Back on the second basement floor, I spotted them—the slimes.
Their crimson color stood out vividly in the dim corridor, caught in the beams of our flashlights.
"Tch. Looks like they broke through the door we shut earlier, too."
"Yeah... well, it bought us enough time to scout the area. Let's just push through."
I consulted with my colleague in hushed tones, making sure the slaves wouldn't overhear us. To them, I offered a different explanation.
"Those red slimes are pushovers. Just walk past them slowly and you'll be fine."
It was a total lie, of course. If they actually got jumped, I’d just play the part and act shocked, shouting something like, "That's impossible!"
The slaves took us at our word and began to file past the creatures slowly. To my surprise, it actually seemed like they were going to be okay.
"Hey. Should we take this one out?"
"No, I want to avoid wasting Equipment D. We're running low as it is."
Equipment D was our only insurance. If we ran out, we were dead meat.
"Good point. Say, why not test out that red rod you found? You mentioned the slimes were weak to it, right?"
"W-What if it attacks me!?"
"...Actually, I agree. We should test it now. Even if it fails, I can back you up with Equipment D."
"I-I-I guess so. You're right. Fine, but you'd better protect me, okay...?"
My colleague tentatively extended the red rod. The slime immediately began to squirm and crawl away, maintaining its distance as if loathing the very sight of the object.
"Look at that! These things really do hate this rod. Hah! Take that!"
"Hey now, don't get carried away."
My colleague started poking at the slime with the rod, sent it scurrying. Then, without warning, the slime quivered and lunged straight at him.
"Whoa!?"
"..."
Before it could reach him, however, a burst of chemicals from Equipment D struck the slime dead center. It was blown back, slamming into the wall and melting away with a sizzling hiss of smoke.
"Hah... hah... That scared the hell out of me. I thought I was a goner."
"That was a close one."
"...Tch. Help me sooner next time, would you?"
Even I thought my reaction time had been plenty fast enough. Still, we had confirmed one thing: the red rod was indeed a weakness for the slimes.
"I'd like to see what happens if the rod actually makes contact with one, but... let's save that as a last resort."
"If we just killed one, that means there are only two left, right!?"
"...Assuming they haven't multiplied."
"You think there's more of them!? But as long as we have this rod...!"
As we peered onto the first basement floor, a horrifying sight unfolded before us.
Red slimes were sprawling everywhere across the hallway. There weren't just three of them. There were dozens, at least.
How did they increase so much—wait.
"Could it be—no, there's no doubt! Did they devour the golems? Did they eat the power magic stones!?"
Now that I thought about it, the Golem Lab—the research department my colleague belonged to—was located on the first basement floor. Naturally, magic stones were used as the power source for the golems kept on standby there, but...
"N-N-No way! Not just the C-Rank Magic Stones from the main power units... but even the strictly guarded A-Rank Magic Stone...!?"
"What!? An A-Rank Magic Stone!? You mean the Golem Lab had something like that just sitting around!?"
"The Professor brought it in for research purposes! I had nothing to do with that decision!!"
An A-Rank Magic Stone was an energy crystal powerful enough to level this entire research institute if it ever went haywire. If the slimes had consumed and absorbed that... then yes, they would multiply. They would multiply like crazy.
"W-What do we do?"
"...If you wave that red rod around, maybe they won't come near us?"
"No way! That would mean I have to stand at the front!"
"Shall we swap protective suits?"
"O-Oh. Yeah. That's an option... Alright, someone help me out of this. The rod won't leave my hand."
He tried to peel off the protective suit with the help of the disposal squad, but then he winced.
"Ow, ow, ow! W-Wait a second! For some reason, my hand won't come off!"
"Hey, quit gripping the rod so hard."
"I'm not! I'm not gripping it at all! My hand—my hand is stuck to it!"
"..."
"What? ...Hmm. There's a hole in the glove of your protective suit. It’s fused to your skin. We'll have to use a blade to cut it loose..."
"Wait! My hand—what's going to happen to my hand!? You can fix it, right!?"
My colleague was making a scene, but honestly, he was the one who picked the damn thing up. He got what was coming to him.
"Calm down. Fortunately, it's only skin-deep. It's nothing recovery magic can't handle. Once we reach the Church, we'll get you sorted. But I have no idea what'll happen if we don't separate it soon."
"Uugh... No, I don't want to cut it... Huh?"
My colleague looked around, his eyes darting back and forth.
"H-Hey. Is it just me, or is our group looking a bit thin?"
"Eh?"
Now that he mentioned it, I did a quick count. For some reason, there were only four slaves left. And of the disposal squad, only the captain and one other remained.
"Wait, hold on. Where did everyone go?"
"..."
"Ah!!"
I saw it. Right then, a red tentacle lashed out with blurring speed, snatching up a slave and hauling them away. The victim was dragged off before they could even let out a scream.
W-What the hell was that?
"H-Hey! Dammit, there are only three meat shields left!?"
"A-A-Ah...! Hey! You said the slimes were weak! You said we'd be fine!"
"Tch... Shut up! We're getting out of here. Run! Run if you don't want to die!!"
There was no other choice now. We had to use the remaining meat shields to lead the charge and break through.
"W-Wait a minute! What about my hand!?"
"If we waste time performing surgery here and get caught, we're all dead! Just keep it until we're safe!!"
"Ueehhh... Please, just take it off...!"
At that moment, another red tentacle snaked toward us. Its target was my colleague, who was still fumbling with his half-removed protective suit.
However, the instant the red tentacle made contact with the rod—
"Eh."
"Ah!"
Crack! The tentacle exploded. The severed stump writhed on the floor, melting away with a screeching hiss.
"! I-I knew it! This red rod really is their weakness! H-Hahaha! Alright, let's move!"
My colleague tightened his grip on the red rod he’d been begging to be rid of just seconds before.
With two disposal squad members flanking him and the slave meat shields in the lead, our formation began to advance.
Wait, hold on a second! Why am I the only one here without a weapon?!