“The Shadow Inquisitors have returned!” a voice announced, echoing in the throne room.

Zoreth the Onyx Vanguard marched through the carpeted floor, accompanied only with his prisoner in tow. As the leader of the Shadow Inquisitors, he alone was granted an audience with the God King. He halted and kneeled ten paces before the looming Dark Elf.

God King Chare faced his back to Zoreth, admiring his throne. He ran a hand over a plaque just above the seat and spoke softly.

“I take it the deed has been done?”

“Yes, God King,” Zoreth said, standing back to his feet.

“Good.” Chare turned around, smiling. “I knew I could entrust you with…” he trailed off, eyeing the prisoner. “Zoreth— who is that?”

“That is Kazil the Necromancer, God King.”

“Alright, I knew that,” he said and crossed his arms. “But why did you bring him here? I was under the impression that I gave you explicit orders that didn’t involve bringing me a homeless man from the streets.”

Zoreth pursed his lips. “Apologies, God King, but if I recall correctly, our orders were to defeat the Necromancer and destroy his laboratory.”

“Oh my G— I mean, oh my me. By ‘defeat the Necromancer’, I meant kill him. Murder. Execute. Assassinate. Not bring him to my room, chained up like I’m about to engage in some bondage play.” The God King sighed, massaging his temples. “Whatever. I’ll forgive this this time since you at least accomplished your other half of the mission.”

“I—” Zoreth opened his mouth, but Kazil threw his head back and cackled.

Chare narrowed his eyes. “Zoreth, why is he laughing? In fact, why is he still conscious?

“You’re wrong, God King Chare,” the bound Necromancer spat. “Your minions fail you. Your one true fear has come true. The reckoning of your pitiful empire has begun.”

“Seriously, what is he talking about?”

“About that, God King,” Zoreth said and bowed his head, “while we managed to destroy Kazil’s laboratory, we failed to find the Arcslime. It seems that he had a long-range teleportation system set up prior to our arrival which he used to evacuate it.”

The God King’s eyes twitched. “So, you failed to not only kill the Necromancer I sent you out to kill, but you failed to destroy the Arcslime which was the main reason why I sent you and your motley crew of idiots in the first place.”

“Apologies, God King, but as mentioned, our given mission was to—”

“Defeat the Necromancer and destroy his laboratory, I know.” He took a deep breath, calming himself. “Seems like nobody here understands the meaning of subtext anymore.”

Exhaling, God King Chare walked down the steps to his throne and stopped just before Zoreth. The Onyx Vanguard felt his skin crawl with fear as though a thousand insects were creeping up his back.

“Tell me, Zoreth, do you know why the Arcslime is so dangerous?”

“No, God King.”

“Is it because it has the ability to claim hosts— to invade and take over one’s bodily system?” he asked, tilting his head. “Or is it because it turns its hosts into monsters, cursing them with its Arcane Essence, and bringing them further away from the embrace of Drasel?”

Zoreth didn’t respond. He just stood there, frozen, utterly petrified.

“If that was it, then I wouldn’t say that an Arcslime is any more dangerous than a regular monster. But where it distinguishes itself from Ravinecrawlers and Arachnatects is that it is made entirely out of Arcane Essence. It is the only monster in existence that lacks any Physical Essence.”

Chare placed a hand on Zoreth’s shoulder, shaking his head.

“And that means, unlike us, it can only grow and level by killing. It has an inherent desire to absorb the Physical Essence of others— to destroy,” the God King said. “That, my dear Zoreth, makes them pure evil.”

He drew back and started up to the throne.

“I’m sure you understand what needs to be done.”

Zoreth bowed hurriedly, feeling a bead of sweat roll down his neck. “Yes, God King. We already had plans to torture Kazil for information on the Arcslime’s whereabouts. We had even sent Draxus the Savage Hunter out to track it down. We assure you, it will be dealt with as soon as possible.”

“Very good,” Chare said, waving a hand dismissively. “Wahr-Drohz.”

The throne room’s door swung open, and the guard who announced Zoreth’s return marched in.

“You called for me, God King?” Wahr-Drohz came to a halt right behind the Onyx Vanguard.

“Take this Necromancer out of my face. Bring him to the torture chamber.”

“Yes, God King.” But the guard didn’t take his leave. He paused for a moment, scratching the back of his head. “By torture chamber, God King, do you mean the punishment chamber or the interrogation chamber?”

“The punishment chamber or the…” Chare frowned. “What’s the difference?”

“Well, God King, if you must know, the punishment chamber is for punishments, and the interrogation chamber is for interrogations—”

Zoreth flinched as a blast engulfed the back room. Wahr-Drohz’s corpse was eaten slowly by a black flame, and the God King turned to his throne.

“Good me, I hate smartasses.” Shaking his head, Chare clapped his hands and called for the other guards. “Clean this mess up.”

They moved swiftly, like they were used to this. Zoreth trembled as he stood there, not yet given permission to leave just yet. The God King glanced back fractionally.

“And, Zoreth, take this as a warning as to what’ll happen to you if you do fail me again.”

“Yes, God King!” Zoreth rushed out of the room, internally screaming .

Chare just sighed as he was left alone. He silently ran a hand over the plaque on his throne, reading his Father’s words.

“I shall not fail you. No matter what.”

"The Arcslime is the amalgamation of all that is evil. So, for the sake of justice and all that is good, let us genocide their whole race!" - God King Tay-Burl the Genocider

* * *

You have defeated a [Dark Elf - Level 9 (Combat Power: 145)]!

