The Chronicles of Dwynveia – A Slimeling LitRPG

Lilyth

‘What is the Kitsune talking about, Lord-Diagnostician? Your mask was broken?’

My brain short-circuited briefly.

Oh. His comment about meeting again threw me off. Lady Madness must have transported him with us, and he ended up… re-masked. I wonder who else got transported with us?

An idea for an ultimate funny occurred to me then. I raised my hand and snapped my fingers, casting [Ignite] and targeting Spooder-Boi’s mask.

It turned out not to be flammable, but it still got very hot. So hot, in fact, that Gaar'rinver instinctively ripped the mask off his face and then, when the mask burned his hands, dropped it on the ground where it shattered.

Whoops. Butter fingers.

Spooder-Boi's friends were staring at him in shock.

‘You’ll pay for that,’ he snarled at me. ‘And once you are dead-’

He didn't o finish the sentence. Three shots from Sav’s pistol hit the area of his head but were stopped by a barrier, which was heavily cracked by the onslaught. Gaar’rinver jumped back, but Caei fired [Rock Spikes] at him, destroying the barrier and penetrating deep into his stomach.

The four-armed man decided that enough was enough and motioned his minions to attack us. I gripped the hilt of the Moonlight Rose tighter and leapt into the fray.

Persephone

Why do those fuckers always insist on taunting people?

My gaze focused on the bastard with the green pustules on his body.

He has to go first. [Garden of Flames: Flytrap]

Jaws of fire appeared underneath him and closed on his body, the high temperature causing the weird liquid to boil and then explode.

Not waiting to see if he survived, I cast the [Flaming Wall] between us and the other two, as they were already starting to take potshots at us.

It was time to thin the numbers of the undead, which would be difficult as Lilyth, Aki and Deirdee were in the midst of the horde, turning the undead into a pile of body parts. Savri, Ren and Caei were taking down isolated targets, so I figured I might as well conserve my mana.

I hate close-quarter fighting.

Lilyth

It was weird to be among so many enemies without… anything really. No enhanced senses, no spells, just the [Swiftness of the Wind] and my sword. It felt almost unnatural. Still, the undead were easy enough enemies, so I had plenty of time to readjust.

Starting from fucking zero sucks. It is not like the first time I am fighting powerless anyway. Why do I have a feeling something bad is about to happen, though?

My grim thoughts were interrupted by a loud roar.

What now?

A massive, hulking burn-covered figure burst through the [Flaming Wall], dispelling it. It was the Behemoth-Cosplayer. Except he doubled… no… tripled in size. He barely fit in the chamber anymore. Whatever was in those boils on his back must have been something that was every fraudulent bodybuilding influencer's wet dream.

I couldn't focus on the Boil King, however, as with the corner of my eyes I saw a shape dashing straight at me.

It was the four-armed fucko. There was now an almost solid red shield around him with four rings of rotating glowing blue letters swirling inside. He must have pirated Star Wars here somehow, because there were two glowing blades of blood inside of normal hands, which combined with the two blade ones and his mask gave him a “We have General Grievous at home” appearance.

I raised the Moonlight Rose, desperately trying to figure out how I could defend myself against someone with four swords, but a blue-haired figure tackled Private Venial from the side.

‘Together?’ I asked my blue-haired lioness.

‘Together,’ she agreed.

Gaar’rinver seemed to have been waiting for that moment as he fired a barrage of blood projectiles towards us. I moved to tackle Aki to the ground, but a dark shape with crimson wings appeared between the Spooder-Boi and us. Beams of fire erupted from what was likely the eyes on Deirdee’s wings, incinerating Gaar’versand and blowing a massive hole in the wall behind him, revealing what was likely the final chamber of this “dungeon”. There was some sort of device there and a humanoid figure. I couldn’t tell what it was, but I knew it was looking back at me… and smiling.

‘Aaaaargh!’ Deirdee screamed in pain when the spikes of blood, having outlasted Spooder-Boi’s death, pierced her body.

Private Venial seemed to have been waiting just for that as he whirled around and sank his swords into her back.

Savri

‘DEIRDEE!’ Caei shouted in despair, taking her eyes from the big bastard.

This would prove to be a mistake as he took that moment to charge at her, swinging his massive hand at her. Channelling mana through my staff, I cast [Primaeval Shield] on her, and then, figuring out that “in for a penny, in for a pound”, I decided to pull a Lilyth and mixed in [Stone Shield] into it.

Shockingly, that worked, and the glowing yellow shield suddenly turned into an orb made out of black hexagons of obsidian.

What?

With milliseconds left, I reinforced it with [Ward]. It worked better than I could have ever hoped for, and while my hacked-together shield shattered on impact, so did every single bone in the bastard’s arm.

Unfortunately, whatever steroids were in those pustules must have made him immune to pain, as he took a backswing with his other arm. Right at me. I managed to dodge. Almost.

I felt something hit me in the back of my ribcage, and I was sent skidding across the floor, hitting the wall with my back with a loud enough crunch that it was probably heard back home in Mer-Cas.

