The spear… split in two.
Snapped as if it were rotten wood.
The goblin's eyes widened.
Another Evolved Slime slid under its legs, twisting its body with an almost artistic movement…
And delivered a horizontal slash.
SHRAAAAK!
The elite goblin's leg was severed instantly.
The aura could not stop a blade capable of cutting steel.
The goblin fell, roaring.
Total chaos.
The goblins reacted, trying to protect their elites.
Spears were thrown.
Archers fired relentlessly.
More goblin warriors charged at the Slimes.
The Water Elementals continued attacking, sending high-pressure jets that knocked down entire groups of enemies and kept the destructive auras at bay.
Jiang Cheng shouted:
"Maintain the pressure! Don't let them regain ground!"
But the battle was fierce.
The common Slimes were easy prey for the green aura.
Hundreds died in seconds.
The viscous mass retreated, regrouped, and advanced again.
The Evolved Slimes were completely surrounded by groups of elite goblins.
One of the Evolved spun completely, its mantis limb slicing in a perfect arc.
CRACK!
Three elite goblins were severed at once.
The evolved Slime's triple slash opened a moment of silence amidst the chaos.
Three elite goblin bodies fell heavily, their dark green blood spreading across the stone floor.
But that silence lasted less than a second.
The remaining goblins roared with uncontrollable fury, charging the Evolved to crush them with their corrosive aura.
Jiang Cheng felt the pressure on his army increase.
The common Slimes melted on contact with the aura.
The Water Elementals were holding, but the evaporation caused by the elite warriors gradually weakened them.
It was time.
"Slime Shaman! Now!" Jiang Cheng ordered.
The Slime Shaman floated forward.
His body vibrated intensely, absorbing energy as if drawing fire from the very air.
The gelatinous staff began to glow, from a faint red… to an incandescent red.
The elite goblins noticed.
"KREEEHH! KREEEEHHH!
(Kill the mage! Kill the mage!)"
Three elites charged at him, their auras blazing, destroying dozens of common Slimes in their path.
But the Shaman did not retreat.
"Deep fire… condense…"
His body trembled.
The tip of the staff became a small sun within the fortress.
The Elementals responded instantly.
"Protect the Shaman!" Mira shouted.
Three Water Elementals leaped in front of him, creating a dense barrier, almost like a living liquid wall.
The elite goblins collided with that wall.
SHHHHHHHHH!
The aura evaporated the water…
but the wall held.
Only three seconds.
But that was enough.
The Slime Shaman raised his staff.
And fired.
BOOOOOOOM!
A massive fireball exploded right in the center of the charging elite warriors.
The explosion was so brutal that it illuminated the entire fortress like an artificial sunrise.
Three elite goblins were sent flying, their armor burned, their bodies reduced to charred masses that hit the ground lifelessly.
The impact shook the entire goblin army.
The archers stopped firing for a moment.
The common goblins recoiled in terror.
Even the remaining elites froze, stunned by the power.
Jiang Cheng seized the moment.
"Evolved! Full pressure!"
The four Evolved Slimes launched forward like living projectiles.
One attacked a goblin from the left, its mantis blade slicing cleanly through his arm.
SHRAK!
Another slid across the ground to attack from below, cutting tendons and knocking down its opponent.
A third took advantage of a goblin trying to block its slash…
and executed a body spin, changing the direction of its blade mid-motion.
The elite goblin's head fell before it could react.
The fourth Evolved charged two elites at the same time, dodging their aura-imbued strikes, cutting diagonally across the first's chest, while striking the second with its body base, knocking him down so a Water Elemental could finish him with a high-pressure jet that pierced his throat.
The battle was turning.
For the first time since the elite goblins appeared,
the Slime army stopped retreating…
and began to advance.
The Elementals reinforced the lines, pushing with swirling currents not to kill, but to separate the goblins and prevent their aura from reaching the Evolved Slimes.
The Slime Shaman fired another fireball, smaller but precise, which exploded on a tower.
Archers fell from above like dolls.
Mira raised her voice:
"Advance! Advance! We've got them!"
