have to return home, too. I had to go there to confront the elder. I thought it wasn't mandatory for Eve to go, but when I brought that up, she just acted all cute again. I could still remember it.

"I… want to go," She said. The way she said it might have seemed normal, but for whatever reason, they sounded like the sweetest things. In fact, ever since the Cerberus hug incident, everything Eve said sounded melodic. Not to mention her expression; slight flush, a little bit of hesitation, the small fidgets then her gaze not meeting mine out of embarrassment. No sane guy would be able to say not to those. I could die from cuteness overload if this kept up everyday, and I wouldn't mind dying from it.

Was this what love could do to you? Making you even more of an idiot and a creep? Anyway, since Eve would tag along, Mel said she would like to go too, and Lunessa also said she would like to go. To be honest, I was a bit reluctant to let them come along, especially Lunessa, since she was the most fragile one among us, but she had said she might be able to help for matters involving negotiation, which I agreed with. So… we all decided to go. I was out in the clearing.

Luke was alert in her Cerberus form, and Astra was just chilling; seemed like she's used to having a Cerberus around. Accompanied with just the crackle of the bonfire, I put my arms out and thought of the summon skill. A blue magical circle appeared, and out of it, rose a blue-ish, translucent slime; it did not have any facial features. It was just a jiggly, gooey thingie the size of a dresser, like nearly three feet tall.

"That is cute," I could hear a familiar voice behind me, causing me to jump and immediately turn back. It was Lunessa. Seeing my pathetic reaction, she laughed, short and bright.

"Sorry, didn't know a Dark Lord would be startled that easily."

"Well, as you might have known, I'm not like the other Dark Lords. I'm probably the most humane one out there!" I said, still rubbing my chest from the fright.

"Yeah, I know. That's why I didn't drag Eve back home until now." Huh? She had thought of doing that? She then settled onto the log, elbows on her knees, chin propped in her hands.

"Don't mind me, continue with what you're doing."

"... you will just sit there watching me?"

"Do you mind me watching?"

"Well…no, it's fine. Just make sure not to get too close since things might get dangerous."

"Yes, my Lord!" She said as she put on a salute pose, snapping her hand to her forehead with a teasing smile. I'd be lying if I say I didn't find that cute. I gave her an awkward smile and turned back to the front of me. There was nothing but the jiggly slime who kept squishing up and down rhythmically like an NPC. It certainly didn't look strong, but hey, we shouldn't judge a monster's strength by looks. Whenever I thought of OP slimes, the first ability that came to mind would be its impenetrable defenses.

Like, they can absorb everything, making them basically unkillable. Of course, it depends on the type of slime, but this guy's a Dark Lord's slime. Surely it won't be slain with just a slash of a sword?

"Sorry slime, I have to do this so I know the extent of your abilities," I whispered to myself. I didn't know if the slime has conscience or whether it could understand my words or not, so I didn't approach it and talk. Besides, Lunessa's right behind me, watching with amusement; I wouldn't want her to think of me as a freak. So I pointed my right hand at it and cast Infernal Flame. The slime didn't even dodge, it just stood there as the purple fireball shot right into it.

That's right, the fire was inside the slime, and moments later, the slime's blue-ish body started to turn red. I was worried that it might explode, splattering gooey stuff all over the place, including me and Lunessa. If that were to happen, like, if Lunessa was covered in the stuff, that would be one heck of romcom scene. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. But a few seconds later, the slime started to catch fire.

The purple fire was burning all over its body, and I could see it still jiggling as if nothing happened. Though, the bad news was, the fire was spreading on the grass. If I didn't stop this, the outcome would be catastrophic; Nyx's not here, and if the house was burned to a crisp, that would be another level of trouble. So I willed for the Infernal Flame to die out, and fortunately, it did. I looked behind me, and Lunessa was up on her feet. Guess she was also worried about the potential forest fire.

Though she gave me a thumbs up immediately afterwards.

"Okay, that was a neat trick," she said.

"A slime capable of absorbing elemental attacks? That's rare."

"You don't have those here?"

"Well, we do, but…" she stepped forward, closer to me now.

"... they are mostly restrained to one element. In forests like these, there would be the common slimes without any elements. When it's closer to a volcanic region, there would be fire slimes. Then ice slimes in snowy places; they have spikes. Earth slimes, which look like jiggly boulders, are aplenty in some mountains." I see. But I was only able to use fire attacks at this point, so in terms of utility, the slime might not be that great, unless we can have the others casting spells onto it.

