Just as Nolani's exclamation fell, a hideous red giant flower bloomed in the shadows behind Celine.
Through the dim light, layers of dense, sharp teeth in the center emitted a cold gleam, as if they were about to swallow her whole.
【Skimming Shadow Step】
Celine's figure instantly vanished from the spot.
The sharp teeth snapped shut violently, biting only a residual shadow.
Celine, appearing two meters away, had narrowly escaped. If she had been a step slower, she would have likely been bitten in half.
The giant flower missed its target and crashed into the wooden rack in front of it.
With a piercing crack, the wooden planks snapped in the middle, and the entire row of glass covers crashed to the ground one after another.
Nolani ran over clutching her lyre, first glancing at the wound on Celine's arm with concern.
“Hey, are you alright?”
“Not dead yet,” Celine said, staring intently at the continuously writhing flower stem, forcing a bitter smile. “But it's hard to say about the next few minutes.”
Nolani followed her gaze, and her expression changed as well.
The size of the Corrupted Life-Devouring Flower was still expanding.
A dark red glow spread along the vines, and any roots it touched rapidly turned black. The plants that had been growing peacefully in clay pots and glass covers began to twist eerily.
A creeping vine near the floor was the first to complete its mutation.
It burst through its clay pot, its thorn-covered branches slithering along the stone tiles as if trying to cover the entire basement.
Nolani pressed her fingers against the strings and stood back-to-back with Celine, her voice panicked. “This is bad. The contamination is spreading through the root system. If it continues, every plant in this cultivation ground will be corrupted.”
Celine quickly scanned the surroundings.
They were underground, the light was dim, and the space was cut into narrow corridors by the cargo racks and cultivation stands.
The continuously mutating plants were blocking the aisles, and that giant flower seemed to have locked onto her. No matter how close Nolani was, all its attacks were aimed solely at Celine.
If they delayed any longer, the space they had to dodge would only grow smaller.
By then, forget leaving with evidence—she would likely become the new fertilizer for this underground cultivation ground.
Celine's gaze swept over the massive corolla and finally stopped at its base.
Several black hoses connected to the flower stem were pulsating violently.
The green life force that had been extracted earlier was now flowing backward along the pipes, pouring into the giant flower's roots. The vine she had severed earlier had already sprouted new buds, and the gashes on the stem were rapidly healing.
As long as those pipes remained, it could continuously draw replenishment from the surrounding plants.
“Cut those pipes first.”
Celine pointed toward the base of the giant flower, and Nolani acted immediately.
She cradled the lyre with one hand and swept her other hand heavily across the strings.
【Light Song of Ten Thousand Greens】
A rapid chord echoed through the underground space.
Countless emerald-green leaves condensed with the music, their edges as thin as blades, as they skimmed across the floor toward the pipes behind the giant flower.
The Corrupted Life-Devouring Flower sensed the danger, and several vines snapped back in an attempt to block the light blades.
Celine spread her fingers, and Soul Threads tangled around the vines from all directions, wrenching them apart just before they could close.
The green light blades streaked through the gap.
Squelch—
Several black hoses were severed simultaneously. The life force stored within the pipes sprayed out abruptly, turning into countless tiny specks of green light that dissipated into the air.
Deprived of its life force replenishment, the Corrupted Life-Devouring Flower froze, and its recently healed wounds burst open again.
In the next moment, as if completely enraged, all its vines flared outward simultaneously.
Celine seized the moment and raised her hand, dark blue mana rapidly gathering in her palm.
Dozens of thin, sharp mana shards took shape one after another, hovering around her like a cluster of dark starlight frozen in mid-air.
【Shattered Blade Scatter】
With a wave of Celine's arm, all the shards shot forward at once.
Most of the shards cleared out the contaminated plants along the way, while the remaining dozen or so converged in the center of the fan-shaped range, repeatedly slicing through the giant plant's stem.
Remnant leaves, petals, and severed vines flew everywhere, and the air was filled with the bitter scent of crushed foliage.
The base damage of 【Shattered Blade Scatter】 wasn't particularly high, and its effect against heavily armored targets was limited.
But for pruning these flowers and grasses, it was more than sufficient.
The last few shards pierced through the stem of the Corrupted Life-Devouring Flower. The massive corolla reared up, letting out a piercing hiss before crashing heavily to the floor.
