Slime Leveling [Litrpg, Timeloop]-Chapter 222—Devourers of the Forest

"Lead the way to the village," Lily said, narrowing her eyes.

Plitur stood up and led the way. Everyone followed without a word.

After a few hours, Plitur slowed. He bit his lips, eyes watering, as the familiar shapes of huts came into view ahead of him.

"So this is your village," Averon muttered.

Plitur nodded but said nothing.

Averon cast "Demonic Crimson Eye!"

Blue mana in the air became visible to him. Along with many other energies.

His eyes glowed with dark demonic force as he walked into the village, carefully inspecting everything around him.

The silence here was heavy.

When he reached the burnt area, two energies became visible to him. They had the demonic force mixed.

"Two signatures. They should be them," Averon muttered.

His new skill, Demonic Crimson Eye, allowed him to see mana and other magical forces in the surrounding atmosphere.

The goats' energy signatures had been left behind when they used their spells. Using that remnant energy, Averon could track their location.

However, this skill would not always be so useful—energies did not remain forever.

Even these goat signatures would have vanished had Averon's group arrived a day later.

"Follow me," Averon said, and followed the trail.

---

After half an hour, the young slime and the gang came across black mist. It hung low and thick, swallowing the path ahead.

"Everyone, use your mana or aura," Lily ordered, already sharing mana with the others.

Averon glanced back to check on Plitur.

He nodded to himself when he saw the little plant demon covering himself with his own mana, rather than relying on anyone else.

'As expected of my senses,' Averon mused.

The small plant demon was far stronger than Bull#1 and Cow#1.

Once everyone was ready, the young slime entered the black mist.

Many energies were mixed together inside the mist. Tracking became difficult. But Averon did not lose the trail.

His spell was still sharp enough to isolate what he needed—it was just slow, time-consuming work.

After a few more minutes, he found the two goat energy signatures buried within the mist. He followed them as the gang kept pace behind him.

Like that, Averon finally found the goats after more than seven hours of travel.

They reached an open grassy field. The sky above was wide—nothing overhead but the darkening air.

"There are no trees nearby," Lily said, glancing around.

Plitur clenched his fists as he stared into the distance, jaw tight.

Averon narrowed his eyes.

A few hundred meters ahead, goats—too many goats of different coloured fur— came into view.

Their bodies were muscular, their horns long and thick.

Some were eating bark off the remaining tree stumps.

Others were munching grass or lying relaxed on the ground, unbothered, as if the field had always been this empty.

Averon raised his head. The black sun was nearing the horizon.

"It's not that there are no trees here," Nobara said, drawing Lily's and Averon's attention.

Wob!

He bounced a few meters away and parted the grass with his small hands. A short, jagged tree stump came into view—barely a foot tall, its top gnawed flat.

"They ate everything," Lily sighed. "Every plant, every tree... devoured."

Averon clicked his tongue. He recalled the trees on the way here—towering things, over a hundred meters tall at minimum.

Now he stood in an open field stretching hundreds of meters with not a single standing tree in sight.

'Devoured. Not one left behind.' He took a breath.

"No wonder they went after the tree demons," Mama Slime whispered. "They had run out of food or spotted them."

These goats were herbivorous demons. When the forest died, the plant demons became their food.

When the wild plants ran out, they had turned to the plant demons and their kin.

There was nothing else left for them to consume.

But they would always prefer plant demons over dead wood.

If they spot a tree demon in a forest filled with plants, they would go after plant demons, instead of eating trees.

Averon clicked his tongue again. Killing to eat was common—too common in this world. He had long accepted that.

But hunting an entire race to the edge of extinction just to fill your stomach was something else.

Even tigers and lions knew better. They killed one or two and left the rest alive.

"There should still be some alive," the young slime said quietly.

He remembered Plitur's words—the goats had dragged some away instead of killing them on the spot.

That wasn't mercy. But it meant they were being kept somewhere.

'A cave. There must be a cave.' His eyes focused.

He scanned past them. A hill sat in the far distance, dark and still against the fading sky.

"Lily," he signaled, pointing toward the hill.

Lily nodded, a small smile crossing her face. She turned and patted Plitur on the head. "There's a chance your parents are still alive."

