But not all of them retreated. Su Li watched for three seconds and realized they were gathering against the stone wall farthest from the brazier.
Enough.
He grabbed the broken sword, circled around the brazier, and took two steps toward the stone wall.
The first slime was squeezing itself into a corner by the wall. Its core was tucked in the center, three finger-widths beneath its surface.
Su Li adjusted his grip. The sword tip aimed at the core and stabbed straight in.
The broken sword met less resistance piercing its outer body than he had expected. The transparent substance felt like poking into thick, cold porridge—sticky, but not hard. The tip struck the core precisely.
One jab, and it shattered.
The slime's body collapsed into a puddle of liquid like a cloth sack with its bones pulled out.
Su Li drew his sword and stabbed the second one.
This one's core was offset to the left. He corrected the angle and drove the sword in. Shattered.
The third had begun drilling into a crack in the stone. Su Li took a step after it and pinned it from above with the sword tip. With gravity and the weight in his arm, he was half a beat slower than he wanted.
But it was enough. The core shattered, and the liquid slumped to the ground.
After dealing with the three, the remaining four or five had already scattered into every corner of the stone hollow.
At some point, Lumi had pulled a coil of thin vine rope from her pack. She tied a slipknot at one end, flung it at the nearest two, looped them, and pulled tight.
The bound slimes writhed frantically, but the vines were not metal. They could not eat plant fibers.
Gelu took the chance to