Is it wrong for slimes to be in dungeons? (revised)

Chapter 44: Battlefields

I, meanwhile, couldn't manage to get a word in. I was stuck just watching as the two verbally jousted with one another. Hermes relentlessly attacked with pointed questions, while Ciel excellently dodged. But it was clear even to me Hermes was pushing Ciel into a corner with each new question.

But one thing still felt strange

Despite all of his questions Hermes himself still hadn't given anything away himself.

He was...still hiding something.

I looked at him and a certain mysterious gleam filled his eyes as he continued to ask questions.

...Just what is it that you want from this? I couldn't help but wonder as the god continued his offensive.

(Aiz POV)

I dashed forward once more and slash at Ms. Sophia. She parries the blade and moves with it getting uncomfortably close. I attempt to use my off hand to create space but she takes advantage of that allowing me to push her further back further until she's completely out of range.

I pushed forward before she could get proper footing, attempting to diminish the distance and she in turn let loose an attack on my head. I parry it aside and counterattack from above pushing her back further to the ground with an attack from above. She was bent over backwards, her wooden blade nowhere near mine as I downward.

This was my win... And yet–

"Hup," she makes a small noise. Throwing up the wooden blade I smacked aside and using the momentum of my parry in her hand to plant it on the ground and quickly pull herself just out of range.

"..." I was forced to stop. She rolled once or twice before landing on her feet and grabbing the blade at her side that she had thrown beforehand. Had I continued my assault I very well may have won right then and there. But I stopped instead.

I had to update my assessment of Ms. Sophia, the shadow fox. Her fighting style was utterly ridiculous. Because this was the 5th time since the beginning of our sparring I had thought I had surely won. And despite that fact...a conclusion had yet to be met. I was more skilled when it came to swordsmanship...and I had more strength. The gap in our speed wasn't negligible either, although much closer than the others.

Yet my blade just never managed to catch her.

I couldn't help but be reminded of our chase in the lower levels of the dungeon. No matter how close I got to cornering her or how much distance I thought I covered, she always managed to stay several steps ahead of me.

Or no, I say that, but it was much worse back then. The closer I got to her the more elusive she became. A direct confrontation like this was the worst for her. When she was allowed to use the environment around her as she pleased like in our chase she was nigh-untouchable.

I was reminded of that fact here.

But none of that was the point. This sparring match, when fighting her in a more straightforward manner brought out the essence of what I had sensed in the chase. Namely her spatial awareness. The way she used her body, pushing forward and pulling back moving around me all felt calculated as if to force me into the most uncomfortable and unnatural positions. Finding and attacking from blindspots. She was very troublesome...

However, all of that wasn't why I stopped my assault. While it was true that I wanted to reassess my initial impression of her fighting style...

Something was wrong.

I looked over to Sophia as she took deep controlled breaths, obviously winded from the confrontation and I couldn't help but narrow my eyes at that. Of course, given what she had to do in order to escape my attacks were intense feats of acrobatics she would be winded...and yet, it didn't add up.

Because when I had chased her in the dungeon she had kept running for three days straight. Even supposing that she was exerting more energy here, which was doubtful, could it really be to the point where she'd tire after only 4 minutes? Something was wrong here.

Sophia slowly got back onto her feet properly, her shoulders dropping and falling as she breathed heavily.

She had a drained expression, her blank eyes stared vaguely at me. She sucked in a breath and stood up straight before closing her eyes.

?

I followed her movements with my eyes as silent alarm bells rang out in my head. Her eyes opened slowly once again and the aura about her changed completely. She still seemed exhausted, but something about the way she held herself was different. It was more polished.

She tapped her foot against the ground once again, allowing the low clicking going off at regular intervals.

I peered into her gaze, As she took in one more deep breath...

"Hmph." and a focused and determined gaze came over her sharp features that were unlike anything I had seen from her before.

A new stage of this fight was to begin at once.

(Rimuru POV)

As I stared at the god before me I couldn't help but feel a little nervous. Luckily enough for me it doesn't seem as though he knew who I was, but then again that could just be part of his game.

My thoughts on Hermes were complicated. Thanks to what Amaterasu told me about my apparent curse my immediate instinct to deem him an enemy may be hasty. And more than that If I made an enemy of him something told me that'd be more trouble for me than I wanted. The easy solution would be to come to some compromise after revealing who I am, but...That would require me to understand just what Hermes is after.

I couldn't reveal myself recklessly to him. I had managed to avoid falling into any of his traps so far, but in truth if this dragged on for too long I was bound to slip up.

I closed one eye behind my mask.

Hermes must've realized he was getting nowhere because at this point we were both sitting silently.

"Here you are," Our drinks finally arrived. Both Hermes and I had some tea while Bell asked for some iced water.

"Hmm I am a little curious, what exactly do you look like under that mask?"

"..." I stopped for a moment.

This mask, shizu's mask. I had needed it in the past to hide my aura completely and suppress the curse of the dungeon that made gods my enemies.

I had gotten to a point where on my own I could mostly hide my aura and suppress the curse to the point where gods would only feel mild discomfort when around me, but the mask was far more effective and took far less focus.

The issue came here. If I removed my mask, even just a semblance of either the curse or my aura would almost definitely get me identified by Hermes. And if that happened, things could go very difficult for me.

Could I lie and say I have a complex...? No that wouldn't work Bell is right there he's already seen my face... Using my <thought acceleration> to the utmost I tried to find a way out...

"Alright," I responded after a moment had passed.

Please work...! I let out a silent prayer, sidestepping the irony of doing such a thing given who I was trying to deceive.

My hand then reached up and took a hold of my mask before removing it.

(A/N: Slightly longer chapter this time.  Not sure if you all should get used to this or if this'll be a one off thing yet.  

I'll keep it brief this time cause I had a shitty week and don't feel like dragging this out too much. 

If you liked it vote so I can get that wattpad clout and if you didn't sue me. (and tell me how to get better pls.)

Byeeeeeeee)