Quick note: One guy really got pissed, saying that "Devas was becoming BI or even gay, since he let a guy enter his soul and now he'll be able to see everything he does and even controlled his body once."
Honestly, I'm used to random comments, haters, and everything else, but this one caught me off guard. Not because it made me sad, but because I literally thought: "Wtf? What the hell is this?"
Not to mention that Devas can block what Ozma sees, and he's the one who decides whether to give up control, the guy is literally "The Streamer", being seen and watched is literally the guy's 'job'...
Well, that's all. I just felt like sharing this here. And no, Devas is not gay, much less bi. I don't know why people ask me that sometimes.
Good Night and happy reading!
(P)(A)(T)/CalleumArtori
[...]---[...]
I looked at Millia worriedly for a moment.
Even though I had never seen this personally—at least not in Terraria—I had witnessed something similar in other works of "fiction" which, like the world I was currently in, had likely become reality. It seemed to be the norm, so I knew slimes were cannibalistic.
Actually, "cannibalistic" wasn't exactly the right word, although it wasn't entirely wrong either.
The bestiary, in the section dedicated to slimes, described this behavior as fusion, where the stronger slime absorbed the weaker one. This could happen in two ways: by killing it and destroying its core, or with the core still intact, using brute force—whether through the physical extension of its body or its mana, overpowering the mana of the slime being consumed.
At least, that was what the bestiary claimed. However, observing closely, I realized that what was happening with Millia wasn't exactly fusion. While her gel was taking on a pink hue similar to the Pink's, the General's mana was being completely assimilated. That was the right word: assimilation.
It wasn't fusion, where two become one. At least, not what I was seeing at that moment—it might have been different if the General were alive, but that wasn't the case. Millia was fully assimilating the Pink: the body, the gel, the core, and even the mana. If I had to guess, I'd say she was also absorbing part of the abilities the Pink possessed.
It took just over three seconds for the changes in Millia to complete and everything to stabilize. The changes to her were numerous:
First: the little slime had grown a bit. She was still small but had increased by about one or two centimeters.
Second: the color of her gel had changed. It now had a soft pink hue, with some small streaks of the original light green, but only near the core.
Third: her mana was much denser, as was her gel. Before, Millia looked like a fluffy little ball, but now the density of her gel was evident just by looking at her.
Even so, no matter how much I focused, I couldn't sense anything related to the blessing of the Empress of Light, which the Pink possessed. It seemed that the blessing was something that couldn't be "inherited" or assimilated—or, in this case, Millia's act of assimilating the General had been enough for the echo of that ancient blessing to vanish entirely.
"How are you? Are you okay?" I asked, slightly urgently, my concern growing. She hadn't moved or written anything since she had assimilated the Pink.
I withdrew my Nightmares back into my shadow and stored my armor, along with my accessories and weapons, inside the Voidbag.
There was no reason to keep wearing them. Besides, I couldn't sense anything or anyone inside the castle with my senses, nor could I see any points on the minimap—red, green, yellow, or orange. The stream had already confirmed I'd cleared the dungeon. The General was the only enemy here.
I closed the stream's completion screen and sat cross-legged beside Millia, who remained silent. I let my hand hover over the Slime Staff, ready to call her back inside. If anything could help her, in case something had gone wrong with this assimilation, it would be the staff.
If that wasn't enough, I was confident I could reach Alalia in just over five seconds—whether by tearing through and destroying everything between me and the dryad or using a Wormhole Potion, whichever was faster, it didn't matter.
To my relief, none of these measures were necessary.
"I feel a little confused. This is the first time I've done this; it feels strange…" The words flowed quickly, forming in the soft pink hue of the little slime's body. "But I'm fine… Or almost… Actually, not really…"
She didn't hesitate to jump onto my right knee. I could feel her looking at my face. It was more noticeable now, with her mana denser, as if most of her "gaze" was focused on me.
"When Daddy and Uncle Pinky first met, they fought for weeks. Daddy won in the end—he always wins. But when he tried to absorb Uncle Pinky, he couldn't." The words formed in the air as she continued her story.
