New Subordinate (2)

At the very moment Pahuu entered the sub-dungeon, Harpy was busy trekking back and forth between the dungeon's rear passage and the river, hauling water. "Ugh... I brought the water..." She had brought the water, but the person who ordered it was nowhere to be found. The only one present was an elf who looked somewhat strong. Judging by the shape of her ears, she was clearly a High Elf, but she appeared to be one who hadn't yet undergone the 'ritual.' Harpy was a monster with quite a sharp intuition. She knew the Orc, the master of the dungeon, cherished this young elf deeply, and if she did anything to get on his bad side, the elf might just tattle on her.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh, this?" Ryun pointed to the wooden cups, which had increased to thirteen in number, and beamed. Beside her, Lime lay on the floor with a bloated belly, digesting the remnants of her meal.

"Master ordered me to. He said to fill all of these."

"......." It seemed Harpy's suffering was going to be quite long. With tears welling up in her eyes out of sheer sorrow, she went to find the one who had given the order. "It's impossible to do this alone, it's just too much..."

"It's okay, I'll help you too!" Ryun smiled brightly and picked up a wooden cup.

"Sob...!" Harpy felt tears prick her eyes for no reason. Ryun temporarily jammed the wooden cup Harpy had brought into the ground, then grabbed the cups and left to fetch more water together.

"......"

And at that moment, Mei, who had been trapped inside the prison, began to stir.

Thud! The Slahole sprayed bodily fluids in every direction, keeping me in check. I had blocked the ghouls from entering the boss room entirely, choosing to face the Slahole alone.

Whack! I stomped on the arm that tried to wrap around my ankle. As soon as its long, stretched-out arm was stepped on, the Slahole severed the crushed part and retracted the limb.

"You're really being a nuisance."

The amount of slime I had already torn off was enough to fill the entire room. The Slahole possessed rapid regeneration, and it was smart enough to use that regeneration as a weapon.

'That's Lime's next evolution.'

A form resembling a mannequin modeled after a woman's body. I didn't know why it was called a Slahole, but one thing was certain: it was becoming more human by the second.

Kkeureureuk. The Slahole was mocking me. If it had appeared in place of the Slime Dragon just to laugh at me, the Slahole had thought very, very wrong.

Boom! I stomped my feet hard and lunged forward. The Slahole was startled, spraying fluid at me as it retreated. But I was faster. I shifted my center of gravity forward and ran as if I were about to topple over.

Kkeureureuk?! Seeing me charge recklessly, the Slahole puffed its body up like a balloon. It seemed it thought it was too late to dodge, so it intended to bounce me off or absorb the impact.

"You idiot."

If you think you can take it, then try. Just before I reached the Slahole, I stomped hard and jumped.

Squelch—! My head burrowed into the Slahole. It felt like being sucked into a tough water balloon, and the Slahole, thinking it had caught me, tried to devour me while I was in its belly. I dove deep inside, and the Slahole swallowed my upper body, attempting to pull me completely into its mass.

Thud, thud-thud! I threw punches from inside, but it was useless. It only caused strong vibrations; the Slahole had already swallowed me up to my waist.

Kkeureureuk.'Fool.' The Slahole mocked me for my reckless charge. I, too, mocked the Slahole for swallowing me so defenselessly. I had no blades. But there was a clear means to tear the Slahole's skin.

Crunch! I gathered the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Slahole's epidermis with my hands and bit down. Soon, blood-red fluid began to flow from the skin.

"Man, that juice really bursts out."

I might not have a blade, but I had fangs sharper than any steel. My sharp fangs pierced the skin, and the Slahole, which had been trying to swallow my lower abdomen, froze.

Riiip! I threw my head back and tore off a chunk of the Slahole's body. Its torso heaved violently; it was clearly a sign of pain.

'It can't regenerate.' The Slahole tried to shake me off to regenerate its skin. But I wasn't about to commit the blunder of wasting an opportunity I had created myself.

Thrust! I shoved both hands into the gap I had torn. My hands caught the Slahole's viscous fluid, and I rummaged through the inside, pushing my arms deeper.

'Then now—'

RIIIIIIIP!! I spread my arms wide inside the Slahole. The already torn skin was pushed by my arms, ripping vertically and causing fluid to pour out.

