The battlefield had become a nightmare.
What had started as a fight against one massive demon slime had evolved into something far worse. Cid watched in horror as the creature's body began to split, division after division, the Slime Division ability activating in response to the accumulated damage Regulus had inflicted.
One became two. Two became four. Four became eight. Then ten.
Ten medium sized demon slimes, each still larger than a person, each pulsing with that same sickly purple corruption, each capable of killing him with a single direct hit.
'This is what I was afraid of,' Cid thought, his breathing ragged as he observed the battlefield from what he hoped was a safe distance. 'High burst damage triggers the split. And each division retains combat capability. We didn't kill it. We just multiplied the problem.'
The ten slimes spread out across the clearing, moving with disturbing coordination. They were not independent creatures. They were fragments of a whole, extensions of a single consciousness distributed across multiple bodies.
Regulus stood in the center of the chaos, his golden white fur matted with acid burns, his fiery mane dimmed slightly from sustained combat. Lightning still crackled across his form, but Cid could feel through their bond that the lion's energy was depleting. Not critically low, not yet, but the sustained high intensity combat was taking its toll.
'He's holding his ground,' Cid observed with a mixture of awe and worry. 'Against ten S+ rank threats. Even sealed at ten percent, even nerfed, he's still fighting. But for how much longer?'
Two of the slimes launched acid projectiles simultaneously, the coordinated attack designed to catch Regulus in a crossfire. The Lion Emperor activated Flashstep, disappearing in a burst of lightning and reappearing behind one of the slimes.
His Volt Fang Strike connected immediately, electricity surging through the bite. The slime convulsed, the Numb status taking effect, its movements slowing. But before Regulus could follow up, three other slimes converged on his position, attempting simultaneous Engulfment attacks.
The lion was forced to disengage, Flashstepping again, the repeated teleportations leaving afterimages of crackling energy across the battlefield. Each afterimage zapped the slimes that touched them, dealing minor damage, but it was not enough to significantly reduce the threats.
'We're being overwhelmed,' Cid realized, his fists clenching in frustration. 'Regulus is fast enough to avoid getting caught, powerful enough to hurt them, but there's too many. He can't fight all ten at once effectively. And I'm still basically useless.'
He had used Flashstep three times already. His energy reserves felt dangerously low. Two more uses, maybe. Then he would be completely drained and vulnerable.
'I need to contribute,' he thought desperately. 'Need to find a way to help that doesn't involve direct combat. I can't damage these things. I don't have the power. But maybe I don't need to damage them. Maybe I need to think differently.'
Cid watched the slimes move, studying their patterns, looking for anything that might give him an edge. They coordinated perfectly, attacking in sync, covering each other's blind spots. It was like fighting a hivemind distributed across ten bodies.
'Wait,' he thought, the analytical part of his brain latching onto that observation. 'Hivemind. Distributed consciousness. But where's the central node? Where's the original?'
In most games with splitting mechanics, there was always an original. A core unit that controlled the copies. Destroy the core and the copies would fail. Or at the very least, they would become disorganized and easier to handle.
'The original slime split into ten copies. But which one is the original? They all look the same. Same size after the divisions. Same color. Same abilities.'
Three slimes launched a coordinated acid barrage at Regulus. The lion dodged two projectiles but the third caught him with a glancing blow. Acid splashed across his side, and Cid felt the sharp spike of pain through their bond. Not enough to seriously injure, but enough to hurt. Enough to add to the accumulated damage.
'Focus,' Cid told himself, forcing his attention back to the problem. 'Find the original. There has to be a tell. Some difference I can identify.'
He watched more carefully, tracking each slime's movements, looking for patterns, for behavioral differences, for anything that might distinguish one from the others.
Most of them moved aggressively, constantly attacking, launching projectiles, attempting engulfment. Standard demon slime behavior.
But one, positioned near the back of the group, moved differently. It was more cautious. More defensive. It attacked when opportunities arose, but it never overextended. Never put itself in direct danger. It hung back while the others pressed forward.
