One day later, the entire area around the former village had been completely wiped out by the Slimes.
No vegetation, no bodies, no recognizable remains only overturned soil and gelatinous marks where the horde had passed.
As Jiang Cheng rested, a sharp signal appeared in his mind.
"…I lost several Slimes," he muttered, opening his eyes.
The sensation came from one of the directions where he had sent his scouts. Without wasting time, he moved between the trees, advancing silently until he found clear traces of the battle: claw marks, drops of slime, and small fragments of his Slimes evaporating in the air.
He immediately hid in the shadows when he saw the culprits.
They were several armed goblin warriors, mounted on large, muscular wolves. They advanced in organized patrols, killing any Slime that crossed their path.
Jiang Cheng narrowed his eyes.
"So it was you…"
He didn't attack. He preferred to stay hidden, following the group from a distance. He wanted to know if they belonged to a nearby village. If he was lucky, they would lead him there without him needing to search for it.
And it worked.
After walking several minutes through the forest, the trees opened up and the village appeared before him.
But this one looked nothing like the first village he had destroyed.
It was enormous.
The walls were tall and thick, made of reinforced logs tightly fitted together. There were watchtowers with armed goblins using bows and spears, carefully watching the surroundings. Inside, he heard constant hammering, heavy footsteps, growls, and signs of military activity.
He saw at least three groups of goblins mounted on wolves entering and exiting through the main gates. They were scouts—organized and far better equipped than normal goblins.
Jiang Cheng frowned.
"This… is a different league."
For the first time since entering the secret realm, he felt like he was facing a village that did know how to fight… and that could respond if attacked.
Retreating without making noise wasn't difficult. He managed to slip away far enough without being detected.
He leaned against a tree, taking a deep breath.
"With nearly two thousand Slimes, it shouldn't be too hard… but I still need a plan."
He was no longer dealing with a simple group of wild goblins. This was an organized, militarized village with layered defenses. Attacking blindly would be chaos… but if he did it right, he could earn an absurd amount of energy to keep growing.
And that thought drew a faint smile on his face.
Jiang Cheng continued observing the village from a distance until, finally, a bold idea surfaced in his mind.
Slimes could digest anything.
Wood, soil, roots, soft stone—whatever.
And most importantly… they did it silently.
If he used them well, he could slip into the village without anyone noticing.
A certain distance from the wall, hidden among trees and shadows, he mentally called his army.
"Start digging. Straight toward the village. Don't make a sound."
The Slimes obeyed instantly. Thousands of gelatinous bodies began sinking into the earth, melting it and swallowing everything beneath.
It was like watching a colony of termites devouring wood… but multiplied by thousands.
All afternoon, the Slimes dug a long and wide tunnel large enough for a compact mass of them to move without getting stuck.
By sunset, the tunnel reached exactly under the village's inner defenses.
Night fell like a perfect cloak.
Jiang Cheng smiled.
"It's time."
From inside the goblin village where no one should be the ground began to tremble. A wet, viscous sound grew like a subterranean whisper.
And then, it burst.
Thousands and thousands of Slimes erupted from the tunnel, overflowing like a living flood. Nearly two thousand gelatinous bodies shot in every direction, climbing over huts, walls, watchtowers, and narrow paths.
Among them were his five evolved Slimes, the ones with sharp arms.
At first, the goblins barely understood what was happening.
A lookout fell from his tower when several gelatinous masses climbed the beams and wrapped around him.
His screams were muffled as his torso dissolved like foam.
Other watchmen blew the alarm horns.
"GRRRAAAAA! GRRAAAA!!"
The roars echoed throughout the fortress.
Dozens of warriors rushed out of their huts, armed with short-haft spears, bone shields, and crude swords.
But these goblins weren't like the weak ones from the first village: their bodies were more robust, their eyes sharper.
The clash was brutal.
A group of five goblins lunged at the frontal mass of Slimes. Their spears pierced several… only to get stuck inside.
The Slimes pulled inward with their viscous bodies.
The goblins screamed as their arms were dragged forward. When they tried to retreat, the Slimes rose like liquid serpents and covered their faces, melting eyes, teeth, and throats.
Other warriors formed a defensive line to protect the gates, striking with their shields as they were pushed back by the green tide.
But it wasn't enough.
Slimes climbed over the shields, falling like drops of acid.
Weapons rusted instantly.
Goblins' skin burned on contact.
From the two main towers, goblin archers fired arrows nonstop.
Arrows rained down on the Slimes.
Fifty, a hundred, two hundred arrows pierced the invading mass…
but no single arrow could kill a Slime in one shot.
They simply deformed, swallowed the projectile, and kept moving.
One evolved Slime spotted a tower full of archers.
Its sharpened arms vibrated.
It leapt and stabbed a blade into the wooden column.
With a swift move, it sawed through the beam.
The entire tower tilted and collapsed to one side.
The archers screamed as the structure fell, crushing them before they could escape.
