"Cough!" Slime#47 spat out slime blood, glaring at the grinning dragon.

"Well… you passed," the dragon declared, nodding casually.

"I did?" Young Slime asked, struggling to stand up. He cancelled his humanoid form, letting gravity hold him in his slime form.

"The other way to pass this trial was to injure me…" the dragon replied, patting his white scales.

"Injure…" Slime#47 narrowed his eyes. 'I injured him in the previous loop… yet he killed me instead of letting me pass,' he mused with a scowl.

"But…" The dragon narrowed his eyes, his smile cunning. "You have to take a beating for injuring me."

"No wonder," Young Slime muttered. "Is it just beating?" he asked, recalling how he'd been killed outright.

"Hm. It's beating if you hold on," the dragon replied, raising his claw. "So… withstand this one attack, and you pass."

"Crap!!" Slime#47 yelled as the dragon's right claw began glowing golden. "Draconic Soul Slash!"

"Demonic Body!" Young Slime cast instantly, dumping the last drop of his demonic force. His body slowly turned black.

"Double Elemental Shield!"

He cast again, and two layers of multicolored barriers formed all around him.

Whoosh!

The dragon waved his claw. A golden energy blade formed and rushed straight at Slime#47.

Crack!

The two barriers broke apart instantly, and the blade struck Young Slime.

Bang!

Slime#47's body flared with demonic force, stopping the golden blade for a moment—slowly dispersing the attack with his black energy.

Noticing the blade getting overpowered, the dragon cast, "Draconic Soul Slash."

A second blade rushed toward Young Slime and fused with the struggling soul blade.

"You said only one attack!" Slime#47 roared in Crimson Draco language, furious.

"Yes," the dragon nodded blankly. "Only one—Draconic Soul Slash."

Whoosh!

"Draconic Soul Slash."

Again.

Repeat.

"Draconic Soul Slash."

The dragon launched multiple blades in a row, as they all fused with the golden energy blade, which was close to getting wiped out by Young Slime.

'Damn it…' Slime#47 cursed, pouring the last ray of his demonic force as the ground beneath him shattered into a huge crater—boom!

Crack!

Bang!

Young Slime widened his eyes as he ran out of demonic force.

The golden energy blade entered his body, rushing straight to his soul.

"Crap!" Slime#47 yelled furiously as he entered his soul dimension.

He was too slow. The blade rushed in quickly and finally connected with his soul.

He couldn't reach it—he was a few meters away.

Crack!

The golden barrier from the combat style mark cracked a little, stopping the soul attack.

'Puff… the barrier still held on,' Young Slime sighed in relief. 'I almost lost one golden barrier.'

In the next moment, he scowled as another blade entered his soul dimension

"Mountain… ocean!" he yelled, reshaping his soul dimension as huge obstacles rose in the way.

Boom!

The soul attack tore through a few obstacles and disappeared.

Whoosh!

Another blade entered his dimension.

"What the heck is this dragon?" he roared, eyes crimson.

'I'm stuck,' he frowned. 'Now I can only fight from within… if I return to my senses even for a moment… a blade will connect with my soul.'

---

"Hahaha." The dragon grinned, launching another golden blade at the unconscious Young Slime.

"That's what you get for injuring me…" he roared. "You wiped out my tail and made me bleed. You really thought I would let you live?"

"Draconic Soul Slash."

He launched another soul attack.

Whoosh!

Golden energy blades entered the slime's body one by one.

"Die… die… die," the dragon grinned, licking his lips.

"That's enough." A cold, majestic male voice suddenly echoed through the forest.

The dragon paused, trembling. "No… It's not against the rules…" he yelled, glancing around—yet finding no one.

"Rules?" the voice asked codly.

"First rule… I would be at the same level as participants and reduce my power even further," the dragon explained, raising his shaking claws.

"Why is that so?" the voice asked.

"So they can hold on for two minutes," the dragon replied, scratching his head.

"So did you hold back at all?" the voice asked again, as ice formed all around the forest. The tree's leaves stopped moving, freezing, and the wind became chilly.

"No… his power was okay… to…" the dragon said, stammering.

"To play?" the voice questioned, and the dragon shook, eyes widening.

"And second rule?" the voice continued.

"If anyone injures me, they pass directly, as long as…" the dragon replied, swallowing saliva, "they withstand my one."

"So did he—" The voice was cut off as the dragon yelled, "I only used one attack—Draconic Soul Slash—as per rules!"

"You dare hide behind rules." The voice barked, and the dragon's legs began to freeze with ice. "No… no, stop!" he roared, as ice spread around his body.

"Did you forget what you did?" the voice asked. "Dragon God kindly requested you to train with me… now you are unworthy—"

"No, Remora… don't!" the dragon yelled, as his neck began to freeze.

"Go back to your papa and play," Remora declared.

A dark slime about thirty centimeters long appeared in the sky, tiny white stars floating within and around his body.

Wob!

Remora landed on the ground near the fainted Slime#47 as the dragon tried to protest, "No… n—" and his entire head froze.

"Soul Protection." Remora cast, as a white magic rune flared on his palm.

---

A few moments earlier.

"Double Elemental Barrier… Fireball!" Young Slime cast.

However, magic runes didn't manifest like usual.

"Looks like I still cannot wield magic in the soul dimension," he muttered, glancing at the incoming soul blades.

"I cannot use aura skills either," he muttered, as he failed to unleash even the basic Acid Fist.

More than a hundred of them were rushing in.

"Mountains… ocean…" He changed the shape of his dimension, as towering mountains and raging oceans spread out.

Many soul blades collided with the mountains and dispersed.

Boom!

While the ocean surged forward, clashing with the energy attacks on its own—and wiping them out.

'Keep it up…' He grinned, relaxed as he noticed no new attacks coming in.

In the next moment, however, he turned grim as all blades fused together and formed one large blade.

'What… to do…' He clenched his fists. 'I don't want to lose the golden barriers. They're my last hope.'

He rushed forward and cast, "Soul Mantle!"

He tried to control the soul essence rays floating in his soul dimension.

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