The sound of trees and screams of surprise had me immediately become wary. That didn't sound like any of the slimes I had seen so far at all. Sure, Tortho had already warned me that they could become larger but so far all had been of a rather manageable size. Most had been fist sized blobs. A few might have been twice that size or even a little larger. Nothing I had seen so far though had suggested that something that could knock over trees was even remotely possible. Something of that size probably wouldn't be stopped by our moat or palisade either.

Thanks to my battlefield illumination I could see trees start shaking a little ways inside the wood. The sight was soon followed by the sound of more splintering wood. Was that really a slime? Well, whatever it was, it was coming closer. It wasn't terribly fast but it was coming closer with every moment I wasted second guessing our defenses and myself. I had to get moving. I had to do something!

I turned to my sister. She was still firing Magic Missiles in controlled and well aimed bursts of three. “Get ready to light up the moat.” Then I shifted my attention to Leumina who was aiming for another little slime herself. “Go, find Yash'zur. Tell her to bring some of the Wall Breakers and a few more barrels of oil.”

Both nodded as I gave my orders. The young human woman was off like one of her arrows right away. Kaele on the other hand looked and sounded a little troubled, even as she stopped firing. “You are going to do something reckless again, aren't you? And you won't let me talk you out of it either, judging by the look on your face.”

She was right. “Have you seen how these things burst when hit with enough force? Whatever nasty digestive juices they contain splash everywhere around them. Its not a big issue with the small ones right now, especially since we kill them far enough away. But if a big one bursts up here it could kill or maim dozens of us even in death with its glibber splashing ever where.” I took a deep breath as more trees came crashing down, telling of this particular enemy's progress.. “And I'm not quite sure our wards can keep something like that at bay.”

Despite my best efforts she still looked conflicted. I shook my head to stall any further protests. “I'll lure it out into the open, away from everyone. Prepare to pepper it with everything you have got once we get enough distance. Have Gash'zur and whoever she can mobilize pellet it with burning oil otherwise. They seem not to burst quite as violently if killed by fire. Have Leumina watch my back, once she returns, just in case to make sure none of the small ones manage to sneak up on me. Light up this section of the moat once you have to focus on me and the big one to keep the smaller ones of your own back.”

I didn't wait for an answer. I didn't have time to waste after all. I vaulted over the palisade and ran for the open field where we had fought the last battle and burned our enemies. A number of the smaller slimes started to converge on me as soon as I left the effective range of Tero's wards. I looked at the shaking trees. The big one must have almost reached the edge of the woods by now. Was it changing direction to follow me? It was hard to tell.

I jabbed the tip of my glaive deep into some of the smaller slimes in passing, causing them to burst in small showers of acidic liquid. I didn't enhance my movements with Cat's Grace this time. Instead I cast Bull's Strength, stomping my feet as hard as I possibly could with every step to lure the big one in to follow me. Hopefully it would work. The reaction of the smaller ones certainly suggested that it would though.

Warriors kept raining spells and various projectiles on the procession of blobs that formed along the edge of the camp's perimeter as a result of my antics. Ha, yes, that was the right word. I must have looked ridiculous as I stomped out into the open field. Since it worked I wouldn't complain though. Thanks to the efforts of my men and women very few of smaller slimes reached me. I only had to take care of a handful more until I reached a distance from the fortifications and the camp behind them that I deemed safe. Well, safe for the camp and its defenders anyway. I would have to see about staying safe myself though.

Then the big blob finally broke through the treeline, pushing the last of the trees out of the way, even as it partially digested them. That thing was really humongous. For a moment, after dealing with the last few little slimes that got close, I just stared. It had the same color. It had the same general shape as well. It even used the same pseudo appendages to move about but it was still in a different league entirely. That thing had to be the size of a small house! It probably massed about as much as well.

For a moment I faltered. Could I even defeat that massive thing? This wasn't like that big wyvern, which had been bigger still. This blob had no vulnerable spots I could hit. I wasn't even sure if the wyvern poison would do anything to this slime. As far as I could tell the only way to defeat this monster was, to penetrate all the way to its core. I looked at the thing as it wiggled about, as if it wiggled my way. I eyed my weapon. Its superior reach had always been one of my greatest advantages but against this foe it might just not be long enough.

