Chapter 55: A Short Visit

"What do you make of that? Can you see anything?" Hundreds of adventurers are gathered on the plain near the "ruins" they came to explore. Since no one returns past a certain point, they’ve marked off a "safe zone" where they wait to adjust their plans.

There are several groups, but no one above Magma Rank has arrived yet, so most of them are just weaker adventurers testing their luck.

"Yes, with my skill I can see a number of things! First, I noticed those dragons we saw earlier are circling the area at regular intervals, so it’s not something passing through — they’re repeating far too often."

"I can also see a magnificent structure, like a giant palace, but since it’s far away I can’t really tell what kind of shape it’s in." One of the adventurers speaks to the current "leader" who’s organizing everything, a veteran Magma Rank who decided to sort out the teams.

"Dragons are a problem. With the number of adventurers we have here, we could probably take down about five, but you said there are over twenty of them, right? That’s a problem... we should wait for someone of a higher rank!! Hey everyone!! We’ll need to camp here a few more days." The veteran shouts to all the others, who are starting to grow restless with the delay.

"Did you manage to find out anything else? What are those vines on the ground that grab people and pull them under?" The veteran tries to learn more from the adventurer with the long-range vision skill.

"I didn’t find out much! They’re everywhere, and when they grab someone they pull them down, but they don’t seem to be able to get you if you’re a few meters above the ground. Also, they seem to recoil from fire—"

"Well, well, well?! Humans? And so many? What are you all doing here?" The adventurers look at the "girl" who has just appeared out of nowhere, interrupting the conversation. They’re thrown off by her appearance while some already ready their weapons.

"I see the insects decided to gather and wait. Pleased to meet you all, I’m Yomo. I was doing a check on the roads to decide which one I’d use. I’m so lucky to have found such a large group — there’s about 359 of you here, so many." Yomo smiles at the adventurers. Some of the older ones quickly brace themselves.

But before they can even move, the tentacles on Yomo’s back extend and lash out, impaling a considerable number of them. Her tentacles split into dozens, each aiming straight for the heart.

Their blood begins to drain along with their flesh, leaving their bodies dried out and collapsed on the ground. Some adventurers panic while others try to attack, but the brutal difference in strength means everyone who tries to strike back dies.

Blood and bodies begin to spread across the ground in just a few seconds, with practically no one able to keep up with the speed of the attacks.

Those who flee have their legs seized, followed by their arms, which are pulled until they’re torn from their bodies, while Yomo’s extra "limbs" smash them against the ground. In seconds, the grassy plain turns into a scene of pure carnage.

"They barely lasted at all. Humans are always so pathetically fragile... you’re skilled. You dodged me?" Yomo speaks to a hooded girl who was the only one to survive.

"What are you?" The girl draws a sword, looking at Yomo with contempt and hatred, sensing the malice behind such a being. But the hand holding the sword trembles slightly.

"Let’s play a little introduction game, then. How about this! I’m Yomo, Apostle of the First Floor, and the reaper who will take your life. And you are?"

"...Anessa. Former Prism Rank Adventurer." Anessa answers, looking around as Yomo’s tentacles retract to their normal size and split back down to just four.

"I did notice you’re a bit tougher than the rest of them. Not a single drop of blood on you. You dodged with relative ease. Well, I was holding back so I could hear their screams, but it’s still a decent feat to dodge me like that."

"Pretty arrogant for a monster. What even are you? And what did you come here for..." Anessa analyzes the thing in front of her. Initially, because of the red skin and the horns, Anessa had deduced it might be someone from some semi-human race, but considering its behavior she reassesses and believes it’s a monster. An excellent answer.

"I’m a rather unique monster, so it makes sense you wouldn’t know what I am! Well, you might know my very, very, very distant relatives! Vampires! I’m a Blood Beast. So... you don’t smell human."

"You’re a hybrid?... Elf... no, more intense... spirit? Your mother is a Spirit? Hahaha, what a find — half-human, half-spirit." When Yomo makes that assessment, Anessa shivers, wondering how he could possibly hit on something so deep just from her scent.

"A Nature spirit, relatively weak. If she were a high-level spirit, you’d be a real charmer." Yomo does a little spin that makes the dress she’s wearing form a light spiral pattern with the movement.

"Don’t you think you’re underestimating me a bit too much?" Anessa takes a step back. That makes Yomo stop spinning.

"...Underestimating? Your eyes want to flee, your body trembles with fear, and you just took a step back. Why should I take seriously a being who just displayed the behavior of prey?" Anessa leaps upward, dodging something she didn’t see. But when she does, Yomo is already in front of her, grabbing her leg in midair.

"!!!" The movement startles her because she didn’t even see any motion. Yomo, in her vision, simply vanished and reappeared in front of her — no sound, no rustle of grass, no displacement of the air around her, just a clean, swift motion.

"[Greater Flame]" She uses magic, releasing a wave of green flames against Yomo’s face, who doesn’t even see a need to dodge. The flames can do nothing against his face.

"Mid-Level Magic, not bad... ah, yes, based on the intel gathered, you humans call that High-Level Magic. What a joke. Your level is around 25 to 33. You’ll never manage to wound me like that." He squeezes his hand, crushing Anessa’s leg, which makes her gasp in pain.

"If you don’t cut your leg off, you won’t get out of my grip." She twists her body despite the pain, trying to thrust her sword into Yomo’s eye. But when the blade collides with the eye socket, its tip shatters completely.

"I-Impossible!!?" A sword losing to an unprotected eye sounds as absurd as a pig sprouting wings.

"Boo, what terribly low damage. It’s miserable and pathetic. Is this the level of humanity? I’ve seen animals more capable of inflicting harm than this." He slams her against the ground, breaking her spine on impact. As she screams in pain, he steps on her chest and presses down, gently crushing her ribcage.

"You know, I’d love to break your body slowly, but I’m busy. I have to leave now. After all, I have a mission to carry out. I just wanted to give the invaders a little hello." He begins to press harder.

Before using his tentacles to lift her, he embraces Anessa, who with great effort moves her hands even though her entire lower half is paralyzed.

"U-Urgh... ahh..." She coughs up blood as Yomo hugs her tighter, until she hears the sound of bones grinding. She begins to be crushed completely as her organs suffer extreme pressure, slowly.

Her ribs crack slowly under pressure against Yomo’s chest as Yomo smiles at Anessa, hugging her tighter.

"..." She tries to speak, but only blood comes out of her mouth along with a wheezing sound. Tears stream down as the pressure makes blood start to trickle from her nose and eyes, even as she desperately tries to hit Yomo’s face with her hands — before a horrible snap of bones breaking and organs rupturing ends her life.

"Ah, that’s it? I expected you’d last longer, considering you’re a half-spirit. Seems your endurance is terrible... at least you’re kind of cute. Too bad you hid your face... maybe I..." Yomo seriously ponders something. He lays the dead girl on the ground and touches her clothes, undoing the belt and the buttons on the upper part of the dress.

"Stop what you were doing immediately, you sick bastard." Yomo looks back and sees Moros, who came to go with him.

"...Tsk... I was just going to have a little fun... you took your time... whatever. Let’s go already? You really took way too long." Yomo closes the button on the upper part of the clothing again and the belt buckle that holds the skirt part of the dress.

"This is why women detest you. I can’t wait for the day something kills you."

"I don’t think a slime like you knows much about women! Women love me. If they didn’t, I wouldn’t have had so many lovers!! Even though you can turn into some very beautiful women, but that doesn’t matter. Now let’s go! We have a mission!!" Yomo starts walking while taking some artifacts from his inventory to hide his true appearance and resemble a human.