Chapter 52 - It was a Good Accident

The deep red slime saw a glimpse of light from afar but then he was engulfed with pitch black again.

It was a lapse of judgement on Ryuji's part. He was stretching how long the would hold without reinforcement and got too caught up with the attacks. He stressed after all. He wanted to take time studying what he can supposedly until Yubis showed. He just began cooking some barbeque last night and learned how to hunt recently for decent food before setting out to find his brother. He was actually starting to discover things, but he had to take some request of a goddess. This is particularly annoying to him. It's like he had a new toy but had to do something else. In this case plans had changed because of the requests. The only advantages of it would be learning new skills.

He did succeed in something else though with the that he casted multiple times, that he even lost count. He was separating the snake woman and the deep red slime underneath the mound thanks to Fuji's reports. Though he did not expect that the deep red slime will break it first. He only observed water and darkness as the attributes that he has.

Nonetheless, an escaping slime is not an issue. He immediately slammed his both hands on the ground and casted . Since its dark, the slime did see anything incoming and was engulfed with earth again this time. There was a new wave of solid earth hammered to the mound. He instinctively asked the younger wolf for some confirmation. "Tell me the good news Fuji."

"Master it seemed that the dense mana grew weaker." Fuji gave his report. "It's even weaker than the other one.

"What's happening with the other?" Ryuji asked. 'Did that red slime make a mistake?' He thought. His response was more of a reaction containing a dangerous individual that suddenly came out and his own carelessness. He was trying to contain the slime from getting out but if it turned out that he got killed in the process, that would be a great relief.

"It seems it's fixed to one part right now. And seemed to be sinking lower to the ground." Fuji reported. It is odd that the other dense mana figure is starting to sink underneath the dome. Suddenly, the other mana signature slowly dispersing leaving only a familiar power. He had felt this power this morning but quite differently. The power this morning is more of warmth, this one appears to be similar to the shear force when witnessing lightning striking down on earth. It made Fuji a bit terrified.

"Oh, if that's the case, that is good." Ryuji gave a sigh. He was getting a hang of using earth magic today, but he feels his energy is getting drained. He started to give some instructions to his party. "Let's wrap this up. Fuji, keep an eye on the other one. Tell me if that person tries to go for the location where the slime was last seen." It's crucial for them to keep an eye on the other party while they are wrapping things up since the deep read slime was accidentally crushed by the last wave of earth.

"Raiji, keep an eye out of anything that comes near to your brother. Check if there are lurkers at our back. Tell us right away if we have company." Ryuji gave him a simple job. It would allow Raiji to start trusting himself again doing this simple task, especially as he had secretly glanced at the wolf brothers throughout the situation. He knew that the older wolf brother had his confidence tanked big time today.

"Pyun-Pyun, use once you let go of this barrier and retrieve whatever remained with the red slime. If in case, keep anything right away." Ryuji stared at the light blue slime. It was not convincing when he is giving instructions to a faceless blob, but he knows that there is some intelligence with this little guy. "Give me a jiggle if you understand."

Pyun-Pyun jiggled vigorously after hearing it.

"On the count of three, turn off the barrier and we will move." Ryuji was preparing himself. He wanted this to be over and grab some dinner. But they have to move fast once the goes off. They don't know what lingers in the dark so it would be best to do it quickly. "One. Two. Three."

The barrier turned off. Then Pyun-Pyun made a hole and disappeared right away. Ryuji activated his so he could view the surroundings from the dark. It was more like an infrared feeling. He did not get a hold of this much when he first used it and he used it with his vision during broad daylight. But since its already nighttime and the visibility is limited, it would be best to use it. He saw the dense mana mixed with what he suspects a divine power. After all, both the snake woman and the red slime both did touch what he suspects the lost artifact that Vreta-chan was requesting about. But something else caught his eye.

Ryuji's was superior to Fuji though have not used it on a regular basis. Given that Fuji was doing it for the first time today. Ryuji grasped the technique first and then used it for their hunts. His spell affects a larger area and can distinguish some sort of color. He could notice dense mana spots among the surrounding woods. It is too scattered to be a group and seems to surround them. Based on their mana signatures, it is uniform, and way weaker than Raiji. about two thirds weaker than the older wolf. He even saw the mass clump of these underwater and seemed to have a certain distance between them. He can only suspect that these are the other slimes that got away from the fight. For him, as long as they kept their distance, it is a good sign.

After a few minutes, Pyun-Pyun emerged from hole that he went to. He took out several things, but Ryuji saw him spitting things out instead. He saw a multicolored rock, a dark red sphere which looked ominous and sinister, various herbs and nine multicolored crystals. Ryuji is sure that chrysalis would be some sort of a solid thing. But since everything is tainted by the deep red slime, so these things are soaked in some power. This also attracted the attention of the once nearby. He noticed this immediately with his and commanded his slime. "Pyun-Pyun keeps everything away. Especially the rocks." Another fight is the last thing Ryuji wants right now.

Pyun-Pyun jiggled as if to affirm his master's command.

"Fuji, is the one trapped in the mound still sinking?" Ryuji asked. Its better to take care of this creature since they have the thing that the loli goddess wants. But it would be better if someone from the divine or dream realm confirms this. For now, he is hungry.

"Yes master!" Fuji replied.

"She still has no movements besides going down?" Ryuji asked again.

"Yes, it seems she is also fading." Fuji replied.

"All of you, go together and gather up some wood. We will have dinner first." Ryuji gave another sigh. Today was a long day. He can finally have some rest. He actually sent them away so he can dig up the snake woman.

"Yes master." The wolves responded and Pyun-Pyun gave a jiggle.

Once the trio of his familiars were away, he walked over to where he sensed the snake woman. He activated the for a bit to confirm her location. He could sense that the mana signature is losing its density. He then reached for his shield and then turned it to a cleaver. Then he touched the dome and casted from it. This is a bit different from conjuring walls in front of him. He conjured the wall part as a rectangular shape and then moved it away from the dome. It looked like a doorway for the dome. Then he heard the woman's voice.

"I need to get out!! It's dark again! I won't be killed! I refused to be buried!" The snake woman lamented. It's the second time that he got buried alive. The first one crushed her and her mates. This time she was buried again but with the thief who stole her precious magic rock.

The snake woman heard the earth rumble above her. These rumbling noises have been intermittent, but it caused her trouble especially this second time. Her arm got pierced by sharp rock then she bumped into massive cones underneath this earth while fighting against that red slime and his cronies with sharp objects until the rumbling momentarily stopped. By the time it stopped, she noticed she was trapped in a small area. It was then she decided to dig. she attempted to dig the earth wall, but it was too hard for her newly gained hands to claw out the wall. She attempted to dig down which had a softer ground like the first time she got buried. But the last rumble made a bit of light in her area. She instinctively looked up and she could see the hazy night sky and a creature holding something sharp.