A new challenge faces Don Quixote as she faces down a strange creature… And some turmoil from her own compatriots too.

I feel like I've said this a million times, either way I don't own Shield Hero or Limbus Company and their subsidiary works. Please go support the official release!

Reviews:

SpeedyTheMemelord: Ah, those Tier 2 Envy Peccatula man, the ender of Railway Runs.

Maxkaufman2002: Maybe so, you'll have to see.

Sleepmat10: Yep yep, it is indeed an Abno~ Something strange is afoot~

Anon: Who knows? I'm sure Don will be able to handle it.

LimbusFan: Gotta establish the stakes, indeed WAWs are no joke. ;P

Guest: Don Quixote is indeed a princess in her own little way. Just wait till Malty finds out that little fact ;DDD

CHAPTER 9: OF THE GRAND ADVENTURE THAT CONTINUES THROUGH OUR VERY OWN DON QUIXOTE: THE TOWN OF SLUDGE AND MONSTERS (II)

A few weeks prior, during the Lute Village Wave of Catastrophe...

The Villagers of Singa were doing quite well for themselves. As one of the premiere Hot Springs towns of Melromarc, they had some of the finest services and some of the wealthiest Nobles in Melromarc would climb over themselves to simply be at the rejuvenating springs. It was truly a massive tourist attraction and one of the best in the Land... They simply didn't think anything of the Sky above shattering as the Wave occured out further towards the Capital... The Knights would be able to handle anything that might have occurred.

But things change, and as they so happen, something would appear... a shimmery form of something they couldn't recognize, before finally an Egg appeared at the Summit of the Peaks where the Waters flowed into the City. Nobody thought anything of it, a Monster Egg such as that, it might even become a Tourist Attraction...

But then, the strange looking egg started to hatch. The egg shaked and started to crack open revealing a strangely clam-like egg inside... And when something did pop out... nobody was ready. None of the people there were ready, though they wouldn't readily admit that... With how lax the security around the Springs were, a few Knights bravely and foolishly adventured out to try and battle this strange new creature that had taken residence in the Springs...

And were subsequently melted alive. Their armor did little to stop the poison and toxins from taking effect and they were eaten slowly by the green sludge until nothing was left except small scraps and fragments of armor.

The Clam-like creature started to spew out large swaths of toxic poisonous goop that started to corrode and eat away at the natural Hot Springs... though for the Creature, it seemed to need this spring water. It seemed very content as it spewed more and more of it's poisonous substance into the water, ruining the water quality and causing large piles of sludge to form... The sludge was more of a nuisance than anything, but it was ruining the Hot Springs, and anyone who dared to adventure towards the Heart of the Problem... well, barely enough of them was left to warrant a funeral or anything for them.

At this rate, the Springs would be destroyed... and they needed someone or something to stop this creature since they didn't before... and now that it had grown out of control they very well couldn't handle it now... And so the Lord of the Town writes a desperate letter to the Adventurer's Guild and Melromarc in the hopes that someone strong enough might find the letter and be able to do something about this terrible fate that has descended upon the town.

Now...

The clam roared in anger as Don Quixote approached. It would appear as though this creature was the source of the sludge that they were trying to be rid of. Don Quixote couldn't help but grimace as the disgusting creature reared it's mouth and spat out a bunch of massive globs of acidic muck at them.

With each step it takes, it sprays a fetid green muck. With each step taken by Don Quixote, the foul mud brought forth terrible pain to our Heroes feet. Don Quixote though, was not deterred as she tried to get it's attention and attack it.

The Clam seemed annoyed at her approaching while it attempted to do whatever action it was doing and going through... The motions seemed practiced and collected. And of course, it wasn't about to tolerate any intruders as it spat more sludge at the approaching group of bugs yet again. It was very hard to maneuver their way around the sludge as Don Quixote kept trying to step through in an attempt to strike at the enemy. And once she was in range...

"Piercing Thrust!"

Her skill collided with the armor of the Clam, causing a small clang as the spear bounced off of the Shell of the Clam. The Clam itself now perceiving Don Quixote as a threat, simply roared again as it shook it's shell, and more piles of green sludge and slop fell out of it's mouth. Don Quixote was splatted in the face by one such pile, as she used her lance to tear one apart... The Clam seemed unhappy with Don Quixote's actions as it shambled forwards and tackled Don Quixote with it's hard shell. Don Quixote was pushed back a bit, hurting from the Clam for sure, before starting forwards once again. She clashed weapons with the Clam's shell, her spear sparking and streaking with each strike as she started to speed up once again.

The Clam at this point, was not at all happy with how the fight was going as Don Quixote smashed her lance into it's shell and impacting the gooey stuff inside... The Clam roared as it shambled backwards...

Don Quixote smiled.

"Aha! Thou must see my righteous intent, and that it is futile to-"

She was cut off by a sludge pile to the face as she was sent into the ground. She quickly punched and wiped the globules off of her face, still smiling but notably less so.

"So that is how thou wishes this?! Have at thee to boot!"

