The sound of explosions reverberated in the surroundings as a battle between Calamity-Ranked Monsters raged across the territories that were under the protection of the Stronghold of Norria.
Lilian, who had come to protect Leaf Town, had joined the fray and made sure to push her opponents as far away from the town as possible.
However, due to the sheer number of enemies, some were able to get past her defenses and attacked the Beginner Town that held a special place in Lux's heart.
Two Empyrean-Ranked Monsters and a dozen Dreadnaughts sneakily slipped past Lilian, taking a detour while she was busy dealing with three Calamity-Ranked Monsters at the same time.
There were hundreds of Deimos-Ranked Monsters that had done the same, spreading to the nearby villages.
The two Empyrean Ranked Monsters, alongside their cronies, headed to Leaf Town.
Four Dreadnaughts and over sixty Deimos-Ranked Monsters accompanied their leaders.
There were also countless Low-Ranked Abyssal Monsters who followed them as well.
This force was enough to easily destroy a city in the Kingdom of Gweliven that wasn't protected by a Saint.
The only saving grace was that Leaf Town was protected by a barrier. But even with this extra layer of defense, the Town would still be hard-pressed to protect itself.
The Calamity-Ranked Monsters that Lux had stationed there were also fighting with other Calamity-Ranked Monsters.
Similar to Lilian, they had brought their opponents away from the Town to ensure that it wouldn't be affected by a battle that could easily change the topography of the land.
"Hah! Fresh meat!" One of the Empyrean Ranked Monsters, which was a Red Ogre with tusks on its lower jaw, laughed. "Destroy the barrier!"
Its subordinates bombarded the barrier with their attacks, making the residents of Leaf Town cower inside their homes.
Grandma Annie was tightly hugging Laura and Livia, who were shaking in fear of the explosions that were happening around them.
Their two Baby Slimes, Cora and Nora, were already teary-eyed, yet despite being scared as well, the two girls were doing their best to calm their slimes down.
'At this rate, the barrier will not hold,' Grandma Annie thought. 'The moment it breaks, all of us will be doomed.'
She wasn't the only one who was having this thought.
Cedwyn, Randolph, and the Elders of Leaf Town were thinking of the same thing.
However, there was nothing they could do about it.
They were simply too weak to face off against the monsters that were dead set on breaking the barrier that served as their last line of defense.
Heidi and her mother, Lilia, were looking at the barrier through their window.
Small cracks were starting to appear on its surface, the sight of which made them very worried.
Bedivere was currently not in Leaf Town and was fighting alongside Lilian and the rest of the Calamity-Ranked Monsters around their territory.
If they were not able to defeat their foes on time and reinforce Leaf Town, the place that they were doing their best to protect would cease to exist.
Cedie, who was Heidi's Slime, looked at his Master with a determined look on his face.
A moment later, he jumped out of the window and headed towards the plaza in haste.
The baby slime crawled up on top of the Guardian Statue and sat on Lux's shoulders.
He then shouted, calling out to the other Baby Slimes in Leaf Village with everything he had.
"Eyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"
Cora and Nora, who were being hugged by Laura and Livia, immediately heard Cedie's voice.
He was their playmate, so they instantly recognized his voice.
A moment later, the two Slimes looked at each other and broke free from their Master's embrace.
The two hurriedly left the house and headed towards the plaza, where the Guardian Statue was located.
"Cora, Nora, where are you going?!" Laura and Livia cried out in alarm as they both ran after the two Baby Slimes who left the house in a hurry.
Grandma Annie followed behind the two girls. She knew that it didn't matter whether they were inside or outside of the house. The moment the barrier broke, there would be no safe place to hide, and their fate would be sealed.
The moment the three of them left the house, they saw countless Baby Slimes of different colors headed toward the plaza in haste.
Their owners, who were worried about them, had also left their houses and were just as surprised when they saw that there were hundreds of Baby Slimes jumping down the streets with resolute expressions on their faces.
As the cracks on the barrier slowly spread, all the Baby Slimes of Leaf Village looked at Cedie, who was seated on the shoulder of the statue of the town's hero, Lux.
"Eyaaaaah!" Cedie shouted. "Eyah! Eyah! Eyah!"
All the Baby Slimes looked at each other. Fear could be seen in their eyes, and some were even crying on the spot due to how scared they were.
Slimes were the weakest Monsters in the world, and even if they were well taken care of in Leaf Village, that didn't change the fact that they were still young. The oppression from the more powerful Monsters who were attacking the village naturally made them feel very fearful.
Cedie understood what they were feeling because he was feeling the same. His eyes were also moist, but he was doing his best to encourage everyone to do the only thing they could do for the place that they now called home.
"Eyaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Cedie shouted before summoning a Blast Bomb.
He then threw the Blast Bomb toward one of the low-ranked Monsters that were attacking the barrier above his head.
The Blast Bomb went through the barrier and hit the Rank-5 Monster in the face.
The Rank 5 Monster roared in anger and glared at the Baby Slime that had attacked it.
Cedie roared back and threw another Blast Bomb, hitting the monster again in the face, making the latter cry out in pain.
Seeing this scene, all the baby slimes started to summon their own Blast Bombs as well.
They then began throwing the bombs towards the monsters, with some of them not even aiming at anything.
Some of the baby slimes were crying tears as they threw their Blast Bombs, while some were like Cedie, fighting their fear as they fought with everything they had.
Soon, thousands of Blast Bombs were exploding left and right, making the Lower-Ranked Abyssal Monsters back away due to the accumulating damage that they were receiving from the Baby Slimes who decided to fight back.
Seeing this scene, the people of Leaf Village felt ashamed of themselves.
Some of them treated the Baby Slimes as pets, others treated them as friends, while others treated them as family members.
But no matter what relationship they shared with them, all of them felt bitter because the weakest members of their community were actually the ones who were fighting on their behalf.
"Fire Ball!" Grandma Annie shouted as she hurled a fireball toward one of the Low-Ranked Monsters, obliterating it completely.
Soon, more people joined, until almost everyone who could fight in Leaf Town joined the bombardment.
Since their Baby Slimes were fighting with everything they had, they would fight alongside them as well!
Suddenly, Eiko's statue, which was perched on top of her Papa's head, glowed brightly.
The Blast Bombs that the Baby Slimes were throwing left and right stopped mid-air and fused together.
At first, the Baby Slimes were confused about why this was happening. However, something was telling them to continue throwing bombs in the air.
After a brief pause, they resumed throwing their Blast Bombs, which all merged with the other Blast Bombs that were floating mid-air.
Half a minute later, a Blast Bomb that was as big as a basketball ball glowed in a dangerous light.
This was the compressed Blast Bombs of all the Baby Slimes in Leaf Town, and it flew towards the two Empyrean-Ranked Monsters at the back of the Abyssal Formation.
Looking at the Blast Bomb in disdain, the Red Ogre used his wooden club to strike it.
It would soon realize that it had made the biggest mistake in its life.
The moment his wooden club hit the concentrated Blast Bomb, a nuclear-level explosion erupted, obliterating all the Abyssal Monsters within a mile-long radius.
A beam of light shot out from the Guardian Statue, reinforcing the barrier that was protecting Leaf Town.
Even though everyone outside was burned to a crisp, the barrier held firm, protecting Leaf Town from the raging inferno and shockwave that had spread across the land.
This made some of the Defenders, as well as the Abyssal Monsters they were fighting, look in the direction of Leaf Town with surprised looks on their faces.
