As the first slime to challenge them went down, it was promptly replaced by four more Slime lords. It was going to take awhile to push through all these slimes at this rate. When suddenly her attention was drawn to the Slime King, its body was suddenly aglow. She turned pale as she realized what that meant. “We need to hurry!”

The other two nodded, as they tore into the slimes with fury. Tentacles shot forth to attack, while elsewhere magic flew. The elemental slimes attacking with their magical talents. Mira weaved between tentacles, her blade seeking cores in an attempt to carve a path to the king, but they were too slow.

Its body morphed, growing larger, denser, and stronger. At a glance, there was little difference about it, but she knew with one look that it was a far more fearsome opponent. The system box that popped in her vision merely confirmed her fears. Flamewind was bad enough, but this was far worse.

Slime Kings were already tough enough to deal with, but the Slime Emperor was a full tier above the Slime King. Worse, this one was a regional boss. It was mostly a title, but it was one with weight behind it. Regional Bosses were never a joke, a field boss was a strong monster in the field, often with minions. A Regional Boss was a monster strong enough to dominate an entire region. Most monsters here were of fairly low levels but so were most of the adventurers. This was a threat they couldn’t ignore.

Suddenly the slimes pressed into them with a fury they didn’t have mere moments before. Mira’s blades flashed as she blocked several tentacles aimed for her body. Most of them missed or were deflected but a few found their mark. She felt numbness spreading from where they touched her skin, while her armor sizzled where they touched her. Their natural acids working to dissolve her protection

A pleasing warmth spread through her body a moment later, banishing the numbness. Yet doing nothing for the damage to her armor. For a moment she cursed Flamewind, then she caught sight of him. His ax carving swathes through the slimes with each hit, the flames coating the blade setting their bodies aflame. As he recklessly charged into the shifting mass of slimes. Some of them simply gave him a wide berth before falling upon the girls in his party. The bastard didn’t even try to defend them, merely pressing on. Leaving them to fend for themselves.

He was a real piece of work, but she didn’t know what she could do. At the moment her little group was pinned down here. Too many slimes to push through and no route to the Slime Emperor presented itself. Not that she had much time to focus on that with a dozen Slime lords and even more lesser slimes swarming around her small group. Nearby Michael's blade was flashing, tearing through tentacles and slime flesh with every stroke. Crouching between her and Michael was Delilah chanting her magic to help. She could barely rest her own blades, and everytime she blinked a new tentacle would find its way to strike her flesh. Her comrades were taking hits as well. This just wasn’t going that well, not by a long shot.

Misaki made her way into the town. She was looking for Phillip since she was done with her business within her halls. Nothing all that important, she was happy to see adventurers starting to reach her third floor. It was only one party but they had made it there earlier, just after her little chat with her pet Susan. Susan had been so arrogant when she challenged her earlier, but lately she mostly seemed confused. Being forced to practically start over may have had something to do with that. There wasn’t anything she could do other than offer training. In some ways what happened to Susan reminded her of her own past. Even if it wasn’t the same, what with her having died, she too had been forced to start over. Losing everything she had before. The difference was that she had Dewari and even Reiko in some regards to give her something. Her floors had also given her a focus and now that she had found Phillip she was finding she was actually really liking her new life.

She smiled at the thought of seeing Phillip, being with her was always the highlight of her day. Maybe she would be able to share a bath with her later? That could be a lot of fun. Playing with Phillip in the bath would be great, she just knew it. Then suddenly a notification popped into her vision.

She blinked, not sure what to make of it, but she had this feeling that Phillip was going to be busier than she hoped.

When she reached the guild a few minutes later, she found it to be an exercise in chaos. People were crowding the reception desk and shouting. Trying desperately to be heard over the din of the others, while the guild staff were trying to calm people down. Misaki thought they were acting like the world was about to end or something. Surely a Regional boss wasn’t that bad?

