Vines?
The moment my eyes laid upon those vines, it seemed like they were shocked by a lightning bolt.
The vines immediately tried to retract like a deer that had been spooked.
It didn't matter however.
I was already standing in front of the tap at this time, my fingers already grasped onto it with Infinity protecting them.
It was important that I don't touch this plant.
Based on what I remember off of plant powers from different series, they usually had something in common.
Poison.
While I had strong resistance towards poisons, it would be safer to not test that with Honkai buffed ones right now.
Sure it would be good for adaptation, but if the poison was strong, it could definitely stun me for a few moments.
Not what I want at a time like this.
With the vines between my fingers, it wriggled and turned as it tried to escape my grasp for a bit.
When it realised that it couldn't escape though, it seemed like it just cut its losses, letting the vine go completely limp and run dry of Honkai energy in the process.
Seeing this, my eyes narrowed.
This is troublesome…
So it's not just a random mindless Honkai plant beast then.
At this time, none of the others had fully reacted to my movements yet. The first to respond however, was Theresa.
It was to be expected, considering that she was the Principal of St. Freya after all.
"Gojo?"
I moved my gaze away to look at Theresa.
And at that moment…
The sink exploded.
Large green tendrils smashed, sending debris and metal fragments flying everywhere.
I could feel the large truck we were in get lifted up from the force of the blow as the large stalks tried to smash my face in.
However, there was still something in the way.
"Hey…" I laughed out loud. "Was that a sorry attempt at a sneak attack?"
The vines, as if in understanding. immediately became more aggressive. They shifted their methods, instead trying to wrap around me like a python would with its prey.
Still…
Infinity diff.
The girls cried out in concern towards me, but I just waved them off.
"It's fine guys. Nothing to worry about."
And at the same time, the vines were shattered into tiny, well-sliced cubes.
"See?"
I walked over lackladaiscally to them.
"Phew…" Kiana said with a sigh of relief. "Your power thingy saved you?"
"Yeah. I have anti-plant techniques-"
"From the Heian era, right?" Mei suddenly finished for me with a small smile.
I nodded cheerfully. "Right! You know me so well."
"Guys… is this really time to be cracking jokes?" Theresa cried out with Judah behind her, sharp spears appearing in a rainbow pattern from Judah. "We've just been attacked by some creep!!"
"Principal. The Bronya suggests not looking too deep into Gojo and Kiana's state of mind. One will find that it is a dangerous place to be in."
"Why?"
"IQ begins to drop from degeneration of mental faculties."
"That's just nerd speak for brain rot." Kiana snorted in response.
"Err… it feels like Bronya's version was less insulting than what you just said, Kiana…" Theresa muttered under her breath.
"Well this is funny and all guys," I interrupted. "But have you noticed that no one has checked on us yet?"
Now that caught everyone'ss attention.
"It would seem like we're likely under attack right now." I said in a matter of factly tone. I pointed my finger at the mostly totalled side of the vehicle.. "Pew"
The walls exploded outwards into tiny pieces of metal. The sunlight shone in as we were allowed to see the outside of the truck…
And wow… it was not very daijobu.
The many Valkyries that stood on watch were struggling immensely as they fought off a sudden wave of vines.
As if that wasn't bad enough, there were small Honkai beasts coming in to add insult to injury.
Now let's talk about injury…
Bodies were strewn across the floor, blood seeping onto the streets. For the Valkyries that were still in combat condition, they were fighting for their lives with guns in hand.
It was obvious however that they wouldn't survive much longer without any backup.
They were just a logistics crew for the main task force after all.
And I guess the main task force was chatting with us just now…
"This…"
Theresa's eyes were wide open as she stared at this terrifying scene for a second.
Her bangs covered her eyes as she looked down. With gritted teeth and clenched fists, a soft but garbled sound emerged from her throat, as if something was growling.
"Honk-"
Before she could finish her cry of anger, I had already snapped my fingers.
"Dismantle"
Countless black lines suddenly appeared upon the bodies of the Honkai beasts and the vines.
Explosions of bloody Honkai bits and plant juice suddenly filled the battlefield.
"Hehe, I'm not done." I said smugly as I outstretched my hand with my palm wide open, causing multiple Blue orbs to form at strategic points on the battlefield.
"Blue"
The gory Honkai bits were swiftly sucked into the Blue orbs before I swung them into the sky.
"And last but not least…"
I paused for a moment as I built up some energy.
Then, I pointed in the same direction.
"Red"
A gigantic force of repulsion caused shockwaves to ring through the area, shattering windows and causing buildings to crumble.
The Valkryies that had been busy fighting were almost swept off their feet as they clung onto dear life.
On the other hand, those whose lives and deaths were unknown were about to be flung like limp ragdolls.
