DCD - B3 - Chapter 43 - Poison Slime

Enya sat huddled in the far corner of the room, knees drawn up, her voice low as she spoke with three of the other children—Talon, Ren, and Mirra. They had considered including Billy, but Talon shut that down immediately.

“He’s too immature,” Talon whispered. “One loud tantrum and we’re all dead.”

No one argued.

Talon was the oldest and the most calm and collected of the bunch. He was actively trying to come up with plans to escape. Ren was the merchant’s son, and although jittery, he genuinely wanted to help. Mirra was there as well, mainly to listen and offer ideas. The other children either didn’t seem useful enough or had issues of their own that made involving them too risky.

Enya lifted her wrists slightly, showing the underside of the metal cuffs for them to see.

Thanks to Elria’s help—Enya’s cuffs were no longer fully sealed. A single, razor-thin seam cut straight through the metal beneath her left wrist. It still looked intact on the outside, but the cuff’s effects on her system were completely nullified.

Mirra gasped quietly. “That ghost-fly of yours… she actually broke them?”

“Can she do ours?” Ren whispered.

Enya shook her head. “She’s too weak to use any of her powers again for a long time. And she’s not here right now. She’s outside keeping track of all the guys in black.”

Talon leaned closer, studying the small seam. “This is still huge. Even if only you can use your skills, it should help. What class are you?”

“I’m a necromancer,” Enya replied proudly.

“Necromancer?” Mirra echoed.

“T-they’re mages who r-resurrect the dead,” Ren said.

Talon’s expression didn’t change at all when Enya mentioned her class. “That means you can fight or have some unique skills, right?”

“Yeah. But those guys are too strong. Me and Elria were thinking… maybe we could poison them. So we don’t have to fight them directly.”

“What kind of poison?” Talon asked.

Enya frowned. “I’m not sure yet. I can summon soul-slimes, which I think are poisonous, but I don’t think it’ll be enough.”

Mirra perked up slightly. “Oh—I’ve seen soul-slimes before. My brother hunts a lot of different kinds of slimes. The purple ones, right? Their touch stings, but that’s about it. I don’t know about eating them, since they’re kind of… slimy, but I don’t think it could kill someone.”

Ren bit his lip, thinking. “If you need poison… we could make some. There are basic herbs in any forest—nightleaf, axelbuds, even wilthorn sap is dangerous if mixed right. But…”

He looked around the sealed stone room.

“We’d need to get outside. And even if your fly friend can sneak out, she can’t carry herbs down here. Someone would definitely notice plants floating down the stairs.”

Enya shook her head. “Elria won’t be sending the herbs down here or bringing the poison outside.”

Ren looked at her, confused. “Then… how are we going to poison them?”

“I’ll get the herbs myself,” Enya said calmly. “And I’ll poison them.”

⬥⬥⬥

“Is it purple with four leaves?” Enya whispered.

“No, that’s a snaretip blossom,” Ren answered softly. “That’s for the common cold. But if you can find a two-leaf one, that could be used for some poison.”

“Okay. I’ll keep looking.”

Talon glanced nervously at her cupped hands. “Are you sure they can’t see her eyes?”

“I think so,” Mirra said.

Ren and the others exchanged uneasy looks. None of them could see what Enya was seeing. Her head was lowered, hands shielding her face. She kept her posture small, quiet, trying not to draw attention. Talon and Mirra stayed close, blocking her from the rest of the room as best they could.

This was because they didn’t want anyone seeing her eyes. Her glow, yellow eyes.

Ever since the tournament in Talo, against Elias and Rose—the elementalist and plant mage—Enya had upgraded that skill. If she slipped into total concentration, she could peel her senses apart and send them somewhere else entirely. With a familiar target, she could project her sight outward, gaining true-vision of a person or place as if viewing it from above.

It worked almost like her Visions Past skill.

And right now, she wasn’t following Elria.

She was following herself.

The white, misty apparition of Enya drifted quietly between the trees outside the village. The form was faint and ethereal, but visible to her true-sight: a pale clone gliding across the forest floor. Every few steps, it paused to crouch beside a cluster of plants, ghostly fingers passing through stems and leaves—just enough substance to nudge the lightweight ones.

While the apparition couldn’t open doors or lift anything heavy, it could collect near-weightless herbs.

That was all she needed.

