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That explosion did it...

The Slime Lord was angry. It bounced and writhed, doing its best to get rid of the flames on its body that’s boiling it alive, and it actually managed to do just that.

It isolated its parts that were ablaze and left it just like that. It certainly didn’t mind the loss; so long as its core was still intact, it’s alive. It could recover the lost volume later.

Of course, there’s no way it’d let go of the humans who woke it up in such a rude manner.

The Slime Lord emitted no sound, nor does it have an angry phase, but its presence turned scary and intimidating all of a sudden. It’s a clear indication that it’s angry.

It then jumped really high. About the height that shouldn’t be possible for something so heavy and large.

The Green Tea Party scrambled since the Slime Lord intended to squish them flat. They all got away just in time, too. But of course, that wasn’t the end of it. If anything, this was just the beginning of the fight.

Ren had no idea how ’injured’ the slime was. There were no health bars visible, and this isn’t an RPG. But those explosive barrels shouldn’t have hurt it too bad.

To truly kill this thing, its core must be destroyed. But the thing about slime lords is their cores are very elusive. Unlike ordinary slimes, the cores of slime lords were mobile; they could be at any part of their bodies, and you can bet that they won’t stay in place. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

The Slime Lord controls its movement. And since it’s the lifeline of the creature, of course it would do its best to protect it.

Once the Slime Lord landed, it immediately sprouted twelve tentacles. Each one took the shape of a weapon. Then, without any further ado, the slime began its storm of attacks. Its reach was great, and there’s no reason to doubt it could gather enough momentum; it could, obviously, by how fast it’s swinging those things.

Jules stepped forward. As the designated ’tank’ of the team, his task was to keep the slime lord entertained while his allies search for its core.

This is when Ren witnessed, in person, how reliable Jules could be once he was at the front line.

His shield somehow became a target for the slime lord as it began chasing and whipping its surface. Jules stood there and took most of it. He’d avoid some if the pressure felt a little too much, but for the most part, he’s a fortress.

Derek ran laps around the creature; so did Jen and Kaycee.

Kaycee was shooting at the creature periodically as she ran around it. It’s mostly suppressive and supportive shots intended to ease up the pressure for Jules since he’s taking a lot of attacks. Her arrows were precise enough to be where they needed to be.

Jen would also step into the danger zone, close to the Slime Lord, to attack. Her high-heat sword and chakra sometimes caught the attention of the Slime Lord, but Jules will always do something to get it back.

Derek didn’t attack. At least not right away. Instead, he was searching. He wasn’t going to waste his chakra attacking since he doesn’t have much to begin with. If he’s going to attack, it should have a very good reason. But mostly, he’s just searching the Slime Lord’s core.

Ren watched at first. He observed how the team planned on handling the creature on their own, and from their actions, he could tell their intentions already. It’s that obvious to him.

Derek didn’t tell him anything, though. He didn’t give him orders or any plan of action. He was expecting Ren to just get it and do something somehow. Luckily for him, Ren could do just that.

’Hmm, first time I’m using this against a monster,’ he thought to himself as he breached the distance with a startling speed.

He mobilized his chakra, and suddenly his chakra began emitting faint crimson sparks. Once he got close enough, he punched the Slime Lord, marking it with the infliction of the Pain Demon Art 1.0.

Additionally, he also used the Nine Echoing Canons Technique at full power.

’This should hurt. A lot.’

And it does. The pain amplification of Ren’s Pain Demon Art was 5×; paired with the Nine Echoing Canons technique, monsters would feel agony like never before.

It went exactly as Ren thought it would.

The creature doesn’t have a mouth, so it couldn’t scream, but from the way its body writhed as if it were some worm swimming in salted water, it’s obvious that it’s in great pain.

The initial punch hurts, and so did the nine equally as strong echoes that followed it afterwards.

It was in so much pain that its tentacles turned jagged from the shriek it felt, forcing it to stop attacking. It did not understand what was going on; all it knew was that it was in so much pain and that had to stop immediately somehow.

Ren’s party had no idea what he did, but whatever it was, it worked beautifully. Jen, Kaycee, and Jules took advantage of the slime’s distraction to throw in some slashes and shots at it, which only served to add more to the pain it’s suffering through.

Also, the strength of Ren’s punch blew off some of the obscurity within the slime’s body. It had been so badly shaken by that punch that its body started emitting soft light, which made it easier for Derek to locate the core.

He didn’t see it, fortunately. It was somewhere up the creature’s body. A bit difficult to reach but not entirely impossible.

But even though Derek saw it, he didn’t call it out just yet.

He knew that if they attacked it now, the creature would just shift its position once it felt the threat. That’s what it does to protect its core.

Instead of telling his team, he instead intensified his search throughout the Slime King’s body, especially now that it’s easier to see through it.

Derek searched for other likely places where the slime would put its core. Derek learned this trick from their old raids, and it was Travis who taught him how.

Slimes who could control the positioning of the core actually don’t move them a lot. Not because they’re lazy or dumb, but because they couldn’t be bothered.

The slimes aren’t complicatedly intelligent creatures. They’re pretty narrow-minded. If the core had been safe in that spot, why move it? However, just to make sure, Slimes would experiment when they’re in the mood.

They will begin moving their core in two to three additional places on its body, building a habit. A habit that could be exploited to cause its death since the pattern could be followed.

Derek was definitely looking for other most likely places where he would know the Slime Lord will move its core once it feels threatened.

He wanted to get this done as soon as possible. So, he figured out that he should have the complete information before telling the others to finish it.

And thanks to whatever Ren did just now, it made it easier for Derek to search for it.

"Target the upper half of its body. That’s where its core usually stays!" Derek yelled at his team.

His timing perfectly aligned with Ren’s analysis. He too discovered what Derek learned. He wasn’t just standing idle and still after punching the Slime Lord once.

Hearing Derek’s words, Jules blazed his chakra.

Suddenly, Ren felt a strong sense of the earth’s attributes on him.

Jules suddenly felt like a huge boulder to Ren. And he became quite immovable. The whips and tentacles that were previously hitting him could no longer move him back. Instead, Jules began advancing.

His presence also shifted. He became more menacing, and somehow, his presence became even more pronounced.

’He used a ’taunt.’ Cool.’

Ren was sure of it. It’s a martial technique, and he, who had the unparalleled comprehension cheat, immediately learned what Jules just used.

He doesn’t know its name, but it definitely increased Jules’ durability, toughness, and his actual weight. It also anchored him to where he stood; it would take a lot of effort for someone else to physically move him unless Jules intended it to happen himself.

More importantly, Jules’ chakra became more provocative in nature. It was the ’taunt’ effect, as Ren puts it. It attracts the attention of the monsters around and focuses them on him.

He’s got the sole attention of the Slime Lord, now. And what a timing too since the others were preparing to blow up the creature’s core to finish it.

’Alex would love this technique,’ Ren thought to himself as he roused his chakra while staring at the core of the Slime Lord.

’Alas, stealing isn’t good. This technique has a certain flavor to it, most likely a family or clan inheritance. It’s illegal to spread it to outsiders or re-skin it as something else entirely. Those tend to be registered and patented to the GMU, after all.’

Sadly, he can’t gift this technique to Alex without Jules’ permission. But that’s fine; Alex is already annoying and provocative on his own; he probably doesn’t need a technique to gain everybody’s hatred.