Zeyarila.
After the torrential rain, Swamp Forest was busier and livelier than ever. Quite a few outsider Slimes were scrambling to claim territory in the swamp.
These Demonic Beasts, whose ecological niche was akin to grasslands or the humus layer, did not have much impact on Swamp Forest. Like grass sprouting after rain, they merely grew silently in corners no one noticed.
The Stinger Bees continued tending the Moss Monster farm beneath the trees. Compared with Moss Monsters, they had little interest in these mucus-covered Demonic Beasts crawling everywhere. They mostly used Slime mucus as nest adhesive or stored food.
But because of one Slime's actions, the Stinger Bees' attitude toward these outsider Slimes subtly changed, and they slightly expanded their hunting range.
Quite a few unlucky Slimes consequently died beneath the Stinger Bees' stingers.
Whether it was the influence of the torrential rain or the Stinger Bees crossing the line and angering certain Demonic Beast tribes, the underground, once quiet and peaceful, welcomed an uninvited guest today as well.
A patch of growing grass might have been worthless in the eyes of predators like the Stinger Bees, but in the eyes of some Demonic Beasts, it was little different from an all-you-can-eat feast falling from the sky.
Especially for Digger Beetles, bouncy and juicy Slimes were the best possible food.
These Demonic Beasts, covered from head to toe in Chitinous Shell, excelled at burrowing and moving underground. They loved seeking out Slime Nests hidden beneath the earth, hooking their barbed limbs onto Slimes, then extending their slender mouthparts to feast to their hearts' content.
After eating their fill, they would occupy the Slime Nest as a habitat, where they reproduced and raised the next generation.
They were also a band of thieves. From time to time, they hunted Moss Monsters raised by the Stinger Bees. Their diet was remarkably broad.
Beneath the swamp, Mud Swamp Worms wriggled through the damp, soft soil as usual, drawing in and absorbing the rich nutrients of the humus layer through their mouthparts to sustain a day's growth.
But faint tremors soon caught their attention. The Mud Swamp Worms, which had been wriggling slowly, silently accelerated and burrowed away from the vibrations.
Ssssss...
One Mud Swamp Worm that crawled too slowly suddenly convulsed all over. Its body shriveled and dried up at a visible pace, until only a shed husk remained in the soil.
The culprit behind it was a Digger Beetle that had intruded into the Stinger Bees' territory.
Its shell was pitch-black, exuding a sense of ferocity and hardness, like a Knight clad in heavy armor. The sharp horn upon its head was its keenest Knight Sword.
Buzzz...
The Knight Sword cleaved into the soil, and the resulting tremor seemed to proclaim death's arrival.
At that moment, this Death Knight was searching the soil for traces of Demonic Beasts before resolutely crawling toward the upper right.
That direction was precisely where Chen Yu's Slime Nest lay—the only Slime Nest in this swamp at present.
As underground-dwelling Demonic Beasts, Slimes, like Mud Swamp Worms, also possessed a faint "vibration perception."
When their bouncy, sensitive Slime gel began to tremble slightly, unease spread through a Slime's depths like an electric current racing along its nerves, forming the rudiments of an ability similar to Danger Sense and allowing them to discover approaching predators in advance.
Chen Yu was jolted awake from sleep by his body's instinctive trembling. The faint, imperceptible underground vibrations were endlessly amplified by his auditory organs, rustling and hissing with chaotic, piercing noise.
An inexplicable restlessness surged within him, as though warning him that danger was approaching.
Even the usually mischievous Little One sensed the arrival of danger. It trembled in the grass nest, pressing tightly against Chen Yu in search of safety and comfort.
"Something's approaching underground?"
Remaining alert, Chen Yu hurriedly bounced out of the grass nest with a series of plops. He pulled more than ten Stinger Swords hidden beneath the tree roots in the nest and stored them inside his body, clearly prepared for battle.
Several breaths later, the ground suddenly shook violently!
The hard horn tore through the nest's peace like a sword breaking through the earth. Immediately afterward, a vicious, glossy black shell burst from the ground with crushing momentum. A gigantic beetle, comparable in size to Chen Yu, barged brutally into the Slimes' territory, carrying soil and the stench of the deep earth with it.
Its glossy black shell reflected the ghostly glow of death in the dim light, while its savage horn seemed capable of effortlessly piercing the hardest rock.
It was a beetle, yet its aura resembled that of a solemn and terrifying Knight.
Was it the Demonic Beast that had invaded the Stinger Bees' territory after the torrential rain?
The instant that enormous shadow crashed into his sight, an alarm from the dawn of life itself, carved into instinct, exploded within the depths of Chen Yu's gel!
Every inch of his gelatinous body screamed madly—danger! Extreme danger!
There was no need to think. Under the absolute control of instinct, his viscous body had already shrunk and trembled violently, nearly launching itself backward in a frantic escape beyond his control.
The creature standing before him was absolutely a Black Iron Lv3 predator!
[Will Check · Passed!] [Race Check · Failed!] [You have entered an abnormal state (Fear)]
"Why is it this again?"
For Chen Yu, the trouble was not merely this Digger Beetle, but also the Slime's Fear Instinct.
It was as though he had been slapped with a weakening buff before the battle had even begun.
He wanted to move, but his body continued trembling violently in disobedience. Every contraction tugged at his clear thoughts, as though his soul and gel were being forcibly torn apart.
This fear originating from his bloodline was like a layer of viscous, icy sludge, wrapping tightly around his will to resist.
His body could not move at all.
Fortunately, the Object Manipulation Technique had nothing to do with Slime instincts. It was merely a pure skill technique. Even in this situation, he could barely use it so long as he concentrated.
Just as he was about to strike,
The Digger Beetle's massive body turned. It gave up on Chen Yu, who seemed difficult to deal with, and pointed its savage horn straight into the depths of the grass nest—where the Little One Slime curled up, trembling.
Their pure, fragile glow beneath the beetle's enormous shadow was like a candle flame in the wind.
"—!!!"
The instant he witnessed this scene, Chen Yu felt an unprecedented fury for the first time, though he did not know why.
Although he found these little fellows annoying at times, they were not something any Demonic Beast could bully at will.
No matter what, this beetle had angered him.
He was very angry, and the consequences were severe.
A completely different, scalding torrent suddenly erupted from the deepest part of his gel.
Fear Instinct was still howling, and every piece of gel that made up his body was still screaming.
But the faint points of light within the grass nest seared into his consciousness like red-hot branding irons. A more primal, more fearless emotion erupted with a roar! It brutally tore apart the icy shackles woven by Fear Instinct!
An unprecedented force began gathering wildly! The gel that had shrunk in fear and sought to collapse was now forcibly fused together by his will.
It was as though his soul had seized Slime instinct by the throat, desperately slapping its face and asking whether it submitted.
Did it submit?
If not, then slap it again—slap it until it did.
At the instant will overwhelmed instinct, his soul broke through the walled barrier erected by bodily instinct. Reason and wisdom returned to his body, and a screen of light suddenly flashed before his eyes.
Huh?
A Prestige Title?
Before you continue