"Even with Uncle Pinky unconscious and his body completely submerged in Daddy's gel, he still wasn't absorbed. His gel and mana were too dense for that. Hours later, he woke up and crawled out of Daddy's gel, and then they started fighting again. This repeated for almost a whole year before they realized the fight would last forever. Only then did they stop to talk."
I placed my hand beside her, palm up. Millia jumped onto my hand a moment later. She was heavier, much heavier than she should've been for how little she had grown.
I didn't say anything, just read the story.
"Mommy always joked it was impressive they took so little time." She seemed amused for a moment before her body undulated in a way that looked very much like a tired sigh.
"He didn't resist… I know Uncle Pinky had been dead for a long time, but I feel like he should've resisted anyway. He just… didn't want to. His body didn't want to…"
I pulled out the Slime Staff and placed it in front of Millia. She "looked" at the staff for a moment before her "gaze" returned to me.
"Can you take Daddy and Mommy's throne? I don't want them to stay here, alone…"
"I'll take the whole castle." I promised solemnly. "A princess needs a castle; it's time you had one again." Millia seemed amused once more. I'd even say happy, though maybe it was just my imagination—something I wanted to see.
She formed a pink hand before waving at me, saying goodbye.
"I'm going to rest for a bit… See you tomorrow, Devas. Good night."
"Good night, Millia," I said as the little slime glowed and disappeared inside the Slime Staff.
I sat for a few moments after Millia returned to the Slime Staff, my thoughts racing.
I didn't know if I'd done the right thing—letting Millia come with me into the dungeon and witness, do, all of this. As much as I didn't want to hide anything from her—she deserved to know what had happened to her species and her kingdom—it was my duty to protect her, and I felt like I'd failed in that somehow today…
"I'm not good at this…" I muttered, resting my hand on my knee and standing up.
("Fatherhood?") Ozma's voice echoed in my mind.
"Caring." I shook my head. "Destroying is much easier."
The following minutes passed quickly. I ran through the castle, placing everything I could inside the Voidbag. I dismantled walls, tore up the floors and ceilings. I took all the furniture—both the relatively intact and the destroyed ones—the statues, and the paintings. Everything. I left nothing behind, not even rubble.
In the end, the castle, or what remained of it, became just a barren lot, with nothing but exposed stone and dirt. I had a dismantled castle inside my inventory, which I intended to rebuild and renovate for the little slime sleeping inside the staff on my belt.
I needed to study the Mystic Symbols and Runes on the walls too; there were many I didn't recognize.
Just before leaving the dungeon, I pulled the Prismatic Seal Key from the Voidbag and held it between my fingers. It was an old-fashioned key, like one for an ancient gate. Its prismatic surface, like crystal, reflected lights in rainbow hues.
I didn't analyze the key; I'd already done so when I received it after the second level of the dungeon, where I found Millia. It was the key to the seal imprisoning the Slime Queen—Millia's mother. Her father was likely in Story Mode, or so I thought.
"You two better be alive…" I whispered to the key.
If they were, I'd find them, wherever they were. And if they were mad, insane, cursed, or in any kind of danger, I'd save them. I'd heal them.
Ozma was wrong: I didn't consider myself Millia's father. She already had a father and mother. I was her caretaker, perhaps a guardian. But family? She already had one.
And I'd make sure to find them.
… Even if I had to dig my way down to hell with my bare hands.
[…]
It was still night when I left the dungeon. The sun wouldn't rise for a few more hours. I glanced at the horizon; the storm remained unchanged. It was strange, abnormal in a way that almost felt normal...
I made sure not to raise my gaze too high...
I frowned as a red thunderbolt lit up the darkness with a crimson hue, almost as if it could feel my stare. I watched the storm for a few moments longer before pulling Lucy out of the VoidBag.
("Ready to chop down some trees now, Lucy's partner?!") The axe was as enthusiastic as ever. ("Can we clear a whole forest?!")
"A forest is a bit much, but how about a few dozen trees?" I replied, then added, "Maybe even a hundred."
("Yay!")
I also needed to clear the clearing. It was large, but not enough to fit the Proto-A. Sure, I could simply pull the ship out and let it crush the tallest treetops, but I'd promised Lucy we'd chop some trees. It wouldn't hurt to spend a few minutes on that.