'There,' Cid thought, his eyes locking onto that particular slime. 'That's the original. It's protecting itself. Using the copies as shields while staying safe in the back. Classic strategy for a creature with this kind of ability.'
But recognizing it and communicating it to Regulus were different problems. The lion was in the middle of intense combat, dodging and attacking constantly. Cid could not just shout and expect to be heard over the chaos. And even if Regulus heard him, how would he describe which slime was which when they all looked identical?
'The bond,' Cid realized suddenly. 'We're connected. I can feel his emotions. Can sense his intent. Maybe it works the other way too. Maybe I can send information through the connection.'
He had no idea if it would work. The bond was still new, still largely unexplored. But he had nothing else to try.
Cid focused on the cautious slime, on its position, on the sense of importance he associated with it. He concentrated on that information, on the certainty that this was the target that mattered, and pushed it through the bond toward Regulus.
For a moment, nothing happened. The lion continued fighting, executing another Spark Pounce to create distance from a group of encroaching slimes.
Then Regulus's head turned slightly, his red eyes scanning the battlefield. The movement was subtle, almost imperceptible, but Cid felt the acknowledgment through their bond. The lion had received the message. Had understood.
'He knows,' Cid thought, relief washing through him. 'He knows which one to target.'
But getting to the original would not be easy. The other nine slimes had positioned themselves between Regulus and the cautious one, whether by conscious strategy or protective instinct. They formed a living barrier, their gelatinous bodies overlapping, creating a wall of corrosive mass.
Two slimes executed Tremor Slam simultaneously, the dual shockwaves rippling through the ground and creating cracks that spewed more demonic miasma. The corruption in the air was getting thicker, the haze of purple energy making it harder to see clearly, making Cid's eyes water and his lungs burn with each breath.
'I can't stay here much longer,' he realized, taking a step back from the intensifying miasma. 'The passive corruption buildup. It's affecting me. I need to end this soon or retreat completely.'
But retreating meant abandoning Regulus to fight alone without even his minimal support. And the bond between them made that option feel wrong on a fundamental level. They were partners now. Abandoning your partner was not an option.
Regulus seemed to sense his determination. The lion's lightning intensified, electricity arcing across his entire body in a display of power that lit up the corrupted clearing. The Lion Emperor gathered himself, muscles coiling, energy building.
Then he moved.
Not toward the original slime, but away from it. Regulus charged directly into the cluster of nine slimes protecting the original, his Spark Pounce carrying him into the heart of their formation.
'What is he doing?' Cid thought in confusion. 'That's the opposite direction.'
The slimes reacted instantly, their bodies expanding to execute coordinated Engulfment. Nine gelatinous masses surged inward, trying to trap the lion in a prison of corrosive flesh.
But Regulus was not trying to fight them.
The moment before the engulfment could complete, the Lion Emperor activated Flashstep. He teleported straight through the formation, the lightning based technique allowing him to bypass physical obstacles entirely.
He reappeared directly in front of the cautious slime. The original. The core.
And he was already attacking.
Volt Fang Strike connected before the original slime could react, Regulus's jaws clamping down on what passed for the creature's center mass. Electricity surged through the bite, the concentrated lightning not just damaging the surface but penetrating deeper, seeking something vital.
The demon slime convulsed violently, its body rippling with violent spasms. The other nine copies stopped moving instantly, their coordination disrupted, their movements becoming erratic and uncontrolled.
'The core,' Cid realized, watching the original slime's reaction. 'Regulus found the core. Not just the original body, but the actual core inside it. The central piece that controls everything.'
The lion did not release his bite. His Static Dominion Growl activated, the authority wave washing over the original slime at point blank range. The creature's already diminished attack strength dropped further, its defenses weakening under the combined assault.
Then Regulus activated Volt Fang Strike again, pouring more lightning through his jaws, driving electricity deeper into the slime's gelatinous body. The creature's semi transparent form lit up from within, yellow light spreading through purple corruption, the two energies fighting for dominance.
