Boom!
Within the passageway, pale undead fire clung to the rusty knight's lance as Arthur brought it down in a powerful vertical strike, crushing an Abyssal Spawn trying to flee.
Filthy juice splattered across the walls, hissing as it corroded them.
Poof!
A black feather drifted down through the smoke of the explosion. Count Bran re-formed in a bedraggled state and landed on Arthur's shoulder armor, so furious that every feather on his body stood on end, making him look like a black puffball.
"Caw! Caw! I'm furious!"
"That damned Slime Lord, it definitely did this on purpose! It definitely did!"
"What 'Abyssal Spawn from hell are wandering about'? He shoved me straight into hell! Cunning! Too cunning! And here I thought he had a talent for making up stories. Liar! A huge liar!"
Count Bran angrily beat Arthur's helmet with his wings, making a series of clanging sounds.
Arthur silently shook the filth from his lance. The soul fire beneath his helmet burned calmly, utterly indifferent to the Count's accusations.
He surveyed the labyrinthine passages around them, then said in a low, hoarse voice, "Count, it seems that we... are lost."
"Lost?!"
Count Bran's voice instantly shot up.
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! My sense of direction is unmatched throughout The Gloomy Lands! Just follow me and you'll be fine. Forward, always forward, and we'll definitely be able to..."
His words abruptly stopped.
Because, in the shadows not far from them, two tiny blobs of jelly were blinking their innocent eyes and watching them curiously.
Those damned Slimes again!
"They're haunting us like ghosts!"
Count Bran's feathers instantly exploded outward. He pointed at them with a wing. "Look! Even little nobodies like these dare come laugh at me now! Arthur, quickly! Give them a kick and let them know the consequences