Caeileera

I couldn’t believe what was happening. First Deirdee, and n-now… now Sav. I glanced at Ren for aid, but she was cowering on the ground in a fetal position, repeating the word “no” over and over again.

The big bastard focused his gaze on me.

Bye-bye, the rest of my mana, I thought as I summoned a [Floating Disk] vertically and through his body, cutting him into two halves that fell to the sides.

Not waiting for anything else, I wanted to rush to Sav, but I felt something grab my leg.

It was Ren.

‘Don’t!’ she whimpered. ‘We need to run!’

At first, I was appalled at her lack of concern for the others, but the sheer panic in her eyes made me reconsider.

‘Why?’ I asked, trying to control my temper.

‘It’s coming! WE NEED TO GO!’

‘What’s coming?’

‘THE BLOOD!’

Persephone

Lilyth and Aki didn’t waste much time killing the last of the Cabal. He had his back to them after all. I wasn’t sure why he did that. Was it some sort of an ultimate imperative from the Blood after I turned Deirdee into a hellborn? Was it really that petty?

I looked around and saw that, in addition to Deirdee, Sav was also in a very sorry state.

She was awake and, judging by the green light, healing herself. Likewise, Aki and Lilyth were already pouring Health Potions into Deirdee’s mouth. But… it would all take time.

Time, which, based on Ren’s exclamation, we did not have.

A slow clapping sounded in the room.

‘BRAVO!’ someone shouted, and a man entered the chamber through the hole that Deirdee made.

It was a tall man wearing a temple dragoon’s armour and tabard. He was tall, white-skinned and had blood-red hair. His eyes, shining with reddish-orange light, focused on me.

Kihliam, something told me.

‘NOT QUITE,’ the Blood That Devours laughed. ‘YOU COULD ARGUE HE IS HERE IN BODY, BUT NOT QUITE IN SPIRIT. HIS SOUL WAS QUITE TASTY, THOUGH. NOW, PERSEPHONE. I TOLD YOU THAT YOU WOULD PAY FOR YOUR INSOLENCE, NOW DIDN’T I?’

He extended his hand towards me, and I was brutally lifted into the air with a force I couldn’t resist. Everything began to move inside of my body, causing me excr-

Lilyth

We watched in horror as Persephone was lifted into the air and then just… exploded, her blood and viscera painting the room in crimson.

‘NOW FOR THE ABOMINATION,’ the bastard continued as if nothing had just happened, pointed at Deirdee and with a sweeping gesture of his hand, some force ripped her out of our grip and smashed her against the wall with enough force to make a large hole inside of it.

The Blood began walking towards the catatonic Ren.

‘THE UPSTART.’

That was too much for me. As I told Irmen all those months before… I was shown my place. And would stay in it…. Unless my loved ones were threatened. It was time for Lilyth Geist, the Witch Queen of Ror-Bhyk, to take a break, because Lilyth, the God-Killer from Terra, needed to be born.

Aki

The room was drained of all colour, and it felt colder than the harshest Winter I’ve ever been through. Hoarfrost instantly began to cover all the walls and bodies, and my breath became foggy. And it all emanated from Lilyth. She turned into the avatar of Ereshkigal, but… There was something different. Her hair turned white and now extended to the floor like a funeral shroud, her eyes were shining with cold blue light, and there was a halo of red fire surrounding her head.

The Blood That Devours looked at her, and I realised that it was afraid.

‘OH, SHIT,’ it muttered.

Was it unaware Lilyth could do that?

I was about to rush in to help her, but the voice of Ereshkigal stopped me.

‘Don’t. You will only get in their way. Go help Sav.’

Yes, my Lady.

Lilyth

I didn’t say any one-liners. No taunts. I just charged at the fucker who took three important people away from me. He extended his hand towards me. I could see that he wanted to do the same to me as he did to Persephone, but the force felt almost sluggish, so I dove underneath and lopped off the forearm at the elbow.

I whirled around to press my attack, but the Blood leapt back, blew up the corpses of his lackeys and absorbed all the blood in the room.

That included what was left of Persephone. I had no idea why, but it enraged me. She was with the Dread Queen now, but it still felt like dishonouring her.

‘Don’t focus on that,’ Ere said. ‘Focus on him.’

A new forelimb sprouted from the stump, one of pure blood. A gilded spear materialised in its hand.

‘I NEVER UNDERSTOOD THE FASCINATION THE OTHER GODS HAVE WITH SWORDS,’ the Blood said. ‘ SPEARS ARE FAR SUPERIOR WEAPONS.’

‘Cool story, bro,’ I replied and dashed towards him. ‘Didn’t ask.’

He attempted to skewer me with it, but I side-stepped, only receiving a graze to my side.

The Blood smiled, and I felt my blood beginning to vacate the premises far quicker than it should have.

[Ignite] I thought and cauterised the wound, wincing from pain.

That slowed me down enough to let the Blood take a step back.

So that’s what we are doing.

