[BONUS]
Realizing the possible consequences of what he did, Dimitri retreated and kept a distance from Ren's group. He was alone, so pushing someone to their death wasn't a good choice in the first place. But it was a moment where his instinct kicked in, so he couldn't fault himself for acting on his reflex.
But the same couldn't be said about Ren when he kept on giving Dimitri the evil stare. This got Dimitri thinking if Evie was Ren's girlfriend or something. Could she be the same Evie, his seatmate in school?
Imagining that stone-faced beauty sitting alone in a room while the background dimmed in contrast with her radiance, Dimitri crossed her from the list almost immediately. There was no way that the beauty he knew was the same girl he pushed aside and was walking with Ren side by side.
That would be a tragic way to end their relationship that hadn't even begun. He had plans to court her, so he really hoped that she wasn't the same woman he pushed into a sinkhole.
After the sinkholes came another trap in the form of slimes that slid like waves at them. Jibblinplip was determined to keep everyone away from its gooey interiors by pushing the players back with its slimes.
"Get behind me!" Sebastian shouted. Since Ren and the others were closer to the centaur, they were the first to be enveloped in a barrier of thick, tangled vines that burst from everywhere.
Sebastian got almost all the players inside the safety of his plants. The armies had their mages created a special pod made of invincible shields around them. On the contrary, the Princess didn't even have to try. She simply put her shield in front of her, and the slime-like thick pool of liquid evaded her like the plaque.
The group pressed on, and Jibblinplip was getting desperate. It raised several pseudopods and began firing blasts of Ooze at the party as they approached the entrance.
The players didn't have to do anything but avoid those flying balls of oozes because the armies on the frontlines cut and slashed the slime while they moved forward.
"Stay behind, Sebastian," Ren instructed the others.
Players who didn't know what to do were either blasted away by the oozes or died from acid damage. Sadly, this fate befell one of Golden Phoenix's members, as well as Tor, who had a bulky body that was the perfect target for slimes.
Those who saw Ren and the others seeking shelter behind Sebastian did the same, and formed a long line behind the centaur.
However, that didn't work either since the slimes were shooting from all directions. The only safe spot was the space close to Sebastian. His axe wiped the slimes that came zooming close, but it was only within a radius of ten meters. That area was already taken by players close to Ren.
Pushing into that tight space was useless either because the players protected their spot with their life. If they didn't get killed with the flying Ooze, then they would surely get killed by the players' attacks.
Some attempted to cut the Ooze as the armies did, but the gap of their ATP with the slimes was so huge that they didn't stand a chance. They were all instantly engulfed upon contact and died with continuous acid damage.
Eventually, they spotted the entrance. A whirlpool that led into the air-filled spaces within Jibblinplip's internal organs.
The firing of slimes stopped as well, so they were given some time to rest and catch their breath.
"Once we jump into that whirlpool, we will enter whatever room Jibblinplip added most recently, and the closest to the exterior," Sebastian said. "Take your rest because we will soon face Jibblinplip itself."
Taking a short break inside Jibblinplip was relatively easy, although unsettling. The floor they once walked in was gone, replaced by beating flesh of thick jelly, altering its size and shape in subtle ways.
"Are we going to get separated once we go down there?" asked Evie.
"That's a good question," answered Ren. He was about to clarify, but Sebastian beat him to it before he could explain further.
"Aside from the Heart Chamber where Jibblinplip's core is located, there are other rooms that house its other organs."
"I find it amusing that it has internal organs," said Ragnar. "I thought it was just made up of Jelly."
Sebastian ignored him like he usually did to others. He was only nice to Evie and paid extra attention only to her.
"Remember that we're now in Jibblinplip's domain," Sebastian said. "We might get separated from others, and Jibblinplip can control each room to give its minions' advantage. Be alert at all times."
While Ren and the others were trying to navigate Jibblinplip's interior below, back in the surface, the Kraken was ripping the Ooze's tendrils apart in one hell of a finale.
However, if the players thought that it was a good thing that Jibblinplip's Tendrils were ripped into shreds, they were mistaken. Those torn-off chunks were transforming into Ooze Colossus.
They might not be as powerful as the original Ooze Colossus with the [Monarch Sovereignty] in its belly, but it was still a Colossus, and their numbers were growing. Some were already going to shores, attracted by their instinct to destroy villages and towns.
The remaining Generals on land instructed their remaining armies to leave the minions and went for the numerous Colossus, leaving the players to fend for themselves against the minions.
"At this rate, the Kraken isn't helping us! It's hastening our doom!"
"This shit ain't worth it anymore!"
"We can't log out! We're already engaged with the World Boss!"
"But what can we do? We don't have that damn amulet!"
Only a few players were able to enter Jibblinplip's core — approximately fifty players. It was designed that way since they didn't have to do anything but stay alive while leaving everything to the armies, the Princess and Sebastian. Fifty was already too many.
If everyone could have a share of the World Boss' loot, then it wouldn't be a World Boss.
Atop the quarreling, cries, shrieks, and echoing noises, Beatrix's screams were the loudest. Because of her anger that got in the way, Ferocious Ravens' chance of killing Jibblinplip turned to zero.
Because she refused to buy anything from any man with the name Ren, her future as the guild leader of Ferocious Ravens was in jeopardy.
The same thing was true for Scar and Black Lion.
( . . . continuation are in NOTES)
