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(Extra- Cris vs Zero, the commander.)
While Kei was running back to the base with the girls to talk about what had happened with the letter he had received, a certain event was unfolding elsewhere, an event that would cause Kei the greatest pain he would feel in his life.
"Tsk. How did they find us?" - murmured Cris, with a tone of frustration.
"Something is wrong, Cris" - said Sline, in a low and cautious voice.
The two were in the village of the dwarves, surrounded by a crowd of dwarves who watched them with distrustful and fearful looks. Cris, who was officially a fugitive from the law and whose face had been spread worldwide, and Sline, had transformed into dwarves to go unnoticed. However, despite their perfect transformations, they had been discovered almost instantly and were now cornered.
The appearance of the dwarves was shocking, they looked very dirty, with hair and beards tangled and covered in dirt. Their faces, thin and anguished, showed evident signs of exhaustion and suffering. The torn clothes and visible wounds on their bodies suggested that they had been working non-stop for quite some time, without being fed. Their hands, calloused and full of cuts, trembled as they held their rudimentary weapons. They looked so exhausted that they could barely stand.
"Can dwarves feel my demonic magic?" - thought Cris, feeling a mixture of confusion and worry, as Drin had been the only one (except for the inhabitants of the forbidden continent) who could detect her demonic magic, and if other races are learning to detect it, her movements will be limited, having to always live in hiding.
"There is something else, I don't think it's that. Look at them." - said Sline, knowing what Cris was thinking.
The dwarves did not want to kill them, but something forced them to act against their will. Their expressions were of terror and despair, as if they were trapped in a situation from which they could not escape.
"I'm sorry! We don't want to do this, but we have no other choice!" - shouted one of the dwarves, with a voice broken by fear.
"We're sorry!" - several others chorused, with their voices just as trembling.
Cris and Sline exchanged looks, even more confused by the unusual situation. Why were the dwarves acting in such a contradictory way? What force was compelling them to face them, even though they clearly did not want to?
"They are acting too weird, Cris." - murmured Sline, her worry growing as she watched the dwarves more closely.
Cris took a deep breath, trying to stay calm. Her gaze moved from one to another, noticing every detail. The sweat beading on their foreheads, the nervous looks, and the trembling hands. There was something deeper behind their behavior, something they still couldn't understand.
"We need to talk to them, find out what's really going on." - said Cris, with a firm but soft tone of voice.
Cris is at the level of an average B-class adventurer (except on the forbidden continent, where she is considered S-class), approaching A-class. Simple dwarves cannot be rivals for her, much less dwarves with their bodies very weakened. She planned to talk to them while dodging their attacks. Unfortunately, fate had something else prepared for her.
Cris opened her mouth, but before she could try to communicate, a heartbreaking scream echoed through the village, cutting the air like a knife. The tension intensified, and the fear in the dwarves' eyes turned into pure panic.
The eyes of an old woman exploded out of nowhere and her body began to burn in flames.
She did not run or roll on the ground to extinguish the flames, she just stood there, screaming in pain and suffering in agony.
"Cris, she...!"
Sline tried to help her, but Cris put her arm in front of her, stopping her.
"It's demonic magic, and the owner of that magic is approaching."
Sline swallowed hard and nodded. She felt bad for the old woman, but if a demon is responsible for this, they must be on alert at all times, as a simple mistake could cost them their lives.
The old woman, who burned until she died, finally stopped standing and fell to the ground, followed by the sound of a door being destroyed. And the one responsible for that was none other than Zero, one of Desmolfer's commanders.
"Why aren't you working?!"
Immediately, all the dwarves knelt when they heard Zero's voice.
[He looks different from the other demons. His mere presence makes me tremble] - said Sline to Cris, through [Thought Communication].
They have experience fighting demons, but it is the first time they encounter one of the leaders and not just a simple minion.
His childlike appearance might not be so intimidating, but their survival instincts screamed at them to escape from him, because no matter what they did or what tricks they used, they would not be able to win.
Cris remained silent and did not respond to Sline, because she was thinking about how to escape from that place. But no matter how much she thought about it, all her escapes ended in their deaths, and with each death that occurred in her imagination, she began to tremble more and more, filled with terror by the being who was getting closer and closer to them.
"Well, well. How interesting." - said Zero.
He crushed the old woman's head with his right foot and laughed, without changing his cold and expressionless face.
Did he do it to seem more evil? Whatever the case, it had an effect on them. Cris stopped thinking about how to escape, as it would be in vain; it was impossible to escape from such a dangerous being. The only thing she could do was fight.
"I did not expect to see you in this place, Miss Slime. You should have informed me of your visit in advance, I would have welcomed you with a feast in your honor and not in this rude way. Maybe next time, if there is one."
