Rimuru's POV

The flames covering the city and hurling around the barrier were sucked into the black vortex on my hands. His grip on my throat loosened and I choked him back. His eyes widened once he realized his fate.

"Die"

I choked him with both hands until the black vortex wrapped around him, sticking to his body like a second skin, before slowly and deliberately draining his existence, along with the flames he cast through the district.

It wasn't long enough before the flaming buildings and cars died out. There was not a single trace of ember, spark, or ash left around the area, not even his existence.

{You have successfully absorbed the raging energy from the 'Disaster of Questions'.}

{The analysis will be activated.}

"Delicious."

I felt satisfied, yet my stomach felt like it was burning. I just absorbed the flames that covered this entire district and even the person behind it. I patted my belly before walking away.

But then I felt my body throbbing.

I stopped and thought that it was just nothing. But as I took another step, the strength of my legs disappeared, causing me to fall on my knees. My breath turned shallow and heavy as I supported myself by placing my hand on the ground.

"T-This doesn't feel delicious..."

Sick. I feel so sick. My mind felt like it was melting, making me want to bawl my eyes out. But it worsened once my whole body got enveloped by a burning sensation, inside out. My chest tightened, and I gasped as air left my lungs.

"W-What's happening?" I blurted out between my clenched teeth. Just as I was about to continue, I felt bile erupting from my throat, and I covered my mouth instinctively.

{Notice! You have confined too much energy for your material body to handle!}

Material body? You mean my human body right now? But I'm... oh right.

I'm currently human.

That makes sense. 

My slime body before was flexible, strong, and didn't have blood or organs. It was a literal, sublime substance that could stretch, expand, and recover. With that slime body, there's no blood to shed, no organ to get damaged, and no nerves to feel pain. It was the perfect body to store energy.

But this time, I'm a human. My flexibility, strength, and other aspects were far from normal, but I'm still in a human body. I have organs, and they get damaged and cause concussions. I have blood, and it can be drawn with a simple cut on my human skin. This was far from being enough.

I realized what a monster I was back then. I suffered from just absorbing this amount of energy with a human vessel, and it isn't even close to the energy I had absorbed when I was a slime.

I completely forgot that humans have their own limits, and that applies to me now. But truth be told, I thought everything I devour wouldn't harm me since it's confined to my 'Stomach Sack'. But the pain I was experiencing slapped me with a 'you're just a mortal' lesson.

{Due to body difficulties, you will experience severe pain.} 

I felt blood rising to my throat along with bile. My hands covering my mouth couldn't stop me from puking both liquids, and my eyes couldn't hold back my tears from crying in pain. I gripped my throat; it was itchy and burning, and it stung to the core.

"G-Great Sage!" I managed to call out despite the chattering teeth and bitter taste of iron and acid in my mouth. My fingers trembled as I did my best to grip my throat and mouth.

{Emergency! Due to material-body conflict, 'Sleep Mode' will take over!}

I was relieved, yet the pain didn't subside. I slowly loosened the grip on my throat and held out my hands so I can see them. I saw my fingertips blackening with a dark substance; it was like poison on my nails and skin, contagious enough to spread quickly into my veins, making it black and visible on my fair skin.

Before I could even do anything, my eyes rolled back to unconsciousness.

.

.

.

'The four winds meet to form a fortification,'

'and the four winds meet again in the shape of a trigram'

Kim Dokja chanted those words through his thoughts, channeling and harboring the wind in his opened palm to form a powerful trigram of wind. A powerful torrent of breeze circled around him as he focused at the powerful skill at hand.

"Kim Dokja! Hurry!!" Han Sooyoung urged as she looked at the large canon of magic from Gelmud, then back at the trigram of wind on Kim Dokja's hand.

Yoo Sangah, who was hesitating to do something, suddenly bit her lip, gripped her twin-dagger, and buried her heel on the ground before launching herself to Gelmud.

[The stigma 'Hermes Stroll' Lvl.?? has been activated!]

She leaped into the air, then started to glide free from air resistance towards Gelmud, who was mustering energy to make the magic canon even bigger.

"Idiot!!" Sooyoung yelled and also took action. She didn't want to fulfill an unwanted death wish, but her instincts betrayed her. "This is why I don't like working with someone," she mumbled with a frown before gripping the hilt of her sword.

[The exclusive skill 'Avatar' Lvl.?? has been activated.]

Multiple Han Sooyoungs appeared and sprinted along with her. The original couldn't be determined due to their exact expressions and actions.

Gelmud looked at them and feigned ignorance. He focused on powering up the magic canon he was about to unleash upon them. But he acknowledged the two women's advancements to stop him.

"Pests," he said, flicking his fingers to summon magic balls to keep them busy. They quickly shot into the air at a snappy pace, directing towards Sooyoung and Sangah. They glowed red and headed towards the two women, and it didn't go unnoticed.

Sangah used her skills, 'Dagger Mastery' and 'Quick Movements', making her more agile as she glided in the air. Red magic balls went in her direction, and she immediately used her stigma to leap in the air and avoid them.

She gripped the twin dagger in her hand, then parried the magic balls that almost hit her. She was tumbling and rolling in the air to avoid being hit, swiftly moving, and fast-paced when it came to gliding.

When her movements became more predictable, she placed her right dagger in her back. Then she summoned a golden thread, firing it at the rooftop of the building before pulling herself towards the walls.

The tips of her golden rope twined on the septic tank on the rooftop, and she glided towards the building, landing and standing vertically on the wall. Her right hand held tightly on the rope as she stood there unusually.

