As Azazel manifested my whip and rapidly swung it across while extending it endlessly, loud explosions burst out as the whip sliced through the now-thicker layer of sludge on the walls and floors, chunks of sludge flying out before he quickly flew up as the sludge on the ground below me rapidly extended up towards my body in the form of several spikes.

Izzy swiftly blasted out a wave of blue flames at the spikes, melting them back down as Lumena focused clouds of smoke onto the walls and then fired out sparks of flame at the smoke, triggering powerful explosions along the walls as Izzy sharply sucked in and swallowed up her flames before they could spread out too much.

We’re all unleashing some pretty intense attacks, but it’s no use...any gaps we created in the thick layer of sludge coating the space around us close back up almost instantly after being damaged. And while Izzy’s blue flames are strong enough to make the sludge lose shape whenever it starts to take form, her flames aren’t able to fully evaporate or vaporize the sludge.

Which effectively means that the sludge is not too far off from being as durable as a Soul Weapon...we can slice through and splatter the sludge, but normal attacks aren’t enough to wipe out-...

’Hey, could you stop it with the running commentary? It’s very distracting!’ Snapped Azazel telepathically, as he narrowly evaded a barrage of sharp slime projectiles shooting towards us.

Sorry, but I can’t exactly stop myself from thinking entirely...and besides, I’m analyzing the situation. And following my analysis at its current progression...try using a few Black Hole Spells to get rid of some of the sludge, we’re just gonna have to bank on the assumption that he can’t produce an infinite amount of the stuff and chip away at it until he runs low!

’That’s...not a bad suggestion, actually.’ 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Azazel then activated several small Black Hole Spells all along the walls and ceiling within the range of my Distance Casting, intense gravitational pulls bursting out by each of them as they swallowed up large chunks of the sludge.

Lumena was quick to catch on, and followed our lead, manifesting multiple small black holes of her own, as Izzy flew across to the middle of the space and unleashed a barrage of rapid Negative Energy projectiles down at the ground.

Suddenly, as several masses of sludge began to rise up and take shape in the form of snaking tendrils, Lumena leapt away as several of them shot towards her, puffs of smoke bursting out as a couple burst through her body, tearing through her clothes before her body turned to smoke and floated away from the tendrils, her Black Holes Spells dissipating as she shifted her focus to evasion.

That’s not good, while she’s immune from physical damage while her Soul Weapon Ascension is active, she did say that she can’t maintain it for very long, probably because she sealed her memory of it and therefore ended up neglecting training with it. Well, not that I can criticize her for that, since she was enslaved during that time.

Anyway, to get to my point...the fact that she’s trying so hard to evade these attacks, likely means that she’s starting to approach the time limit of her Soul Weapon Ascension form, it could wear off any second now, leaving her vulnerable to Plasmuk’s attacks.

Azazel then quickly zipped away as some of the tendrils chased after us rapidly, while bursts of Negative Energy and blue flames exploded out from the middle of the space as Izzy got surrounded by the rest of the tendrils.

As Azazel flew across the air to evade the tendrils, he then abruptly and rapidly swooped down towards the ground as my fists began glowing, charging up his Exploding Fists technique.

He unleashed powerful strikes with my fists as he closed in on the ground, smashing through the now-thinner layer of sludge and breaking the ground apart, before quickly flying back up as spikes of sludge burst out towards us.

He flew away as a barrage of sludge needles came raining down towards us from the ceiling, a few piercing into my thighs and legs as he failed to evade them all, grimacing in pain...damn it, this is going nowhere!

It’s like we’re fighting against the terrain itself! What do we do? Our time limit until Azazel in no longer able to stay in control of my body, and therefore unleash the full extent of our power, is half over already.

Lumena’s time limit with her Soul Weapon Ascension is clearly ticking down too, and Izzy’s unable to attack at full blast because she’s having to keep some of her focus on dodging the attacks coming her way.

Suddenly, a cry of pain rang out, Azazel turning my gaze in the direction it came from, to see Lumena restrained by the sludge, which was wrapped around her limbs and torso, with a hollow sphere of sludge surrounding her.

"Well, that’s one down. Don’t bother trying to free her...that sphere she’s enclosed in will melt any physical matter it comes into contact with instantly! And if you try to attack the sphere, I’ll just kill her. She’s only still alive because it’s more beneficial for me to consume creatures while they’re alive, since they lose a lot of Mana and life force after dying, it’s such a waste, they’re more flavorful when their life force is still intact. Now, then, try not to disappoint me any further...because I think it’s time for me to get serious..."

No kidding...he can turn his slime acidic, but he hasn’t done so until now. He’s still holding back, not taking us seriously. Damn it, at this rate, it’s only a matter of time before we’re defeated and killed...

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Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this Chapter! Don’t forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!

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