I spun the axe's wooden handle in my hands and approached the nearest tree before striking. I held back my strength, of course, but even so, one swing of the axe was enough to cut it clean in half. Lucy let out a joyful cheer, and I felt part of the tree's vitality transfer to me, coursing through the axe and into my hands.
It wasn't much, but it would be enough for an ordinary person to keep chopping trees indefinitely, provided they had the willpower and enough trees. The way it worked always surprised me. It was a use of nightmare energy I'd never seen or read about anywhere.
Neither my Nightmares, nor the Hallucinations of the Deerclops, nor the Deerclops itself used nightmare energy in this way. I'd read the Codex Umbra multiple times, and none of the spells or rituals described in Maxwell's book mentioned anything similar to the way Lucy instinctively manipulated her nightmare energy.
There were a few similar spells and rituals, of course, but they all involved stealing sanity, not vitality. Lucy, as far as I knew, was unique in this regard. Well, for now. I'd been trying to replicate her abilities for some time, without success, but I felt I was starting to understand how it worked, even if just a little.
As I divided my attention between Lucy and the trees we were chopping, I pulled up the dungeon completion screen and began to read.
-//-
[Congratulations!! You completed the dungeon 100%!]
[Calculating rewards!]
[Secret mission completed!]
[Rewards calculated!]
Rewards: Life Crystal (3), Healing Potion (Normal - 10), Pink Gel (5), 5,000,000 SP, Ring of The Last Slime (Old-Copy)
Completion reward (100%): Map of the Old World (Terraria)
[...]
[Secret mission!]
[Let "Mil'li'a-io Kr'yo 'Li'ja Jou-sk" absorb and assimilate the body of "Pink'ki Kr'ja Nou-sk"]
Requirements: Complete the mission [Pacifist Ending: Spare "Mil'li'a-io Kr'yo 'Li'ja Jou-sk"] in [Expert Mode].
~ Even in death, the most loyal… ~
Reward: Pinky Promise.
-//-
I quickly skimmed through the information. The first thing I noticed was that sparing Millia had been the right choice. Besides being the most moral decision, of course. Even if there were no reward and I knew that, I wouldn't have changed what I did. Sparing Millia was always the only option.
The second thing I noticed: the name of one of the rewards was a bad omen. Ring of The Last Slime? That name didn't sound good at all...
I stopped chopping trees, much to Lucy's mild annoyance. Despite that, the deforestation we'd done seemed sufficient for her to sulk for only a few seconds before accepting that the fun was over. I strapped her to my waist and claimed the dungeon rewards.
I stored the Life Crystals, potions, and five liters of Pink Gel inside the VoidBag as soon as they appeared before me. The crystals were excellent, as were the potions, and I needed to figure out what made pink gel different from regular gel — though I already had a hunch. The SP was always useful, and five million was no small amount.
Still, I focused on what mattered. I took the Ring of The Last Slime (Old-Copy) in my hands.
The ring was small, so small it would only fit my pinky finger — a cruel irony. It had a rusted bronze hue, with orange tones reminiscent of Pink's armor. Engraved on it were five runes: four on the outer side and one on the inner side.
I recognized almost all the runes: three of the outer ones and the inner one, though the latter was strange. It was an Anti-Foreigner rune, similar to the one on the Ice Blade, but something about it was different. Familiar, yes, but… distorted.
Normal runes always carried a wild aura, something natural, like an untouched forest or a free animal. Even the runes I created had the same essence, albeit less intense than the ones I'd seen elsewhere, like those carved into the Ice Blade or the chains binding the Mother Slime. But this rune wasn't like that.
It felt — I hesitated to say — restrained. I hesitated to use that word because it seemed like the rune had been forcefully torn into the metal and exuded something akin to madness and hatred. It wasn't natural…
Artificial. That was the best word to describe it, though I couldn't pinpoint why.
Still, and curiously, unlike the Ice Blade — which gave me the impression it disliked me the moment I held it — the ring didn't convey any similar feeling. At least, not one I could perceive...
I shook my head, pushing those thoughts away, and used Analyze: Item on the ring.