The spell was still recorded within The Grim Pullet. Although she hadn’t learned the spell yet since it was difficult, she could at least cast it from within the book’s pages.

“Yes,” Enya murmured. “She’s moving closer to the north side of the forest. Lots of plants there.”

“What is she looking at now?” Ren asked.

Enya paused, feeling her senses stretch outward again.

“A bush with small green bulbs. The have five petals. Red center.”

Ren thought for a moment. “Leave those. They’re safe—used in stews.”

“Okay… next one.”

Her apparition drifted farther, leaves brushing through its misty outline.

Talon leaned in. “Do you feel tired doing that? Because it looks like your whole mind is somewhere else.”

“It is,” Enya whispered. “But I can do it.”

She shifted her focus again.

“There’s a pale flower now. White stem. Three petals. And tiny thorns.”

Ren inhaled sharply. “That one. That’s nightleaf. It’s weak on its own, but if you mix it with anything acidic, it becomes toxic.”

“Okay. I’ll take a few.”

The apparition bent down and picked up three small leaves.

“We’ll need more,” Ren said. “If we want to poison all of the Veiled Ones, we’ll need a lot more.”

“Okay. I’ll find some more,” Enya said.

“So… how are we going to get the herbs down here? The problem is that even if you have a summon gathering herbs for you, there’s no way it can come down here. Unless you can drag the plants through walls,” Mirra whispered.

“I don’t think I can do that,” Enya said. “I’ll just have to craft it outside and have her poison the food from there. I won’t do it in here.”

Talon nodded. “Good idea. Less risk.”

Enya felt a small puff of pride rise in her chest. It almost felt like she was finally the main character in a story.

Time slipped by—about an hour—while Enya continued searching with the apparition. Ren guided her from beside her, naming herbs and explaining which ones were potent, which were useless, and which could be dangerous if combined incorrectly. Apparently his merchant family dealt with potion ingredients and alchemy supplies. His knowledge ran deeper than most adults she’d met.

Eventually, footsteps echoed from the stairwell.

Talon looked sharply toward the door, then grabbed Enya’s shoulder. “Hey! The Veiled Ones are coming back. Come back!” he whispered urgently.

The shaking tugged her out of her trance. When her concentration snapped, the backlash hit—like tumbling down a short flight of stairs.

“Ngh…” she groaned, rubbing her forehead.

“S-sorry!” Talon whispered.

“I-it’s okay…” she mumbled.

The door creaked open. Two Veiled Ones stepped inside.

“Alright. Bathroom time,” one said. “Don’t want you brats stinking up the place.” He pointed toward the first group of five. “You five. Move. If you don’t need to go, force yourself. You don’t get another chance for hours.”

They rotated groups in batches of five. It went quickly—children shuffled out, escorted down the dim hall, and returned silently. When it finally came to Enya’s group, she, Talon, Ren, and Mirra rose and followed the masked figures.

Enya kept her expression still, but she used the walk to observe everything she could.

The interior of the building was… plain. Stone walls. Wooden beams. Narrow halls. No decorations. No windows. Nothing she could use. But when they passed one open doorway, she spotted a room with metal counters, stacks of pots, and crates of ingredients.

The kitchen.

Her heart thumped.

Perfect.

Each child was given a maximum of two minutes in each bathroom partition. Once everyone finished, the Veiled Ones guided them back to the chamber.

“Dinner in three hours,” one announced. “Will be all of your last meal for today.” He jerked his head toward the hall. “Behave. All of you.”

The door slammed shut behind them.

Immediately, Enya, Talon, Ren, and Mirra slipped back to their corner.

Enya covered her eyes again. The yellow glow flickered faintly beneath her palms as she dropped back into Absolute Focus, reconnecting with her wandering apparition in the forest.

She didn’t notice Billy approaching until he was right beside them.

“What are you four doing?” he demanded.

Talon straightened. “Go away, Billy.”

Ren held out his arms in a weak attempt to block him. Mirra shifted to obscure Enya entirely.

Billy scowled. “Why are you all hiding in a corner? Are you planning something? You better not be—my father will—”

“We’re not planning anything,” Talon hissed. “Just go back.”

Billy pushed past him.

“Hey!” Ren protested as Billy shoved them aside with more strength than expected.

He reached Enya and grabbed her wrists before she could react.

