A Knight Arrives Underground

Zeyarila.

The swamp forest was busier and more lively than ever after the heavy rain, with many foreign slimes competing for territory within the marsh.

The arrival of monsters occupying an ecological niche similar to grasslands or humus layers did not significantly impact the swamp forest, much like grass growing after rain; they simply grew in unnoticed corners.

The Stinger Bees continued to manage their moss monster farm beneath the trees. Compared to the moss monsters, they were not very interested in these slime monsters crawling everywhere, mostly using the slime as nest adhesive or as emergency rations.

However, due to the actions of a certain slime, the Stinger Bees' attitude towards these foreign slimes shifted subtly, and they slightly expanded their hunting grounds.

Many unfortunate slimes met their end under the Stinger Bees' stingers as a result.

Whether it was the influence of the heavy rain or the Stinger Bees' encroachment that angered certain monster species, the usually peaceful and serene underground welcomed an unwelcome guest today.

A patch of growing grass might be worthless in the eyes of predators like the Stinger Bees, but to some monsters, it was no different from a buffet falling from the sky.

Especially for the Digger Beetles, plump and juicy slimes were the ultimate delicacy.

These chitinous monsters were adept at burrowing and ambushing, always seeking out slime nests hidden underground, where they would latch their barbed limbs onto the slimes and extend their slender mouths to feast.

After a full meal, they would occupy the slime nest as their habitat to breed and nurture the next generation.

They were also a group of thieves, occasionally preying on the moss monsters farmed by the Stinger Bees, their diet being quite varied.

Beneath the swamp, Mud Swamp Worms wriggled through the soft, damp soil as usual, drawing sustenance from the rich nutrients of the humus layer with their mouths to maintain their daily growth.

But subtle vibrations soon caught their attention. The Mud Swamp Worms, which had been moving slowly, silently increased their speed and burrowed away from the source of the vibrations.

Ssssss...

One slow-moving Mud Swamp Worm suddenly convulsed, its body shriveling and drying up at a visible rate, leaving only a shed exoskeleton in the soil.

The perpetrator of this act was a Digger Beetle that had intruded upon the Stinger Bees' territory.

Its entire shell was black, exuding a sense of ferocity and hardness, as if it were a knight clad in heavy armor. The sharp, arched horns on its head were its sharpest knight's sword.

Buzz...

As its knight's sword sliced through the soil, the resulting vibration sounded like the harbinger of death.

At this moment, this Death Knight was searching for traces of monsters in the soil, then resolutely burrowed towards the upper right.

In that direction lay Chen Yu's slime nest, currently the only slime nest in this swamp.

Slimes, being subterranean monsters, possessed a weak "vibration sense" similar to Mud Swamp Worms.

When the sensitive, gelatinous slime began to tremble slightly, a sense of unease, like an electric current, would spread through their nerves to the depths of their minds, forming the nascent form of a "danger sense" that allowed them to detect approaching predators in advance.

Chen Yu was awakened from his slumber by the instinctive trembling of his body. The faint, imperceptible vibrations from underground amplified in his auditory organs, rustling and filled with chaotic noise, grating on his ears.

An inexplicable sense of annoyance welled up within him, as if warning him of approaching danger.

Even the usually mischievous Little One sensed the approaching danger, trembling in its grass nest and pressing close to Chen Yu for comfort.

"Is something approaching underground?"

While alert, Chen Yu quickly hopped out of the grass nest, pulled out about ten Stinger Swords hidden beneath the nest's tree roots, and stored them within his body, fully prepared for battle.

A few moments later, the ground suddenly shook violently!

Its hard, arched horns, like sharp swords breaking through the earth, tore through the nest's tranquility. Immediately after, a ferocious, glossy black carapace emerged from the soil with the force of crushing everything, a giant beetle comparable in size to Chen Yu, carrying mud and the stench of the deep earth, rudely barging into the slime's territory.

Its glossy black shell reflected a dim, spectral light of death in the dimness, and its ferocious horns seemed capable of easily piercing the hardest rock.

Though called a beetle, its presence was like that of a solemn and terrifying knight.

Was this a monster that had invaded the Stinger Bees' territory after the heavy rain?

The moment that colossal shadow entered his vision, a primal alarm, etched into his instincts, roared within Chen Yu's gelatinous depths!

Every inch of his jelly-like body screamed—Danger! Extreme Danger!

Without thinking, his viscous body, under the absolute control of instinct, contracted violently, trembling, almost uncontrollably launching backward to escape.

Standing before him was undoubtedly a Black Iron Lv3 predator!

[Willpower Check - Passed!]

[Race Check - Failed!]

[You have entered an abnormal state (Fear)]

"Why this again."

For Chen Yu, the trouble wasn't just the Digger Beetle, but also the slime's fear instinct.

It was as if he had been hit with a weakness buff before the battle even began.

He wanted to move, but his body was still trembling uncontrollably. Each contraction pulled at his clear thoughts, as if his soul and his gelatinous body were being forcibly torn apart.

This bloodline-born fear, like a thick, cold sludge, clung tightly to his will to resist.

His body was completely immobile.

But thankfully, Object Manipulation Technique was unrelated to slime instincts; it was purely a skill-based technique. Even under these circumstances, he could still manage to use it with concentration.

Just as he was about to act, The Digger Beetle's massive body turned, abandoning the seemingly troublesome Chen Yu, its ferocious horns pointing directly into the depths of the grass nest—where the trembling Little One slime was curled up.

Their pure, fragile light was like a candle in the wind beneath the beetle's massive shadow.

"--!!!"

The moment Chen Yu witnessed this, for some reason, he felt an unprecedented surge of anger for the first time.

Even though he found these little guys annoying sometimes, they weren't something any monster could just bully.

No matter what, this beetle had definitely angered him.

He was angry, and the consequences would be severe.

A completely different, scorching torrent erupted from the deepest part of his gel.

The instinct of fear still roared, and every bit of gelatin that made up his body screamed.

But those faint points of light in the nest, like red-hot branding irons, seared into his consciousness. A more primal, fearless emotion erupted! It violently tore through the icy shackles woven by the instinct of fear!

A power unlike any before began to gather madly! The gelatin, which had shrunk and tried to dissipate due to fear, was now forcibly fused together by his will.

It was as if his soul had grabbed the slime's instincts by the throat, desperately slapping its face and demanding submission.

Submission.

If it didn't submit, he'd slap it again, until it did.

At the very moment his will overpowered his instincts, his soul broke through the wall of separation built by his physical instincts, and reason and wisdom returned to his body. A screen of light suddenly flashed before his eyes.

Huh?

A Prestige Title?