The night was dense, silent, and humid.
The only sound was the soft, almost imperceptible movement of thousands of Slimes sliding over the ground like a living shadow.
Mira advanced at his side, her fifteen Water Elementals floating behind her like blue spirits, barely visible in the darkness.
They were less than fifty meters from the wall.
And not a single goblin had noticed.
Perfect.
Jiang Chen raised his hand.
The Slime Shaman stepped forward slowly, his body trembling, absorbing energy into his gelatinous staff.
The red glow began as a dot…
and then it became a sphere.
A fireball.
The magic condensed.
And then…
BOOOM!
The Slime Shaman's fireball shot forward with brutal force, cutting through the darkness like an incandescent red lightning bolt.
It struck the stone wall and exploded with a roar that awakened the entire fortress.
Fragments of rock and dust flew in all directions.
The explosion opened a deep crack—not enough to enter, but enough to start.
"Now!" shouted Jiang Cheng.
The fifteen Water Elementals extended their arms forward.
The sound was like a compressed roar.
SHHHHHHHH!
Jets of pressurized water shot out, striking the newly formed crack.
The wall vibrated, creaked, resisted…
until entire blocks began to come loose.
From inside, goblin screams echoed.
"INVASION!
TO THE WALLS!
ENEMIES!"
Shadows moved.
Archers appeared atop the towers.
Screams, footsteps, alarm.
But it was too late.
The Slimes surged toward the crack.
Thousands.
A viscous river pressing forward, entering every opening, expanding the fracture by force.
Their weight, their mass, their persistence… was worse than any battering ram.
With every second, the crack grew larger.
But then—
ARROWS!
Dozens of projectiles rained down from the towers.
Some arrows pierced normal Slimes, splitting them in two, dissolving them… but others continued advancing without stopping.
Mira raised her hand.
"Shields!"
Five Elementals stepped forward and raised dense water barriers that deflected part of the arrows.
The sound of impact was like rain on metal.
"Keep pressing!" ordered Jiang.
The wall was about to collapse.
From inside, goblins armed with spears appeared, pushing with everything they had, trying to block the growing gap.
One managed to get through a Slime and began pushing it outward…
But suddenly, from within the viscous mass…
The Evolved Slimes sprang into action.
One leapt onto the goblin from the edge of the crack. The creature shrieked as the Slime enveloped its head, knocking it down.
The crack trembled.
A deep vibration ran through the wall.
CRAAAAACK!
"It's breaking!" shouted Mira.
The Elementals unleashed one last combined jet.
The Slimes pushed with all their mass.
The evolved ones crushed those trying to hold the blocks from inside.
And then…
THE WALL COLLAPSED!
Tons of stone fell inward, crushing goblins trying to defend the breach.
A cloud of dust rose.
Screams.
Chaos.
And before the dust settled…
The Slimes began the invasion.
Thousands surged in like a living wave, covering the ground, the goblins' legs, the discarded weapons, everything.
The Elementals unleashed jets that pushed and swept groups of enemies, opening paths for the Slimes.
The archers on the towers kept firing, but the pressure was too much.
The entrance was secured…
But the real fight inside the fortress was just beginning.
As the first Slimes advanced several meters into the collapsed walls, the true goblin force appeared.
Screams.
Drums.
Heavy footsteps echoing from within.
DOOM!
DOOM!
DOOM!
Mira opened her eyes, tense.
"They're all coming…"
And yes.
All the goblins of the fortress emerged from the inner streets like a green wave.
There were dozens, then hundreds, all armed, all furious.
Goblins with spears.
Goblins with shields.
Goblins with leather armor.
Archers in the heights, shooting relentlessly.
But the worst…
Were the ones who appeared next.
Jiang Cheng felt the change in the air.
A strange pressure.
A vibration that made the surface of the Slimes oscillate.
Mira frowned.
"That's… aura."
First there were two. Then five. Then ten.
Larger, muscular goblins with deep scars and burning eyes.
Each was surrounded by a greenish aura that distorted the air around them, as if burning the very energy.
And then he saw:
A common Slime lunged at one of them…
SZZZZZT
The aura burned it.
Literally evaporating it as if thrown into a corrosive acid.
"Damn it!" exclaimed Jiang. "That aura destroys Slimes on contact."
The elite goblin warriors advanced, roaring like enraged beasts.
Every step forced the common Slimes backward, killing them on direct contact.
Mira raised both arms.
"Full density!"
The fifteen Elementals responded immediately.
Their bodies darkened, thickened, almost solid.
And then they advanced, forming a liquid barrier that crashed against the elite goblins.
WHOOOSH!
Waves of pressurized water hit the first elite warrior, pushing him several meters back.
The aura reacted, evaporating some of the water, raising steam…
but it was not enough to stop them.
"Keep your distance!" ordered Mira. "Don't let them touch directly!"
The Elementals formed swords and whips of pressurized water.
They struck from afar, avoiding the destructive aura.
But the strength of the elite goblins was overwhelming.
Their bodies resisted the water strikes as if they were living stone.
Then Jiang Cheng pointed firmly.
"You four! Go get them!"
The four Evolved Slimes advanced with brutal speed, blending among the common Slimes to conceal themselves…
until they were just a few meters from the elite goblins.
The elites growled, sensing the danger.
And at that moment…
SHING!
Mantis-like limbs emerged.
A perfect curved blade, sharp as a divine scythe.
They were bright, deadly.
The elite goblins attacked first, unleashing their aura in a frontal strike.
Three common Slimes exploded from the sheer impact of the aura.
But the evolved ones…
did not retreat.
CLANG!
One of their scythes clashed against an elite goblin's reinforced spear.