With her declared cry she rushed back in again, smacking the Clam with more and more strikes against the shell, however little damage that dealt. The Clam in return was more than eager to greet each strike Don Quixote made with a glob of Poisonous Muck aimed at her person. Abominable wretched filth that slowed her down and kept damaging her even after she had gotten it all off of her body. She grimaced as another shower of sludge hit her form, and she was slowed down yet again, though Rocinante did it's best in her eyes, carrying her further into the fight.

She called another skill. "Meteor Thrust!"

And broke off one of it's legs, though it seemed not worried about that fact... In fact, it just seemed a bit more angry as it shambled about there, dancing it's weird dance and attempting to attack Don Quixote all throughout with each attack.

As Don Quixote rushed about fighting the Abno left and right, the same could not be said for the ladies currently waiting for the fight to be over... For some the stench was unbearable, and for some it wasn't so bad... But regardless, they were all uncomfortable with some aspect of the current situation... Before long the dam broke as Rino opened the door, the stench still unbearable, but she couldn't just stand there as she motioned to the others. She wouldn't just let the Spear Hero handle this alone, and neither would the others from what she saw from their expressions... would they?

"Come on, we have to at least help!"

"And just what are we supposed to do?!"

Rino didn't care as her feet impacted against the Sludge... It felt wrong and disgusting and she hated it all, but she wanted to support the Spear Hero however she could... They couldn't just leave her to fend for herself...

"Maybe... Hey, do you think we can clear out the Sludge? Make it easier for her to move around?"

Myne smiled that deep sweet smile, as she nodded.

"Yes, why don't you do that! I'll stay in here where it's safe!"

And with that in mind, Rino alongside some reluctant assistance from Elena and Lesty fired off a couple magic blasts in Don Quixote's general direction as the blasts struck and started to blast away the sludge... mind you it wasn't as effective as they'd like as the piles of sludge simply flew off elsewhere, but anywhere outside of the current battlefield was plenty enough, right? Either way it seemed to be working just a tad bit as Don Quixote kept the Clam busy...

Every time the Clam opened up it's mouth and sent more globs of Sludge out, blasts of Fire and Lightning impacted each Globule and sent the Sludge flying away. The Green Slimes themselves seemed to agitate the Clam quite so, as it seemingly kept trying to eat each one with little to no luck... More and more, the Clam was getting slower and tired with each tossed out Globule of Sludge...

Don Quixote noted though, something... shiny inside it once enough Sludge had been thrown about... Something quite shiny inside of it's Shell... That must be a weakpoint! She needed to strike truly and verily so! This was her moment to shine! She reared her lance back, and with a shouting cry, dashed forwards and pried her lance into it's mouth.

"Thou... shalt not... ruin... these fair... folk... anymore... foul beast~!"

Don Quixote grimaced as she pushed into the Mouth, her spear creaking, until finally she pried the Clam's Shell open. The Clam groaned in protest as Don Quixote raised her foot and slammed it into the strange Clam's shiny pearl. The Clam screeched in agony as it threw Don Quixote back into the ground.

STAGGER!

Don Quixote struggled to get up, as the Clam rolled it's sludge around in it's mouth, and spat another glob of muck at her. Don Quixote braced for impact... when a crash of spells hit, a shield of Earth forming itself in front of her as Rino held her staff forwards with a struggle in her expression. The other girls in the party were quick to try shooting blasts of Magic at the Clam's pearl with cries of "Fast Fire" or "Fast Lightning" earning more groans and pained sounds from the Clam.

Eventually though, it started to peel backwards...

"Is it on the retreat?"

Only for it to bend up and spew globules of muck everywhere.

STAGGER! STAGGER! STAGGER!

All three girls were sent backwards as large globs of green effervescent slime impacted with their forms and they were sent careening into more sludge underneath them. A cry from help from Don Quixote as Rino fell down, and Don Quixote slowly pushed herself back up. The Clam now losing it's focus on Don Quixote and attempting to shamble forwards towards the girls with it's many eyes staring at them with discontent...

"See what did I tell you!" The prissy voice of Myne called out from inside the Carriage, and somewhat unheard by Don Quixote...

Don Quixote though, wasn't just going to give up... They needed her help... She needed to stand again. With a quivering leg, she pushed herself up and faced down the Clam yet again... She noted the green sludge and how it attacked all it found... No, that wasn't right at all. She dashed forwards being careful with her aim yet still striking with impunity as she struck the Green Slimes hard and fast. The Sludge quivered and exploded in piles of green gloop as the Clam roared again.

"Mine compatriots! I have an idea! Thou must use your magic to stun the Creature! Verily so, we can defeat this foe!"

Rino nodded, with Elena and Lesty following their nods shortly after, but with some hesitance... Don Quixote simply smiled.

"Fret not! Thou possess amazing skills for a fixer... Strike it and Smite it with Lightning at my say so!"

They nodded at the simple yet mundane plan... They all just hoped it worked as Don Quixote turned to face the Clam once more. It was time to end this.