Misaki looked around, but didn’t see Phillip's cute face in the crowded entry hall. So she slipped through the crowd, using a bit of magic here and there to nudge people out of her path. Making for the back, for Phillip’s office. Where she was certain Phillip would be. A quick peek with her dungeon sight confirmed it, and a moment later she rushed down the guild halls to the office. Slipping inside in a bit of a rush, where she found Phillip and her aide Mellisa at the desk.

Phillip broke off her conversation and smiled, “Misaki! How are you today?” then she frowned, “Are you worried about the system notification?”

“Um, not really, but I’m not really sure what a Regional Boss is.”

“Pretty much what it sounds like. They are akin to your floor bosses but their powers aren’t restricted the way a floor boss is.”

“I see, so that notification is very bad. I guess that explains why everyone is panicking,” responded Misaki. She knew that floor bosses typically had a higher level than other monsters on a floor, but they were also stronger in other ways. Boons granted by their status that would help make them a worthy challenge for prospective challengers. They had unusual vitality and resilient bodies that weren’t easily felled. If a Regional boss was like that, but had none of the restrictions she could see why everyone would be concerned.

Phillip suddenly pulled her into a hug, “Don’t be so worried it’s going to be alright. I am here, and I won’t let it harm you or the town.”

Somehow she found that reassuring and she let herself relax into the hug.

Mira ducked below the sweep on the slimy appendage and sliced with her blades in the same smooth motion. Her aim was true and her blades buried themselves in the core of a slime. The creature dissolved into a puddle of slimy goo just as another slime managed to strike her across her bare breasts. A numbness spread across her chest once again reminding her of the state of her armor.

It had been good armor, but it was quite clear she would have to replace it now. She was practically topless and at this rate it wouldn’t be long before she was naked. If she even moved wrong she would flash anyone looking with her pussy. Her boots were equally tattered and the one had been reduced to little more than an anklet, she had lost everything below the ankle when she accidentally stepped on a slime earlier.

Of her party members, Michael wasn’t much better dressed. Her armor was a little more intact up top and actually covered one of her breasts. The other was quite free to the world. Only Delilah had an outfit able to preserve her modesty. Her position in the formation and their efforts had kept her quite safe. Not one slime had managed to touch her and her magic was the sole reason they weren’t paralyzed and enjoying the attentions of a slime yet.

A flash of flame drew her attention, and she risked a glance up. To find that Flamewind had made it to the top of the hill and was challenging the boss by himself. His companions had long been pinned down by the slimes, but she didn’t have the liberty to check on them. She could barely note that he was there before another slime challenged her. Rather than a tentacle it sent a spell at her. A crackling bolt of pink light that she narrowly avoided, then she had to weave around the tentacles of another lord but before she could strike a spell landed on the elemental challenging her and it burst. Slime sprayed everywhere, some of it even coating her body. She groaned, just before the pesky lord slapped her across the chest. WHY!? Why did they always have to smack her chest?

She gave the slime a glare, and readied her blades. It shot several tendrils at her, which she had to weave around or slash, but her agility was high enough. It wasn’t hard for her to slip inside its reach and slash its body. Once again her blades found their mark and it dissolved into goo. Panting she half expected to see another challenge her, but as she looked around she noticed the numbers much diminished. At least here, the mass was thicker elsewhere. A glance at her companions told her that both of them would need a moment of rest.

Taking a moment to catch her breath, she looked up. Flamewind’s axe swung down on the Slime Emperor. The large heavy blade was aflame with the man’s magic as it crashed into the massive slime’s form, only to harmlessly bounce off. Angrily Flamewind shouted, “How dare you resist the righteous wrath of my Axe! I will end you!”

As he proceeded to heft the blade again, but it took effort to bring the blade back into a ready position. The Emperor didn’t give him a chance to do so. It struck, hundreds of tentacles shot forth from its body in a brutal display of power. Each one punching into his armor with savage ferocity. His armor proved too soft to protect him and its weight slowed him down. Not one of those strikes missed.