Her eyes loomed down to see Han Sooyoung, avoiding and reflecting back the magic balls along with her clones. Her face was almost comical, like a wild cat hissing with every swing of her blade.

Then Gelmud laughed hysterically. He lifted the magic canon into the air as he looked at Kim Dokja. His voice was mocking and full of venom.

"This is your end, Vermins!"

As Gelmud roared, Sooyoung immediately dreaded before closing her eyes. Yoo Sangah acted fast, summoning another golden thread on her hand and trying to pull Sooyoung and Dokja from the magic cannon.

But she stopped once she saw Kim Dokja's move.

"Vacuum Prison."

The trigram in his hands travelled and manifested around Gelmud, taking the form of a hurricane barrier that kept the target locked inside. 

"W-Wha-" Gelmud was interrupted by a sudden power; his voice couldn't get out of his throat. Then slowly, he realized something as he gripped his throat in agony. The vacuum prison was draining his breath and voice, making him silent as he tried to get out.

Kim Dokja held it in, struggling and breaking sweat as Gelmud trashed around the vacuum prison, trying his best to make a rift to get out, but no matter how he tried, it would always regenerate.

Then suddenly, a man clad in black appeared beside Dokja, and he immediately noticed who it was.

"Yoo Junghyuk?" 

The man looked at him at the mention of his name before looking at the vacuum prison that was keeping Gelmud inside. His sharp eyes examined the situation, looking around, before speaking.

"Don't try to control the wind with your strength. You have to guide the wind gently."

Kim Dokja looked at him as he wobbled, struggling to keep the prison any longer. Yoo Junghyuk noticed it and immediately continued.

"Don't think of it as building a wall around him, but simply removing the matter surrounding him."

His words sparked hope inside Kim Dokja, and slowly, the corner of his lips curved upwards. 

Gelmud trashed inside the vacuum prison, shooting red beams and red magic bullets, but it was all for naught. He wanted to roar a curse, yet the prison kept him from making a sound. 

Out of anger, he punched the vortex of wind in the prison. Then dread etched into his face once the wind started to envelop his body. Slowly, the wind revolved around his limbs until his body was covered in a vortex of wind.

"I guess you have a little talent in you," Junghyuk commented as Kim Dokja eased out and his shoulders slumped forward as he took heavy breaths. But then, Gelmud's figure crackled with a dangerous aura.

The magic cannon was still in the air, and Gelmud, being chained by the vortex of wind, gave all of his strength to make the cannon bigger. 

'I'll take you all down with me.' 

Kim Dokja and Yoo Junghyuk were slightly dreaded, and Kim Dokja couldn't help but look at the people around them. His face was etched with worry that they would get caught in the explosion, but a strong hand broke him out of his thoughts.

"Don't do anything stupid. Their lives aren't worth saving." Yoo Junghyuk spoke in a cold voice, his hand gripping Kim Dokja's shoulder even tighter. But that didn't stop the latter from doing something.

"You may be right about some of them, but not all of them are like that."

Kim Dokja shrugged off the strong hands on his shoulder, and sprinted towards the enormous cannon of magic coming in his direction.

The magic cannon fired in Kim Dokja's direction was travelling at a speed that brought gusts of wind into turmoil. It was travelling heavily, yet faster than a car. But Kim Dokja didn't halt or hesitate to take the canon head on.

'I feel like I'm one with the wind..'

His ankles, feet, and legs felt more agile as he harbored the wind and controlled it with ease. He felt like he was flying, despite being on the ground. He held out his hands on both sides, and as he ran along the wind, a heavy vortex of wind was formed in his palm.

'Storm on the right hand.'

His right hand accumulated a storm, and he brought his other hand forward to the enormous cannon.

'Tempest on the left hand.'

Both his hands formed a storm and a tempest, creating a powerful vortex of combined bodies of wind as they clashed against the magic cannon. Dokja's hands felt like they were burning as he used the wind to slowly tilt the magic canon upwards, then release it all out.

With the power of his wind, the magic ball was pushed upwards to the sky, and it glowed an ominous red as it went beyond the clouds. Everyone saw the scene, and they looked at the dark sky turning red.

Then the clouds got separated and created a huge crater in the sky when the magic cannon exploded. Even at the altitude of sky and land, the wind force still reached them and caused Dokja to stumble, but a strong figure supported him from falling.

Yoo Junghyuk placed a hand on Kim Dokja's back to keep him from falling. His eyes focused on the clouds disappearing because of the explosion and revealing the dim red sky. Then his eyes retreated back to the wobbling Kim Dokja.

"I'll be the one to kill you," Junghyuk said as he transferred some of his magic power to Kim Dokja. The latter's eyes widened at the sudden gesture, but he chose not to comment about it.

Then, Gelmud's figure fell to the ground.

Both men looked at the weakened Majin before walking closer. Dokja unsheathed his sword and tried to raise it above his head, but his arms felt numb. He couldn't even lift his sword properly.

Junghyuk noticed and immediately did the honor, burying the tip of his blade into Gelmud's chest, piercing the heart of his material body.

[You are the first in the scenario to fight and defeat an otherworldly disaster!]

[Main Contributors: Kim Dokja, Yoo Junghyuk, Han Sooyoung, and Yoo Sangah]

The red sky slowly toned down, yet the explosion left a huge crater in the clouds and revealed a million stars shining brightly.

[You have created a new 'Fable'.]

Gelmud's body turned into a stone, leaving Yoo Junghyuk and Kim Dokja standing.

[The Fable, 'One Who Opposes The Miracle' has been added.]

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