"No need, girl. Physical attacks have little to no effect on it. Let me take care of it!" Lortell said casually, her voice confident and dismissive.
"It's not like I can only do physical attacks!" Maruti muttered, narrowing her eyes as she looked at Lortell, a flash of pride and defiance in her gaze.
But Lortell ignored Maruti. She put strength in her feet and then flew off in one go, hovering in the air for a second as she drew out her sword again.
Pa! Pa! Pa!....
The seashell slime monster shot its tentacles towards Lortell in rapid speed. In that instant, dozens of new tentacles were shooting towards her, a blur of slimy tendrils.
Splash... Splash... Splash....
Her hand moved in a blur of motion, cutting off every single tentacle that was shot towards her in an instant. The severed tentacles fell into the water with soft splashes.
But she didn't stop there. Her red sword started glowing brightly as she poured her mana into it. "Take this!" she shouted, her voice echoing across the water.
SWISH!
A huge sword wave, a crescent of pure red energy, shot towards the slime monster. The monster's instinct immediately told it that the attack was life-threatening. It immediately turned around, showing its tough back to the attack.
The sword wave directly crashed against its tough seashell. The moment the attack landed, a huge shockwave shot through the air, sending ripples across the water and causing everyone's hair to fly up.
From the outside, it just looked like a normal attack, but the devastating power it showed was no joke.
CRACK!
A long fracture split across the shell, spreading wider and wider until chunks began to fall off and crash into the water. Through the broken parts, a glowing blue crystal—the creature's core—was faintly visible.
"Dang, just one hit? Even I would have taken at least three minutes!" Kailith muttered to herself, half amazed and half jealous,l.
"Screekkkk!" The seashell monster screamed loudly, a sound of pure pain and fear.
The next second, its slimy body melted into the water and sank in. Only the cracked seashell was visible as it swam away rapidly, disappearing into the depths.
"It's running away!" Ravenna called out, pointing at the retreating shell.
Lortell landed gracefully on the ground, not caring about the monster at all.
"I don't think there's any need to chase after it. The injuries I inflicted will surely take years to heal, unless someone else heals it!" she said calmly, her voice steady.
"Besides, its body is mostly made of water. If it's intelligent enough and abandons its seashell, then it'll be very hard to chase after it!" she added, explaining the tactical situation.
"Then there's no point in going after it!" Brenna said with a sigh of relief. "Besides, it's a good thing that it won't come back for the next few years. We should give this good news to the receptionist!" she added with a smile.
But at that moment, Maruti shouted, "No way, my revenge isn't done yet!" She immediately ran off and jumped in the water, chasing after the Seashell slime with rapid speed, her anger fueling her movements.
"Wait, I'm coming too then!" Kailith said, a competitive spark in her eyes as she chased after Maruti.
Brenna and Ravenna weren't confident enough that they would be any help, while Alice wasn't sure about her swimming skills to go deep inside the water. It had only been a month since she learned the basics of swimming.
Lortell slapped her forehead with a sigh, a feeling of exasperation washing over her. Then she looked at Esdeath, her expression softening.
"Should I go and help them?" she asked.
Esdeath shook her head with a faint smile. "No need, they aren't that weak!"
***
Maruti and Kailith dove deeper into the water, chasing the retreating Seashell Slime monster. The blue glow of the sea dimmed around them as they swam further away from the shore. The waves rippled softly above, and the world turned quiet except for the faint sound of bubbles rising from their movements.
It didn't take long for Kailith to catch up. Her tail swayed behind her, moving gracefully through the water—it gave her perfect balance and incredible speed. In moments, she was swimming beside Maruti, her expression serious but focused.
"It's not that fast," Kailith's voice echoed inside Maruti's mind, her telepathy clear and calm.
Maruti smirked. "Yeah. Let's kill him once and for all," she said, her golden eyes narrowing.
But before they could attack, something strange happened.
Ripple…
A soft vibration passed through the water, like a gentle wave of sound brushing against their bodies. Maruti stopped, blinking in confusion.
"Help?" Kailith's voice came again, quieter this time, filled with confusion.
"What help?" Maruti asked quickly.
"I think… he's asking for help," Kailith said slowly.
Maruti turned to her sharply. "What?!"
Kailith's brows furrowed as she tried to focus on the monster's thoughts. She couldn't understand its language, but her mind-reading ability picked up the emotions and fragments of meaning. Earlier, she had heard the word "purify" echoing from its mind—back when it had melted their clothes.
It didn't seem like a trap. Slimes weren't known to be smart enough to plan such tricks. And somehow, it felt genuine.
Maruti watched carefully as the large slime's speed began to drop. "I think it's trying to say something," she said, slowing her pace.
The huge creature stopped near the surface of the water. Using its thick tentacles, it began to move a large boulder that had been resting on the seafloor. The moment the stone shifted, Maruti and Kailith both saw what was underneath—and their expressions changed instantly.
There, trapped beneath the boulder, was a smaller slime—no more than a meter tall. It looked exactly like a baby version of the larger one. But its condition was terrible. Slimy threads of fishing net tangled around its body, bits of plastic stuck to its skin, and its once-clear blue color had turned a sickly purple. It twitched weakly, barely moving.
