The Fastest Evolution of the Unrivaled Slime: My Rejected Skill was a Cheat for Super Efficient Leveling, So I Trained 100 Times Faster to Become the World’s Strongest

97. Death Of A Monster And A Step Towards Rebirth

When the light subsided and my vision cleared, a red-haired boy was kneeling in front of me.

It seemed more like my magic had overpowered his defenses than that he had exhausted his experience points. Despite his heavy breathing, he glared at me.

He looked quite fatigued and didn’t attack suddenly as he had before. In fact, it was almost surprising that he endured such a large-scale attack.

Now we can finally talk.

“What’s your name?”

During the battle, I felt there was something behind this boy’s actions.

The boy remained silent for a while, looking confused, then finally opened his mouth.

“…Golem.”

“No, I mean your real name.”

The boy seemed at a loss for words and remained silent with a troubled expression.

This boy has no name. “Golem” was probably a name given by Matthew.

“You said you didn’t want to kill humans. But you did. Why? Were you ordered to?”

“…I killed for experience points. I killed many for the experience.”

The boy’s fists tightened. His pained expression showed he wasn’t lying.

But that raised another question.

“For experience points. Then why did you limit your targets? You could have fought monsters instead.”

“…You get experience points from defeating monsters!? Is that true!?”

“Yes. You didn’t know?”

The boy’s eyes widened, pleading with me if it was true. Seeing his reaction, I became certain.

This boy had been ordered to kill humans for experience points for ’s abilities. And the one giving the orders was probably Matthew.

When the boy saw me nod, he hung his head. It was only natural for someone who resisted killing to react this way.

“…Then, what should I do? I’ve killed so many. What can I do now…?”

“You can change.”

The boy looked up. I reaffirmed, “You can change.”

“You were stronger than anyone I’ve fought. So, for the lives you’ve taken, help others.”

“That’s impossible…”

“You can. The ‘monster that used humans for experience points’ was defeated by my attack just now.”

I approached the boy and extended my hand.

This boy can change. If I free him from Matthew’s control—

“What are you doing, you fool!?”

“Arx-sama!”

Shino’s voice rang out. At that moment, a small explosion occurred in front of me, and black smoke spread rapidly.

It was Matthew’s voice that followed. He used a smoke bomb!

“There’s no time for this! Your plan is ruined because of you! Remember this!”

“Wait!”

My vision was obscured, but Matthew must be nearby! If I use wide-area lightning magic, I might be able to stop him—

“…Gah!”

As I tried to gather magic, intense pain surged through my body. It seemed I had taken too much damage in the previous battle.

As I crouched there for a while, the smoke completely cleared, leaving no one else around.

“Arx-sama!”

“I’m fine, but…”

The three slimes rushed over. My back still hurt, but more importantly, the boy was taken by Matthew again.

That boy can change. I wanted to free him from Matthew’s control, but I couldn’t.

…No, maybe, that boy can change on his own.

I once started a new path with the desire to change. When I saw his eyes, I felt something similar to how I felt back then.

“They should still be nearby. I’ll go after them.”

“No, it’s okay. Shino, you must be quite tired too. You three, thank you for your efforts.”

The time for Chia’s enhancement had long passed. I stopped the unusually flustered Shino.

I need to trust him. I gave that boy what I could. Now it’s up to him.

“…Oh, right! Barry!”

Borrowing the shoulder of the slime archer, I rushed to where Barry had fallen, completely forgotten.

He lay limp after crashing into a tree trunk. His entire body was limp, almost as if—he was dead.

“Barry! Barry!”

As I healed him with a healing slime, I shook Barry’s body. He lay there with his eyes closed, unresponsive.

While shaking him for a while, I noticed his lips move slightly.

“…Shut up, you idiot. Don’t make a fuss.”

Good, he’s alive. At least he had the energy to talk back.

I sighed in relief and sat down.

“…Why did I do such a stupid thing? I’m really an idiot…”

“Don’t force yourself to talk, you’ll get better soon. Then you can talk all you want.”

Barry, perhaps blinded by the light, began reaching out towards the sky.

“…I thought I could fly.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I thought I could fly one more time. …I don’t know what I was thinking.”

Seeing Barry speak in a hoarse voice, I couldn’t help but laugh.

“You can fly. As long as you don’t give up, you can fly as many times as you want.”

Looking at the sky where he reached, a brilliant sun was shining.