And with a shout and a cry for victory Don Quixote charged in yet again. This time though, she was proving to be more and more successful as the Magic blasts destroyed each pile of slime and sludge, earning cries of pain and frustration from the Clam... How long might this take? With Don Quioxte starting to get tired from all the fighting, and a strange craving for food after such along fight... No, they needed to focus. This Clam was wreaking havoc, so they needed to kill it.

As the fight continued, the Clam seemed to be slowing down with each Green slime that Don's Compatriots and Don herself destroyed. As Don Quixote still approached it yet again. she couldn't help but feel more and more confident.

She charged yet again, breaking off the leg of another of the Clam's shell as it grumbled and fell down, still shaking and dancing as it still spat sludge out everywhere.

Don Quixote paused... This creature was attempting to spread it's influence with that abominable filth?! That just wasn't going to fly! She needed to end this quickly! She raised her lance, and jammed it into the Clam... At the same time, magic struck the last few Green Sludge pieces, and the Clam suddenly opened it's mouth with a pop and a pained grunt.

"Aha! A time to strike! Begone foul beast!"

And with that declaration, Don Quixote raised her spear and drove it right through the Clam... in fact just a bit further than that, causing the semi-delicate pearl at least in comparison to the Clam and breaking the Pearl into several chunks.

The Clam roared as the sludge in it's mouth swarmed the broken bits, little tiny maggots inside eating whatever they could. The Clam shook back and forth, sludge and slime getting over Don Quixote a bit more as it shambled and smashed it's open shell against the nearby rocks.

The clam shuddered as the Magic bindings keeping it's shell opened began to creak and break. Only one chance...

Don Quixote lowered her lance...

"Go Rocinante!"

And charged forwards with newfound speed, before her spear impacted with the Clam, and into the sludge it called "Family."

The Clam stopped. Don Quixote stopped. For a moment everything stopped. And then the Clam started to shake. And groan and cry out as it attempted to throw Don Quixote off, though she refused to let go. The Creature threw itself around in it's deathly throes, rearing up down and all around as it smashed into everything to get rid of the pain. Don Quixote raised and lowered her shoes with a timed rhythm as she smashed the slime down more and more killing all the strange things inside them.

As she did, her vision started to get blurry as she held her head and spear... That was a long fight, but not without some turmoil as she stepped off of the Pearl... and then the world turned white in her vision as she finally felt exhaustion creep up to her, and she fell over away from the Clam...

The Clam shuddered, until finally it started to shrink and disappear… A brilliant golden light shone from the pearl as it quivered and violently broke apart... a tree branch emergin from it's form, and The Muck surrounding the area started to dissolve away and fall into the water, disappearing for good… The Clam groaned, until finally it shrank into an egg. The branch fragment disappeared as quickly as it was visible... and the egg shimmered and shined, until it fell onto Don Quixote's lance, and a green light washed over her Spear…

Creature(?) defeated!
NEW SPEAR UNLOCKED: Unstable EGO: Effervescent Corrosion
New Skill unlocked: Overflowing Poison: On skill activation, inflict poison on enemies you dodge for 5 minutes.

It was hard for Don Quixote to really note this though as she passed out into the ground, the Springs Town now the shining jewel it was once again. A couple Guards came by, before offering to carry Don Quixote back to their Carriage so they could finally make their way back to town...

Unbeknownst to all of them, a single Green Slime slowly made it's way towards the water, and started to float down the natural river ways that were now flowing out of the City once again...

As Naofumi went along on his travels, he stopped by a riverbank with a curious expression on his face as a small pile of Green Sludge floated down... It wasn't a slime, but it also wasn't something he normally saw here in these wilds... Couldn't hurt to see what it was. He grabbed it as it squirmed in his hands a little bit before he stuffed it into one of his Glass bottles and finally gave it a proper look... It seemed the Green Sludge contained some form of insect or maggot inside of it that had long since perished... The larva for a larger creature? Or maybe the Sludge itself was the Creature? He didn't know for sure, but he shrugged as he absorbed the small sludge, and looked up in surprise at what he had unlocked...

NEW SHIELD UNLOCKED: Corrosive Shield
NEW SHIELD UNLOCKED: Larval Shield
NEW SHIELD UNLOCKED: Ambling-Clam Shield
Defense Increase by +10

New Debuff unlocked: Certain Shield Bashing Skills will now decrease Enemy Defense Level!

New Skill: (?)

This was certainly an interesting change... he'd have to thank the adventurer who killed this strange creature and just leaving it to float down the river for him to find... Certainly an interesting find indeed... Now, if he could just get this Filolial he'd gotten to stop eating all of his rations...

Author's Notes:

Well uhhh, whoops! Been a bit overworked this past week and I fell asleep at the wheel while writing the last bits of this chapter and then when I wake up all of a sudden I gotta go to work, so apologies for the 1 day delay with the chapter! Anyways regardless hope you enjoy the Clam fight! Feel free to drop criticisms and reviews and all that jazz, it's all appreciated!