Dragon-hunting squads would generally find ways to restrict a dragon's ability to fly.
For instance, they might rely on mages to cast anti-flight spells, or call upon ranged class users to operate heavy anti-air ballistas.
This Shadow Wolf King obviously had no such anti-flight spells in its repertoire.
“Awoo!”
Seeing that it had no way to land an effective blow, the Shadow Wolf King let out another commanding howl.
Upon hearing the howl, all the shadow wolves and gnolls rushed into the forest. The Shadow Wolf King did not waste any more time either, turning around to morph into a shadow and meld into the forest.
With the cover and protection of the canopy, the white dragon lost the ability to execute dive attacks.
The shadow wolves, on the other hand, could utilize the shadows within the forest to launch agile attacks.
Since this detestable, evil slime and white dragon were exploiting their advantages so desperately, the shadow wolves had no reason not to make use of theirs as well.
However, the Shadow Wolf King's calculations were destined to fall through.
Seeing the shadow wolves retreat into the woods, Zoe knew their advantage was gone. He had absolutely no intention of drawing out the battle.
Inside a forest like this, a white dragon couldn't fly at all. Continuing to fight the shadow wolves here would just be asking for trouble.
Besides, he had already consumed a significant amount of mana. The purpose of this trip was merely a surprise raid to whittle down the Shadow Wolf King's numbers as much as possible.
“Squish.”
「Retreat.」
“Awoo!”
Vera called back in response, circled once in the air, and then turned to fly back toward their nest.
Of course, she didn't forget to grab a wolf carcass in her talons to hand in as her homework.
Peering out from the shadow of the canopy, the Shadow Wolf King watched helplessly as the dragon and slime flew away.
“We will rest in the forest and launch a surprise attack at night.”
The Shadow Wolf King realized its mistake. It should have launched a night raid from the very beginning instead of sending a messenger, hoping to frighten the slime away to spare its pack.
It had sorely underestimated this slime.
...
Returning to the low hill, Vera flapped her wings and landed smoothly on the summit.
“Squish.”
「Don't sleep for the next few nights. After suffering such a heavy loss, the Shadow Wolf King will likely launch a sneak attack tonight.」
「We'll take turns sleeping during the day and go hunting at night.」
Putting himself in the Wolf King's paws, Zoe figured it would definitely try to utilize its racial advantages to get even.
Night fell.
The Shadow Wolf King led its subordinates as they silently approached the low hill through the darkness.
However, before they could even draw near, the white dragon had already spread her white wings in the night sky.
Scorching Dragon Flame spat forth once more, engulfing the trees at the foot of the hill, raising blazing flames and sending up flag-like plumes of deathly thick smoke.
Within the churning Dragon Flame, the Shadow Wolf King felt an instinctual dread.
Even though it was the Shadow Wolf King, it was ultimately just a special individual among shadow wolves, meaning it was still weak to the fire attribute.
Dragon Flame was also a notoriously powerful magical fire among fire-attribute attacks; the Shadow Wolf King deeply feared it.
It also feared that bizarre High Slime who could spit Dragon Flame.
Although reluctant to admit it, even if it took over this territory, it would never be able to grow in peace without completely killing this slime and white dragon.
Continuing the conflict would only end in mutual destruction.
Thus, the Shadow Wolf King set aside the dispute and made a decision fitting for the leader of a pack.
“Awoo!”
“We, the shadow wolf pack, relinquish our claim over this territory and will leave immediately.”
“We swear we will never set foot in this territory again!”
“We acknowledge that this territory belongs to you, High Slime.”
The Shadow Wolf King projected its declaration toward the sky.
Then, leading the remnants of its pack, it retreated from the low hill and continued eastward to search for a new territory.
Meanwhile, Zoe rode on the dragon's back, shadowing the pack all the way until dawn, when the Shadow Wolf King and its wolves had completely cleared the boundaries of his territory.