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Maybe I could gain a little extra penetration power by shifting my grip appropriately but even that probably wouldn't be enough. I would have to try anyway. I stomped my feet once more to make sure it wouldn't change targets halfway to me. Then I dropped the Bull's Strength spell and cast Cat's Grace instead. I couldn't let that thing touch me. My armor and my shield could probably withstand its digestive fluids but if it got a grip on a hand, a leg or my head I would be done for. The rate at which the fallen trees were digested as it made its way out of the woods and towards me left no doubt about that.

I received another surprise at this point and it wasn't a pleasant one either. That giant monster was surprisingly fast now that it was out of the woods. It looked almost comical as it wiggled and wobbled every which way with every lunge when it pulled itself forward with one of its pseudo appendages but it covered a scary amount of ground with each of these lunges as well. Time for me to get moving!

I had my work cut out for me just dodging and staying a few steps ahead of my pursuer. At least it was not breaking off to target the camp though. The way things looked this was not an opponent I could fight on my own. As I weaved around slimy tentacles trying to grab me an arrow whizzed in from the camp, smashing into the big blob.

Leumina had returned. Her arrow penetrated the beasts rubbery hide easy enough. The creature didn't burst though. Only a few drops of its liquid interior oozed out while the arrow dissolved into nothingness well before reaching its core. Only the tip remained, floating within the creature's semi liquid interior together with various other inorganic things. Hopefully non of those were remains of any of my warriors out in the woods.

A few more arrows came flying, at different angles, but none of them fared any better than the first. I didn't have much time to dwell on it though as I was busy dodging. Gaining enough distance to do anything else was tedious work but I managed. Once I had gained enough space I swung my weapon at the next tentacle aiming for me, easily severing it. Well, at least that was working in my favor.

Or maybe it wasn't. I made a disturbing discovery as the tentacle fell away unmoving and quickly deflating, as the ooze that had animated it drained away, turning the ground into a sizzling mess. The problem was with the rest of the slime's body. The wound quickly sealed again, not before the creature's liquid interior darkened though as it absorbed some of the poison my weapon was spreading. Damn it! As if that thing wasn't already deadly enough!

I went back on the defense after that, focusing on dodging again. At the same time I did my best to keep the creature in one spot as I finally glimpsed Gash'zur and a handful of trolls carrying barrels reach the palisade. The fight was still going on along the rest of the camp's perimeter as well but it seemed well in hand, which left me to worry about my current opponent alone.

The first shots launched by the trolls were not oil filled barrels though. Instead a handful of heavy stones smashed into the blob. The creature absorbed them easily, leaking only a little of its liquid after reach hit. That was no problem though, as these were only ranging shots. Only moments later the first barrel burst against the slime's curved body, spilling burning oil all over it's flank.

Now that got an reaction! The monster shrank back from me as if it had been me who wounded it. Maybe it actually assumed that? Either way, it tried to shake off the burning oil but it was no plain oil. It had come from an alchemists workshop and was a nasty mixture that stuck to every surface it touched.

The troll slingers weren't done yet either. A second barrel burst against the creature and then a third, spreading more and more sticky fire all over it. Then another barrage of three barrels hit almost at one. By now the thing was pretty much completely enveloped in bright orange, sticky flames. The slime was wiggling and wobbling about, but nothing it did helped. Quite the opposite. It managed to spread some of the burning oil to the ground as well where it burned the creature from below now as well.

I took that chance to gain some distance. I didn't feel like standing anywhere nearby when the thing died. I didn't want to catch any splashes of that sticky fire either in case the Wall Breakers decided to launch more barrels. That wouldn't be pleasant either.

I barely managed to get far enough away when a final shudder went through the blob. That motion gave me just enough warning to raise my shield to cover my head. Then the giant slime burst much the same way its smaller kin had, except it was not only spreading its own digestive juice around but liquid fire as well. Thick globs of that stuff hit the ground all around me and one landed on my shield as well.

Damn, but that fire really burned hot! I slipped the shield off my arm lightning fast, throwing it to the ground a pace or two away from me. I stared at the devastation the giant slime's demise had wrought. It seemed I had lured it barely far enough away from the palisade. My fingers trembled a little as I stared at my shield and the glob of burning acid still stuck to it. Well, at least it didn't seem to be eating through it. I quickly checked myself over to make sure none of the rest of that stuff had hit me. I probably would have noticed right away but still, better safe than sorry. I shivered. Hopefully we wouldn't run into anymore beasts like this one anytime soon.