I flew back a few steps, gathered Death energy around the Moonlight Rose and fired it at the god, splitting his body from shoulder to groin. The spear clattered to the ground, but instead of falling apart, the corpse imploded and reformed into a featureless winged figure made of, you guessed it, blood that looked like a… six-armed humanoid grafted to a thorax with four arthropod-like legs.

Looks like Spooder-Boi wasn’t that far off.

The Blood reached for his spear, but it wasn’t there. Caei was holding it. Before the bastard could protest, an arrow pierced his side, causing him to scream from pain.

The monster shook its head and summoned a far longer spell-made copy of it.

‘Let’s do this, then,’ I said and raised my sword.

Savri

I couldn’t believe I was still alive after the hit I took. Still, between my healing spells and potions that Aki gave me, I was able to bring myself up to a mostly working condition - there was something very wrong with my right hip, and I could only limp.

Even magic has its limits. It probably healed wrong due to my leg being at an interesting angle after my spine was shattered.

As Lilyth, Ren and Caeileera began their duel with the Blood, the two of us went over to see if there was something we could do for Deirdee, but even a brief glance at her shattered form told me that she was dead.

Aki looked furious.

‘Go help them,’ I told her. ‘I will check out what that device is. Maybe something we can use.’

She nodded.

It’s been an honour, kid, I thought, the knowledge that this was probably the last time we spoke to each other, weighing heavily on my heart. Then again, I guess we will see each other at Ere’s.

Using my staff for support, I limped over to the entrance to the next room and peered inside. It looked to be a throne room of sorts with a circular throne built into a white-and-gold wall with a glass tube half-filled with an unidentified glowing blue liquid on each side. Two staircases led to it, and a veritable mountain of fresh corpses in front of the throne presented like an offering.

The missing citizens.

I stepped into the room and carefully walked down the stairs, noticing a blood-covered altar that was previously not visible due to the bodies, and stopped before one of the tubes.

What is this thing? I thought, touching the glass with my metallic hand.

‘An ascension throne, sweetie,’ a crackling silence responded. ‘One of the few surviving ones left on Dwynveia. My errant tool wanted to use it to surpass me. I think your friends are teaching it the error of its ways.’

Lady Madness?

‘The very same.’

I don’t understand. Tool? Surpass you?

‘Long story. Short version: This is a remnant of the “Cold War going Hot” as you put it, from millennia ago. Some mortals wanted to use those to raise to godhood, but the cost was so severe that they never pulled it off. So… the Blood wanted to pick up where they left off.’

Making the violation of all the rules worth it.

‘Why, yes. Even a partially filled-up throne like this one can be a major power boost.’

Why didn’t the Cabal use it for themselves then?

‘The answer to that question died with them, sweetie. They were probably afraid that the Blood would kill them for it. As for that thing… well… What you see in those tubes represents the life force of about two million people. Meaning… that once used, there is no recovering that, so the greedy thing wanted to get as much of it as possible, especially since some of it was used to power the meld.’

‘A-are you t-telling me that…’

‘No. It doesn’t work on souls. Just… well… all the magic that fills every being living here.’

Something clicked.

Did Lilyth lose most of her powers because of this thing being active?’

‘Yes.’

Why are you telling all of this?

‘Because, sweetie, you now have a choice. Destroy the throne… or use it. Either will end the meld and briefly strand the Blood here. But… what do you want to do about the life force?’

Everything inside of me screamed against using that power. It was evil. But… so many of my friends were dead… and if I destroyed the throne, the deaths of people who died for this would be for nothing. And there was no guarantee we would stop the bastard. When fighting a god…’

Would I be any better than it, though, if I used that power reservoir?

The world needs fewer gods. Not more.

I drew my gun and fired it at one of the tubes, then as it began to decompress, I shot at the other.

‘I can see that my daughter found herself a worthy partner at last.’

Daughter?

Instead of a response, a barrier appeared between me and the throne, milliseconds before it exploded in a flash of blinding light.

Lilyth

‘NOOOOOOO!’ The Blood roared as the room shook from a massive explosion.

This distracted the Blood enough that it let me lop off the arm it was trying to use to cast a spell. The beast roared in pain and lashed out with a wide swipe of its spear that managed to cut Caei across the cheekbone. I immediately cauterised the wound to prevent the bastard from using her blood to heal or worse.

Aki then cast [Abyssal Bombardment] on him, causing two beams of hellfire to pierce his body. She then leapt towards us, dove beneath his arms’ reach and slashed at one of its leg joints, managing to sever it.

The Blood toppled over.

Now for the money shot. I gather the remnants of my mana around my sword into one last strike.

A jolt of pain went through my heart.

Fuck. Been using this form… too long…

With the rest of my will, I sent a cutting wave of pure Death towards the Blood That Devours.

‘I CURSE YOU, TERRAN!’ the monster roared as my attack entered its body. ‘MAY YOUR…’

I responded to its taunts the only way I could. The last sight the psychopathic tormentor of the Sanguine saw before the final darkness took it was me, flipping it off. With both hands.

Then another, worse, jolt of pain went through my heart. I didn’t stay conscious long enough to feel myself hit the ground.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!