The common goblins began to flee.
Their morale had been shattered after seeing so many of their elites fall.
The broken wall behind them prevented an organized retreat.
And the Slimes…
devoured everything in their path.
Like a living carpet, covering corpses, weapons, wood, even parts of the collapsed wall.
An elite goblin still standing tried to unleash his full aura, releasing it in a green explosion that evaporated several normal Slimes…
But three Evolved surrounded him.
One cut his leg. Another pierced his torso. The third sliced through his neck in a single strike.
The body fell, trembling, lifeless.
Goblin resistance had been broken.
The few survivors retreated, trying to flee through the inner streets.
But the common Slimes, a mass of over a thousand, had already closed off the routes.
The Elementals pushed from behind. The Evolved executed precise cuts. The Shaman eliminated strategic targets.
Jiang Cheng took a deep breath.
The fortress was practically taken.
"Mira…" he said
"It's almost ours."
Mira nodded, exhausted but satisfied.
"One final push… and they will fall completely."
Victory was nearly assured.
The Slimes advanced like a living wave, the Evolved cut without opposition, the Elementals pushed forward, and the Slime Shaman concentrated another fireball to pulverize the last resistance.
Jiang Cheng raised his hand to give the final order.
"Full pressure! Finish !"
But he couldn't finish the sentence.
Because suddenly…
BOOOOOOM!
FSSSSHHHH!
KRAAAAAK!
Three separate attacks descended from the deep interior of the fortress, cutting through the air like magical lightning:
A massive fireball, larger than any the Slime Shaman had ever cast.
A spear of dark poison, thick as tar, leaving a corrosive trail in the air.
A blade of compressed water, sharp enough to whistle as it moved.
The three attacks struck the Slime army simultaneously.
And the impact was devastating.
KABOOOOOOOOOM!
The fire explosion wiped out dozens of common Slimes, evaporating them completely.
The poison spear cut through the viscous mass, melting Slimes and leaving a lethal purple pool that kept spreading.
The water blade sliced like a guillotine, cutting Slimes in two without stopping, even forcing two Elementals to retreat under the pressure.
Mira barely managed to react.
"ELEMENTALS! Triple barrier! NOW!"
The Water Elementals responded instantly.
Five stepped forward, forming a thick, dark blue wall, densified to the maximum, absorbing the final shockwave before it reached Jiang Cheng.
The air vibrated. The ground trembled.
The combined attack was so powerful that the barrier cracked like liquid glass.
But it held long enough.
Jiang Cheng was covered in dust and vapor, but unharmed.
"What the hell was that…?" he murmured, his heart pounding.
Mira didn't answer.
She only pointed ahead.
And then Jiang Cheng saw them.
Three goblin figures advanced through the toxic smoke.
One radiated fire, with glowing red tattoos across his body.
Another was covered in purple symbols, spitting poison from his mouth.
The third walked with a blue crystal staff, surrounded by a watery aura that made the air ripple.
Behind them…
The goblins who had fled were regrouping.
Thanks to the Water Shaman's magical shields, which blocked projectiles and diverted the Elementals' jets, dozens of goblins regained courage.
The Poison Shaman extended his hand, and a purple mist began to cover the ground.
The Fire Shaman stepped forward.
"KREEEEAAAHHHH…
(DEATH TO THE INVADERS!)"
The Water Shaman struck his staff against the ground, and a blue wave expanded a protective circle around them and the remaining goblins.
The battle…
which was almost decided…
had just restarted.
And now, it was worse.
Much worse.
The common Slimes retreated desperately from the poison.
The Elementals struggled to contain the enemy fire and water.
The Evolved prepared to strike, but could not enter without losing the initiative.
Jiang Cheng gritted his teeth.
"Mira…
This just got a lot more complicated."
She nodded.
Jiang took a deep breath.
"Then…"
He raised his hand.
His Slime Shaman came to his side,
The four Evolved Slimes advanced, ready to launch.
The Elementals regrouped, forming a second line.
"…let's finish them."
The second phase of the battle had begun.