Chapter 63

"Damn it, we won't make it! Diarugo, are you ready yet!?"

"Just a little more. Please hang in there."

"...In the end, we're doing the same thing as always, aren't we, big brother?"

"Shut up! Just keep moving your hands!"

The men shouted and brandished their weapons, drenched from the continuous rain. Violent splashes flew through the air as the large frogs with red and black spots were thrown and flipped over. But they quickly got up, oozing sticky bodily fluids, and charged at the warriors.

The men skillfully used their long weapons to keep the creatures at bay, maintaining their distance. However, the prolonged battle had left them breathless and their movements sluggish. Their leather armor was torn in many places, but they struggled to hold their ground.

Beside them, a small hill near the shore was covered with a writhing puddle of water. The red earth mound was gradually shrinking, losing volume and height.

Eventually, the large red liquid completely eroded the hill and began to move slowly, searching for new prey. A warrior wielding a hand axe let out a pained cry when he realized the hill in the middle of the river was next.

"Damn it! Don't go that way!"

"Alright, we made it!"

A man with a shield slid into the riverbank, causing a large mound of water to rise and form a new hill. The red puddle of water heading towards the bridge piers suddenly changed course and attached itself to the new hill. More puddles formed and joined, increasing the water level.

One of the men glared at the cloudy sky and screamed in frustration at the relentless sight of the slimes merging and growing.

"Damn it, why isn't this rain stopping!"

While Rorolf and his companions fought with their backs against the wall, Thor and his group watched from under a tent, warming themselves by the stove. They wanted to help, but they had used up all their available uses of magic techniques, leaving them powerless.

The main reason for this situation was the lack of communication between Rorolf's group and Thor. The slimes that appeared in the river were slightly different in form from the forest slimes Thor knew.

First, the forest slimes were brown, while the river slimes were red. At first glance, they looked like pools of blood, which could be a bit shocking, but their movement made them easy to distinguish.

The river slimes' favorite food was red sand iron, which was almost nonexistent on the rocky riverbank. The sand iron itself was mostly found at the bottom of the Bloodflow River and occasionally washed up on the riverbank during heavy rains. They were harmless monsters that simply searched for it.

Of course, their body fluid, which could dissolve almost anything, was a common trait, so there were no adventurers who particularly wanted to kill them. One slime was worth three skill points, and the body fluid could be sold for fifteen copper coins per snail, which was three times the usual price.

The biggest difference between the forest and river slimes was their method of appearance and numbers. River slimes emerged in large numbers from the ground when it rained and disappeared all at once when the rain stopped. This was because their spawning areas were limited to the riverbanks, unlike the vast forest. Additionally, they only appeared during rainy weather.

Furthermore, river slimes had the peculiar property of sticking together when they came into contact. Slimes that shared a nucleus increased in volume, and their digestion speed and feeding range also increased. They likely evolved into higher forms, like Hobgoblin Chiefs. This was also because they didn't get washed away in the river.

Thus, there was a regrettable misunderstanding between Thor, who thought the river slimes were similar to forest slimes, and Rorolf's group, who believed they could handle any number of slimes.

Currently, Rorolf and his companions were fighting the river slimes using the methods they had used before, now that Thor and his group had used up their "Restoration" skill. The method was simple: they used "Pile Driver Array" to create mounds of earth near the riverbank to lure the slimes.

To cast "Pile Driver Array," they needed to accumulate battle aura. Battle aura increased during battles with monsters, but they couldn't start a fight with the river slimes. This is where the red poison frogs came in, but there was a problem. Once a frog was defeated, it wouldn't respawn for at least an hour.

So, they had to continue fighting while holding back. The battle had already lasted for an hour in the rain.

A large slime, formed by about ten smaller ones, was trembling and devouring the last mound of earth. The second son, Ninilas, let out a pained groan, realizing they didn't have enough battle aura to cast "Pile Driver Array" again. He gripped his two-handed axe tightly, facing the ugly red mass heading towards the hill in the river.

"Ugh! Sorry, Fourteenth Generation. I'll give you a proper burial!"

"Hey, wait! We don't have the money for a new axe!"

"Don't stop me, big brother. If we don't take them down now, this will just keep happening!"

Ninilas's axe, enveloped in purple lightning, sizzled as it turned water droplets into steam. Just as he raised it high, a figure stepped between the slime and the axe. It was Thor, holding an empty barrel.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. I can use 'Restoration' now."

"Thor, you old man!"

"Leave this to me. Here, Sora."

"Sure thing. Leave it to me."

The girl stirred the red water with the iron sword she was given. It took longer than usual due to the increased volume, but soon the tension on the slime's surface was lost, and its shape collapsed. Thor, waiting for this moment, held out the empty barrel and caught the body fluid with a bold gesture.

"Alright, you can go. Hey, you can take down those frogs now."

Thor, who had instantly restored the severely bent iron sword, gave instructions to the exhausted men.

"Is it okay? Your skill can only be used ten times, right?"

"It's fine. I've come up with a good plan."

"Alright. ...Then, die! You damn frogs!"

The men, as if releasing their pent-up frustration, forcefully struck the monsters with their weapons. The frogs were eliminated, but the rain continued. Rorolf, looking around the riverbank warily, asked in a weak voice.

"So, what do you plan to do? We can't just take down nine more, right?"

"I counted roughly. About fifty spawn per hour. The limit for merging is about ten."

"Yeah, that's about right. ...You don't mean to merge them and then take them down, do you?"

"Exactly. That way, we should have enough uses of 'Restoration'."

"But how do you make them merge? You're not waiting for the bridge piers to be eaten, are you?"

"Just do it the same way as before."

"Huh? Then we shouldn't take down the frogs, right!"

Thor slightly lifted the corners of his lips at the young man of the purple-eyed race, who looked at him as if he were a madman.

"By the way, I forgot to mention. You can actually use it like this."

Diarugo, whose shoulder Thor had lightly touched, opened his large eyes under his bangs while holding his shield. He realized that his body was filled with battle aura to the point of overflowing.

"I've restored your battle aura. Now you can use your martial techniques anytime."

As the shield bearer nodded and released the given battle aura, the three brothers let out surprised voices at the mound of earth raised by "Pile Driver Array" in the river.

"......Amazing."

"Is it really...? Unbelievable. It's too unbelievable, old man."

"Can you do that? What are you, anyway?"

"I'm just a man who's gotten used to digging in the mud."

In that moment, the troublesome rain and the annoying swarm of monsters turned into a bonus stage where they could earn skill points and materials. The men, relieved that they had a plan, burst into laughter at Thor's matter-of-fact tone.

Suddenly, their laughter stopped. Their eyes widened, and their gazes were drawn to something behind Thor.

"Why is it appearing here..."

"Huh, what?"

"Damn it, it's bad, man!"

When Thor turned around, he saw a large mass of red water floating in the center of the rain-soaked riverbank.