-//-
[Ring of The Last Slime (Old-Copy)]
Runes: Regeneration / Resistance / Magic Resistance / Sharp Resistance / Anti-Foreigner (False-Hatred)
Type: Accessory
Rarity: Pink (Locked) (Heavily deteriorated) (Previously "Lime")
Prefix: [The General's Loyalty]
Defense: 1000 (Weakened)
Durability: 1238/50000
Ability (1): Absorbs the wearer's mana to protect a small area around the ring within a large margin.
Ability (2): Absorbs the wearer's mana to significantly accelerate natural regeneration.
[...]
[The General's Loyalty]
"Forgive me... My dear brother... I have failed..."
Description:
When worn by someone protecting the King Slime, Queen Slime, Princess Slime, or their subjects, the ring's abilities become three times more potent.
The Ring of The Last Slime becomes inert if used against the King Slime, Queen Slime, Princess Slime, or their subjects.
The ring's abilities can only be used by slimes or someone considered the [Princess' Guardian].
[...]
Description:
A ring worn around a slime's core. An ancient practice initiated by the original bearer of the Ring of The Last Slime. This technique is employed only by slimes with excellent control over their mana and bodies, ensuring the protection does not weaken or harm them.
The ring was forged from a palladium, gold, and cobalt alloy by a renowned Fae craftsman. It was commissioned by the King Slime himself as a gift for his friend and most loyal soldier, shortly after the founding of the Slime Kingdom.
A copy of something that broke millennia ago in a battle so bloody and enduring that it destroyed an ancient kingdom. The ring retains the appearance it had shortly before it was destroyed, alongside the core of its first and only user.
The worn and weathered appearance is but a small indication of everything the ring and its bearer had to face... A long-forgotten story of the most loyal slime...
... The last slime standing in that battle.
-//-
Since Millia was alive, the ring's name must have referred only to that battle. That, or to the fact that Pink was the last unsealed slime, given that Millia was sealed, and the Queen Slime seemed to be as well...
"Damn, alright, at least it's an explanation…" I muttered, even if it wasn't the best one.
The ring's abilities were simple but effective in what they aimed to do: defense and regeneration. Considering it was created to protect the General's core, the choice of these runes made perfect sense.
[(MOD)GeniusBillionairePlayboy]
You know, I get that this ring was commissioned and isn't artificial, unlike the mimic ring, but it's still weird that you managed to get another ring that was part of a creature's heart… Well, core, in this case.
(Iron Man emoji holding two coins)
I dismissed Stark's message before it could blow up and went back to analyzing the ring—or rather, the rune on its inner part. The "false" and "hatred" markings next to the rune's name told me much of what I needed to know. A quick Analyze: Item focused on the rune confirmed my theories.
That rune was something Pink had created, literally. He hadn't just carved the rune, as I could easily do; he invented it.
Runes, as far as I knew, were supposed to be something created by the world itself—a kind of world language, spoken by the world. At first, I doubted this—it could've been the creation of some god—but over time, that theory seemed the most plausible answer.
The confirmation came when I felt Alalia's mana again a few hours ago. The mana she radiated had the same "essence" that runes seemed to carry. Of course, I could be wrong, but I was almost certain I wasn't.
Pink's Anti-Foreigner rune wasn't like that. It wasn't something created by the world, but by Pink himself. That's why it felt less wild, more artificial: because it was artificial.
He hadn't just modified a rune—something I knew was possible, though difficult—he'd created another one entirely. If runes were the language of the world, Pink had invented a word using this language as a base, potentially the start of another possible dialect, so to speak.
What made this even more absurd was that he hadn't created this rune through calculations, experience, or genius. The General had forged it out of pure, unfiltered hatred for everything foreign to the world. A "word" repeated countless times—murmured, spoken, shouted, whispered, growled—for so long that it eventually became "official."
The guy literally carved the rune using his own core! He literally screamed this "word" at me the moment he saw me.
Fuck, I was impressed.
Was the rune weaker than the original? Yes, that was evident—and by a large margin, I'd say. But, in contrast, it was much broader in scope. The Anti-Foreigner rune of the Ice Blade was effective against everything not born in Terraria or not considered native to it. And probably—though I hadn't tested it—it was far more potent when used in Terraria.
