We trekked through the forest. We went at a decent pace, keeping fairly quiet but not going too slow. As we moved onwards I felt my heart race. I really hope that nothing has happened to the other students.

"This is strange..." Sheriff Wyn muttered. "Where are all of the slimes?"

"Not here." John replied. "Is it that strange?"

"The reason no one has ever conquered Oasis before is due to the slimes." Sheriff Wyn explained. "While not dangerous by themselves, this forest has hundreds, maybe thousands."

"Ah." John replied. "Yeah, if there are that many we should have come across some."

"I've never fought a slime before." Sapphire stated. "What do I need to know?"

"Physical attacks are useless." Sheriff Wyn informed. "You need ta use magic in order to damage them. They'll regenerate from physical attacks."

"Got it." Sapphire nodded.

We continued trekking through the forest. We weren't completely sure where we were going. We were just trying to find something.

Slimes, Devil Riders, students, anything.

And then we started to hear something in the distance. Sheriff Wyn turned towards us, putting a finger to her lips.

We continued forwards, slowing down to a very slow and quiet pace. Eventually we found ourselves on the outskirts of a clearing in the forest. We hid behind the trees, gazing at what was going on.

"Where is that damn scout group? What is Harold doing?" Growled a man. He had a spiked jacket with a skull painted on his face. He looked quite strong with his muscles.

"That's Skullface..." Sheriff Wyn whispered. "The leader of the Devil Riders..."

Skullface? Then what is he when he takes the paint off?

"Humanface." Sally suggested.

Well that name just sucks.

"Boss, do you think something happened?" A Devil Rider asked.

"What could possibly happen?" Skullface questioned. "It's a town full of nobodies. They can't do anything against us. We've literally taken over the single forest in Hell. This gives us so much power."

"Alright boss." The Devil Rider nodded. "The slimes have been getting a little rowdy."

"Well, they can't do anything." Skullface scoffed. He patted a clear box which was tied to his side. In it was a slime. However, instead of the stereotypical green or blue, it was yellow with a small crown perched on its head. It was about the size of a head.

"Not while I have their king." He stated. "They wouldn't dare to go against me while I have their king at my mercy."

"What is that...?" Anna whispered.

"A King Slime." Sheriff Wyn stated. "But usually they're larger."

"What does he mean?" Dawn questioned. "He's acting like the slimes are intelligent."

"Maybe they are." Sheriff Wyn theorized. "Which is why no one has conquered this place before. They aren't ordinary slimes, they understand what's goin' on."

"That's...strange." Anna stated.

"What about our hostages?" Skullface asked.

"Safely secured inside the buses." The Devil Rider informed. "They haven't tried anything on our guards yet."

"Good." Skullface replied. "Once we figure out who they belong to we can ransom them. Found anything yet?"

"No." The Devil Rider shook his head. "Everything went offline about when we ambushed them. We've been struggling to get everything back up with how remote we are."

That must have been due to Duncan. It seems whatever he did to cut us off didn't just affect us. Well, this actually helps in this case.

"How are the camps?" Skullface asked.

"Good. No problems so far. Well, except for the scouts being late with supplies." The Devil Rider replied.

"We can wait." Skullface stated. "It's annoying, but we have enough supplies for a couple days. Whatever complications they have should be ended by today."

"And what if they aren't?" The Devil Rider asked.

"We'll give them another hour. If they don't get back here, I'm sending some people after them." Skullface. "I doubt they'd run on us, which means that the townspeople fought back and won."

This isn't good. The others are coming here, which means the townspeople will be completely vulnerable. If they send more people over there, the townspeople would be overpowered.

And possibly hurt. Or even killed.

"What's their goal?" Anna muttered.

"Power." Dawn stated.

"Right." Sheriff Wyn nodded. "It seems they're trying to become strong, starting by taking over our town and Oasis. Oasis is a pretty big deal, so honestly it's not a bad idea."

"But it paints a huge target on their back." I guessed.

"Yep." Sheriff Wyn replied. "I mean, we are here."

Suddenly a screen popped up to my right. I looked over, readings it's contents.

[Mission] - Save The King Slime.

[Reward] - 80 AP

[Punishment] - Fight off a pack of wolves

[Time] - 1 Hour

[Bonus] - Earn the King Slime's trust

[Bonus Reward] - 20 AP

[Y/N]

I mean, I was going to fight Skullface anyway, so this is nice I guess. Sally, please accept the mission.

"On it Host." Sally nodded.

