Petra seems to notice that something is about to happen. Instances of high level people can't be avoided so easily. But while she can tell that something is about to happen, she can't react in time when she sees me disappear.
I teleport right beside Yvonne and John. Before they can react I release a splash of paralysis poison that acts on touch.
Both my victims are splashed and can't move properly as I engulf them and begin to dissolve them alive. They can't scream since there's no air but they try. Yvonne especially tries to wave her hands to swim out of me while trying to yell something toward Petra.
They don't succeed and quickly succumb. The only real resistance John manages to put up is to detonate a whole bunch of explosives inside me but I barely feel that.
Why do I kill these two despite them not being much of a threat? To rile up Petra. The less clarity in her thoughts the more easily I will win.
However, the one who reacts the most violently is Belladonna. She must know deep down that she's going to be next.
Unfortunately, it seems she has another trump card left. I mean she surely has more but having two that can affect a being much stronger than her is very impressive.
An icy chill spreads from her legs and this time I'm paying attention. The moment she channels some mana into her legs, two sigils light up on her thighs. One sigil on each thigh releases an icy chill as a bloodline is triggered.
This mad sorceress really sealed two instances of a ice attributed monster's blood in her thighs. And to top that, she sealed fire or explosion attributed monster blood in her arms.
Bloodline sorcery is an art but she is just brute forcing it. My soul-piercing gaze reveals that her bloodline sorcery skill is only level 1. No wonder she burnt herself when she used it.
Now that she does it again, her life may not be in danger but I doubt she'll not be crippled by the aftermath. Not that it matters.
The chill from her legs condenses into a frost dragon that hurls itself at me. It's just a projection but the bloodline definitely didn't belong to an ordinary frost dragon.
Dodging isn't an option and fighting the frost of with fire magic isn't worth the mana consumption, so I inevitably take the hit and my body begins to freeze over.
I don't have the time or patience to deal with this so I just conjure a space blade that slices the frozen part of my body off. With that part of my removed, the cold cannot spread as it has already sunk its icy claws into something and cannot change targets now that I and the affected part have separated.
"Got you!"
Petra's roar leaves me with a mixture of unease and ridicule. Her ship is flying at me full speed and it seems to have used the time I was busy with Belladonna's bloodline sorcery to gain momentum.
All sky pirates and Petra are glowing in cyan light that covers the entire ship. A damage transfer skill? No, some kind of enhancement that drains their mp to supercharge the ship.
Their plan is simple yet ingenious. They plan to ram me with the ships bow which will both stun me as well as part my body mass. Then, Petra who is standing at the bow will be able to directly target my core and deliver a finishing blow. While most slimes can move their cores to any place inside their bodies once they reach certain levels, they can't do so quickly while sustaining heavy injuries to their mass.
Be that as it may, I stay calm and prepare a soul harvesting beam that will be big enough to take out Petra and her entire crew in one attack. Both sides don't intend to dodge and race to be the first to hit. At least they believe that is what is happening.
Petra smiles triumphantly as the bow of her ship penetrates my body before I can release the soul harvesting beam. The ship's mass and momentum smashes against my body and part it like a wave. I can feel me jiggly mass splatter to the sides as I temporarily lose control of it. Petra prepares her final attack as she channels all her remaining strength into her cutlass to destroy my core with a devastating attack.
However, right as her focus reaches its peak and her eyes have scanned my entire mass, she loses focus and her eyes widen.
"There's no core…"
She mutters her thoughts out loud and yes indeed! There's no core for her to destroy so she can't kill me and my soul harvesting beam won't be stopped. I had to fight a little dirty but that's curtains for you, Petra.
My soul harvesting beam goes of right as the realization dawns on her and both of us know how this will end. Her soul struggles valiantly but with most of her paragon power focused on her ship that lacks a soul, she and her crew are devoured. Dozens of bodies hit the deck and I devour them along with the ship.
The ship is very well made and provides a surprising amount of energy and I can feel my constitution grow with every chunk I devour. I just got a huge boost both from the souls and the bodies I digested using true gluttony.
I pull both Youm's and agent 21's body to me and feast on them as well. Then, it's time to face the last survivor who's still here. I'll go after Loman later.
"I must say, you unleashing to opposing elements using bloodline sorcery was quite impressive. Pray tell, where did you get those bloodline samples and how exactly did you integrate them into your body without blowing yourself up and while retaining your ability to cast spells? Casting a spell should have activated an ordinary bloodline seal and caused this mess to go off but somehow you managed to avoid that."
Belladonna tries to bite her own tongue and I let her only to grow it right back using targeted healing magic.
"No dying for you. Not until you have told me what I want to know. And you will, I can promise that with certainty. The only question that remains is how much you make me work for it and how much you suffer in the process."