Maruti froze, her heart sinking slightly. Kailith stared at the sight, her tail falling still behind her.
For a moment, both sides simply looked at each other—the two women and the slime monster. No one moved. The water around them felt heavy, like it understood the silence.
Then, the larger slime extended one of its tentacles toward them, slowly and carefully. There was no malice in its movement—only hesitation and hope.
Kailith let it approach. The tentacle gently touched her forehead, and immediately, a rush of images flashed through her mind like short memories.
She saw the world through the slime's eyes—people throwing plastic bottles and cans into the water, garbage sinking deep into the sea, fish dying, and its child getting trapped in a net. She saw its struggle to free the baby slime, the infection spreading through its body, the helplessness in its thoughts.
And then, she saw what happened afterward—the slime trying to melt the trash near the shore, only to mistake clothes as plastic and unknowingly scaring humans away.
The tentacle pulled back. It didn't attack. It just floated there, quiet, waiting.
Kailith blinked slowly, her eyes softening. "I think it… got some misunderstandings," she said.
"What misunderstanding?" Maruti asked, still keeping her guard up.
Kailith turned to her and explained everything she had seen. "It wasn't attacking on purpose. It was angry because of the pollution from tourists. Its child got infected from all the trash. When it tried to clean the shore, it thought clothes were garbage too. That's why it kept melting them."
Maruti's expression changed slightly. "So you're saying… it's just a stupid slime that can't tell the difference between trash and clothes?" she asked half-seriously.
Kailith gave a small sigh. "Pretty much."
"So, what are you gonna do? I won't stop you if you still want your revenge!" Kailith said, looking at Maruti, her eyes searching for an answer.
"Hmmm..." Maruti rubbed her chin, looking at the seashell slime with narrowed eyes, her expression thoughtful. "I kind of like the fact that it gambled its life with people who were actually coming to kill him!" Maruti praised, slightly impressed by its bravery.
"More like it was too stupid to realise that it was gambling with it's and it's child's life!", Kailith thought inside her mind but didn't say anything.
"Forget it, I lost interest. Let's just go back. Just make sure to tell him to not do that ever again!" Maruti said with a bored tone, her anger completely gone.
She raised her hand, golden light glowing softly around it. "Heal!" she said clearly.
The light spread through the water, surrounding the wounded baby slime and the large one. Slowly, the infected purple color faded from the smaller slime's body, returning it to a faint blue.
The cracked parts of the larger one's shell began to close up a little too, not completely healed, but stable.
"Well then, I'm done here," Maruti said, stretching her arms lazily. "Let's go." She turned and swam away toward the surface, her movements confident and carefree.
Kailith was still there for a few more minutes. She communicated with the slime monster again, roughly explaining about its misunderstanding and how it should be more careful.
After she confirmed that it got a general idea of the situation, she finally waved her hands in goodbye and went back to the shore with Maruti, her heart feeling a little lighter.
****
When they arrived at the surface, the others had already gone back to the hotel. Kailith and Maruti swam to the shore and went back to their hotel room.
The others were already changed back into their casual clothes, not having wasted any time, They did the same.
Especially Maruti, who had been practically naked. Although the beach was so empty that walking around naked wasn't a problem at all, But it felt better to be dressed.
After some time, they all gathered in one room, sitting comfortably on the beds and chairs. Then, Kailith and Maruti explained what had happened in the water, telling them about the baby slime and the pollution.
"Wow, I never knew there would be such a unique slime!" Lortell said, slightly amazed. It was very hard to find a unique monster like seashell slime monster.
"I never knew the plastic and trash problems would be in this world too," Esdeath thought to herself, she realized that some problems were universal.
"Huff, no need to think over it too much. I'll talk to the manager and make the whole area cleaned and tell him to ban plastic as well!" Lortell said with a clap, her voice decisive and ending the conversation with a clear plan.
No one said anything else, their minds now at ease about the monster. Later on, Lortell also made sure to inform the manager about the issue, knowing that just telling the receptionist was not a real solution.
After that day, they enjoyed their next few days on the beach as well, but the seashell slime monster never came back. The water felt calm and peaceful.
The time flew by in an instant. It had already been four days since they came here. They had enjoyed different seafood, bought new clothes, admired the beautiful view, and soaked in the calm atmosphere. But now, it was finally time to go back.
****
Thud!...
Maruti dug a huge sign board into the ground in one go, right on the outskirts of the beach. The sign board clearly said "PLASTIC IS NOT ALLOWED"
And had a ban sign on a hand-drawn picture of a plastic bottle.
"Phew, that's the last one. Let's go!" Maruti said, wiping the sweat off her forehead. A feeling of satisfaction spread through her.
Behind her, everyone was standing, just waiting for her to put the sign in place. .
The moment she turned back, they all did the same, their faces turned towards the path that would lead them home. They walked together, their footsteps in sync, finally leaving for their home again.
Without knowing, what unexpected things awaited them in the future.
****************************************************
[author]
Okay, So that's the end of our side story, Now only thing left is some 18+ chapters.
Also you can freely skip 18+ chapters, It won't contain anything major.
After those chapters, We'll move on to second half.
But I still have questions to ask, For 18+ chapter, Should I do only yuri? Or futa things as well?
[/author]