“Wha—what are you—?” she gasped.

Billy yanked her hands down, revealing the faint yellow glow in her eyes.

His face froze.

“Wha—?”

The backlash struck Enya instantly. Her connection to the apparition snapped. Her head pounded. Her stomach lurched.

Pain shot behind her eyes—sharp, stabbing.

“Ah—!”

Billy stepped back, confused and startled.

Enya scowled.

Then she slapped him.

Hard.

The sound cracked through the chamber like a whip. Every child in the room jerked their head toward them.

Billy froze in shock, clutching his cheek.

“Big… dummy!” Enya shouted, face red with frustration and pain.

Billy just stared at her, stunned and speechless, hand covering his cheek.

⬥⬥⬥

Enya’s Inner Darkness Apparition drifted through the undergrowth, searching for a clear patch to work in. In her arms was a bundled mix of herbs, roots, and flowers. Beside her oozed the soul-slime—once dormant inside the dungeon core—now a small, purplish blob wobbling after her. Wherever it slid, it left faintly sizzling prints on the grass and dirt.

She still wasn’t entirely sure how she’d managed to summon it this far away. Maybe Absolute Focus was stretching her senses outward, expanding her reach. Or maybe the apparition counted as an extension of herself, allowing summons to anchor wherever it manifested. Whichever the answer, she didn’t question it too hard. There were more important things to focus on.

Ren’s voice threaded faintly into her awareness—not from the forest, but from his place beside her actual body. “Okay… you’ve got the yellowtung root, right? Try combining that with the ferrylight flower. That should make something extra acidic.”

Enya guided her apparition into a crouch and followed his instructions. She didn’t have a mortar or pestle or furnace—but she did have something even better for mixing and dissolving ingredients.

The soul-slime settled obediently as she dropped a few yellowtung roots into it, followed by the ferrylight. The blob quivered, then absorbed them with a bubbling hiss. Its color shifted from deep purple to a strange, mottled yellow-tinged hue.

“I got it,” Enya whispered.

“Good,” Ren said softly. “Next—mix the two-leaf snaretip with the nightleaf. Once those are added to something acidic, it’ll be much more toxic.”

“Okay,” Enya replied.

The apparition continued working, dropping the snaretip and nightleaf into the slime one at a time. The creature absorbed them greedily. This time, its color deepened into a murkier, dirt-stained violet.

Enya sat still, waiting as the slime churned and broke down the materials.

Inside the chamber, however, things were far from quiet.

Talon turned his head sharply. Across the room, several children were stacked into a shaky human pyramid. Two knelt on the ground, two more balanced on top of them, and perched at the very top—Billy Farseene pressed his ear dramatically against the stone wall.

“What… are they doing?” Mirra whispered.

“Hold still, you peasants!” Billy hissed down at them. “If any of you drop me, your entire bloodlines will pay! Keep me steady!”

“Sorry, Billy!”

“I’m trying—not so much movement!”

Talon pinched the bridge of his nose. “I leave him unsupervised for ten minutes and this happens.”

Ren stared, baffled. “Why is he listening through the wall?”

“Probably trying to hear the guards,” Talon said dryly. “Or trying to feel important.”

The truth was, after Enya slapped Billy—loudly—keeping their plan secret became impossible. Every child in the room had heard the crack of her palm against his cheek. Everyone saw him stumble. And everyone definitely noticed something strange had happened between them.

By then, Billy was already shouting questions about why her eyes were yellow. It was there that the secret was out. The other children knew Enya could still use her skills—and that she, Talon, Mirra, and Ren were working on an escape.

Instead of making a scene or being pushy, however, Billy was surprisingly cooperative. He pivoted from an annoying noble who had just gotten slapped to… an annoying noble who wanted to feel important.

He’d threatened every child in the chamber to make sure no one breathed a word about Enya’s abilities to the Veiled Ones. Then he threatened them again to ensure they all helped. Then he threatened them a third time “just to make it official.”

Now, apparently, he was forcing them all to participate so they would be “accomplices” and equally guilty if caught. This ensured no one ratted Enya out in case there was a spy among them.

Even Talon agreed it was a smart idea—though Billy’s way of handling it wasn’t exactly the most… enticing.

“You peasants better hold me steady!” Billy barked again. “If we die, I’m haunting every single one of you!”