All the writhing vines froze at once, and the surroundings suddenly fell silent, leaving only the clear sound of the two women's breathing.
A moment later, a translucent prompt appeared before Celine's eyes.
【Killed: Corrupted Life-Devouring Flower】
Only after seeing the kill notification did Celine's tense fingers relax slightly.
Nolani raised her hand, a cluster of green light glowing at her fingertips again as she cautiously reached forward.
The light shone over the broken plants covering the floor. Those aggressive branches and leaves had finally stopped moving, leaving only dark green sap slowly flowing along the cracks in the stone tiles.
Before Nolani could even feel any grief, she suddenly took a sharp step back.
“This is... too terrifying!”
“Terrifying?” Celine steadied her breathing and glanced down at the wound on her arm. “Wasn't it terrifying when it was trying to eat us?”
“I'm not talking about the flower.” Nolani pointed toward the floor. “I'm talking about the contamination.”
Celine looked in the direction she was pointing.
The dark red patterns that had originally been attached to the plant stems did not dissipate with the death of the Life-Devouring Flower.
Instead, they laid across the stone surface like countless tiny fungal filaments, continuously growing outward along the cracks. Wherever they passed, the moss rapidly turned black, and even the air grew thick with an uncomfortable scent of decay.
Nolani hurriedly plucked her strings.
Gentle natural mana turned into a layer of green ripples, washing over those black-red patterns. The contamination was pushed back slightly, but it quickly reconverged, bypassing the natural mana to continue spreading.
“It's over, it's over...” Nolani's fingers moved faster and faster across the strings. “My natural power can't purify it. Once these things crawl into the roots outside or the drainage system, there will be no stopping the contamination!”
Celine's sub-class was the Holy attribute. If she used Purifying Light, she might be able to temporarily cleanse these residues.
Although she didn't want to reveal more of her abilities in front of Nolani, now was not the time to keep hiding.
Just as she was about to channel the holiness within her, a new prompt suddenly popped up.
【Detected kindred Decay residue】
【Decayed Residual Root is attempting to absorb the target】
Celine: ?
Before she could even use a skill, the Radiant Ring on her finger suddenly grew searing hot.
In the next second, a dried, twisted, black-red root appeared out of thin air before the two of them.
The cracks on the surface of the 【Decayed Residual Root】 lit up one by one.
The black-red patterns that had been spreading across the floor seemed to be struck by an irresistible pull and stopped simultaneously.
Then, they detached from the stone tiles one after another.
Wisps of decay converged toward the residual root from all directions, frantically boring into its interior.
It was as if an invisible wind had suddenly kicked up in the cultivation ground.
Whether it was the sap scattered on the ground or the contamination that had already seeped into the roots of other plants, everything was forcibly stripped away.
Nolani remained in her posture of plucking the strings, but her eyes grew wider and wider.
“This is...”
The 【Decayed Residual Root】 hovered in mid-air, the black-red patterns on its surface growing brighter and brighter.
It wasn't until the last wisp of contamination was absorbed and the floor returned to its original color that it vibrated gently.
In the next moment, the residual root turned back into a streak of black light and vanished into the Radiant Ring on her finger.
【Decayed Residual Root has absorbed kindred contamination】
【Contamination activity has slightly increased】
The cultivation ground remained quiet for a moment. Nolani snapped out of her shock and slowly looked at Celine.
The ease she had shown before was gone; for the first time, her expression became exceptionally solemn.
“What exactly are you—”
Clang!
A metallic crash suddenly echoed from the other end of the cultivation ground, cutting Nolani off.
Then, muffled human voices came from the distance: “The commotion just now was inside! Quick, check the cultivation area!”
Disordered footsteps rapidly approached. Nolani immediately stowed her lyre. “It seems we don't have time to chat.”
Celine had no intention of explaining either. She turned and rushed toward the workbench, grabbed the logbook recording plant vitality and extraction counts, rolled it up, stuffed it into her pocket, and hurried toward the stone stairs they had come from.
Behind them, the people in charge of the cultivation had already pushed open the iron door at the other end, and an alarmed, angry voice rang out:
“Someone broke in!”
At the same time, a dull creaking sound echoed from above.
The wooden chest blocking the entrance was already severely deformed.
The stone slab was closing bit by bit.
Rate on N.U.