From the back gate, a pack of ten giant wolves burst forth, roaring furiously.
Mounted atop them were goblin riders with long spears and hardened leather armor.
They were fast, coordinated, and their wolves had red eyes and foam-covered fangs.
When the wolves charged—
CRUNCH.
Several Slimes were crushed under their paws.
Others were thrown into the air by the zigzag movements of the riders.
"This won't be easy…" Jiang Cheng muttered from the forest shadows.
The spears pierced Slimes from afar, avoiding direct contact.
The wolves tore off chunks with their jaws before the Slimes could wrap around them.
It was a brutal spectacle.
Each charge from the wolves cleared an entire sector.
But there were simply too many Slimes.
Those thrown aside bounced and returned to attack.
Those pierced closed their bodies and kept going.
Those trampled stuck to the wolves' legs, melting flesh.
One wolf fell, howling, when twenty Slimes covered it and devoured its legs.
Its rider tried to jump
but an evolved Slime pounced on him, slicing his head cleanly.
Two other riders were pulled down by the invading mass.
Slimes climbed their bodies, armor, and faces, dissolving them slowly.
Only three riders managed to retreat to the center of the village, surrounded by a group of warriors.
But it was already too late.
The defense was collapsing.
Near the central well, a group of elite goblins larger, tattooed, and wearing heavier armor formed a defensive circle.
Their weapons were better: curved swords, spiked maces, reinforced wooden shields.
The evolved Slimes charged straight at them.
The collision was so intense the ground trembled.
One elite smashed a normal Slime with his mace, bursting it like a bubble.
Another delivered a horizontal cut that split one in half.
An evolved Slime climbed a shield, spun, and sliced a goblin's throat in one clean motion.
Blood sprayed in a high arc.
Another used its blades to break a mace before piercing the goblin's chest.
From the largest hut in the village decorated with feathers, bleached skulls, and bone necklaces the village chief emerged.
And he was nothing like the previous goblin chief.
He wore a full cape made of hides dyed dark red, dragging dust and blood with every step. In his hand, he held a black wooden staff carved with runic symbols. His eyes glowed with a sick yellow light.
The goblin shaman took one slow step forward.
Then another.
And without uttering a single growl, he raised his staff toward the night sky.
At the tip of the weapon, energy swirled violently.
A fireball began to form first the size of a torch… then a skull… and finally a miniature sun that forced nearby goblins to step back from the heat.
"It can't be…" Jiang Cheng muttered, feeling a bad premonition crawl up his spine.
The fireball was launched.
It tore through the air with a blazing roar and struck one of the evolved Slimes directly.
The explosion shook the entire village.
Flames, smoke, earth flung upward… a blast that made even half-devoured wolves tremble.
When the cloud of smoke cleared, there was no trace of the mutated Slime. Not a fragment. Not a residue. It had simply ceased to exist.
Jiang Cheng clenched his teeth. Losing a normal Slime meant nothing. Losing one of the five evolved ones… that hurt.
And the shaman smiled.
A wide, twisted smile full of tiny, sharp teeth.
The remaining four evolved Slimes reacted in unison. Their bodies trembled, their limbs sharpened like mantis blades, and they charged at the shaman.
But the goblin was fast. Very fast.
He struck the ground with the tip of his staff.
BOOM!
A hemispherical shield of transparent energy burst around him, repelling the attacks. Each time a blade struck, the shield crackled with purple sparks and a metallic sound no spell should make.
The shaman raised his staff again.
This time the energy was different. Heavier.
Jiang Cheng felt a chill. If that spell triggered, he could lose more than one evolved Slime.
The four mutated Slimes charged together. They needed to kill him before he cast again.
But the goblin moved first.
He slammed the staff into the ground, creating another shield. The attacks bounced off with sparks and metallic noise.
The shaman lifted the staff again, charging a new spell.
One Slime dashed to the side, seeking a blind spot. While the other three attacked head-on, it slid behind the shaman, sharpening its arm-blades.
The shield formed again… but at that moment, the flanking Slime pierced it through a weak point, stabbing its limb into the goblin's abdomen.
The shaman released a shrill scream, full of rage and agony.
His staff vibrated, unstable magic bursting into sparks.
The other three didn't waste a second.
They leapt onto him one stabbing his shoulders, another slicing his legs, and the last plunging its corrosive body into his torso.
The shaman attempted to form another spell, but only managed to ignite a single spark at the staff's tip before his organs were shredded.
The barrage ended with a wet crunch.
The shaman's body hit the ground lifeless.
The four evolved Slimes trembled, covered in magical residue that evaporated in the air.
The shaman's death was the final sentence.
The remaining goblins, leaderless, fled in desperation…
But the slime tide engulfed them in seconds.
In less than twenty minutes, the massive goblin fortress towers, walls, huts, stables fell into absolute silence.
The only thing left of the shaman was his mangled corpse…
And his black wooden staff, intact on the scorched earth.