The ground trembled under their strides.
Their speed burst into an almost invisible dash.
Despite having no claws, no weapons, and no elemental abilities, the power of their inner worlds made every movement superhuman.
The Water Elementals reacted instantly.
They flowed behind them, synchronized, taking advantage of every bit of cover left in their wake.
"Left, Jian Cheng!" Mira shouted.
Jian Cheng leaped, dodging a burst of poison.
He landed right in front of the Fire Shaman.
The Shaman ignited his arms in flames, clashing against Jian Cheng's fist.
BOOOOM!
The shockwave kicked up dust and destroyed a hut.
Yangsheng staggered back one step…
The Shaman staggered back three.
"W-What…?" gasped the Fire Shaman. "What kind of strength is that?"
Yangsheng didn't answer.
He simply charged again.
Mira, meanwhile, slipped between poison and jets of water as if time itself were stretching for her.
A Water Elemental formed a liquid shield around her.
Another launched a pressurized jet to throw the Poison Shaman off balance.
"Now!" Mira shouted.
An evolved Slime jumped from the side, its mantis-blade shining with a wild edge.
The Poison Shaman turned to lash out with a purple whip
But Mira grabbed him by the wrist with monstrous strength.
"W-What ?!" His arm cracked like a branch.
And in that instant…
SLAASH!
The evolved Slime buried its blade into the Shaman's side near the stomach, tearing flesh and purple coloration that evaporated into toxic gas.
The Shaman screamed, dropping to his knees, clutching the wound as poison oozed from his hands.
Mira finished him with a kick that sent him rolling among the normal Slimes.
Meanwhile…
The Fire Shaman threw up a burning wall to push Jian Cheng away, but Jian tore through it with raw physical power, engulfed in flames but without stopping.
He grabbed the Fire Shaman by the forearm, twisted
CRACK!
And ripped the arm off in a single pull.
The Shaman released a howl that shook the Goblins.
Blood splattered onto the ground.
Jian Cheng kicked him in the chest, slamming him against a post.
The Water Shaman…
Looked at his injured companions and shouted:
"Hold them! Hold them even if you die!"
The water around him spun like a living spear.
The Water Shaman retreated as Mira, Jian Cheng, the evolved Slimes, and the Water Elementals cornered him from every angle.
"D-Don't… don't come closer!" he roared, bringing his hands together.
The water around him condensed, forming a nearly transparent blue sphere.
A piercing projectile.
A weapon meant to kill.
"DIE!" he screamed, hurling it.
The water bullet shot forward like lightning.
FWOOOSH!
Jian Cheng lunged ahead, striking it with his forearm reinforced by his inner world's power.
The impact dragged him several meters back and made his arm bleed…
but he deflected it.
The sphere hit the ground, carving a crater.
The Water Shaman froze.
That single moment of hesitation sealed his fate.
A Water Elemental rose behind him and froze his ankles momentarily with densified water.
The Shaman tried to break free, but he wasn't given the time.
"Now!" Mira shouted.
Two evolved Slimes descended like living guillotines.
SLAASH! SLAASH!
The mantis-blades severed the Water Shaman's arms.
Blood sprayed in a sharp arc.
The Shaman screamed…
But before he could gather any water
Jian Cheng appeared before him with impossible speed.
The kick he delivered was simple.
Direct.
Unadorned.
But it hit like a meteor falling from the sky.
BOOOOOOM!
The Shaman's torso caved backward.
His neck cracked.
His body folded.
And the impact hurled him into a stone wall, where he hung like a broken puppet.
The Water Shaman fell to the ground, dead.
A few meters away, the Poison Shaman was trying to crawl away, his stomach still open from the Slime's cut.
"W-Wait… we can… negotiate…" he gasped.
Mira didn't stop.
She jumped.
And landed on him with both feet.
CRUNCH!
The Poison Shaman's skull collapsed like rotten fruit.
Poison spilled and bubbled around him, devouring stones and corpses.
The second death was sealed.
THE FIRE SHAMAN SCREAMED
"I WILL BURN YOU ALL!" he roared, lifting his remaining arm. "BURN WITH ME!"
Flames erupted around his body.
His skin began to melt.
The ground cracked beneath him.
He was going to explode.
A suicidal inferno that would turn the whole plaza into a sea of fire.
Jian Cheng and Mira ran, but the Shaman roared:
"TOO LATE! BURN WI "
A sound cut him off:
SCHLAK!
The Shaman convulsed.
His flames flickered.
Something was holding him from behind.
An evolved Slime.
It had slipped behind him, taking advantage of the Shaman focusing on his own explosion.
A mantis-blade pierced the Shaman's torso from behind, stabbing through his heart.
The Shaman tried to speak, but only fire and black blood came out.
The Slime tilted its head…
And with a clean, lethal motion…
SLAASH!
The Fire Shaman's head fell to the ground, rolling between the stones.
His body collapsed, losing all energy.
The flames went out.
And with them, the last thread of power holding the goblin defense together.
For an instant, silence fell over the village like a blanket.
A strange, fragile silence… as if the world were holding its breath.
Then, it shattered.
Without their leaders, the common Goblins began to retreat in animal panic.
Some dropped their weapons.
Others fled between the huts, without order or direction.
The normal Slimes, still enraged by the Poison Shaman's massacre, surged forward like a living torrent, crushing and devouring any goblin left standing.
The evolved Slimes continued carving through, relentless, their bodies still marked by cuts, poison traces, and burns.
The Water Elementals regained formation and slid through the ruins, pushing back the last resisting groups with pressurized blasts.
The resistance collapsed completely in under a minute.
It was the end.
The goblin fortress… had fallen.
Jian Cheng and Mira walked together, passing shattered streets, collapsed huts, and the fading echo of battle.
Both were exhausted, but their bodies strengthened by their inner worlds kept them standing.
The Slimes and Elementals secured the remaining areas as they headed to the center of the village, drawn by a structure unlike the others.
A larger, sturdier building almost elegant for goblin standards.
Smooth stone walls.
A high roof reinforced with hollow beams.
Ritual carvings on the entrances.