The man clothed in green, who seemed to be the de facto leader of the party, barked something at the tiny one in robes. Upon his order, she turned to the lizardmman and began to move her staff around, drawing a thin, glowing golden line in the air from the azure orb atop the staff and chanting something in a reverent tone. When finished, the glowing symbol she made in the air bound around the lizard person, engulfing them in a golden aura. Sighing in relief, the lizard person let out what I could assume as thanks as the worst of the wounds closed and patted the little person on the head. Going red, she muttered something in a low tone. The robed man, snapping his fingers to get their attention before going on a speech, probably had some kind of plan he wanted to share, and the other two nodded when he finished.

Although some parts of my soul told me to take mercy on them as fellow sentient beings, I knew what had to be done. They were enemies, destroyers. Those who would ruthlessly murder my spawn, my children. It was me or them, I was intent on it to be them who fell to the void this time. I was not sure if I would get a second chance or just drift in darkness forever if I returned to the administrator’s domain. I knew I was entertainment… or so my mind told me. Perhaps I lost some of my sanity in that eternal veil between life and death along with the subsequent daily struggle to keep my new life, but I still felt those eyes. They still watched, although many had turned away. But I could feel the attention among a select few of them deepen as I went on. Are there truly those watching my flailing and bitter struggle against the world or is it just hallucination? The question tormented me. But if I really was on a stage before some kind of audience, then wouldn’t I be cast out if I failed so soon?

The adventurers did not wait for me to finish my spiral into horror and advanced in, the man and the lizard taking the front row. They chatted often, which only deepened my frustration at not being able to understand their language. Guess I did not get that perk either. I suppose it was not necessary for my time here, being a dungeon and all, but I still wanted it so I could find out their plans and construct a counter. I suppose that would be too easy for me and the administrator would have none of that.

Whenever ambushed by my baby slimes, they only seemed minorly annoyed, like they were having to deal with cockroaches. I wanted to take out the little person, who seemed to be the healer of the group, but the blade of the man protected her from any incoming slime with a zeal. I suppose he had enough sense to protect the healer, better than most people of my former world. Although little by little, my slime martyrs dissolved the edges of his short blade bit by bit with every slime core cut which would come in handy for the future.

Soon they came across their first pit. The man snorted and the lizard chuckled… I think, but the tiny one looked with concern and raised her voice in a questioning tone. The man put his hand on his chin thinking for a moment before asking something to the lizard, which responded with what sounded to be confirmation. The tiny one looked horrified as the lizard picked her up by the neck of her robe and chucked her across before hopping across itself. The man did not pass quite yet, too busy laughing to himself.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

While it was a good opening to push him, I had to bide my time, let them get their guard down and strike when they least expected it. Plus, the people of this world seemed to have some sort of sixth sense with how almost instant the man’s reactions were. I held off the slimes on pushing duty for the first hole to make them think even less than they already did of my challenges. Next time though… I will erase their damn arrogance.

By the next section of my defense, they were already getting used to the rigors of the challenge. Fighting a bunch of annoying slimes. Hopping a hole. Repeat. They were already on the third of the four sections. The man decided to take pity on the tiny person, who immediately took the attitude of a cat being brought to a bath, and hoisted her on his back with the lizard waiting to go after them.

I had held back many slimes in this section in particular to prepare for what I was about to do. The lizardman sensed it immediately, as a flood of baby slimes was unleashed behind them. As a seemingly relatively experienced adventurer, I knew that they would not be caught dead running from baby slimes until the very last minute, their pride as a seasoned adventurer would be too hurt and in contract work like adventuring, keeping up one’s reputation is paramount, or so my hypothesis went. I was just running on what I knew from games and books without anything else to anchor my thinking.

Firing his crossbow as much as they could, they retreated to the edge to gain a little more distance. Steel bolt after steel bolt that they had saved throughout the delving was being loosed in the general direction of the mob of slimes, hitting something or another just because of the volume of baby slimes. Many exploded into goop as bolts went through one and went through to another, wiping out a few with each bolt, but managed to only fire four times before being forced into a melee with their sharp claws. The other two adventures seemed to offer their help, but he vigorously shook his head in rejection. A new aura surrounded their being as they smashed and gorged on my monsters. He only knew to attack now, his eyes holding wild, blind fury. He had gone berserk.

While their improved combat ability was an issue, in some ways, it made things easier, they could not think to run anymore. Powerful as they may be, my quantity advantage meant that even as they cut down one, two more slipped past in the opening created. Their legs soon became encased in slime and he teetered on the edge. The other two adventurers, watching the display expecting them to handle on their own, only reacted then, but it was too late. Falling down backwards, they tried to reach the edge of the other side of the hole with their hands, but they could not quite find a good hold in the position he was in. Scraping against the walls with its claws in desperation on the way down, four vertical lines now went from the mouth to the bottom of the hole. As the hoard flooded in, nothing could be done anymore. They were eaten alive.