The black sun hangs high

Chapter 41 Slime Corridor
The merchants busy moving goods and discussing prices on the nearby street had no idea what was happening inside house number 37.

The young people who gave speeches in Lovi Square and the onlookers had no idea what was happening here.

Even if they could understand, they probably wouldn't be too willing to understand.

After all, the giant-eared goblins who were devoured by the shapeshifters did not care as much about their own lives.

Most beings with intelligence, emotions, and desires are like this, and Shug himself is no exception.

If conditions allowed, he would rather continue to use his strengths to write some new "works" to improve his life than stand in this gloomy place and watch the shapeshifters' dining hall and toilet.

For a moment, Hugh even felt that the giant-eared goblins floating and drifting in the viscous fluid were still alive, their faces filled with despair and terror, expressions so vivid that they looked like specially treated statues and specimens.

The thought of almost suffering a similar fate and being replaced by this strange magical creature made Hugh's teeth ache. The scene before him was so horrifying that he desperately wanted to unleash magic or fire a gun to relieve the tension.

Of course, Hugh also had to admit that he suddenly remembered the "Shapefy Bug Fluid Essence" that he had not yet completed exchanging in the Dream Sanctuary.

This huge pile in front of me is more than enough.

However, at the moment, Hugh couldn't get excited about such a large, shapeless monster and the corpses floating in the slime.

The shapeshifters made a move.

Sensing the presence of living beings, they began to slowly crawl towards the door of the storage room. This action caused the corpses and debris inside their bodies to churn and roll, making it appear as if the giant-eared goblins were dancing among the clothes and jewelry...

Magical light was already emanating from the side, so Hugh took a step back to give Virin room to cast her spell. But before he could even steady himself, the magic disc in his mental world suddenly began to spin faster, and the scurrying rat perched on Hugh's shoulder immediately let out a warning screech towards the wall to one side.

"what?"

Hugh instinctively turned around, only to see a muffled thud coming from the caravan members' bedroom on one side of the corridor. Then the closed door was slammed open, and a crooked, short figure rushed towards him, wielding a sharp dagger. Judging from its twisted and extremely unnatural form, it was yet another giant-eared goblin transformed from a shapeshifter!
Then, the long-awaited Karron's Touch surged forth mercilessly from Hugh's palm. A wave of black tentacles crashed violently into the giant-eared goblin's body, and the sharp tips of two tentacles pierced through the goblin's transformed body like swords.

However, not a single drop of blood was found in the corridor.

The giant-eared goblin, subjected to the magical impact, instantly revealed its most primal physical characteristics. Its transformed, diminutive body was severely stretched and extended during the impact, like a wax figure that had rolled in a high-temperature furnace, twisting into a nauseatingly grotesque shape in the blink of an eye.

Even so, indistinct words could still be heard coming from that crooked and deformed mouth.

“It… it hurts so much!”

But before it could finish speaking, another black tentacle stabbed out. Under Hugh's control, it pierced the mouth that had let out a cry of pain like a spear, tearing the already deformed giant-eared goblin head in two on the spot.

Strangely enough, Hugh found that he didn't dislike the feeling of fighting and killing. On the contrary, after a series of thrilling experiences, he became somewhat obsessed with the restlessness in his mental world and the racing heartbeat.

He felt a strange sense of catharsis, especially when he inflicted the pain he had endured in acquiring these spells on other targets.

The shapeshifter could no longer maintain its transformed form. The skin color belonging to the victim began to fade, and its translucent, mucous body reappeared. With its fluid-like body properties, it successfully escaped the piercing of Karron's Touch and began to climb rapidly towards Hugh along the ground.

This wasn't the first time Hugh had witnessed a similar situation, so he was already mentally prepared to deal with it.

Hughes decisively pulled the trigger of the Crystal Gun, and with a violent tremor, the crystal bullet loaded in the metal cylinder burst forth under the explosive propulsion of a precise miniature magic ritual. The bullet, gleaming with a bright light, left a straight trail in the mansion's corridor and finally pierced the shapeshifter's soft body.

The abundant magic power within the crystal bullet was released instantly, causing the intact crystal bullet to shatter within the shapeshifter's body. The flying crystal fragments created countless holes and tunnels within the crawling magical creature, causing it to slow down immediately. Before the shapeshifter could recover from the pain, a new round of merciless lashes from the Touch of Karron descended upon it.

This time, the terrifying dark green poisonous mist also descended upon the shapeshifter.

Behind Hughes, however, lay a different scene.

Faced with the enormous clump of slime composed of countless shapeshifters, Violet displayed extraordinary composure.

Instead of resorting to violent, lethal magic as Hugh had anticipated, she placed her hand firmly on the doorframe of the collectibles warehouse, and with the mobilization of her magic, a spell inscribed by Verin began to take effect rapidly.

All spellcasters who pass the tests and evaluations within the Legal Committee and successfully obtain the titles of "Lake-level" or "Valley-level" are allowed to modify and create their own magic within a certain range. For Verin, this is the greatest charm of magic.

Under the universal rules and laws of magic, by borrowing the authority of the goddess Mel, magnificent magical miracles are brought to the mortal world.

Therefore, by combining the characteristics of the stream-level magic "Frozen Bone Touch" and "Low Temperature Diffusion", Virin created her first spell in the third month after successfully advancing to the lake-level spellcaster.

She named this magic "The Pool of Cold".

