Lumine looked bewildered as Kai transformed into Heatblast, her voice tinged with worry.
"Yo… what happened to you? Why are you burning?"
Kai simply gave her a thumbs-up, flashing a confident smile."Don't worry about it. I'll explain later. For now, just enjoy my cool fight from here."
Turning his gaze toward the swarm of small slimes and five larger ones, Kai raised his palm and unleashed a barrage of fire. It was his first time wielding this power, and control proved difficult, his attacks scattered wildly across the battlefield.
The most frustrating part was the slimes' erratic hopping, which let them dodge his flames with ease. "Seriously…" he muttered under his breath.
One of the larger slimes lunged at him while the others began hurling bubbles. Kai quickly throw multiple firewalls, incinerating the incoming projectiles.
With the bubbles destroyed, he surged forward toward the charging slime. Clenching his fist, he intensified the flames around it. The slime tackled head-on, but Kai seized the moment, slamming his blazing fist into its body.
For an instant, he thought he gonna vaporized the Hydro Slime. But instead, a burst of steam erupted between them, and the force sent both combatants flying in opposite directions.
"What the heck…?" Kai exclaimed, stunned by the unexpected clash.
The remaining four slimes didn't give Kai a moment to think. They lunged forward all at once, forcing him to retreat in alarm. Instinctively, he again hurled a barrage of fireballs while widening the distance between them.
Then, something shocking happened, white and orange mist burst forth again, and the slimes were pushed back by the force of the steam. "What is that? Don't tell me these slimes have some weird passive ability that triggers whenever they're hit by fire…" Kai muttered, unsettled.
"Are you okay? If you want, I can support you," Lumine called from behind, her voice filled with concern. She could easily crush the smaller slimes, but the larger ones were far more intimidating. 'It's a good thing i didn't charge in first, Otherwise, i might've been the one caught off guard and get embarrassed.'
Hearing her worried tone, Kai answered with confidence, "Don't worry, I'm fine. Let me handle them."
Playing it safe, he conjured a fireball in his palm, steadily increasing its intensity while keeping his distance from the charging slimes. Once the fireball reached full power, he hurled it straight at the closest target. "Just taste my fireball!"
The blazing sphere slammed into the front slime, and once again the mist erupted, but this time, the slime was completely evaporated. The other slime behind it was caught in the crossfire and blasted backward, while the smaller slimes began hopping toward him in a chaotic rush.
Heatblast glanced at the slimes and smirked. "Now I've got a little idea of how to use this form. Not perfectly… but enough for now." He raised both hands, unleashing a barrage of fireballs, each one hotter and more intense than before. "Now taste my balls!"
No matter how the slimes jumped, his relentless assault left them no room to resist. Smoke and vapor filled the battlefield as fire rained down, scorching everything in sight. When the barrage finally ended, he surveyed the aftermath: not a single slime remained. The sand beneath had burned, some patches molten, others crystallized into glass.
"Well… that's done," he muttered with relief.
But before he could relax, Lumine's urgent voice jolted him. "Look up, they're above!"
He turned to see her pointing skyward, worry across her face as she dashed forward with her sword. Following her gaze, Kai's eyes widened, three massive slimes loomed overhead, plummeting from the sky like living meteors, ready to smash him into the ground.