บท 21: A Devil With A Flaming Tail

[I suggest you take the clothing, it seems durable enough for it to not catch on fire.]

"You're right!"

Jack traded his improvised leather cloak with the loose safety jacket, loose safety pants tucked into a pair of safery boots, and the precious safety helmet. He had completely replaced all of his apparel with the dead man's belongings.

There was a reason why Jack only brought an improvised stone knife and one jagged sword with him. He wanted to utilize his tentacle new ability more.

This equipment was perfect for him.

"As much as I like my cloak, it will easily get caught in my own fire." Jack then deployed back his flaming tentacle, setting the flammable liquid to the lowest potential. "Now I have two torches, ahaha!"

The flamming mucus immediately fade its fire when it got in contact with the safety jacket. It made Jack think on what it was made of.

[Don't advance any further yet, Jack. My strings perception captured a hidden contraption beneath the wall. Proceed with cautious.]

"The poor lad got all of his own flesh consumed by something. There aren't any marks or waste for any kind of corrosive gas and liquid." Jack pointed his torch to the front, trying to find any kind of trap trigger. "There is some energy flowing and I'm sure that there is no way that I could act against this hideous trap.."

Jack found that there were numerous triggers on the floor and it was still going beyond his perception. With the contraption visible to him, he continued the exploration while minding his steps across the journey.

[There is no reason for a World Vein pathway to be this fortified. It could be leading to something preserved and treasured within this world.]

"And on the World Vein!" Jack added with enthusiasm. "There is no demerit on putting your treasure in a place brimming with energy. They could be nurturing or cultivating something, who knows?"

<<Level 120 Toxic Trap Slime is coming at you at an alarming speed>>

[I honestly think that we need to find out who created this notification.]

"Trap Slime!?"

With perception wary and limbs all steady, Jack noticed a huge change in energy flow beneath the tunnel. He started to create a stone using his tentacle ability, continuously accumulating into a bigger lump of stone that spun within its location as a huge amount of burning mucus dropped to the ground.

"There that is!" Jack immediately brandished his jagged sword strapped on his waist.

Sprouting from the crevice of the trigger, numerous lump of red gel emerged from all directions.

Jack then secreted a higher flammable kerosene before flinging the flaming stone at the nearest red gel. It got reflected and bounced to the other toxic body of the slime, leaving a patch of blaze on everything it touched.

[Petra Tentacle> Length: 126cm(+2) | Kinetic Strength: 45kg(+3)]

He noticed that the fire actually devoured the red gel, although it immediately dispersed a second afterward. Fire proved to be highly effective against this Toxic Trap Slime.

"Aight! Seems like you like fire, ey!?" Jack grinded his sword against his tentacle, wrapping the jagged blade with the flaming mucus. "The service will be limited, but I'll make it sure that you have enough of it!"

Jack hacked and slashed every red gel that came in his way as he tried to go deeper into the tunnel. Simultaneously, utilizing his flaming rock projectile.

With keen eyes and fast reflexes, he managed to avoid the toxic gel and all of the contraption throughout his rush. He then made it out to a vast room that consisted of natural cave formation.

Crystalized blue hue with yellow gradient could be seen sprawled all around the place like flowers underneath the earth.

Jack saw that the Toxic Trap Slime hadn't laid its energy flow onto this vast chamber. Letting the Toxic Trap Slime to catch up and harness the energy within this area would be a dead sentence for him.

He remembered that the explosion he accidentally made yesterday managed to strip most of the flammable mucus. He could do it again so that his tentacle was freed from the fire that could immediately trigger any kind of volatile substances.

His tentacle could regenerate in a few hours and it would go back as new. He could actually use his Petra Tentacle into an instant explosive rod and everything will be a cake walk.

'Tch, too bad that I couldn't control the tentacle when it wasn't attached to my body.'

The tentacle couldn't process a complicated action without being commanded as a body part. Hence why that action was out of the menu.

Jack faced the vast room without ever looking at the pursuing Toxic Trap Slime on the tunnel.

With a bitter taste, he protruded his 126cm tentacle to his back, pointing at the rushing red gel abomination.

Teeth gritted, he waited for the pain to come with enthusiasm, rooting his legs into a pivot stance. On the tip of the tentacle, he poured a medium amount of the explosive kerosene that he accidentally created yesterday.

The amount of this destructive black fluid was secreted in a higher dose than it was first made. The substance immediately burst into explosion.

[Petra Tentacle's Health> 75%(-25)]

[Petra Tentacle> Toughness: E(+1)]

Jack didn't care about the thermal damage as the Anti-Heat Protein nulled the extreme temperature within that nanosecond. The shockwave meanwhile, was the one that caused him a lot of pain.

Surprisingly, there wasn't a single scratch or scorched part on his clothing. It seemed like choosing to change his equipment to this safety set was the right choice after all.

The huge spark intimidated the gelatinous monster, as it backed off a couple of meters with fear before charging again like a mad bull. It gave Jack more seconds to act.

His tentacle had most of its form, now without the eternal flame that was annoying him for a while.

"Hahaha!"

Jack immediately created another stone on his tentacle, coating it with the same explosive kerosene without it getting triggered. After he finished, he added another layer to that stone to preserve the volatile liquid inside. He then overrides the dangerous mucus with a new flammable mucus again.

Albeit the mindless charging, the Toxic Trap Slime felt an ounce of fear as the devil with a flaming tail became more visible every second within its perception. The bits of fire on the tendril dropped like a droplet, creating a small explosion as it collided with the striped explosive kerosene on the ground.

Knowing that explosion didn't do much to him, Jack could only smile.