Drip. I licked the Slahole's fluid off my lips with my tongue. Perhaps because it was a higher level, even if it was the same 3-star rank, the Slahole tasted like thick pudding.

Crunch, gulp. I quenched my thirst with the Slahole's fluid, while the Slahole struggled desperately to push me out. However, while thrashing my arms inside, I found a lump with a different texture.

Kkeureuk?! The Slahole thrashed more violently than ever. It tried to move its internal fluids rapidly to detach my hand, but I gripped the lump and pulled it toward my chest.

"Grrrgh?!"

For a level 50, the flow of fluid inside was stronger than any flood. With no base to support myself, I almost lost the lump for a second.

Kkeureuk, kkeureureuk! The Slahole circulated its fluid rapidly, trying to protect the lump from my hand. I barely managed to pull it in front of me, but the Slahole held onto the lump tightly with its fluid, refusing to let go.

"Damn it!"

I couldn't let go now that I had found its weak point. I shoved my head into the hole I had ripped. It felt disgusting, like burying my face in mud, and I couldn't breathe, but my mouth achieved its goal.

Crunch. I bit into the Slahole's lump. If I couldn't pull it out, I had no choice but to eat it. Munch, munch!

The Slahole tried to force the lump out by pouring fluid into my mouth. But I swallowed even that fluid and devoured the lump. Crunch! The moment I had eaten half the lump and sank my sharp fangs into it, the Slahole's fluid, which had been thrashing like a flood, stopped moving.

Kkeureureuk.... The Slahole lost its strength like a deflating balloon, and I backed away, exiting the Slahole with the lump in my mouth.

"Ptooey."

It felt like a hardened jelly, but it tasted sour. I wanted to rinse my mouth out quickly.

"I did all the work, but Lime is the one getting the honey."

This won't do. I'll have to go and make her suck on some white honey. 'Still, thanks to this, I found a sub-dungeon like this, so I should take care of her.'

I looked up Lime's evolution tech tree. It seemed the slime evolution line was distinct from the start, and Lime, being a Slaine, could only evolve into a Slahole.

"......?"

Wasn't the condition to devour 50 Big Slimes? Ah, was that the condition for evolving into a Slime Dragon? Confused for a moment, I spent quite a long time pondering with the screen showing the Slahole's evolution information in front of me. A specific species. Prefers a form. Meaning if it eats humans, it takes on a human form.

'Then if I feed it a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Harpy, does it become a winged slime?'

Harpy's utility had just increased by one. I didn't know if it was actually possible, but at least it wouldn't hurt to try.

'Making her give birth and then eating them is a bit much, so I'll just have to hope for a Dimension Stone.'

There wouldn't just be one type of sub-dungeon. So if a sub-dungeon where Harpies mainly appear ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠shows up, I just need to send Lime in and have her devour them all. Or devour other species. Like an elf, or an elf, or an elf.

"My greed really has no end."

Still, good things are good. I ordered Harsus to take the Monster Summoning Ticket and the Intermediate Magic Stone that had dropped in front of me.

Kkeureureuk? Harsus tilted his head, looking as if to ask why he was being given these. They were ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠very important items, but I had something else I needed to take care of.

"I'll take that."

After pouring out most of the Slahole's fluid, I tied up the skin and slung it over my back.

"Food jackpot."

I couldn't keep feeding my white honey to Ryun forever. A child with a big appetite needed snacks. I exited the sub-dungeon with the ghouls, and just in time, Ryun and Harpy had returned with water in the wooden cups.

"Master! Let's have dinner!"

"Yeah. Dinner time."

I dumped the Slahole into the Lv.1 storage room I had intended to use as a food pantry. Then, I filled one of the empty wooden cups to the brim with the Slahole's fluid.

"Let's eat. ...Hm? Why the disappointed face?"

"It's nothing...."*

Ryun was clearly disappointed. She was fidgeting with her fingers, rubbing her knees, and her gaze was scanning my body, which was covered in the Slahole's fluid, from top to bottom.

"......."

I flopped onto the bed. Then, I gave Ryun an order in a listless voice.

"Eat dinner however you like."

I had to calculate the results of conquering the sub-dungeon. And as a bonus, I wanted to see how Ryun would react.

"Hehehe...."

As expected. Ryun knelt beside me and began to lick the Slahole's fluid off my body with her tongue.