The rune in the Ring of the Last Slime, however, was effective against anything the wearer considered foreigner. There was no "world" as a base, nor did it need one. The hatred and madness radiating from the rune were sufficient; they were its fuel—perhaps even more than mana itself. If Pink deemed something foreign, the rune did too.
If someone was crazy enough to consider a rock foreign and had enough hatred for it, then the rune would also deem it foreign...
"So that's why the ring doesn't hate me?…" my thoughts escaped my lips. "No, it's not just that…"
Aside from the ring not having a user to dictate what was foreign or not, and thus to consider me as such, Pink was loyal above all else. The ring's prefix said it, Millia's story said it, the ring's description said it. The scene I had witnessed when entering the throne room said it.
If his hatred was vast and ancient enough to create a rune, his loyalty was even greater and older. Strong enough to make the rune not affect me and to allow me to use the ring's abilities even though I wasn't a slime.
The bastard was dead, insane, and hated me, but somehow he realized I was protecting Millia. She had probably told him that, and he decided it was okay to ignore all his hatred and consider me her guardian.
"Fuck, I'm absolutely impressed." This time, I said it out loud.
I'm totally going to copy that rune, no matter how hard it might be. In fact, if it were up to me, I'd use this rune as the foundation for everything. So far, I hadn't had a basis for creating my own rune system—not yet, at least—but this was a start. An excellent start.
And if what I had in mind worked, I'd be able to strengthen this rune and, by extension, the rune language I planned to create. It wasn't anywhere near comparable to the real thing, but I had a "world" within me. If my Spiritual Realm was considered a world, then I might as well connect it to this rune language.
I was a Foreigner to everything. So, logically, everything and everyone that wasn't me, that I considered, that didn't come from my "world," would be foreign to me...
[AdvocateOfGenderEquality]
Holy crap, wipe that smile off your face! I'm getting chills over here! Damn creepy orange eyes…
(Generic guy emoji hiding in the corner of a room)
[MagicalGirlSera-Tan]
You know, I was thinking… If I offered Gabriel as a sacrifice, would you join my peerage? One of the Four Great Seraphs in exchange for you becoming a Devil, what do you say?~
(Magical girl emoji holding a rope and duct tape)
[JustAnOrdinaryPeasant]
No! Don't take that deal! Making deals with devils is bad, evil! Becoming one is even worse! Don't do it! Don't go down that path!
The messages appeared in rapid succession. Kazuma's made me realize I had an almost maniacal grin on my face and that my second racial trait had surfaced on its own. I massaged my cheeks with one hand while dismissing the message that had emerged from inside a pair of panties with the other.
The other two messages caught my attention even more. First: Serafall's message came out of a rift in the air, with fire and a demonic landscape in the background, carried by a small stereotypical devil with red skin and horns. The last message, however, was delivered by something that could only be described as a templar knight, who, after dropping the message into the air, leapt, drew his sword, and began fighting the little devil.
Second: it was the first time I'd seen that nickname...
"A new viewer in the (CHAT - FATE)?" I mused aloud, before grabbing the little demon and the templar knight by their necks and tossing them away, where they vanished into the air.
And a believer in the Big G, no less. At least, that's what it seemed like, judging by the small templar knight who had appeared to fight Serafall's little demon. This was the first one, right? Well, if I didn't count Rin and probably a few people from HOTD…
Whoever they were, they didn't seem to be a paid member of the stream. At least not until three seconds after the message popped up in front of me, because then they were: Stark had bought a membership for the person. He liked doing that, even organizing giveaways on the stream from time to time, often in competition with Serafall. The two seemed to have some sort of money-related rivalry.
When the person with the nickname [JustAnOrdinaryPeasant] became a member of the stream, they—he or she, I wasn't sure yet—went straight to the (CHAT - FATE), confirming my theory. Curiously, the viewer didn't send any more messages after that one, even after I asked about them and several people in the (CHAT) requested another message… Strange.
The nickname, combined with the templar who delivered the earlier message, gave me some hints about who this person might be. But since they didn't seem keen on commenting, I didn't start guessing names randomly to provoke a reaction. Instead, I sent a message to Jinn.
