Watching the gnoll run away as if fleeing for his life, Zoe hopped onto Vera's back.
“What's wrong, Zoe?”
Vera turned her head in confusion to look at Zoe on her back.
“Squish.”
「Follow him. Don't let him spot us.」
Zoe popped up a dialogue box.
“Eh? Why?”
Vera tilted her head and asked in confusion.
“Squish.”
「Since they've already come looking for us, we might as well take the initiative and go on the offensive.」
「Rather than letting them catch us off guard, it is better for us to catch them off guard instead.」
Vera's eyes went wide.
“T-T-Too evil! Such an evil scheme—as expected of the evil High Slime Zoe!”
Even as Vera admired him, she couldn't help but feel a bit of self-reproach.
Why couldn't she think of such an evil scheme? If it were up to her, she would probably have just waited obediently in her nest for them to come, only to be caught completely off guard.
Vera flew up into the air. The overcast sky of the Month of Mud, filled with endless autumn rain, provided the perfect cover for her to hide among the clouds.
A giant dragon's powerful vision also allowed her to precisely lock onto the gnoll on the ground, ensuring they wouldn't lose him.
Before long, the slime and dragon pair followed the gnoll to a river valley in the southwestern part of the forest.
Currently, a pack of shadow wolves was entrenched here, leisurely dozing off.
Aside from the shadow wolves, there were also gnolls who had set up camp.
The shadow wolves numbered over a hundred, while the gnolls were fewer; Zoe could only see about twenty of them.
'However, I don't see the Shadow Wolf King.'
Zoe locked onto the messenger gnoll from earlier. Unsurprisingly, he was likely on his way to report to the wolf king.
The messenger gnoll returned to the settlement, heading up the river valley, and finally stopped in a shadow of the forest.
“My master, Lord Wolf King?”
The gnoll called out to the shadow a few times. Before long, something seemed to flow within the darkness, taking the shape of a pitch-black giant wolf.
The giant wolf looked like a physical manifestation of shadow itself. There wasn't a single stray color on its body from head to tail. Its length reached nearly six meters, and its shoulder height was over two meters.
The giant wolf lowered its head slightly, looking at the fawning gnoll before it.
“How did that slime respond?”
The Shadow Wolf King spoke in a deep voice, its tone laced with a low growl.
“To reply to you, Master, that lowly slime doesn't know what's good for it. It is unwilling to offer its territory to your greatness.”
“That lowly slime also said...”
The gnoll tucked his tail, seemingly hesitating on whether to continue.
“Said what else?”
The wolf king lowered its head even further, looking down at the gnoll.
“It also said... for your greatness to get lost from this area. It really doesn't know what's good for itself! It's simply absurd! I-I don't...”
The gnoll spoke in a hurried tone, but under the increasingly powerful wolfish pressure, he ended up prostrating himself on the ground.
“Very well.”
“How dare it be so arrogant.”
“All wolves, move out! Today, I shall pick my teeth with a High Slime's core!”
The wolf king was not one to be careless; the moment it moved, it deployed the entire pack.
Ordinary slimes were very weak among Low-tier Monsters, but a High Slime was different.
A High Slime was a powerful monster equal in status to itself, perhaps even rarer.
Furthermore, that High Slime had somehow managed to subjugate a white dragon.
Just as the wolf king gathered the pack and prepared to subjugate the evil slime, the clouds in the sky suddenly parted.
A white dragon dove down from the clouds, and clinging to the back of that white dragon was a deep purple slime!
The deep purple slime aimed at the gathered pack of wolves below, as if it had been waiting for this exact moment.
A scorching stream of Dragon Flame Breath was spat out. Like an apocalyptic beam of fire, it instantly blanketed the pack.
In an instant, several shadow wolves turned into blazing torches, scattering in all directions.
The gnolls mixed in with the shadow wolf pack were also ignited by the Dragon Flame. Wailing, they rushed toward the river valley, hoping to extinguish the flames with the stream.
