“What is this?” Luscelt couldn’t comprehend what had just happened. His punch, aimed directly at Master’s face, had not only been intercepted but completely destroyed.
The gap between Master’s appearance and his actions was too great for Luscelt to process. Master, who always appeared calm and friendly, had crushed his fist with a gentle smile, as if they were exchanging a handshake.
“This can’t be real…” Lucil muttered in shock.
He knew Master was strong, having fought alongside him against monsters, but he hadn’t realized just how strong Master truly was. Lucil had thought Soulgros, who often fought monsters, was stronger than Master. After all, Luscelt had easily killed Apollo, Ligg, and Pelorro and had effortlessly neutralized Lucil’s attack. Yet here was Master, effortlessly catching Luscelt’s punch and crushing his fist.
“Master truly is powerful. It’s enough to make my heart race,” came a familiar voice from the side.
“Yeah, strong… Wait, what?” Lucil responded absentmindedly before realizing something was off. Who else could be talking to him in this moment? Apollo, Ligg, and Pelorro were already dead. Master and Luscelt were still locked in their confrontation, with Master smiling serenely.
That left only one person…
“Soulgros?!”
“Yes, what is it?” Soulgros replied calmly.
Lucil turned to see Soulgros standing there, seemingly unaffected by the earlier battle.
When Lucil looked over in a hurry, he saw Soulgros standing there with a tilted head, giving him a look that said, “Why are you shouting all of a sudden? Are you an idiot?”
“Wha?! Weren’t you taken out by Luscelt…?” Lucil protested vehemently.
In Lucil’s memory, Soulgros had been brutally beaten. She had a hole punched through her abdomen and was then kicked with such force that it was easy to assume her internal organs were severely damaged.
Although she had managed to stab Luscelt’s heart, his overwhelming power had overshadowed her efforts.
“I told you, didn’t I? Something like that won’t kill me,” Soulgros replied.
Indeed, while she had been attacked and thrown aside when Luscelt assumed she was defeated, it hadn’t incapacitated her.
Then why had it taken her some time to return?
“Wait a minute, Soulgros. Your stomach… is healed?”
“Yes, it took a bit of time,” Soulgros said.
Lucil stared at the place where there should have been a gaping hole in Soulgros’s abdomen. The wound had completely healed, showing only smooth skin.
“Well, that’s because I’m a slime. Absorbing the lake’s water to rebuild my body is easy.”
“Huh… wait, a slime…?”
Lucil stared at Soulgros in shock, feeling like he had just been hit with an unbelievable revelation.
“A slime, like those weak monsters…?”
Soulgros had said other shocking things—like how she could heal the hole in her body by absorbing water—but what captured Lucil’s attention was the sudden declaration of her being a slime fellkin.
It wasn’t the fact that she was a fellkin that surprised him. Given Soulgros’s extraordinary combat abilities, it wasn’t as shocking as learning that Luscelt was an undead fellkin.
The problem lay in the fact that Soulgros was a slime. To Lucil, a slime was one of the weakest monsters, often fought by beginner adventurers. Could such a weak creature really be this powerful?
“Yes. If I hadn’t met Master, I would have been easily killed by some adventurer,” Soulgros explained.
Even someone with her extraordinary combat abilities hadn’t started out powerful. She had once been a mere blob of liquid, crawling along the ground like any other lowly slime. Her transformation began when she met Master.
Soulgros reminisced about the serene plains where she first encountered Master.
But now, I need to watch Master in action, she thought, deciding to revisit those memories later when she could savor them privately.
With that, Soulgros turned her attention back to Master and Luscelt.
✦ ✦ ✦
The sound of blood dripping onto the ground brought Luscelt back to his senses.
“Stop screwing with me!”
Furious at the unexpected counterattack, Luscelt swung his right leg like a whip toward Master while still gripping his crushed fist. The undead’s brain had no limiter on his strength, making the speed and power of his kick formidable. It was strong enough to send Soulgros flying into the lake with a single blow.
But Master easily dodged the attack by simply ducking.
“Tch!”
Master smiled in response, releasing Luscelt’s crushed fist and grabbing his arm instead.
Then, with a powerful yank, Master effortlessly lifted Luscelt off the ground.
“Ga!”
Master swung Luscelt’s body and slammed him forcefully into the ground. Unable to brace himself for the impact, Luscelt’s entire body absorbed the tremendous shock. Even though, as an undead, he couldn’t feel pain, the force was so great that it left him gasping for breath and momentarily incapacitated. It felt as though his entire body was on the verge of falling apart, rendering him immobile.
✦ ✦ ✦
Luscelt didn’t have the luxury of time to recover. Master, still smiling, raised his leg to strike. Despite the gentle expression on Master’s face, Luscelt’s instincts screamed danger. He forced his damaged body to respond, using his undead strength to leap away just in time. A moment later, Master’s foot came crashing down where Luscelt had been.
“Gaah!”
Although he narrowly avoided a direct hit, the force of Master’s stomp was incredible. The ground cracked, sending shockwaves and debris flying toward Luscelt. A chunk of rubble struck his head, drawing blood.
“So, this is how strong Soulgros’s Master is,” Lucil muttered, struggling to keep up with the intense battle. Luscelt, who had seemed overwhelmingly powerful before, was now being overpowered.
“I knew Master was amazing from the incident with Laladie, but this… This is beyond my expectations,” Soulgros said, equally astonished.
She knew Master’s strength from their first encounter. However, given that Master had spent years confined to the guild headquarters—at their own insistence—it was natural to assume he had lost some of his power. During Laladie’s abduction incident, Master had subdued a significantly enhanced ogre manipulated by Corine, Yerkchira’s resident tsundere. But now, Master was effortlessly toying with Luscelt, Guildmaster of Heinichen the Steel Matriarch, who was far more powerful than an ogre.
“Damn you!”
Luscelt, his body battered and bleeding, forced himself to stand, slamming his knee in anger.
He glared at Master with burning hatred.
“Yeah, you’re strong, but I’m undead! No matter how much you hurt me, I won’t die or even feel pain! You might feel confident now, but in the end, I will win! The Steel Matriarch will prevail! Ahyahya!”
Master simply continued to smile, unfazed by Luscelt’s outburst.
Luscelt continued to laugh, his eyes bloodshot.
Indeed, just as he had said, the wounds inflicted by Master were beginning to heal. The head wound that had been bleeding was already closing up.
This situation could turn into a war of attrition where neither side could land a decisive blow. In such a scenario, the tireless Luscelt would likely emerge victorious.
Well, in that case, I’ll be the one to kill Luscelt, Soulgros thought.
Even though Luscelt was a unique undead with self-healing abilities, Soulgros believed she could kill him. She could convert her body fluids into a highly potent poison, strong enough to dissolve anything it touched.
Even if Luscelt could heal, being completely dissolved would exceed his regenerative capabilities.
I’ve seen enough of Master’s impressive fighting. Maybe it’s time to step in, Soulgros thought, preparing to move.
But then, Master nodded thoughtfully in response to Luscelt’s words, crossing his arms in contemplation. He then placed his hand on his chest and began to cast some sort of spell. Master’s entire body was momentarily enveloped in a soft, two-colored light.
“Hey. What did you just do?” Luscelt asked, now extremely wary of Master after the brutal close combat. Master simply responded with a gentle smile.