Luckily though, not only were some Valkyries able to grab some of them, but Theresa seemed to get out of her emo moment at this time.
Judah's chains hurriedly burst out and grabbed the Valks and dragged them behind cover.
Kiana, Bronya and Mei were shielded behind Project Bunny and the main body of Judah as well.
It was only after all the materials dragged into were completely annihilated that the power of Red stopped allowing for the world to slowly return to a calm silence.
Smoke wafted through the scene, coughs soon echoing out in the area.
And the only one who was unaffected was standing there in the middle, feet slightly off the ground, watching as a tiny vine slowly crept back into the ground.
Slowly opening her eyes after the bright explosion of Red, she rubbed them for a moment as she hurriedly tried to find the figure of the person who caused this.
When they found their target however, she could not help but widen her eyes involuntarily.
"Gojo Satoru…"
"What the heck are you?"
—---------------------
"Nice! Everyone is safe and sound!!"
I clapped my hands in joy as I took in my work.
No casualties, luckily enough.
Though the attack was very sudden and swift, the level of the Honkai beasts and vines wasn't enough to kill anyone immediately in that short stint.
The bad thing though was that those Valks seemed poisoned.
The poison was very potent, but Schicksal seemed to have faced Honkai-type poisons before so they were just bedridden rather than on a timer to die right now.
"Y'know, you could have not almost killed everyone instead with your Red?" Kiana said from behind me as she suddenly hooked an arm around my neck. "But anyways, nice!!!"
"It was meant to be a quick thing." I argued in response. "Theresa was there with Judah to grab them anyways."
When I mentioned Judah though, Kiana looked left and right quickly before she whispered into my ear.
"Y'know, doesn't it feel like that cross is the one doing the fighting rather than- AAGHHH"
I felt the pressure on my shoulders disappear as Kiana was promptly ripped off by Theresa.
"Kiana! Men and women shouldn't stick so close to each other! And I heard what you said!!!"
Kiana just stuck her tongue out.
Theresa shook her head in exasperation. "Seriously you…"
Then, she looked at me.
"Gojo. Thanks." She let out a sigh that she seemed to be holding in for quite a while. "You made things a lot cleaner than it would have been there."
"No problem."
"But man…" She poked her fingers together. "Now I have even more bills to pay for…"
I raised an eyebrow. "Don't you get a budget from the headquarters?"
"Yeah! But that's technically my money!"
Ah?
"You mean that you use the school's money however you like?"
"..."
"Wait, seriously?"
"No?"
I went down to her level to meet her eye to eye, causing her to retreat a few steps. I didn't care about that though as I went on with what I wanted to say.
"Theresa. I can't believe that you would actually do something like that."
"It's a misunderstanding! You gotta belie-"
"Does that mean we can get nepo privileges at your school?"
"... What?"
I shrugged. "Kiana does call you aunt after all."
"No way!" She bursted out. "I'm a fair principal! There's no way I can favour one person over the others!"
Seeing the Principal's superbly responsible reaction, we just sighed and were about to leave.
But just before that, we noticed her looking around, as if checking whether anybody was there.
Then, she moved in closer and whispered to our ears.
"Well, that's actually okay if you don't tell anyone."
…
Did I ever say how good it is to be a part of nepotism?
—--------------------------------
Later on in the day, when the sun was about to set, I stood in the same destroyed area that had been attacked.
In my hand was one of the plants that had attacked this morning.
Well one of the pieces of them at least.
I had a suspicion right now.
Those plants that attacked us. I didn't think that they were completely done for yet.
The reason for that was that I noticed that when I saw the plant in the kitchen, it tried to retreat immediately when it noticed my attention.
That was weird… Most Honkai beasts attacked even if they knew they were going to die for it.
Plus, the vines came out from the ground, therefore there should technically be a source right?
If it was just the plants themselves that were infected and gained sentience, that would make sense, but the vine crept back into the ground as well…
Was there a source?
Perhaps, there was a chance that instead of being multiple plant Honkai beasts, it's a singular creature controlling these plants with how they function…
And the only Honkai being I've seen having these survival instincts thus far?
A Herrscher.
Damn it… not again…
Am I gonna fight fucking Hashirama now?
Shaking my head, I ridded my head of those thoughts.
Then, I focused on the piece of the plant again.
Could I… trace the Honkai energy back to its source?
It could be plausible, but my control over external Honkai energy not belonging to me was not as great as what I had for the one in my body.
There was a workaround of course.
The sides of my lips curled up.
But just as I had raised the vine, a hand suddenly stopped my descent.
"Are you perhaps trying to stab yourself?"
Then I saw it.
Her purple hair.
And the pure, unadulterated arrogance belonging to only one girl I knew.
"Why aren't you answering me?"
"Gojo?"
(A/N: Bigger chapter today)