Calling it a territory was a bit of a stretch; in truth, it was just his hunting ground, with boundaries mapped out rather haphazardly.
“Squish.”
[Let's go back.]
The white dragon nodded, flapped her wings, and headed back toward the low hill.
The Shadow Wolf King looked up, silently staring at the flying white dragon for a brief moment before resuming its march to the east.
In the Great Hera Forest, survival of the fittest was the only law; there was no room for lingering hatred.
They returned to the low hill and touched down on the ground.
Although Zoe believed the Wolf King wouldn't sneak back in the middle of the night, they still had to remain vigilant just in case.
But a slime and a dragon couldn't keep wasting all their time on sentry duty. He still had to grind for the proficiency levels he constantly thought about.
The proficiency requirement for Level 4 [High-speed Regeneration] was as hard as stone, requiring him to chip away at it bit by bit.
“I need to raise some monsters and leave trivial matters like keeping watch to them.”
Zoe had already tasted the sweet benefits of this strategy through Vera.
And so...
“Squish.”
「Vera, your evil reputation has already spread far and wide. Even the shadow wolves know of your villainous renown.」
「You've even secured this territory that we share.」
「However, an empty territory does nothing to display your prestige. You need subordinates to spread your evil and greatness.」
Recruiting monsters to serve as lackeys was a tedious task, so of course he would delegate it to Vera.
Besides, she would likely thoroughly enjoy it.
“To be a lord and raise monster subordinates!”
“Is—Is it really alright to entrust such an important task to me? Vera is still just a young dragon. I don't have the confidence to do something so amazing!”
Vera's tail wagged so fast it became a blur. She was so excited she felt like she was about to fly.
Just the thought of a crowd of monsters groveling on the ground, singing praises of her greatness, made her shiver with uncontrollable excitement.
“Squish.”
「Vera, you are the smartest white dragon I've ever met. You should have more confidence in yourself.」
「Besides, if any problems arise, I'll be right here.」
Vera's draconic eyes practically lost their focus.
“Yes!”
“I'll go look right now!”
...
The next day, Zoe noticed that quite a few slimes had suddenly appeared around the low hill.
“Squish.”
「Why are there so many slimes?」
“Vera caught them all! Do you like any of them, Zoe?”
Looking at the shivering slimes in front of him, Zoe recalled that Vera was, after all, only six years old.
“Squish.”
「Next time, let's bring back some intelligent monsters instead.」
「No, not 'bring back'—」
He realized he was starting to be influenced by Vera's warped perspective.
「From now on, look for intelligent monsters and ask if they are willing to join us.」
“Okay!”
“Then what should we do with these slimes, Zoe?”
Zoe turned his gaze to the still-shivering slimes.
“Let's just leave them here to enrich the ecosystem.”
Slimes were considered beneficial monsters; they fed on weeds and leaves.
Upon death, their bodies would dissolve into the soil, increasing its magic concentration.
Because of this, areas where slimes gathered year after year would see their ambient mana rise higher and higher.
In his past life, Zoe had taken quests from ranch owners to capture live slimes for this very reason.
“Yes!”
Without a moment's rest, Vera took to the sky once more and headed into the forest, seemingly eager to dedicate every second of her time to the cause of building their territory.
Once Vera had flown away, the trembling slimes calmed down a bit and began bouncing around Zoe with soft squishes.
“Squish.”
Zoe tried to command the slimes.
Upon receiving the command, the slimes stopped bouncing randomly and bounced down the hill.
“It seems a High Slime can command and manipulate ordinary slimes through instinct.”
Ordinary slimes only had a level cap of Level 10.
Special variants, like giant slimes and slime kings, could reach a level cap of Level 20.
A High Slime was an extremely rare apex of the slime species.
“Perhaps I can try breeding a giant slime or a slime king.”
“At any rate, today is all about training, training.”
Thinking to himself, Zoe bounced back into his nest and began his skill training for the day.
Rate on N.U.
