Ethan raised his gaze. Directly above him the ceiling of the enormous cave was bursting open. The sound of rock grinding against rock filled the air, as dust and stones showered down.
[STRUCTURAL FAILURE IMMINENT: WARNING] [IMPACT: CEILING COLLAPSE — INITIATED!]
A falling cave was going to crush him, but he was away from the Level 40 slime. He examined his camera. Temporal Shutter was in countdown. He couldn't afford to evade.
His heart was pounding. He had to flee.
Once, then twice, he felt the ground tremble. Only a few feet behind him, a huge, hefty, and pointy piece of boulder crashed down. A cloud of dust rose with the blow, choking him.
As he coughed and ran aimlessly through the dust, he thought, I must get out.
Running around a bend in the tunnel, he made his way directly to the enormous boss room. He was concentrating on locating the exit he had used to enter, not on the slime.
However, he slid to a halt as he exploded back into the main chamber.
Even though it was still seated on its black throne, the Grand Chaos Slime had been agitated once more due to the tremendous noise and shaking. Its enormous yellow eyes were wide with terror and shaking. Its body had purple cracks that flashed rapidly.
It had lost its anger. It was afraid.
The collapse appeared to vibrate the broken spell that had confined it. Under the immense pressure of the tumbling cavern, the entire black stone throne was beginning to fracture.
Ethan halted his run. He glanced first at the boss, then at the enormous crack in the ceiling, and finally back at the boss. Muddy Leviathan was an enemy . But this Slime boss was trapped beast was going to be smashed.
"You're going to be crushed!" With panic in his voice, Ethan screamed. "The whole cavern is about to collapse directly on top of you! "Monster, you must move!"
With a deep, sorrowful, high-pitched squeak—a sound of complete dread and pain—the slime simply stared at him. A purple wave of energy crashed against the cave walls, demonstrating the desperation.
Ethan realized he was running out of time. He had to make an impossible attempt. Not as a weapon, but as a solemn, sincere prayer to the System, he raised the obsidian camera. His impulse was to use the one tool he had, but he was unsure of what to do.
The sound of the ceiling collapsing was getting louder when Ethan's attention was diverted by a huge, urgent notification. The perfect, impossible situation was created by the Slime boss's overwhelming dread.
[WARNING: CATASTROPHIC CONDITIONS MET! (EMOTIONAL DISPLACEMENT: 100%)]
[SKILL CONDITION MET: GRAND CHAOS SLIME IS VULNERABLE TO TRANSCENDENT CAPTURE (0.1% CHANCE)]
[ONE-TIME SKILL GRANTED: PHOTOGRAPHIC CONTAINMENT.][COOL-DOWN: 30 DAYS.]
Ethan gasped, his eyes widened as he took in the new terrifying information. Photographic Storage. His camera served as a storage device in addition to a recorder. He actually had a key.
He got it right away. He was receiving precise instructions from the System on how to use the magic.
He steadied the camera and aimed it at the enormous, frightened beast. His voice was no longer filled with terror, but rather with the keen, concentrated intensity of someone who has just received precise survival instructions.
"I can save you!" Reading the steady commands from the System, Ethan yelled. "The camera! its a storage spell!! The image might be your home! You will no longer be trapped here! The collapse won't harm you!"
The slime stopped trembling. Ethan saw its quiet, sorrowful hum as complete submission to its one last opportunity. Its enormous, frightened eyes were fixed on the little camera. Beneath it, the stone throne grumbled, about to crumble.
Ethan made no hesitation. The time had passed, and he had the instructions, even though he knew the odds were merely 0.1%. He hit the button for the shutter.
K-CHUNK!
It was not the Temporal Shutter's loud SNAP!. The sound was sluggish, grinding, dense, and magnificent. The camera lens burst into a swirling vortex of black shadow and purple light that was directly aimed at the Slime boss's enormous body.
The thing remained still when the light struck the slime. It just started to compress.
The massive, truck-sized black body began to disintegrate, becoming smaller and smaller until it was a spiral of strong purple energy that was captured by the obsidian camera's lens.
[CAPTURE STATUS: 50% COMPLETE. WARNING: DURATION EXCEEDED.]
While enormous rocks slammed down all around him, Ethan remained still and held the camera steady. In his palms he felt the searing heat of the fading spell.
[CAPTURE STATUS: 99% COMPLETE.]
The slime had disappeared. The black stone throne, now broken and empty, was all that remained.
[CAPTURE SUCCESSFUL: GRAND CHAOS SLIME (LVL 40) HAS BEEN TEMPORARILY CONTAINED.]
The whole cave collapsed the once the slime disappeared. Above the throne, the enormous chunk of ceiling that had been fracturing finally came loose.
Ethan didn't hold back. He ignored the statistics altogether. Using the speed to avoid the first debris, he immediately engaged Temporal Shutter.
He ran. Like a madman, he dashed back into the tunnels, dodging and avoiding the falling rocks. He knew exactly when and where the next piece of ceiling would fall because of his foresight. He navigated the barriers like a torrent of water.
He heard the last, terrible CRASH! as the main room fell apart, permanently securing the throne of the Slime bosses chamber.
Until he exploded out of the rock crevice and landed on the safe, muddy ground of The Mire of Whispers, Ethan didn't slow down. He was fatigued, coated in dust, and trembling.
He glanced down at the camera made of obsidian he was holding. A faint purple light flashed from the lens, and it felt warm.
His camera was home to a Slime boss. In addition to successfully photographing the Chaos Incarnate, he had also saved the image and obtained the game's most valuable content.
Spitting dirt, Ethan smiled. He was still alive, his camera now contained a most powerful pet, and the viral photo was certain.