You have absorbed their Physical Essence!

You have defeated a [Dark Elf - Level 11 (Combat Power: 203)]!

You have absorbed their Physical Essence!

…

You have defeated a [Dark Elf (Defender of Fort Erkaed) (Slayer of Xellyn Moths) - Level 19 (Combat Power: 465)]!

You have absorbed their Physical Essence!

You have advanced to Level 14!

- Arcane Essence +40

You have advanced to Level 15!

- Arcane Essence +40

I leveled up twice. Neat!

You have earned the [Title: Destroyer of Fort Erkaed]!

- Arcane Essence +50

Oh, I also earned a [Title]. Double neat!

I didn’t even bring down the whole of the fortress, but I guess killing Captain Rioke— someone who had two [Titles] related to protecting Fort Erkaed— meant that I deserved something special. It didn’t grant me the biggest Combat Power boost, however I would take what I could get!

Anyways, now that Fissyah and I were separate again, I finally could feed on the dead Dark Elves. I quickly gobbled them up with help of [Improved Absorption], and we were ready to go on our way.

You have replenished 40 Arcane Essence!

You have also replenished 20 Arcane Essence due to [Improved Absorption]!

…

You have replenished 100 Arcane Essence!

You have also replenished 50 Arcane Essence due to [Improved Absorption]!

Name: Violet [Level 15]

Species: Arcslime

Combat Power: 550

Arcane Essence: 550/550

Skills:

[Appraisal - 10 Arcane Essence]

[Arc Shot - 20 Arcane Essence]

Passive Skills:

[Arcane Restoration - You restore 10 Arcane Essence for every ten minutes of rest.]

[Improved Absorption - You replenish an additional 50% of Arcane Essence from consuming bodies.]

[Morph Shape - Your body can take on complex shapes.]

Special Skills:

[Arc Symbiosis: Fissyah - 50% of Total Arcane Essence]

Titles:

[Destroyer of Fort Erkaed - Arcane Essence +50]

“Are you sure you don’t want to have some of Rioke? You did say he tasted good.” I turned to the Goblin who watched me from the side.

“No thanks,” she said, making a face of disgust. “Also, you just ate him, so… there’s nothing left for me, really.”

“That’s not true!” I picked up the remains of what he carried on him. “Look, there’s this iron chestplate, this iron greaves… and, uhm, this iron sword?” I held each item up with a different appendage.

“Because, sure, I’ll be able to carry an iron sword and swing it around.” The girl rolled her eyes, and I shrugged with all three of my limbs.

“Well, you’re Level 10 now, aren’t you? Your Combat Power is at 150, so you should at least be as strong as those Dark Elves.”

“That’s true!” Her eyes grew wide at the realization. “But wait, my Combat Power is only 130.”

“Are you sure about that?” I used [Appraisal] on her once again, just to confirm what I saw was right.

[Goblin - Level 10 (Combat Power: 150)]

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure your Status is what’s wrong. Or it hasn't been updated yet.”

“Updated?” Fissyah cocked a brow.

“When you reach Level 10, you’ll get a notification that says you reached a ‘new threshold’ or something, right?” I said, vaguely gesticulating at the air where her notifications should be. “Maybe it’ll take you a moment to get it.”

“I’m not sure if I see—” She paused, blinking. “Wait, I see it now.”

“You do? That’s great!” I clapped my appendages together, pleased.

“It says that I have advanced to…” the girl trailed off.

I watched as she wobbled, eyes glazing over and trying to stay up.

“Uhm, Fissyah?”

“Why do I feel so… tired?” she said as she fell to the ground, her eyelids fluttering shut.

“Fissyah? Fissyah?!” I rushed over to her side, poking her on the cheek. I hesitated. “Are you… dead?”

No response.

“Can I… eat you?”

I immediately shook my head and backed away from her body.

“I was joking! It’s a joke!” I sputtered to myself. “But for real, are you alright?”

There was no visible reaction, but I could see her chest rising and falling. She was asleep, thank god. If I had a face, I’d be smiling right now. She reminded me of a little girl who’d just finished playing with her friends in the park and was too exhausted to stay awake on the car ride back. Her parents wouldn’t want to disturb her sleep, so they’d just carry her to her room when they arrived home.

In this scenario, I’d be the parent. Which— I’d personally object to since I was too young to have a kid. Also, there was the questionable fact that I was comparing slaughtering dozens of soldiers in a fortress that was part of an oppressive empire to a fun day out with friends.

“Anyways, ignoring the little details, it’s time to bring you home, Fissyah!” I picked up the girl with my appendages— she was a lot lighter than I thought she’d be— and started for the gate of the fortress.

However, just before I could finally depart from this place, I heard footfalls echo down the hallway. A dozen soldiers made their way towards me, led by two familiar Dark Elves.

“Stop that Slime!”

I stared at the pair. “Cibsacu, Phigilvel? I thought we were friends!”

They loosed arrows after me as I picked up Fissyah and made a break for it. Even though I had restored my Arcane Essence, I was still tired and injured from the battle with Rioke. I wasn’t going to risk getting into another altercation now. Not when there were other patrols of guards that would soon be returning.

I fired a few [Arc Shots] at the gate, damaging the lattice enough for me to just bounce straight through it with Fissyah in tow. I glanced back once and shouted at the Dark Elves.

“You’ll never take me alive, coppers!” I shook a fist at them as they tried to raise the gates.

They didn’t manage to catch up to me, and I eventually managed to lose them. With that, I made my way back to Korukh.