I suppose that's another thing to think about eventually. For now, at least I knew that it can absorb elemental attacks. Time for the next test. To see if it can withstand sword attacks. I summoned Hell's Sword in its ignited form, ran towards it and brought the sword down right in the middle of the slime. Surprisingly, it didn't go through. Instead, it squished it down and bounced back; this slime's durability is no joke. If a Dark Lord's sword cannot kill it, I wouldn't know what will.

Then it got set on fire again, but since this wasn't the infernal flame, I couldn't will for it to be put out. Oh fuck. Panic settled over me, but then I remembered the slime was my freaking summon, so I thought about canceling it, and luckily, it worked; the slime was swallowed by a circular magic circle below it. Right, another lesson learned.

"Hmm." The sound came from behind me. I turned to find Lunessa, arms crossed, looking thoughtful.

"You know, I've been thinking…"

"About what?"

"The slime. We know it could absorb elemental attacks and make them into its own, and that it has amazing durability. I was wondering if it could do more."

"What could a slime possibly do more of?" I said. I mean, sure, it's tough, but based on what's happening so far, it seemed dumb and lacked capability to process things. It just stood there doing nothing. Maybe it could listen to instructions, but I'd need to understand how much instruction it could process.

"I've been wanting to try out one thing. Can you summon it again?" Lunessa asked. So I did, and the jiggly brother appeared again.

"Since it's different from common slimes, I was wondering if it can control the pressure and the molecular structure of its body." Lunessa approached it, leaned down a bit and tried to pat it. Apparently, it leaned towards her hand, and the pat connected.

"Ooh, look at how cute it is!" She turned at me, eyes beaming like she had never seen a slime behaving like that before. Which, again, I found pretty cute.... Okay, enough with that, I'm not a creep. She's Eve's sister for god's sake. Looking at them, I could see Lunessa's hands settling over the slime, like it's a durable jelly. It's tough and jiggly, but not exactly liquid. She stopped petting it, straightened herself, then after pondering something for a little while, she said, "I shall call you Mallow."

"Mallow?"

"Yeah, from Marshmallow." Right, of course. But it's a slime, and I'm not sure if naming a summon that can die often would be good for the heart since it could make her more attached to it. As if understanding her, the slime, or rather, Mallow, bobbed faster, and Lunessa looked delighted.

"Okay, Mallow, can you liquify your body?" Mallow nodded. Not that it had a neck, but the upper part of it bent down, which I interpreted as a nod. Shortly after, its body started to ripple softly, like, the material changed. Lunessa then slowly stuck her hand towards it and this time, her hand went straight inside.

"Ooh! So it can control its molecular integrity after all!" Whatever that meant, I suppose that's a good thing.

"It's…cool and somewhat pleasant. You wanna try it, Milo?"

"Uhh, no thanks." She shrugged, pulled her hands out, and looked at it for a while. I could guess what she wanted, so I took out a handkerchief from my pocket and handed it to her.

"You... carry this around?" Lunessa looked at the handkerchief on my hand, which had been unfolded partway; there were crescent moons stitched along the border.

"Well, yeah, I started to treat it like a good luck charm."

"Does Eve know?"

"I didn't tell her about it."

"You should, sometime. She'd be delighted." Lunessa then took it and started wiping her hands.

"... I'll wash it and return it to you right after this." After wiping, she put it inside her shorts pocket.

"Anyway, if Mallow can control her body like this, then there should be many things she can do." So it's a she now. She's definitely getting attached to it, or, her.

"Well, why not ask her? Since she can understand what we're saying, she should be able to demonstrate some of her skills directly," I said as I turned towards Mallow.

"Okay Mallow, is there any offensive skill that you can use?" Mallow nodded, and then its whole body began to vibrate. The trembling grew stronger by the second, and so did her bluish glow. What's this? Laser beams? Or maybe it'll evolve into a humanoid with even more OP abilities? Lunessa leaned in, just as curious. Neither of us could look away, which might not be wise since if it's a dangerous move, it could endanger Lunessa.

Still, since the slime was sentient, she wouldn't just use a massively destructive move here... right? The glow brightened, then brightened some more, until Mallow— —exploded. Goo splattered everywhere. I'm pretty sure some of it landed in my mouth. It tasted salty, like sea salt. I turned to Lunessa. She was frozen in place, eyes wide, a glob of translucent goo sliding slowly down her cheek. Her hair was plastered to her forehead, and her cheeks were turning pinker by the second....

Yeah, this definitely looked like a romcom scene.