The battle went on way longer than I wanted. My slimes were basically cannon fodder, getting wiped out by its diverse abilities. Every time one of them went down, I felt the pressure piling up. Each loss stung more than the last.

  I looked over at the Vanguards, pushing ahead, set on taking it down. Their greatswords were hitting, but not as hard as I’d hoped, showing just how tough the Oculothorax’s was. But every time they got closer, the boss showcased another terrifying ability.

  One of my Vanguard got in close, but then got hit with a wave of fear. The Oculothorax’s tendril eye glowed in a creepy way right in my slime's line of sight, and suddenly the Vanguard panicked. It started stumbling back, all jerky and disoriented.

  "Get back in the fight!" I shouted, but it was too late. Fear had taken over, making it forget what it was supposed to do and ignore my orders. The Vanguard spun around, its movements all over the place. Another one of the Oculothorax's limbs shot out and slammed into the Vanguard, sending the slime flying. It hit the stone wall hard. The damage wasn't enough to take it down, but it definitely took a sever damage.

  I gritted my teeth, but I didn’t have time to let it mess with my focus. The Oculothorax was already getting ready for its next move. One of the eyes on its squirming tentacles lit up with a bright orange glow.

  I saw one of my Rangers, still shooting their crossbow from a safe distance, spot the eye. The moment their eyes locked on it, they were hit by a sudden wave of heat. The slime caught fire, melting into a gooey puddle that sizzled and steamed in the intense burn.

  Yet, the battle was far from over. The Oculothorax's eyes were a devastating arsenal, each one more terrifying than the last.

  Next, a swirl of green appeared in one of its other eyes, a gross glow coming from it as it locked onto one of my Tanks. The eye’s power flared up, and right away, the tank’s shield started to corrode. The shield began to rust and fall apart in chunks. The tank stumbled back, realizing its protection was disappearing. Then, one of the Oculothorax’s limbs came crashing down, and the tank’s shield just shattered from the sheer weight of the hit.

  Now it was just a normal slime. It didn’t have any armament on hand, but I used some of the mana I had saved up for situations like this, spending two points to have my tank re-equip its shield.

  I knew from the beginning it was more about endurance than strength, but the Oculothorax was outplaying us at every turn.

  The Oculothorax wasn’t done yet. Another eye popped open, this one swirling with a translucent gray color. It flickered as it locked onto one of my slimes charging in from the back. The moment their eyes met, the slime’s movements slowed down and stiffened. A heavy, unnatural pressure filled it's body, and the slime started to feel like it was getting weighed down. It moved slower and slower, all sluggish-like.

  Looks like the boss was using its next move—Slow.

  As it was about to swing its limb at the slowed vanguard, one of the tanks jumped in, blocking the attack and saving my vanguard from getting wiped out.

  I gritted my teeth, trying to keep my cool. This boss knew exactly how to tear us down. Every hit, every glare, felt like it was aimed right at the weakest spot, slowly wearing us down. But I had no choice but to push through. I couldn’t afford to lose.

  And then, as if mocking me, a new eye opened—this one bright and blinding. It pulsed with a dizzying energy, casting a light so intense it was hard to keep focus. The Daze Eye.

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  Most of its powers needed you to make eye contact, but this one didn’t. It just shot out this dazzling light that would make anyone who looked at it feel dizzy and blind them for a few seconds.

  My slimes, trying to stay focused on their targets, suddenly stopped attacking. Their vision went blank, and some even started stumbling around, moving all jerky and out of sync like they couldn’t figure out where they were. I watched in shock as one of them, too dazed to snap out of it, got hit by the Oculothorax’s huge arm. The squishy sound of slime and the crack of stone filled the air as my poor slime got smashed flat against the floor.

  We were running out of time, and I could see things starting to go south. Since the battle started, I’d already lost 3 slimes, and one was still stuck in stone. That’s 4 slimes out of 40 already out of the fight. The numbers were dwindling fast, and each time a slime fell, the Oculothorax’s ever-expanding grip tightened.

  My forces were too spread out, too distracted by the barrage of abilities raining down on us. Fear, freeze, fire, petrification, corrosion, slow, daze… the list was endless, and that was just half of what Oculothorax had throw at us. It could pull out something new from its arsenal at any moment.

  I knew I had to do something to break this deadlock. I had to switch things up.

  “Focus on one eye!” I yelled, trying to get my slimes to rally. “Lock in and take out one of its abilities for good!”

  "Aim for the far-left eye!" I shouted. The eye on one of its appendages—the one that had been burning my slimes alive. It was by far the deadliest one right now. If we could take it out, it might give us the breathing room we needed. "Take that one down first! We can’t afford another round of flames!"

  I needed to use every slime I had before its attacks whittled our numbers down even further. We couldn’t afford to fight this thing at half strength. We had to cripple it now—take away one of its offensive tools—before it overwhelmed us completely.

  The slimes rallied, their movements synchronized, narrowing their focus as they surged forward, making a desperate push toward the far-left eye.

  As the Vanguards and tanks closed the gap, with the Rangers providing support fire from afar, the Oculothorax seemed to realize what we were up to. The far-left eye began to glow a menacing orange, its power charging up.

  “Tanks, block the fire!” I shouted, panic creeping into my voice. My tanks immediately moved into position, stepping into the line of sight between the Oculothorax and the advancing Vanguards. With a synchronized effort, they raised their shields just in time to absorb the brunt of the flames. The heat was intense, and I could see their shields beginning to sizzle as they struggled to hold their ground, but they didn’t falter.

  “Hold strong!” I urged, watching as the flames licked at the edges of the shield. The fire surged, threatening to breach the defenses, but the tanks held their ground. They were buying precious moments—time for the slimes to close the distance and the Rangers to reload and fire another round of bolts.

  Another Vanguard followed, swinging its greatsword through the air with precision. The blade hit the same spot, digging deeper into the tough skin of the creature's limb. The Oculothorax let out a deep, guttural growl as the pressure built, but we weren’t backing down.

  "Keep hitting it! Don’t stop!" I shouted.

  The tanks adjusted their stances, using their shields to steer the creature’s movements, blocking its retaliatory strikes while the Vanguards and tanks focused on that limb. The slimes kept coming, moving fast and perfectly in sync, each one adding its strength to the fight.

  A few of the Rangers fired another round of bolts, hitting the limb near the base and weakening it. The Oculothorax’s eye flashed brighter, signaling its anger, but it was too late. The damage was done.

  With one last push, the Vanguards landed some heavy hits. The appendage shook, joints cracking and splintering as the slimes pushed forward. In a moment of teamwork, the appendage finally gave way, severed at the base with a resounding crack.

  The far-left eye, once full of fiery power, flickered and dimmed as it detached, falling to the ground with a thud. The Oculothorax let out a horrifying screech, the sound reverberated through the whole chamber. Its massive body swayed for a brief moment.

  The slimes held their ground, staring down the fallen appendage and the now useless eye. My tanks stood tall, their shields scorched from the heat, but still holding firm, the fire extinguished the moment the eye’s glow had faded. The Vanguards, their greatswords stained with the creature’s blood, held their ground, awaiting the next command.

  "That’s one down," I muttered, my voice steady despite the the effort it took to pull that off. "We’ve got a chance."

  But the Oculothorax wasn’t finished. Its remaining eyes gleamed with rage as it turned its massive form toward us, readying its next move.

  We were making progress. And I wasn’t going to stop until it was brought down.