Cid could see it now. Deep in the center of the original slime, barely visible through the translucent mass. A sphere. Darker purple than the rest of the body. Solid rather than gelatinous. The core. The heart of the demon slime's existence.
And it was cracking.
Hairline fractures appeared across the core's surface, spreading like a spider web, glowing from within with the lightning Regulus had forced into it. The cracks widened. The glow intensified.
The core shattered.
The explosion was not loud. Not dramatic. Just a soft crack like glass breaking, followed by a pulse of released energy.
But the effect was immediate and total.
The original slime's body collapsed, its structure failing instantly without the core to maintain cohesion. Gelatinous mass splashed across the ground like spilled water, no longer held together by whatever force had animated it.
The other nine copies froze. For a moment they simply hung there, quivering, their bodies still intact but their movements stopped.
Then they began to dissolve.
One by one, the copies melted like ice under summer sun, their forms losing definition, losing substance. Within seconds, all nine had reduced to puddles of inert purple liquid that seeped into the corrupted ground and disappeared.
The demonic miasma began to dissipate, the haze of corruption fading as the source that had been generating it ceased to exist. The oppressive weight in the air lifted. The burning sensation in Cid's lungs eased.
Silence fell over the clearing.
Regulus stood over the remains of the demon slime, his form battered and acid burned but still radiating power. Lightning still sparked across his fur. His fiery mane still burned, though dimmer than before. The Lion Emperor turned to look at Cid, and their eyes met across the destroyed battlefield.
Through their bond, Cid felt triumph. Satisfaction. And beneath that, approval directed at him for identifying the target.
'We did it,' Cid thought, hardly daring to believe it. 'We actually killed it. An S+ rank demon. At level one. With one summon. We killed it.'
A chime rang out, the crystalline sound cutting through the lingering silence.
Text materialized before Cid's eyes, glowing with that familiar blue light.
[CONGRATULATIONS]
[DEMON SLIME DEFEATED]
[FIRST KILL ACHIEVED]
A second message followed immediately, this one in a different color. Gold text that seemed to shimmer with significance.
[EXCEPTIONAL ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED]
[FIRST KILL: ENLIGHTENED MONSTER]
[RANK: S+]
[ANALYZING COMBAT DATA]
[ASSESSING PERFORMANCE METRICS]
[EVALUATING CONTRIBUTION FACTORS]
Then a third message, the text pulsing slowly as though the system itself was processing something complex.
[CALCULATING REWARDS...]
[PLEASE WAIT]
The text hung in the air, the ellipsis blinking steadily, and Cid found himself holding his breath without quite knowing why. His heart pounded in his chest. His hands trembled slightly from residual adrenaline and exhaustion.
'Rewards,' he thought, staring at that blinking text. 'For killing an S+ rank monster at level one. For achieving something that should have been impossible. What kind of rewards does that earn?'
Regulus padded over to him slowly, favoring his left side where the acid damage had been worst. The lion's movements were still graceful but Cid could see the exhaustion in them, could feel through their bond that the fight had pushed the Lion Emperor close to his current limits.
Cid reached out and rested his hand on Regulus's mane, feeling the warmth of those magical flames that never burned him, feeling the steady pulse of lightning that ran through golden white fur. The bond between them thrummed with shared accomplishment, with the satisfaction of having faced overwhelming odds and survived.
'We did it together,' Cid thought, scratching gently behind the lion's ears. 'You did the fighting. I found the target. Partnership. That's how we won.'
The calculating message continued to blink, the system taking its time to determine exactly what they had earned for their impossible victory.
And Cid stood there in the corrupted clearing, beside his Lion Emperor familiar, acid burns on his arms from near misses, his starter clothes torn and dirty, his energy depleted, his body exhausted.
But alive.
Victorious.
And waiting to see what the world would give him for defying its expectations on his very first day.
The text continued to pulse.
[CALCULATING REWARDS…]