("Keep an eye on this person. Actually, keep an eye on new viewers in general. Notify Jarvis too and ask him to compile a list of all the new nicknames that show up and send it to me later.") I thought, careful not to let the mental mic pick it up.
("Worried this person might cause trouble for you?") Jinn replied almost immediately.
("Maybe… I don't think they will, but better safe than sorry.") So far, the stream had sent invites to people who theoretically matched my personality, even if not completely.
None of the viewers handpicked by the stream had caused any real problems. Sure, Serafall and Ainz could be considered morally ambiguous. Even so, the two had a good relationship with me, and I didn't see either of them planning anything truly dangerous for me.
I mean, nothing beyond the usual. I was fairly certain Ainz had some contingencies ready for the chance of me showing up in his world, and Serafall definitely had some sort of obsession with wanting to turn me into a Devil. But that was it. Neither of them wanted to kill me... something I couldn't confidently say about anyone from the Church, especially if they were a fanatic.
I'd already eaten angel feathers, talked daily with a pagan goddess—even if she was from another world and didn't seem like a real goddess—and dealt with literal devils, one of whom wanted to turn me into their kind.
And that wasn't even counting my Nightmares, racial traits, the Bone Helm—which any uninformed person could easily mistake for some satanic mask—and other things, like consuming part of a God of Light… I wasn't paranoid, at least not as much as I should be, but better safe than sorry.
...If Batman or the Joker showed up in the (CHAT), that's when my real headaches would start.
After that little event, I turned my attention to the remaining rewards.
The Ancient World Map was made of animal hide. An Analyze: Item confirmed it was from a type of giant wolf that no longer existed in this era. I examined the map for a few seconds, reading the city names and analyzing the locations of the three major continents and some islands, before tossing it into the VoidBag.
"I'll compare this to a modern world map later," I said aloud, a habit I'd developed to avoid using the mental mic.
Speaking my thoughts out loud was much better than risking real thoughts being overheard…
I had a few maps of Terraria in my inventory, of course, but none that were global. There was one of the kingdom, one of the kingdom's surroundings, one of the continent, and another of the area around WinterHord that I'd bought before heading there, but that was it. A global map was missing—something I'd take care of as soon as morning came.
As I pulled the Proto-A from my inventory and positioned the ship in the clearing, now expanded by several dozen meters, my eyes turned to the last reward: Pinky Promise.
The moment the item appeared, it was clear the reward wasn't for me. It was a tiny princess crown, made of silver—or what appeared to be silver—adorned with a heart-shaped gem that strongly resembled the jewel on the Queen Slime's throne, but pink instead of purple.
I analyzed the crown, mainly to understand the runes inscribed on it and ensure it wouldn't harm Millia. The material wasn't silver but a platinum-orichalcum alloy… Once satisfied with the analysis, I stored it in the VoidBag.
…Not gonna lie, I was a bit tempted to melt the crown down just for the orichalcum, but that thought quickly passed.
"A birthday gift the King and General made in secret from the Queen and Princess…" I sighed. "Alright… I'll give this to Millia tomorrow. We've had enough events and emotions for today."
After checking that the EchoMirror was functioning properly—in case Dylan or someone wanted to contact me—and ensuring the Ring of the Last Slime wouldn't end up taking off my pinky finger, I boarded the Proto-A.
"Time to get to work." I clapped my hands, determined. "The sooner we finish this, the better…"
... Now, the question: how many places and barriers—preferably all—could I inscribe the Anti-Foreigner rune and the defense against foreigners rune?…
Shortly after sunrise, Dylan, Selina, Robyn, and Gilbert showed up in my clearing, accompanied by Melissa, Darnell, and—for some damn reason I couldn't fathom—Helena and Charlotte.
I could already tell that today was going to be one of those days...
[...]---[...]
First of all, I apologize for the delay. I ended up returning from the trip later than expected and couldn't post this on the 29th.
Now, about the chapter: It's a chapter with explanations, theories, and ideas. I won't go into too much detail, but I can say that from the next chapter on, things will move more quickly. I don't want to drag things out too much.
As always, good Night and happy reading!
PPS: Pink is totally a Dark Souls character.