Chapter 23 – Victory
Violet summoned her giant Earth Spirit called Crown. Tired from the cast, she sent Slade to fight the beholders in her stead.
Is it the elemental spirit? Slade thought.
It jumped up and down.
Slade reached for the light with his slimy tendril.
Yeah, I’m a friend! Can you help me? he thought.
The golem raised his foot and smashed the ground with all its strength.
A shining shock wave spread from the golem’s foot. Huge pillars of stones shot up from the ground, piercing into the spellcasting beholders. The giant tentacles dispelled as the beholders wriggled in pain.
Awesome!
“Requesting surrender.”
Didn’t you deny the gnoll’s surrender?!
His fist lifted the lying Evil Eye from the ground.
He heard strange noises. A pathetic beholder was clinging to his hand, desperately trying to pry his fingers open to release the Evil Eye.
The Evil Eye’s golden platings fissured under the increasing pressure.
When he flicked the beholder away, outraged beholders jumped from gaps in the rubbles, covering the golem from head to toes.
“Ordering... escape.”
But the monsters didn’t obey. They stubbornly hang onto the golem to pry its fingers open, gnawing at its skin of rock.
Splat! The Evil Eye finally popped, squirting its content through the golem’s fingers.
Fallen on the ground, the collapsed monster twitched like an insect. The beholders jumped from the golem, probing it.
Slade raised his foot over the crowd of monsters. The bloody victory was within a step away.
But the resigned beholders stayed at the dying Evil Eye’s side despite the looming shadow of the foot.
Come on, let’s kill them and call it a day.
He stopped his foot, waiting for signs of struggle from the monsters.
‘Evil Eye’ is such an ominous name. It must be purged!
Instead, they were crying.
[Toilet Slime is affected by low morale, and doesn’t act during this turn!]
Good grief...
He glanced at Violet and slammed his foot on the ground.
Thinking about it, he was the intruder while they were the defender. Perhaps, he could find something better than complete eradication of the natives.
The dust settled. His foot purposefully missed.
He couldn’t help but pity the enemy. His resolve snapped, straining his conscience like a mismatched corset that was forced on a pig.
Alright, I’ll let them surrender.
Slade chose another conflict to escape his inner turmoil. He had to protect Violet while giving a chance to the beholders.
Of course, I’ll kill them the moment they do something suspicious.
From outside, it could look foolish. But it was the path of least resistance for Slade, because he faced his guilty conscience.
I have to make it work!
[Shapeshift: Beholder form]
Leaving? the light asked with a hint of loneliness.
“Be right back,” Slade said, climbing up the golem’s neck.
Standing atop the golem’s crown, he looked down on the mourning beholders. He took a deep breath, calming his raging heart.
“Heed me, brothers!” he shouted in the beholder’s tongue.
The sad beholders looked up.
“I serve the great and merciful sovereign, Violet Ylenward! Our goal was not to hurt you nor the Pillar of Eye, but to take control of this ore mine.”
The defeated crowd looked at each other.
“Your colony is currently a threat to my mistress. But I shall spare you in exchange for your loyalty! Become the sovereign’s subjects!”
The beholders saw a glimmer of hope.
“Yeah! I’ll accept it if she protects our Pillar of Eyes too!” a young one said.
“Yes, we’ll do it!”
“No, they killed Griscent!”
“Griscent fought for freedom and independence of mind! How dare you give up your liberty like that?!”
“Life is more important!”
The crowd stirred up, unable to reach a consensus. The slime rolled his giant eye.
He jumped down, landing on the Evil Eye. It was better to hold its life as a bargain chip than letting it die.
Slade reverted to his slime form under the fascinated spectators. He wriggled inside the gaps of the Evil Eye’s body, activating his healing skills. The wounds closed, stopping its hemorrhages. After having a taste of its blood, he synthesized enough to bring back its consciousness.
The eyeball was still deflated, but its life was no longer threatened.
“How could it be?! It healed Griscent from the brink of death without using a spell!” a beholder shouted.
“Oooh, it’s a miracle!” they waved their tentacles in joy.
“Sludge of miracle!” they cheered.
Slade returned to beholder form and slapped the lying Evil Eye to rouse it up.
“You’re the boss, right? What do you offer for your surrender?” he asked.
“Do you accept gnoll pockets?” the Evil Eye asked.
“Wha-” Slade shook his head in disbelief when he noticed the dead gnolls encased in broken clay statues.
“We have little to offer, you see?” it said.
“That’s it, I’m killing you and your friend,” Slade said.
“Okay, but I don’t want to become an eye-pocket. I have taste after all,” it said.
Is my translation skill not working properly? Slade was confused.
“Don’t you care for your fellow beholders? So how about serving my sovereign?” Slade asked.
“I care. The smart ones have escaped by now. Only fools remain.” it chuckled deprecatingly.
The beholders lowered their gaze in sadness.
The senior beholder rolled on its back, unable to see the sky.
“I am not a pawn, but I was born in a Dungeon. I can tell you from firsthand experience that nothing is crueler than enslaving the mind. Robbed of choices and freedom, rejecting your own self, suffering to the whims of another… There’s no point to such life,” it said.
Slade nodded, as he felt distressed when he realized he was bound to Violet’s orders. She turned out to be a lax mistress, much to his relief.
“My goal was to protect and nurture the mind of my brethren… This cannot happen if a tyrannical sovereign used them as mindless tools,” it said, tapping its head with a tentacle.
“I understand… But I still have to kill you since you might hurt my sovereign,” Slade said.
“Hmm, right? I was prepared to die for the kids’ freedom. But I couldn’t even trade my life for your sovereign,” the Evil Eye shrugged.
It had underestimated Violet’s abilities and lost.
The beholders lost a beat because they chose Dimension Door instead of shooting down the harpies. Nobody could predict that she would summon such a large and powerful golem.
It was really a tight fight… Can I really let them surrender without it biting my ass later?
The gnolls ended up betraying the party halfway… But maybe things would have turned differently if Shaki had stayed close to the matriarch instead of running straight to help Milia.
There was no guarantee that they wouldn’t turn against Slade in the future. Even the Evil Eye recognized it.
Killing them is the only option...
Slade had to muster his courage, and it would be over in an instant.
“How about we serve you instead?” the Evil Eye asked.
“Wha-? No, not me! Serve that cute girl there, instead!” Slade said.