I found the woman collapsed at the foot of the tree, trying to get back up. She wasn’t bleeding, but the top of her head was cracked.

Despite looking like a beautiful woman, she wasn’t human. She merely had the shape of one.

Her shell seemed to have been damaged by the impact, and through a gap where a piece had broken off her forehead and shattered on the ground like porcelain, her true Slime form could be seen inside, hot pink and soft.

"Camula, can you stand?" I asked her, unable to keep the nervousness out of my voice.

Her eyes opened wide when she saw me. It felt as though seeing me standing in front of her, worried about her well-being, had given her the burst of energy she needed to get back up.

"Yes... Master," she said, trying to stand. When I noticed that she was still having some difficulty, I supported her until Camula managed to get to her feet.

She took a deep breath, trying to steady her ragged breathing. After that, a smile appeared on her face, as if she were very proud of herself.

"Master, I did it. I did as you asked. Using Counter, I took our enemy’s damage." Camula’s hand rested on her chest. "I can feel the power building up inside me."

"You were too reckless. If the damage had been too great, you could have died," I scolded her. "But time is a luxury we don’t have right now. I’ll save the lecture for after we put this beast down."

She seemed pleased with what she had done, but she was clearly in no condition to run towards the enemy and attack it head-on.

"I’m going to join the Valkyries. We’ll create an opening for you. I want you to attack the King Boar when the moment comes. I’m counting on you."

Camula’s cheeks flushed when she heard that last part. My Slime placed both hands on her face, which carried a mixture of joy and embarrassment.

"Master said he’s counting on me~" she said, unable to contain her excitement. "This is the happiest moment of my life~"

"Can you focus on the battle?" I asked her in a serious tone.

"Yes, my dear Master."

For some reason, it seemed as though her fatigue had vanished. Her eyes shone with admiration for me, with a crack running across one of them like a shallow scar.

"BOOOOOOOM!!"

Our conversation was interrupted by a huge explosion nearby. I immediately thought it was Erina’s doing.

Since magic was our greatest source of damage against the King Boar and most of the skills in the girl’s kit dealt physical damage, Explosive Bullet was her only source of magical damage.

I sighed, then headed towards the fight taking place nearby. My goal was to draw the monster’s attention, give Camula time to recover, deal as much damage to it as possible, and create an opening for Camula to land the finishing blow.

At that moment, my five Valkyries had gathered to face the creature, and I was amazed by how chaotic the battlefield had become since I had taken my eyes off them.

One of the two Dianes in front of me had been struck by the Boar’s tusks and disintegrated into shadows. The remaining Diane, the original, was panting behind the animal.

Meanwhile, farther away, a magic circle glowed with an emerald-green light on the ground, with Alicia standing right in the middle of the Healing Circle.

Sarah was inside it, with trails of blood running down her arm. Since the Swordmaster was currently the team’s main frontliner thanks to Camula’s absence, she must have been in a pretty difficult position, having to deal with the giant pig.

At least the price she had paid didn’t seem to have been too high.

On the other side were our ranged attackers. Erina was hiding behind a tree, watching the ongoing fight. Although it seemed that her explosive attack had done some damage to the King Boar, it wasn’t something she could use at close range or when the enemy was near an ally.

But that wasn’t the case with Justine.

"Ice Spear!" She quickly created her ice spears and fired them at the Boar.

Without the protection of its screech, the ice spears lodged themselves in the Boar’s flesh.

"SQUEEEEEEEEEEAL!" The monster squealed not in pain, but in anger at the attack.

Those glowing red eyes were now focused on my Sage, which was exactly what she wanted. Since we had few Valkyries available to attack, Justine was now trying to buy time for everyone else.

"Fire Ball!" Flames gathered near my Sage’s palm, and she promptly fired them straight at the Boar’s face. A burst of smoke erupted against the creature’s snout.

Just as the King Boar was determined to kill us, Justine focused all her efforts on killing the creature, firing one magical attack after another and trying to take full advantage of our enemy’s weakness.

"It’s not enough," she said as she watched the smoke clear. "What a troublesome opponent."

The Boar dashed towards her, ready to crush Justine in retaliation for the magical damage it had suffered.

"Death Rush!" I called upon my Shadow Assassin skill.

The moment I activated that power, my speed increased considerably. Thanks to that, I managed to reach the spot where they were about to collide.

"Ugh!" Justine let out a frightened sound, thinking she had been hit by the monster.

The sound of tree branches and bushes being dragged aside could be heard nearby.

"Hey, are you hurt?" I asked the girl with glasses, whom I was holding in one arm.

Justine opened her eyes, finally meeting my gaze. Thanks to Death Rush, I had managed to pull Justine out of the King Boar’s path.

"Am I dead? Am I in heaven?" she asked me.

"As much as I like to brag, no. You’re still alive."

I looked at the monster nearby as it turned towards Justine and me, preparing to attack us again.

Camula was trying to find an opening while staying hidden in the Boar’s blind spot. She still wasn’t in a good position to attack it.

Her Counter would certainly deal a tremendous amount of damage to the creature, but it wasn’t our only source of damage.

"You’ve crossed every line imaginable, you filthy pig," I said to the creature in front of me.

I set Justine down on the ground and walked towards the monster. Its glowing eyes were now fixed on me.

Even though Justine used magic and it was effective against the creature, it still had a massive amount of HP. The fact that it was a damage sponge was a problem. At times like this, using buffs was necessary to bring its HP down faster.

[ Healthy Body: This passive skill makes you immune to ailments such as poison, sleep, arousal, and paralysis. ]

"Good thing I have this skill. Now I don’t have to think twice about using my trump card. I can turn you into bacon without a problem."

I placed my hand on my chest. I wouldn’t have to suffer from the side effect. I could fight it while pushing myself beyond my limits.

"Ero Boost."