Yet Flamewind didn’t seem to realize his predicament. As he shouted, “Finally a foe worthy of my axe!”

He raised the blade again and slammed it into the slime with equally minimal effect. Internally she scoffed, did he not realize that its magic resistance was high? Every slime before had died to his flame magic, most slimes were weak to fire after all. With the Emperor however she felt the only way to beat it was to strike the more vulnerable core, which his axe never came near. It simply passed through the gelatinous body of the Slime Emperor without doing any real damage but at least he was distracting the monster.

“I guess we should be thankful for the reprieve.”

Michael nodded as she looked over her armor, a frown on her face, “I guess. What’s the plan?”

Delilah downed a potion and then spoke, “I presume you want us to distract it?”

“I doubt your magic will do much, and as you can see even Flamewind’s powerful blows will do much. We need to strike the core, so yes I want you two to distract it, while I get into position to go for the core.”

“Simple enough, it might work,” said Delilah then she glanced at Michael, “You feel up for it?”

Michael nodded, “I still have some energy, I’ll keep you safe.”

With that their plan was set, and they made their way up the hill towards the cause of this whole mess. If they had been able to go in with a plan, she knew things would have gone better. Sadly there was no changing the past, not even the gods could turn back the hands of time.

As they closed, she watched several tentacles suddenly restrain the injured Flamewind. The man shouted in indignation just before a thick one forced its way into his mouth. He screamed, the vocalization sounding odd with the tentacle in his mouth, but a moment later she could see why. Mira grimaced, she didn’t like the man, but that was a fate she wouldn’t wish upon him. He was being dissolved from the inside out. The slime was eating him.

Silently, she pulled a blade off her hip, one she still had despite the damage to her armor and threw it. It sailed through the air clean and true before plunging blade-first into Flamewind’s breast, the soft metal of his armor doing nothing to stop it. He gasped, just as a notification popped. She didn’t read it, but she knew the system was telling her that she had just killed Flamewind. His health may have already been compromised by the slime, but a knife to the heart was a fatal wound, critically so. He would have died nearly instantly, now his soul belonged to the gods who would judge him and declare his fate for the next life.

The three of them rushed into position. A bolt from Delilah drew the attention of the monster, as Michael shielded her from the deadly rain of tentacles. Each one-shot forth with frightening speed and power, only to slow just before striking. It wasn’t trying to kill them like it was with Flamewind. Mira couldn’t help but shudder as she anticipated the fate they would face should they fail.

Taking advantage of it’s distraction, she slipped away from her friends, using anything she could to conceal herself. Minimizing her presence. It wouldn’t do if the creature was alert to her actions, she was only going to get one shot at this. Mira knew she had to make it count. If she failed, she and her party would be reduced to broodmares for the brutish slime before her. A fate she didn’t relish. She would rather die than let her friends, her pets be turned into that, especially Michael. She would sooner take that fate herself than let it happen to them.

Using those feelings, she drew upon what mana she had left as she climbed the tree. Below she could hear the ferocity of the battle, but she trusted her companions to do their part. As she imbued the blade in her hand with all the mana she had left. Her desires, her wishes, her determination drove her to complete the most powerful imbuement she had ever cast. Her comrades were counting on her and she wasn’t going to let them down. 

Then she saw her chance, a smile graced her lips as she leapt from the branches and plunged into the Emperor’s slime body. Her own sank into its flesh, she could feel its acid eating at her clothes, but not her skin. Her nipples felt hot, swollen even, but she ignored the feelings as the core appeared before her, she slashed. Her blade nicked the core, but couldn’t break it. She used the other one and the first again and again. Blow after blow rained upon the toughened core, even as she felt the slime attacking her. Pain lanced through her, but she ignored it, she wasn’t going to let them down. Her air grew thin, but still she kept attacking. Her friends were counting on her, she had to succeed. Finally, she was rewarded, the core cracked and then split. The flesh dissolved around her as her energy left her. One notification filled her vision and she couldn’t help but smile before darkness took her.