I was not sure what reaction I expected. I was not even certain of what I wanted from these adventurers. Should I attempt to make them understand me? Should I try to befriend them? Did I want to hurt them? I had no clue. For the most part, I simply continued to move forward, because staying still felt too passive. I...did not know what more to do.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, the group made the decision for me.

One of the women, the one with really long straight hair and a pipe in her mouth, took a deep breath from said pipe and blew. A stream of smoke curled my way, faster than I would have expected. In fact, the sight of such a controlled act was beyond anything I could expect, but then again, in this game like world I suppose almost anything is possible.

Exhibit A, sentient slime dungeon boss here.

The smoke wrapped around my form, dark purple in color and giving off a malicious feeling. I did not want to touch it, but I did not have much choice as it constricted around me. A strange sensation arose...prickling, annoying. Whatever it was doing to me, it could not be good. I tried to throw myself out of entrapment, but the smoke clung to me like a parasite. It was as I rolled over a particularly dense patch of grass that I noticed something. The smoke rapidly dissolved it. Acidic herbs? Or…?

Focusing so hard on the smoke and its effects prevented me from noticing the barrier mage acting up again. Before I realized it, four more silvery lights surrounded me in a box like manner. This time they were all square shaped instead of circles. My motion became limited, I could not go forwards or backwards, nor to either side. Just as I was about to try going up, another silver square slammed into place.

This left me trapped in a cube with a kind of dissolving smoke eating away at me. Clever strategy. Still, I wondered why the mage did not add another barrier below me. While I was not too sure I could dig my way out quickly enough, there was no way that these adventurers could know that. A sneaky glance at them gave me an answer.

The robed mage was sweating buckets, his face twisted in concentration. A couple of empty bottles were scattered around his feet, a fresh one in his hand glowing blue. His other hand gave off a powerful silver light, perhaps the same hand that held all of these barriers in place. I supposed this tactic was going well beyond his limits. What of the others, then?

The pipe woman...huh. Well, I guess she is out. I found her sitting on the ground, looking up towards the luminescent ceiling, her expression showing her lost in whatever pleasant fantasy or emotion she was experiencing. It must be an effect of her unusual class skill. Seems like an incredibly stupid way to risk yourself in any kind of fight, period.

Deciding that the best way to escape my predicament would be to overtax the mage even further, I started smashing the barriers with several tentacles as I observed the last three members. The one in full metal armor stood in front of everyone else, twin swords at the ready. When I first saw her, I thought she was the tank of the group, the one who soaks up all the damage. But I could not think of any tank who would use two swords...just as I could not think of any dual sword wielder to hamper their speed. It occurred to me, just then, that this was not the best example of an adventuring party. At least three members so far have shown a level of...I do not know, incompetence? Incompetence that I would never tolerate if I were running my own team. A useful, but weak mage, a ranged attacker that gets high off of her own attacks, and whatever that armored woman is.

The last two did not add much to my evaluation. The other woman, blonde, with leather armor and metal arm guards, looked torn between helping the mage and staring at me with a rather...disturbing look. Almost as if she were...aroused.

Yeah, no, not going to think about that.

Increasing my strikes on the barriers, noting that the “debilitating” smoke was lessening, and still not feeling any real damaging effects from it, I found the last party member. Holding two knives in his hands, he was sweating nearly as much as the mage, who looked to be on the verge of passing out. The knife wielder looked between the party, myself, and the path that they left behind. I guessed he wanted to run and save his own skin, but something was holding him back.

He should make up his mind soon, however. It was about time I made my move.

I determined that one last good push should send the mage over the edge. I pulled myself together, literally, squeezing my body in on itself. It felt strange, to compress myself that way, but I did it as best I could and let the pressure build up. I did not give them much time to figure out my plan and adapt to it. Suddenly forcing myself to expand, I used the release in tension to power an omnidirectional body slam, hitting all five barriers and the ground below at once.

It worked beautifully. The added stress of my empowered strike must have created a powerful feedback, as the mage stiffened before dropping like a dead fly. The barriers vanished at the same time, the smoke dissipating completely as well. At least the prickling sensation finally ended. I wondered why it did not do more to me, before I rationalized that melting attacks probably have limited effects on slimes, who melt and dissolve matter for a living. As a boss tiered monster, my resistance must have been especially stronger.

Either way, the actions of this group was a clear message to me. Trap and kill. Well, I suppose my way was clear in that case. Slaughter anything that denies me the chance to live.

I surged forward, significantly faster than my earlier approach. The twin sword woman opened her eyes in horror, both at my escape and at my new speed. She panicked, her stance shaky as she could not decide between attacking and defending. At the last moment, both she and the knife guy threw half hearted swings at me, the guy coming up to my side with clear unwillingness on his face.

Even if I was a regular monster, I think I would have been insulted by their pitiful display. As it was, I was not normal.

Trusting my intuitive reaction, born from recently gained combat experience, I allowed their strikes to land. At the same time, I lashed out with three five tentacles, still the limit of my control, but probably enough for the situation. Two wrapped around the bodies of the knocked out mage and the pipe woman. They were slowly dragged into me. One wrapped around the blonde woman, who for some reason was quite red in her face and...yeah, I am not going to decipher her expression. The last two wrapped around the sword woman and the knife guy, who were already shaking. The woman was clearly off balance from her crappy stance and her wild swings, the guy...wait, he is just shaking shaking. He reminded me of a junky from Earth.

This entire team is just...weird. Maybe I am doing this world a service.

Normally I would have had more trouble handling all of their combined weight at once, but I found myself having a much easier time pulling them all into my body. Part of that was the lack of major resistance, but I think I also grew much stronger after eating the core and fairy of this dungeon. As the five humans suffocated inside of me, eventually dying together, I wondered exactly how much stronger I could become. Then I noticed the ecstatic, almost erotic expression on the blonde inseide of me, and it unsettled me enough that I twisted a part of myself to grind her body into a pulp. Although she was already close to death, her expression lost that satisfied look instantly.

I knew her type. I did not want to entertain her perversion at all.

With all five dead, I proceeded to consume them all at once. A powerful surge of mana rose within me, chaotic in motion and almost threatening to make me burst. Once more, I felt no pain, but I instinctively knew that if I did not take control then I might actually die. Each body contained less mana than the dungeon core, but together they added up to be more than what I had consumed from the rest of the dungeon so far. And being five distinct sources, they collided with each other violently inside of me.

It took a great deal of determination and willpower to wrest control over the chaotic energy. If anyone was left alive to watch me, they would see my body twisting and spiking out in random directions as I fought with the mana. Soon, however, I forced it into submission. I let out a mental sigh of relief. I would need to be more careful the next time I try something like that.

Before I could make another move, something happened that froze me in place. Something I could never have expected.

A window appeared in front of me...

Disaster Rank Upgrading...Ranking Established.

Arc - Doombringer

Designation: Dungeon Boss

Category: Slime

Disaster Rank: Unnatural

Feats: 5/5

Feat Description

Associated Ability

Eliminated: creator

Mana Manipulation

Eliminated: place of birth

Ambient Mana Siphon

Defeated: Tier 1 Dungeon Boss

Expansion Manipulation

Defeated: member of native species (2/2)

Native Language Acquisition

Defeated: members of invading species (5/5)

Enhanced Consumption

...and left me with a whole lot more to think about.