The Battle Shifted in an Instant

Black Noir lifted his foot and found that the puddle of slime had touched his sole. The transparent liquid was unusually sticky, stretching into long, thin strands as he raised his leg.

The liquid spread quickly, coating his other foot as well.

The young man pumping slime onto the floor like a faucet was clearly a support-type Esper. His role on the battlefield was to create obstacles that pinned enemies down or kept them from attacking.

He braced both hands against the floor, slime gushing from his palms. He seemed able to control its flow: it spread only toward Black Noir, never touching him or the short, stocky man beside him.

Despite the resistance, Black Noir strode forward. Every step took tremendous effort. At first, he nearly lost his balance and fell, but he quickly steadied himself. He seemed to adjust to the pull beneath his feet and charged at the pair even faster.

The young man watched, thinking it was a shame.

The slime he produced worked like a glue trap, only several times stickier. A mouse with only its feet stuck could still force its way forward a few steps. But if it ran out of strength and fell onto the trap, it would never get up again.

Once caught, a mouse had to push through in one burst to have any hope of escape. If slime covered its body, even an exceptionally strong rat would struggle to get free.

The same principle had just played out.

In his rush to get beyond the slime, Black Noir had nearly lost his footing. If he had fallen into it, the slime would have covered his body and held far more than his feet. Breaking free would have been impossible; even getting up would have been difficult.

Unfortunately for the