The massive slime made its move, swinging one of its gelatinous arms towards the party.
Fire erupted against it, Helene casting Pyro to intercept while Edoix cast his own barrage of spells, the flashes of light popping against that massive limb.
Gymgrei didn't need to aim; the target was that large. A blast split the air as he fired his blunderbuss, sending a scattered shot of lead balls into the great slime.
Whis shook his head and ran forward, sliding down into the ravine. He brought his claws forward, carving large swathes of the slime culture's body.
The slime culture's arm slammed down with its full weight, but the telegraphing and speed gave the party plenty of time to dodge after getting their own attacks in.
Edoix called out, pointing at the flash of brilliant red zipping around inside the gelatinous body, "There! That must be the culture's core!"
Gymgrei wasted no time reloading the blunderbuss, swapping to his two pistols and letting off a volley of shots. However, his shots were too wide, missing the core as it zipped about.
Helene tried her own casts, flicking bolts of fire against the slime as it went for another heavy swing at the party.
In the ravine, Whis dodged a series of slimy spears that shot out from the main body, each aiming for his position. Then he saw it, that flicker of movement that triggered his deepest instincts.
On all fours, he began a mad sprint up that slippery wet body, his claws giving him the traction he needed while the haste from Tachyon kept him from slipping in.
The slime was not passive. Repeatedly it stuck out long spears of slime from its body to impale Whis, the feline dodging and using the new appendages as footholds to launch himself after that slime core.
Faster and faster he raced across the surface of the slime. That red orb was trapped in his gaze, pupils narrowing as he pushed faster and faster.
As Whis chased that core, the impacts of spell and gunfire erupted the slime around him. His heart raced, thumping with the impact of spells and shells.
He got closer and closer; a gasp was heard from his party as he seemed to launch himself off the mountain of slime. As he fell back, he twisted, flicking a claw forward.
From the edge of his claw flew that red orb, pulsating and twitching as it tried to flee, unmoving without a medium to travel in.
"Now!" cried Edoix, who led a barrage from the whole party.
As Whis fell, giving his party their target, they fired past him, treating him to the tracers of their spells and bullets ripping through the air to rip the slime core to shreds.
He landed with a roll, twisting his hips to change his facing and rejoin his friends.
Above them, the red core split with a flash of light before detonating, its explosion like a firework of myriad colors in the air above them.
The slime culture shook violently as fragments of the red core fell down, some landing within the mass. Like a wall without mortar, it came tumbling down, a wave of smaller slimes splitting off from their larger singular body.
"Looks like we're not done yet," hissed Helene, who started prepping an area of Pyro.
"Let us make this quick," affirmed Edoix, preparing his own area cast of Plegos.
The moment they released their spells, the army of slimes snapped to their direction, unleashing a volley of Hydro casts that fouled their casts, leaving a misty, crackling cloud in the ravine that lasted for just a few seconds.
"They're faster now," groaned Gymgrei, who had started taking pot shots at the slimes, bursting a few of them.
Whis narrowed his eyes, catching the movement of . . . something.
Helene and Edoix resorted to single target casts to preserve Mana, only for Edoix to have to shift to defense due to the volume of attacks.
"Whis, we are pinned here! We cannot cover you if you fight; be careful," said Edoix.
Whis took off straight for the middle, baffling the elf.
"Whis! I just said be careful!" cried Edoix.
Whis saw it first this time. That strange movement shuffled in the crowd, and he tailed it.
The horde noticed and began to converge on his position, leaping for attacks.
Whis twisted, using his steel claws to obliterate slime after slime. As he made impact with the ground, he dug his claws in and slid, spinning around them as pivots and lashing out.
Caught in the comb of his claws was one of the red core fragments. He lifted it to the air and crossed his other claws over it, destroying the core for good as it turned to dust and wisped away.
He looked for the other targets, but the moment he spotted one it was lost in the crowd.
"Whis! Run straight ahead into the group, it'll be in the group on your left," Helene cried out.
Whis looked to her and then snapped his eyes forward while backhanding incoming slimes.
He took off, following Helene's corrections to make his way like a blender through the slime horde until it was within his reach, obliterating the second core fragment.
One remained, and it was no trouble at all with his team leading him to the target.