Talon sighed. “Well… at least he’s committed?”

Some were surprised by his sudden change of personality. He didn’t even yell at Enya for slapping him. Instead, he just went about with his face and cheeks red. Though she’d slapped him on his left cheek, both of his cheeks were red. Was it from embarrassment? Or perhaps…?

“That guy is so easy to read,” Mirra said, rolling her eyes.

A few more minutes passed, and after a couple of ingredient combinations—the poison was finally finished.

Item Name: Wistmere Slime
Tier: Silver
Rank: B-
Effect: A toxic and acidic slime. If ingested, the slime corrodes nearby organs and causes severe stomach pain. At larger quantities, it may cause organ decay, leading to organ failure.

Enya’s apparition knelt in the forest, holding the bubbling soul-slime now thick with poisonous fluid. Apparently, she could craft a slime, even if it was a living thing. All that remained was getting it into the kitchen’s food supply.

⬥⬥⬥

“They’re coming!” Billy shout-whispered.

Quickly, the pyramid of children collapsed. Everyone scrambled into their usual spots. Some groaned—many of them had finally found a comfortable position just in time for the stack to fall apart.

The chamber door opened seconds later. The Veiled Ones entered, each carrying small plates or bowls of the same sloppy gruel from before.

“This is your last meal for today,” one said—a woman by her tone. “Eat this, shut up, and go to sleep. In the morning, you’ll all be transferred.”

The bowls were passed around, met with faces of pure misery. Enya took hers and frowned. It looked even uglier than the last one.

After the food was handed out, the Veiled Ones stepped out and shut the door behind them.

Talon and Mirra looked toward Enya.

“All right,” Talon said. “You heard her. We have to do this now. If we wait until morning, who knows what’ll happen to us.”

Enya nodded. She let her senses slip outward—once again reaching for her apparition, stationed quietly inside the ceiling above the kitchen.

On the table, various foodstuffs lay scattered about. Nothing looked prepared here—it all seemed ordered from outside. There were several mugs filled with what Enya assumed was alcohol. Probably enough to feed all of the Veiled Ones stationed in the building. Fortunately, the alcohol they’d gathered was dark in color. Enya could only hope they wouldn’t notice a slight change once she dripped a few drops of poisonous slime into their drinks.

As the two Veiled Ones who had delivered the children’s food made their way back toward the kitchen, something outside caught their attention. A loud thud shook the front of the building, followed by two abruptly cut-off screams.

The pair froze—then sprinted toward the source.

That was Enya’s cue.

Elria had returned earlier, and Enya had filled her in on the plan. Elria agreed it could work—and that she could create enough distraction outside to buy Enya a few precious seconds.

The Inner Darkness Apparition slipped down from the rafters like mist. With a small gesture, a spell circuit pulsed to life beside her, summoning the dark-purple soul-slime into the air. Enya steadied it in her apparition’s arms, hovering over the row of mugs.

Slowly, she squeezed the slime between both hands, letting thick droplets fall into each drink—one mug at a time. The slime hissed faintly as each drop hit the alcohol before dissolving cleanly.

She had just finished the last mug when she felt footsteps returning toward the kitchen.

The apparition shot upward immediately, slipping back into the shadows and dissolving the soul-slime summon.

Two Veiled Ones walked inside. Their masks were off now. One was a younger woman with black hair; the other, a man with a chiseled, tired-looking face.

“That Amberdean bastard,” the woman said, rubbing at her temples. “Can’t even invest enough money to keep a damn signboard in place.”

The man snorted. “Nobles will be nobles. Always ignoring what’s actually important.”

“I can’t wait until we finish this contract,” she muttered. “Staying out here in the sticks, watching over kids… boring as shit.”

“Tell me about it. I’d rather be doing business on the second layer, but for some reason the whole place is shut down.”

The woman drifted toward the table, eyeing the food. “At least the meals here aren’t awful. That bar owner actually has some skill.” She turned toward the doorway. “I’ll call the rest for dinner. You go ahead.”

The man nodded. “Alright.”

Above them, hidden in the ceiling’s shadow, Enya watched everything unfold. She couldn’t see her own body back in the chamber, but she knew exactly what expression she was wearing.

A smile.

A sharp, devious grin.

The poison was set. And soon, the Veiled Ones would drink.