However, how could the Dragon Flame be extinguished by the water of such a small stream? No matter how much they rolled around, they could only burn to ash in terror under the Dragon Flame.
“Awoo!”
The Shadow Wolf King let out a wolfish howl mixed with anger and command. In an instant, the panicked shadow wolves and gnolls scattered in all directions as if on cue, rushing toward the shadows of the forest.
“Awoo!”
This cry came from the landing Vera.
Swooping down, Vera landed on the ground, instantly crushing a shadow wolf with her paw while snapping up a gnoll in her jaws.
Under normal circumstances, if she were hunting alone as a dragon, she would absolutely never land on the ground.
But right now, she had the evil slime on her back!
Zoe quickly dragged the shredded wolf carcass into his body to Digest, replenishing his mana.
At the same time, he exhaled the corrosive gas he had been accumulating for a long time.
Corrosive Gas Slash!
The sharp Corrosive Gas Slash instantly sliced two shadow wolves trying to escape into the woods in half.
Vera spat out the gnoll she had bitten in half and was about to pounce on another shadow wolf, but Zoe gave an order.
“Squish.”
「Take off!」
Vera quickly flapped her wings, taking to the air once more.
The furious wolf king, moving like an afterimage, pounced but ended up striking empty air. It could only glare from the ground at the airborne white dragon and slime, letting out a low, angry growl.
'The advantage of having air superiority is simply too immense.'
Zoe popped up to look at the helplessly infuriated Shadow Wolf King below, sighing inwardly.
That single Dragon Flame Breath earlier, although it consumed 1,500 of Zoe's mana—nearly half of his total pool—had instantly burned over thirty shadow wolves and several gnolls to death.
“Why can this High Slime spit Dragon Flame?!”
The Shadow Wolf King on the ground was filled with wariness.
Under normal circumstances, even if a High Slime was strong, it shouldn't be able to use such an absurd dragon skill like [Dragon Flame].
Not only could this High Slime spit Dragon Flame, it could even project sword energy slashes with corrosive damage similar to a swordsman.
'Aren't High Slimes supposed to only be able to spit Acid?!'
The Shadow Wolf King stared at the High Slime in the air, which was riding on the white dragon and mindlessly raining down Acid Bullets.
It can not only spit Dragon Flame, but also tame a white dragon.
Could it be that this High Slime possesses dragon bloodline?!
The Shadow Wolf King could only come to this possible conclusion.
Being able to spit Dragon Flame meant that the opponent not only had dragon blood, but the draconic blood was highly concentrated.
Just what kind of giant dragon was desperate enough to lay its hands on a High Slime?!
In the air, Zoe rapidly generated corrosive gas inside his body. Once the corrosive gas was refilled, he commanded Vera to dive down again.
Vera let out an excited howl, tucked in her wings, and dived again.
Corrosive Gas Slash!
A pitiful shadow wolf was instantly sliced in half.
Vera maintained a low-altitude flight close to the ground, and Zoe seized the opportunity to spit Acid.
Acid Severing Wave!
A high-pressure water jet of Acid was spat out. Combined with Vera's high-speed flight, it drew a straight water-blade slash in the air.
A gnoll fleeing with his back turned, along with a shadow wolf beside him, was sliced in half.
“Roar!”
The Shadow Wolf King let out a roar, its body turning into an afterimage as it rushed toward the low-flying Vera, while several pitch-black dark magic ropes shot out from Vera's shadow below.
Several shadow wolves lying in wait in the shadows took the opportunity to fling dark magic gas slashes, sealing off the space above Vera.
Seeing this, Vera quickly spread her wings and pulled up, not getting greedy at all.
'Dammit, where is this white dragon's pride? Why is she so insidious!'
The wolf king, whose skill had struck empty air, leapt up, but it still couldn't reach Vera as she flew rapidly upward.
“Squish.”
「Beautifully done, Vera! Keep it up. A giant dragon utilizing its air superiority is the most evil and insidious thing ever!」
Zoe popped up a dialogue box at the perfect moment to praise Vera.
Rate on N.U.
