Delicacy Bomb

Prestige Title: Slime Warrior

Acquisition Conditions: Before the Beetle Knight that represented Decay and End, a Slime had to display Extraordinary Courage beyond its primal instincts, face and overcome a deep-seated fear capable of plunging its species into instinctive terror and retreat (usually a trial involving a powerful natural enemy or destructive force).

Title Effects:

1. Prestige Imprint: The name "Slime Warrior" would be remembered by the Demonic Beasts around Twisted Oak, inspiring awe or hostility.

2. Fearless Heart: Gained an advantage on saves against fear effects from Demonic Beasts of a higher rank.

Note: This was courage witnessed by the Obsidian Knight, a tearing apart of Instinctual Shackles, an Aberrant Glory born in the Corrupted Land.

As Fear Instinct faded away, the once terrifying and hideous Death Knight looked like nothing more than a slightly bigger beetle in Chen Yu's eyes.

Not only was it not scary, it even looked rather clumsy.

It even looked a little... delicious...

After hurriedly glancing at the Prestige Title that had appeared out of nowhere, Chen Yu could no longer hold back and unleashed the Stinger Swords hidden within his gel.

[Object Manipulation Technique]

The Stinger Sword suddenly shuddered, its tip bursting with a sharp, icy gleam as it stabbed precisely and decisively at the Beetle Knight.

Boom!

The Stinger Sword struck the Digger Beetle's thick carapace, leaving only a white mark. It could not even break through the outer shell.

What astonishing defense.

Chen Yu was secretly startled, but he noticed that the Beetle Knight's body had nearly been flipped over by the Stinger Sword's impact. Perhaps he could use that to overturn it?

Across from him, the Digger Beetle had also witnessed Chen Yu's terror. There was not the slightest trace of ferocity left in its eyes, only bewilderment and fright.

With its pitifully limited brain capacity, it simply could not understand how a soft, weak Slime had suddenly become so powerful. Pressured by the abrupt mental strain, fear rose in its heart, and it hurriedly tried to turn around and retreat into the burrow it had dug.

But how could Chen Yu possibly let prey that was practically in his grasp escape so easily?

He immediately fired three more Stinger Swords with a series of sharp chimes. From viciously tricky angles, they slipped beneath the Beetle Knight's body and flipped it onto the ground.

The Digger Beetle panicked. Its six legs, covered in hard shell, thrashed desperately through the air, while its hook-like claws flailed unconsciously and happened to catch in the gaps between the thick, tangled roots nearby.

This only made it struggle harder, but rather than trying to turn itself over, it looked more like it was trapped by the roots and sinking deeper into humiliation. It even let out frightened, helpless hissing sounds.

Splat, splat...

Chen Yu bounced over and stopped steadily beside the Beetle Knight's massive, violently struggling body. Like a hunter brimming with power, he did not hesitate in the slightest. The stomach sac inside him churned and compressed violently.

"Pshh—!"

A mass of thick Dark Green Acid, giving off a pungent stench, shot out like a high-pressure water cannon and splashed viciously across the Beetle Knight's proud black shell.

"Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!"

The intense sound of corrosion immediately rang out. Acrid white smoke rose alongside scalp-numbing noises, while the sections covered by Acid reacted and boiled violently, like cold water into which red-hot iron had been thrown.

Yet surprisingly, the powerful acid that could easily melt through rock and bone left only a cloudy corroded mark on the black carapace.

The shell, once smooth as a mirror and reflecting a faint gleam, now looked as if it had been scoured by rough sand. It had lost some of its intimidating luster, yet it still protected the body beneath with unbreakable sturdiness.

"Damn... this beetle shell is that hard?"

Chen Yu's Heart Move stirred. If he could cover his soft, tender gel body with that indestructible black heavy armor, the attacks of those annoying Stinger Bees probably would not even leave a mark.

It was hard to imagine how much security he would feel after putting it on.

So this Beetle Knight had come to deliver equipment to him.

His round little eyes brightened slightly as he stared fixedly at the struggling Beetle Knight, trying to find even the smallest flaw in its thick black carapace.

Whenever the Beetle Knight exerted force with its six limbs and looked about to flip itself over, Chen Yu would precisely thrust out a Stinger Sword, driving it viciously into a joint or point of exertion. Instantly, it disrupted the beetle's rhythm and sent it crashing back down in vain.

After pondering for a long while, Chen Yu had planned to test an attack on the Beetle Knight's constantly writhing tail. But when he saw it violently beating its carapace and trying to spread its wings to struggle, several rows of tiny holes were exposed along both sides of its body.

The ear-piercing, fear-filled hissing was violently spraying out from those holes.

They were vital breathing organs—and also the Beetle Knight's fatal weakness.

Chen Yu seized the moment and fired a Stinger Sword.

Smack!

The Stinger Sword was slapped away by the flapping carapace and missed.

No matter. Chen Yu retrieved several Stinger Swords and continued firing volley after volley.

Finally, amid a painful hiss from the Beetle Knight, a Stinger Sword pierced directly into one of its breathing holes, making it struggle even more violently.

The stinger happened to jam its carapace, preventing it from closing. Chen Yu pressed his advantage and sent more flying swords stabbing after it.

"Pshh!"

Another stinger pierced through a breathing hole and entered the Beetle Knight's body. Worse still, it was coated in Slime Acid secreted by Chen Yu.

Now the Beetle Knight struggled even more violently, its limbs flailing wildly. Its hisses became hoarse and obstructed, and one could even hear the Acid sizzling as it corroded the tender tissues inside.

Chen Yu waited for a long time before the Beetle Knight's six limbs finally stiffened completely and its corpse turned cold.

The Little Ones huddled in the grass nest, trembling, suddenly felt the fear deep in their bloodlines gradually dissipate along with the Beetle Knight's death. Their tiny bean-like eyes blinked in confusion.

Then they looked at the heroic figure above them. After confirming what they saw, they cheered and bounced about, their gazes replaced by deep longing and worship.

Only after confirming that the beetle would not suddenly rise from the dead did Chen Yu bounce over with a splat, trying hard to swallow the enormous beetle corpse into his stomach.

Once the Digger Beetle was completely covered by gel, Chen Yu's body swelled to twice its original size, nearly as large as Slime Mother.

He barely wriggled back into the grass nest and patiently digested the beetle in his stomach.

As the Acid seeped into the beetle's body, digested meat juices leaked out and were gradually absorbed by the gel.

Chen Yu, who had been drowsy, suddenly shuddered. His tiny bean-like eyes flew open, filled with an incredulous gleam.

This Digger Beetle... was even more delicious than he had imagined!

The Acid within him efficiently broke down the beetle's tough muscles and organs. When the powerful acid ate through the final barrier and reached the beetle's most exquisite core flesh, a flood of flavor condensed to the extreme instantly washed through his body.

That taste... was as rich as the golden, glistening crab roe and paste that flowed out after cracking open a crab shell—thick, mellow, carrying the domineering yet profound freshness unique to the depths underground, instantly enveloping every one of his senses.

Then a peculiar mushroom fragrance spread through him, just like the rich, strange aroma of premium matsutake roasted in butter, mingled with earth, forest, and nuts. It perfectly balanced the richness of the crab paste and added an indescribable depth of flavor.

How was this a bug? It was practically a delicacy bomb made from scorching crab paste and butter-roasted matsutake!

Holy crap, Beetle Brother, do you know just how delicious you are?