Also, what is with that punishment? Fight a pack of wolves? What is the system going to do, summon a pack of wolves?

"That would be my best guess." Sally stated.

This system really is crazy...how even is any of this possible?

"No point questioning it. You'll just give yourself a headache." Sally stated.

The Devil Rider which was talking to Skullface walked away, heading back to the camps. I looked at the others, formulating a plan.

"Hey. We need to do something." I whispered. "Sheriff, you, Dawn and Krystal should attack the camps. Krystal's illusions can cause confusion while you two knock them out."

"Sapphire, Anna and John, you two can go take out the Devil Riders guarding the students. There shouldn't be as many as at the camps, so I think you two will be fine." I continued.

"What about ya?" Sheriff Wyn asked.

"I'll fight Skullface and keep him busy." I stated.

"Are you sure?" Sheriff Wyn asked. "That seems mighty dangerous."

"All I need to do is at least stall him." I stated. "If I can beat him, that's great. But I just need to stall him until any of you are finished or until Madam Webb and the others arrive."

"Alright." Sheriff Wyn sighed.

"A mission?" Anna quietly asked. She must have seen the screen. A glance from Dawn let me know that she saw as well.

"Yeah." I whispered back.

"Alright." Anna nodded. "Be safe."

"I will." I nodded.

Dawn mouthed a "be safe" as well before they sneakily moved through the forest, heading the direction to which the Devil Rider left. I was about to reveal myself when Skullface started to talk again, making me suddenly stop.

"Alright." He sighed. "Come on you damn slime, let me make a contract with you."

He pulled out a paper contract, waving it in front of the slime. "You better agree to this, because I've already decreased you down to this state."

"I can, and will kill you if you don't make this pact with me." He stated. "And then your little slime clan won't have a leader. So, what is it?"

The King Slime seemed to shake its head. Or well, a slime's equivalent of shaking its head. Skullface scowled, removing the box from his waist and throwing it onto the ground.

The slime bounced around in the box, seemingly becoming dizzy. Skullface pocketed the contract, pulling us his hand and letting lightning spark in it.

"Well, too bad for you. Should have just accepted." Skullface sighed. "I just hope the next slime that becomes the King is more reasonable than you."

I can't let that slime die. One, it goes against my morals. Two, I don't want to fight a pack of wolves.

"Hey." I said, stepping out of the forest and into the clearing.

"Huh?" He narrowed his eyes, looking over to me. "What? How long were you standing there in the trees?"

"A while." I stated.

"Huh." He muttered. "I need to get better at detecting people. So, what are you doing here?"

"Well, you kind of kidnapped my classmates." I replied, crossing my arms. "And I'd rather you didn't kill that slime."

Skullface sighed. "Run along kid. Don't feel like killing a kid today."

"I don't think Harold feels the same." I replied.

"...what?" Skullface asked, his gaze piercing me. "What did you do?"

"I stole his bike." I stated.

"Oh." Skullface replied. "He probably deserved it. Well, you hurt one of my men, so I'm going to have to hurt you now. Sorry."

"I wouldn't be sorry." I shrugged. "Cause I'm not going to be the one hurt."

I felt as my Angel wing retracted from my back and my halo appeared on my head with a golden glow. He gazed at it strangely, his eyes widening.

"An Angel?" He gasped.

I rushed towards him, sending a punch for his face. He dodged of the way, his hands sparking with lightning. He sent a punch towards me, which I quickly dodged with the help of [Danger Sense].

He sent a kick towards my head. I ducked under, summoning my chain. I threw it around his leg, using it to yank him off his feet.

He tumbled to the ground, blasting some lightning at me. I rolled out of the way, before running towards his downed body.

He planted his hands on the ground, pushing himself up and jumping onto his feet. I dodged his punch, hitting him in the face with my demon arm.

He stumbled back, annoyed as he rubbed his nose. He pulled out two daggers from his belt, holding one in each hand. The sparked with electricity, ready to fight.

Oh, that's not good. It'll be harder to get close to him if he's using knives. Wait a minute...

In my hand I summoned my [Iron Sword]. I've only used this guy a couple of times, but he has come in handy.

Maybe I should try to start leveling this sword up. I said I'd never underestimate common skills again due to how useful [Danger Sense] is, but I've been underestimating my common items.

What if [Iron Sword] can evolve like how [Freerunner] evolved into [Danger Sense]. That'd be awesome!

Not sure how an item evolves though...

"Interesting..." Skullface mused, getting into a fighting stance. "Alright then. Come at me."