Before the plant demon could respond, Lily and Averon were already gone.

They flashed in front of the goats.

Boom!

A huge goat in humanoid form, sleeping in the middle of the herd, snapped open his eyes.

He was on his feet in an instant, locking his gaze onto the young slime.

He grinned slowly. "You must be the next Demon King."

Averon said nothing.

He looked the goat humanoid over—three meters tall, a body built like stacked boulders, and half-meter-long horns glowing faintly with yellow light.

"You sure are really naked," Averon frowned.

The goat's thick fur covered most of him, but still. It was a lot.

"Stop wasting time," Lily said, folding her hands behind her back.

"Appraisal," Averon muttered.

[ Ding! Opening status! ]

[ Status

Name: ???

Race: Herculin Goat General ★★★★ {Legendary}

Class: Earth Tyrant General {Legendary}

Titles: Goat Lord, Lazy Lord, Heavy Eater

Level: 187

Tier: 4 ]

'Tier 4...' Averon raised his brows.

Everyone he encountered now was at least Tier 3—the only exception being the plant kid—and the lords were Tier 4.

He recognised the importance of the king's mark.

[ Ding! Unleashing the power of King's Mark! ]

[ Ding. Time count: 10:00 ]

A crown materialized above his head as the demonic force surged through his body.

Whoosh!

He flashed in front of the humanoid goat lord and slammed his fist into the goat's gut.

The goat didn't even notice the young slime move.

Thud!

The goat was launched into the air. He smashed into the hill a few hundred meters away, shaking the slope on impact.

Mud and stones crumbled. The few remaining trees on the hillside snapped and crashed to the ground.

"Ah…" The humanoid goat demon stood up, tossing aside the rubble that had buried him. His eyes turned sharp, jaw clenched tight.

Thud!

Every other goat demon dropped to their knees and pressed themselves low, unable to stand against the pressure rolling off the young slime.

"How dare you, a puny slime—" The goat's body flared with demonic force.

He cast "Demonic Greater Surge!"

Dark energy coiled around him like waves of water.

Boom!

He flashed in front of Averon and swung his fist.

"Demonic Fire Fist." His fist blazed with dark flames as it came down.

Bang!

Averon caught the fist. Then—Crack! Snap!— he bent the arm in the opposite direction.

"Aaah!" The goat screamed, clutching his shattered arm with his free hand, stumbling back.

For the first time, fear appeared in the goat lord's eyes.

He had never fought a Demon King before. It's been a long time since the world witnessed the power of a Demon King.

"You ate them, didn't you?" Averon asked. His voice was calm. His eyes were not.

The goat dropped to one knee. "Forgive me! Forgive me! Plants are just food—everything that is plant and grass… even demons are food for goats. That is nature!"

"Don't you know they are lives?" Averon hissed.

He had never killed an intelligent creature for food. Not even as a goblin.

He had hunted only beasts—things that lived on instincts. There was a line, even in this world. Especially in this world.

"You hunt your food too," the goat retorted through gritted teeth, his remaining fist clenching.

Averon's demonic force surged.

Thud!—the humanoid goat demon's head was driven into the ground. The earth cracked beneath him.

Every other goat in the area pressed even harder into the dirt grass; some of them fainted.

A few strong-hearted ones remained awake—but they had already lost control of their bladders.

"Forgive me, forgive me!" the goat lord screamed, his voice stammered, "I will… stop… I swear it! I will command all my kind... not one plant demon will be touched again!"

A beat of silence passed over the field.

Lily exhaled slowly. She shook her head.

"Kill them all, Averon," she said, voice cold.

Averon looked down at the goat lord.

The yellow humanoid goat was still screaming against the dirt—I will change, I will change, don't kill me—over and over, voice cracking.

The young slime said nothing for a moment.

His eyes moved from the goat to the empty field stretching out behind them.

Then to Plitur, standing alongside the gang, small hands still balled into fists.

The small plant demon was shaking—but he did not look away.

"What would be your choice… Averon?" Lily asked sharply, she continued heavily, "These goats could become powerful subordinates—even stronger than goblins... But they will never stop devouring everything around them."