"... Do you know me?"
Zero stood in front of the two of them, and immediately, a dwarf girl knelt for him to use her as a chair.
Seeing that filled the Slimes with frustration, but also with helplessness, as they knew perfectly well that he was at a level far superior to theirs. They did not even feel fear when facing Kei Molfer, but now they were terrified.
"I know you. You are that rare Slime who worked for the heroes. Nero was very interested in you. A demonic Slime born outside of hell. If she were alive, she would be very happy to meet you."
"Who is Nero?" - said, trying to buy time to calm down.
"You are different from all the previous adventurers. Did you come for the supposed powerful man with black hair?"
[The rumors of a powerful man were not referring to Kei, they were referring to him, Cris.]
"You remained silent, so, yes, you came for him. What a nuisance, this is not working out. I wanted to attract the attention of the hero Kei, not yours."
Cris approached Zero when she heard Kei's name, putting aside all her fear.
"The hero Kei?"
"I suppose I will have to visit him personally."
"Do you know Kei? Do you know where he is?!"
"Yes." - he responded without hesitation, feeling that Cris was feeling love for the hero Kei, something she did not feel for Kei Molfer.
"Tell me! Where is he?!"
"Pffff. "Tell me"? Why would I tell you?"
"Tell me!"
Cris tried to hit Zero with all her strength, with her fist full of rage and desperation. She had wanted to find Kei since she arrived in that world, and for the first time (according to her), a great opportunity had presented itself, and she did not want to waste it.
She put aside her fear and common sense to get the information from Zero through violence. But, at the last moment, a dwarf stood in the way, protecting Zero with his body. Cris's blow, imbued with power and with no possibility of stopping, went through the dwarf's head with a dry crunch, killing him instantly.
Time seemed to stop for Cris. She watched in horror as the dwarf's life faded, falling lifeless to the ground. His thin and dirty body collapsing like a rag doll. The hot blood stained her hand, and the metallic smell filled the air, mixing with the dust and cold sweat of her body.
For the first time in her life, Cris had killed an innocent person. Treka, in her mind, had never been a victim, but a villain deserving of her fate. But this dwarf, an innocent and scared being, had given his life against his will and in vain.
Anyway, Zero received Cris's attack; the dwarf's head was not able to diminish the power of that punch. But, even if he received it with all its force, he suffered no damage. And Zero's laughter only confirmed the worst. He knew he would not receive any damage, but made the dwarf protect him, just to make Cris suffer, and he succeeded.
"W-what...?" - stammered Cris.
Her voice seemed barely a whisper, broken by disbelief and guilt.
The weight of what she had just done hit her hard, a sharp pain in her chest that took her breath away. The image of the dwarf, with his dirty face and eyes full of fear, was etched in her mind, a scar that would never be erased. She had killed an innocent person, something she never imagined she would do.
Cris' hands trembled as her heart raced wildly. She wanted to scream, to cry, to tear away the guilt devouring her from within. But she couldn't move, paralyzed by the magnitude of her action. She felt a crushing pressure in her chest, as if all the air had been expelled from her lungs, something illogical because she didn't have lungs, but her mind forced her to feel all that, as it was her way of reacting to guilt. The reality of what she had done hit her again and again, a wave of emotions dragging her into an abyss of pain and regret.
Zero's cold, unperturbed gaze pierced through her, increasing her torment. Cris had crossed a line she never thought possible, and the realization of the irreversibility of her act left her desolate. As the dwarf's body lay at her feet, Cris' voice broke into a choked whisper.
"What have I done...?"
"Pffff. Hahahahahaha! I even imagined a narration of what you're feeling." - Zero said, laughing, but without changing his expression.
"Cris!"
Sline's tentacles grabbed Cris and pulled her away from him.
"It's not your fault, he's controlling them!"
"Well, well, well. "Oh no, I killed an innocent. I feel like I'm suffocating with guilt. I can't stop trembling like the coward I am." Hahahahahaha!"
"Don't listen to him, Cris! It's not your fault, he's the one responsible!" - Sline said, holding Cris' hand tightly.
The guilt didn't leave her, but seeing the dwarves crying, fearing they would be the next to die, she quickly shook her head and her gaze hardened.
She has seen people die in front of her eyes and has killed, bad people, but she has killed. Death is not new to her. She can't afford to lower her guard because of guilt.
Sline's and the dwarves' lives are in danger, and it depends on her to save them.
"What did you do to them?" - Cris said.
"Has the remorse passed? I like that."
He got up from the dwarf girl, and immediately, she stood next to him, raising her fists. Her expression and tears reflected that she didn't want to do it, but she couldn't refuse.