The moment the third fragment broke under his claws, however, Whis felt the shift in the air.
The remaining slimes that survived the party's attacks were sucked into one singular point, forming a new slime mass.
Whis groaned and dropped his shoulders. "Oh, my God! How many times do we gotta kick its ass?"
The mass finished combining and condensing, building with brilliant light before releasing all the magical pressure it used to reshape itself, forcing Whis to guard his face from the rush of air and debris.
The guard was well-timed as well, as the slime wasted no time in attacking with a flurry of slashing attacks.
No, not slashing attacks—clawing attacks. The slime had formed itself into a gelatinous mirror of Whis himself.
Edoix gasped and ran into the ravine as well, letting out a volley of Plegos casts only for the slime to dodge them expertly. "It has become a Proto-Gel! Everyone, we need to support Whis in this fight!"
The rest of the party slid in, rushing in to provide aid as the fight kicked off in earnest.
The Proto-Gel dashed forward, bringing both hardened gel claws down onto Whis, who met them with his own.
This stalemate parrying continued back and forth. The Proto-Gel's claws were hard enough to make sparks fly at the impact.
Edoix and Helene attempted to cast spells against the doppelganger boss, only for it to use Whis's speed to escape the attacks; even Gymgrei's gunshots weren't enough, the Proto-Gel blocking them with its claws when it couldn't just dodge.
Whis tried for his own flurry of blows, lashing out against the Proto-Gel with deliberate, furious strikes for typically vital spots.
No matter what Whis tried, the Proto-Gel beat him to it.
"Helene, Edoix! I saw you charge your spells. Charge up for something big on my count," yowled Whis.
The mages nodded and got in position, weaving their spells with loud vocal incantations, pushing all their will into them.
"What's your plan to keep that thing still, lad?" asked Grymgrei, shouting over the clamor of battle.
Whis didn't reply; instead he drove himself closer and closer to the Proto-Gel, limiting the distance they could strike each other.
Four icy-blue claws sprouted from Whis's back.
The party gasped, almost breaking formation as they called out for him.
Whis threw his weight. It was a deadly blow, but it would work in his favor as he wrapped himself around the slime, slamming both pairs of his claws into the Proto-Gel, binding them in a tangle of violence.
"Do it, guys! Now!" yelled Whis, baring his teeth as he struggled to keep the Proto-Gel grappled and in place for one special attack.
Helene and Edoix hesitated and brought the spells in their hands together, letting the magic fuse into a sphere of red fire and white light.
The sphere tripled in size before condensing into a single pink pearl of light that darkened the air around it. Their motions and words synced up as they wound up, glaring at the Proto-Gel.
"Pyroplague!"
They pitched, sending the pearl speeding across the battlefield and directly through the chest of the Proto-Gel.
The mixture of raw heat and light exploded and the shockwave sent out wind and debris in all directions.
When the smoke cleared, only Whis stood there in the dim, gritting his teeth as he flexed his whole body from the pain of the attack.
The party rushed in, Edoix immediately casting his healing spell Dosis to relieve some of Whis's injuries and wounds.
"Whis!" they all cried, the ground crunching under their boots as they met him.
Whis collapsed into their arms, his breathing shallow and consciousness fading. His hair and skin were charred from the spell, but still he smiled weakly. "That was the scariest moment," he took a shuddering breath, "in my whole life."
Gymgrei gripped his shoulders, holding him stable as Edoix dug frantically in a white fabric bag. "That was insanity, lad!"
Whis nodded and closed his eyes, falling limp to Helene and Gymgrei's horror.
"Edoix! Phoenix down, hurry!" Helene cried, squeezing Whis closely.
Edoix produced a vial from his bag, popping its cork and seal to withdraw the single red and orange feather inside. He placed it over Whis's heart and breathed on it, the feather blooming into a radiant fire that sank into Whis's chest.
From his chest, color returned to Whis's body and face; a few seconds later he gasped back to life, weak and tired. "W—what was that?"
Edoix smiled and patted Whis's head, casting Dosis to restore his health, the wounds on his body sealing up gradually, the fatigue leaving his joints, and his bruises fading.
"Whis, I need you to tell me something," said Edoix, hand still on the Sealgari's head.
"Tell you what?" asked Whis, tilting his head.
"Where did you really come from?"