“If one only thinks about how to tear or destroy enemies with magic when facing them, that is the greatest abuse of magic… Ruthless destruction is ultimately the last resort. Before that, the spellcaster should use more ingenious methods to deal with problems.” Then, cold icy mist began to spread rapidly from beneath Vilin’s slender, pale fingers. Like paint from an invisible painter’s brush, it outlined patches of cold white frost on the walls of the mansion. The textures on the walls were fully revealed under the influence of this white frost, but were quickly covered by the newly added cold colors. In just a few breaths, the astonishingly low temperature had completely spread into the sealed collection warehouse, naturally encompassing the shapeshifters inside as well.

The shapeshifter is not afraid of the cold.

Their juvenile years were spent in the cold, icy lakes of the far north, but Vilin knew very well that once these magical creatures, the Shapeshifters, reached adulthood, their habits would change dramatically. They would begin to crave warmth and everything that other intelligent beings sought. Conversely, the cold land that had nurtured them would be decisively abandoned by them.

It is precisely for this reason that when the shapeshifters return to a cold environment, their nature will change back to that of their juvenile selves.

They become timid and cautious, and may even forget that they are adults and have the ability to hunt prey.

And that's exactly what Veraine is doing now.

Although Hugh didn't know what was causing the astonishingly low temperature coming from behind, he knew very well that he couldn't allow any external force to interfere with Vilin at this time. So, the black tentacles that had pierced the shapeshifter's body immediately tore apart in different directions. In the ever-spreading corrosive poisonous mist, the viscous liquid with its strong vitality was completely torn into fragments of varying sizes. The running rat that had been watching the show from Hugh's shoulder finally found its opportunity.

It happily hopped to the ground, its nimble tail scooping up several smaller fragments, which it then devoured right in front of Hugh.

It perfectly matches Hugh's imagination of rats.

"Be careful, there might be more."

Vera's voice came from behind, so Hugh looked up and saw more doors in the corridor opening one by one. Several more goblin figures with giant ears who had not yet fully transformed staggered out. They were either naked or had put on clothes haphazardly, and they were holding candlesticks, butter knives, and even cups and plates in their hands...

Behind these giant-eared goblins, there was a figure that Hugh was somewhat familiar with.

That's Sergei.

As the first individual among this batch of shapeshifters to complete the process of devouring and digesting, his movements, though awkward, were far more fluid than those of his kind. In his hand, he even held something that forced Hugh to be on high alert.

It was a long-barreled crystal gun that resembled an old-fashioned hunting rifle.

Calling it a crystal gun isn't entirely accurate, because this thing is basically a substitute cobbled together by some wild mages or alchemists using a bunch of miscellaneous materials, based on the basic principles of a crystal gun. Although it's cheap to make, its power and stability are a mystery.

After being modified by the giant-eared goblin craftsmen, this weapon exhibited a strange characteristic of "I think it should work".

No one knows whether the person in front or the person behind will die after the trigger is pulled.

It seems that after absorbing the memories of the victims, these shapeshifters have also figured out how to use this high-powered weapon—these creatures are so peculiar that, given enough time, they can even walk onto the academy's lecture stage with a book in hand.

But Hugh didn't intend to give old Sergei the opportunity to gamble with that gun. The metal disc in his mental world was spinning at full speed at this moment. All the magic power that he had absorbed and settled from the magic crystal was also starting to stir under the influence of the disc. At this moment, Hugh felt his heartbeat and breathing become extremely rapid, and the speed of everything around him seemed to slow down.

He let out a long breath, and while giving the order to the sprinting rats to launch a surprise attack, he also quickly raised the crystal gun in his hand, and after a brief aiming, pulled the trigger again.

The powerful crystal bullet flew forward in the light of the magic lamp, and in the blink of an eye, it overtook the snarling, running rat, grazed the shoulder of a giant-eared goblin with a twisted body, and after smashing the cheek of another giant-eared goblin, the bullet successfully pierced old Sergei's arm.

The terrifying impact snapped the old goblin's arm off instantly, and a viscous, translucent liquid dripped from the broken arm, while the long-handled crystal gun fell to the ground.

"call……"

Hughes snapped out of his intense concentration, took a couple of deep breaths, and then stepped forward. Black tentacles, originating from an ancient sea god, began to sweep forward with the swing of his left arm, while dark green corrosive mist also began to spread.

That poisonous fog was deadly to all living things, including the shapeshifters. Their bodies should have retained considerable vitality after being shattered, but under the influence of the poisonous fog, these fragments withered, deteriorated, and turned into pools of thick liquid.

As magic power rapidly depleted, the distance between Hugh and old Sergei quickly shortened. Finally, after the running rat used one of its severed tails to forcefully blast a path, Hugh's gun was already aimed at the old goblin's forehead.

Surprisingly, the old goblin, who was actually a shapeshifter in disguise, did not dodge. He stood there blankly, looking at the shattered body of his kind, then at his own arm that had fallen to his feet and was slowly turning back into slime, before suddenly opening his mouth.

"Sir...Madam, I'd like to speak with you."

Hugh was already ready to pull the trigger, but those words made him hesitate for a moment.

Meanwhile, the collection warehouse at the back had been completely covered by Virin's cold white frost. The large group of shapeshifters inside, which were still digesting their prey, had now fallen into a state of near-dormancy. As long as the temperature did not rise, they would continue to sleep.

Having finished her tasks, the female mage bypassed the wreckage and approached Hugh. She gently pressed down on the crystal gun in Hugh's hand, then addressed the wretched old goblin before her: "You want to talk to us? Sure, but you need to tell me, under whose name do you intend to speak with us?"

"A shapeshifter? Or the goblin merchant Sergei?"

(End of this chapter)