The other dwarves raised their fists and weapons and took a step forward.
"What did you do to them?!" - Cris shouted at him.
"The dwarves are under my control. If you want to fight me, you have to defeat them."
"Coward!" - Sline shouted at him.
With tears in their eyes and screams of agony, the dwarves tried to attack them, but both turned into Slimes and quickly moved away.
"Let's go, Sline!"
"Fufu. The fun is just beginning."
Zero snapped his fingers and the dwarves' eyes turned completely black, and their skin turned red. They stopped crying and screaming in agony, now only growling and roaring like simple wild animals.
"What did I do to them, you asked? It's obvious you don't know me. It's my manipulation magic! Wild mode!"
The dwarves began to bleed from their eyes, and their speed increased, reaching the girls in less than a second. They barely had time to react and dodge them.
"Cris, they've gone wild!"
The attacks didn't stop, and little by little their speeds increased, they could no longer dodge them. They stuck to one of the dwarves' faces to rest for a few seconds.
"We have no other choice. We'll free them from their suffering." - Cris said.
"It's the best for them."
The dwarf tried to shake them off, but they entered through his nose and destroyed his brain, killing him.
She is not as powerful as Kei, she can't afford to fight Zero while trying not to hurt the dwarves. Besides, she doesn't even believe she can defeat him, so she will kill the dwarves so they don't continue suffering with him. It hurts her to kill innocents, but she prefers to do it so they are free and go to paradise.
She returned to her human form, destroying the dwarf's head, and small Slimes began to come out of her body.
47 Slimes came out of her body.
"Self-destruction!"
"Liberation." - Zero whispered, realizing what she planned to do.
The Slimes jumped onto the dwarves and stuck to their faces.
"I don't want to die." - A girl said, crying.
"Mommy!" - A small boy, only 3 years old, said, hugging his mother.
The cries for help and mercy from the dwarves filled the place, and one in particular paralyzed them.
"We can control ourselves now, don't kill us!" - A small boy shouted.
"N-no." - Cris said.
"Don't look!" - Sline said, as she knows perfectly the attack Cris used. An attack impossible to stop, even for Cris.
Zero freed them. Now they were free. They could move and speak by their own will. They regained their freedom... But it was too late.
The Slimes exploded, killing them all instantly.
A rain of blood and dwarf remains began to fall while Cris and Zero exchanged glances.
Children, men, women, the elderly... They were all dead. Cris was determined to kill them to free them, but it sickens her to know that Zero freed them just to give them a bit of freedom. Freedom they could only enjoy for a few seconds.
He only filled them with illusions, just for them to die in the end.
Zero began to applaud.
"That was very entertaining. Thank you for the show."
"I will kill you!!"
Cris tried to hit Zero, but he perfectly dodged her attack by jumping.
He floated above her.
"The dwarves also had babies. Do you know where they are? I'll give you a hint: Babies are delicious." - He said, rubbing his belly.
Cris has never felt Zero lie. He knows how to find Kei, but that also means he did something horrible to the babies, filling Cris with nausea.
Sline only feels nostalgia and regret.
"Bastard!! Sline...!! Sline, come!!"
"Eh? Oh, yes!" - She said, returning to reality after getting lost in her thoughts.
Sline jumped onto Cris and joined her, fusing.
"Well, well. Your magical power doubled. That's the form you used when you fought Kei Molfer, right? But it wasn't enough to defeat him."
"Tsk. Kei Molfer definitely works for the demons. Damn Sei Molfer is useless for not realizing the obvious!"
Nero was spying on her, that's why Zero knows about the fight, but Cris doesn't know that, so she believes Kei Molfer told him about her and their fight.
And those words were the worst she could say in front of him.
"Oh, well... Sorry, but I have to find new victims. You killed my toys."
Cris punched Zero in the face, but her fist melted. Why? She doesn't know.
"W-what?"
"I must retreat."
Zero jumped and kicked Cris in the face.
She flew and crashed into a house.
"I'll let you live because you seem interesting."
Cris tried to stand up, but it wasn't just her fist, her head was melting too. She couldn't maintain her human form.
"Damn..."
She returned to her Slime form and separated from Sline.
"I can't move."
"Neither can I."
Zero crouched down to look at them.
"I can kill you if I want, but I feel it will be more fun to leave you alive. Goodbye."
Zero walked away calmly and jumped. A hole opened in the ground, and he entered it.
"Damn, we received the mercy of a demon."
"He's too strong, Cris. He defeated us effortlessly. Why didn't he kill us?"
"I don't know. But he's planning something, I can feel it."
Neither of them could move for hours after that.