Divine Glitch: I Regressed With Endgame Knowledge-Chapter 73: The Slime Lord’s Devour and Divide

Each undulation of the Slime Lord sent waves of pressure through the group. Only then did they realize something crucial—their main tank, the Guild Leader, still hadn’t arrived.

Just as murmurs of retreat rippled through the party, Ryan strolled into view with the unhurried air of someone on a casual walk rather than about to face a towering, mucus-covered nightmare.

"Guild Leader, can you even tank something this huge?" Moonlight Beauty swallowed hard. Her eyes were wide as she watched the Slime Lord ooze closer, her body practically trembling—not just from fear, but from the thrill of the upcoming fight.

Ryan, however, looked entirely unbothered. As the only colossal monster found in the early-game dungeons, the Slime Lord was an old acquaintance of his. He knew every attack, every quirk, and, more importantly, the loot it guarded.

The Flexible Slime Ring—a rare-quality tank ring—was a prize worth every drop of sweat and blood. For early tanks, it was practically mandatory gear. Even players at level 20 would backtrack to this very dungeon, grinding endlessly in hopes of securing it. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

The Slime Lord’s abilities weren’t complicated, but each one was frustrating in its own right.

The first, Devour, would randomly swallow any player other than its current target, consuming 50% of their current health and converting it into twenty times that amount to heal itself. In other words, if it ate 300 points of a player’s health, it would recover a ridiculous 6,000 points.

The second skill, Mist Rain, created an area-of-effect storm, dealing 120 damage per second to anyone caught within it. It didn’t expire and drifted around the arena like a slow, poisonous fog.

The third, Divide, was triggered when the Slime Lord’s health dropped to a certain point. It would split into four elite slimes, each fast and vicious. Killing even one of these elite versions would shave 10% off the Lord’s total health before it reformed.

The fourth skill, Cruel Seize, disarmed all players, cutting their attack power by half for ten agonizing seconds.

Finally, Corrosive Poison reduced the amount of healing the current tank could receive, making survival much trickier.

For any aspiring tank, knowing these abilities was second nature. And while the list of skills made the creature sound like an unstoppable force, it was far from unbeatable. With enough coordination and persistence, the Slime Lord could still be brought down.

"If you’re ready, I’m going in," Ryan said softly, almost too casually. Before anyone could answer, he dashed forward, shield raised, immediately drawing the Slime Lord’s attention.

He didn’t dare throw Avenger’s Shield recklessly. The Divide skill was supposed to trigger at a health threshold, but some unlucky players had claimed it could happen even at 99%. If the four elite slimes split off and scattered, they’d be on the healers before he could blink—a guaranteed party wipe.

Instead, Ryan relied on Judgment and Fist of Light to steadily build aggro. Within moments, he’d firmly locked the Slime Lord’s attention, his threat level towering over the combined attacks of the rest of the team.

At 90% health, the Slime Lord suddenly pulsed, activating Devour.

Moonlight Beauty, who had been gleefully slashing at its rear, didn’t even have time to scream before she was swallowed whole. Her health bar plummeted as the team watched helplessly.

The moment her health hit 50%, the Slime Lord spat her out, slick with slime and looking both horrified and furious. Nearly 400 of her 750 health points were gone in an instant, and worse—the twentyfold health conversion had instantly restored the Slime Lord to full.

The group groaned in frustration, but there was no time to complain. Mist Rain swept across the arena like a shimmering haze, forcing everyone to scatter or suffer heavy damage.

"Damn it, you disgusting blob! Die already!" Moonlight Beauty exploded, wiping slime from her armor with a mix of rage and disgust. Being swallowed by a monster was not on her list of life experiences she ever wanted to repeat.?

Moonlight Beauty’s furious outburst seemed to light a fire under the group. Even Nightwalker, whose attacks had started to falter, gritted his teeth and kept swinging. The thought of being swallowed alive was enough to rattle anyone’s nerves.

"What are you afraid of? Hit harder!" Moonlight Beauty barked, noticing Nightwalker’s hesitation before Ryan could say anything himself.

Mist Rain began to drift ominously across the arena under the Slime Lord’s command. Though its speed wasn’t overwhelming, players still had to stay sharp to avoid being caught in its damaging haze.

Amid the chaos, just as they dodged Mist Rain’s path, a new problem struck—Cruel Seize. Their weapons dulled and their attack power plummeted by half. At that moment, the dreaded Devour triggered again.

Moonlight Beauty was swallowed a second time.

Fortunately, Riverbank Grass hadn’t yet healed her since the first Devour. Adding to that, she had taken two hits from Mist Rain, losing 240 health earlier. Now, her total health was barely above 130 points.

"Ah! I’m sorry! I haven’t healed Moonlight yet!" Riverbank Grass panicked, eyes wide with guilt. She’d been preparing to cast a big heal on Moonlight Beauty, but the Devour triggered too quickly. In her mind, Moonlight’s fate was sealed. The thought of losing a teammate—the first ever in Ryan’s squad—was enough to make her stomach drop.

"Don’t worry, I think it’s based on current health," Moonlight Beauty’s muffled voice came from within the Slime Lord. She could tell this Devour was less severe than before and quickly reassured Riverbank Grass.

Indeed, this time the Slime Lord only consumed a little over 60 health from her, restoring just about 1,200 health to itself—far less than before.

"The boss’s Devour is proportional—50% of the swallowed player’s current health, and it heals twenty times that amount," Archress Mageress said sharply, her mind working like clockwork. She had crunched the numbers instantly, earning Ryan’s silent respect. She wasn’t called "the Computer" for nothing.

"For that AoE Mist Rain, everyone should take a few ticks of damage on purpose, but keep your health just above 100—around 120 should be safe," Archress continued, immediately putting her theory into action. She dashed into the drifting mist, endured a few seconds of damage, and dropped her health to 179 points.

The others followed her lead, briefly stepping into the toxic rain to lower their own health as much as possible without putting themselves at risk.

Ryan nodded in approval. Archress’s reasoning was sound. Keeping health within that range would limit the Slime Lord’s healing potential from Devour while avoiding instant deaths from Mist Rain. Her instincts were sharp—she was easily one of the best players he had ever teamed with.

And then it happened.

The Slime Lord quivered violently, letting out a sickening, wet roar before its massive body collapsed with a thunderous splash. From the gelatinous mass burst four elite slimes, each faster and meaner than the original.

"Here we go," Ryan muttered, raising his shield as the four smaller horrors scattered across the arena, charging straight at the team.