"Another fork in the road…"
This time, it was a T-shaped intersection. Once again, the path ahead was obscured, continuing into an eerie, shadowy corridor.
"Asfi, which way should we go now, "
Before Lulune could finish her question, a squelching noise interrupted her. From both the left and right paths, the man-eating flowers emerged once again.
"From both sides this time, huh…"
"No, it's worse… They're coming from behind too."
"What!?"
Surrounded on three sides. It was a complete ambush.
"…Ais, could you take care of one path on your own?"
"Understood."
"Toki, provide support to everyone."
"Got it."
Standing in the center of the T-junction, I summoned my tentacles. With enemies approaching from three directions, I allocated four tentacles to each side.
"Engage!"
At Asfi's command, everyone sprang into action. Eight members faced the rear, seven to the right, and Ais was left to handle the left side alone. Although she was by herself, buying time until the others finished their tasks would suffice. I focused my support on her side to ensure success.
At that moment, as Ais struck at the man-eating flowers, a massive pillar suddenly fell from the ceiling.
"What the!?"
More pillars shot down in rapid succession, quickly sealing off the left passage entirely.
"A split!? Ais!"
I lashed at the pillars with my tentacles, but they didn't budge an inch.
"Ais, are you alright!?"
Straining my enhanced hearing, I tried to pick up sounds from the other side of the pillar wall. Faint noises of battle could still be heard, but they were growing more distant.
"Ais!?"
"What's happening?"
"Ais got forced deeper into the corridor!"
"What? Hey, Ais! Can you hear me!?"
As monsters pressed in, Lulune shouted desperately, her voice echoing in panic.
"Lulune, instead of worrying about her, focus on our situation! We'll move as soon as we secure a path!"
"You're heartless, Asfi!"
"She's the Sword Princess!"
By now, she was likely too far away to hear us. My own heightened senses could no longer detect the sounds of her battle.
But she's the Sword Princess. The first-tier adventurer that Bell admires so much. She wouldn't fall here, not in a place like this!
"Enemies at the rear! Five of them!"
"They're coming from the front too!"
I prepared my tentacles to intercept them. However,
"Toki, stop! Everyone, scatter the magic stones!"
At Asfi's command, I quickly deactivated my skill. From the pouch on my waist, I grabbed a handful of magic stones and threw them along the walls.
As if bewitched, the man-eating flowers ignored us and charged toward the scattered stones instead.
"Forward, everyone!"
The information Ais had shared about the monsters prioritizing magic stones seemed accurate. While the creatures were preoccupied with the stones, we swiftly pushed ahead.
At the rear, Asfi threw three bottles of Burst Oil to finish the job.
"Nelly, your magic sword!"
At the same time, Nelly unsheathed her magic sword and swung it. A fiery slash flew from the blade, igniting the Burst Oil. The resulting explosion lit up the corridor.
Even so, the others' movements stood in stark contrast to mine. Their teamwork was seamless, every member executing commands instantly and adapting with precision. It was as if the party itself was a single, unified entity.
Compared to them, I…
"Asfi, we've got a swarm coming from the front!"
Lulune's shout pulled me out of my thoughts. Looking ahead, an overwhelming number of man-eating flowers were surging toward us.
While calling out the warning, Lulune weaved through the oncoming monsters, slashing them as she passed. This signaled the frontline fighters to draw their weapons and begin their counterattack.
"It seems they really don't want us going any further…"
Asfi smirked slightly, her lips curling into a faint smile. The fiercer the monsters' resistance, the more certain it became that something significant awaited us ahead.
"Toki, move to the midline and provide cover."
"Understood."
…..The Storeroom
Asfi moved to the front, while I stayed in the middle to focus on support. Despite the relentless battles, the party's pace hadn't slowed in the slightest.
How many waves of monsters had we fought off by now? Suddenly, a faint red light appeared ahead.
"…What's that?"
"Could it be the glow of quartz? Are we close to the pantry?"
Lulune's quiet muttering reached my ears. Indeed, the light resembled the red glow we had seen illuminating the path before entering the meat wall.
"Asfi."
"We're pushing through."
At Asfi's command, I mustered all my strength. Dispatching the last man-eating flower, I sprinted to keep up with the group.
Finally, we entered the expansive chamber of the storeroom.
The view opened up before us. The walls were the same greenish hue as the corridors we'd traversed. At the center stood a massive quartz column, parasitized by enormous monsters.
"Parasitic plants…?"
Three monstrous creatures, resembling the man-eating flowers we had fought before, were wrapped around the quartz pillar. The central pillar, towering roughly 30 meters high, was entwined with their long, thick, and grotesque bodies. Their tentacle-like vines clung tightly to the pillar's surface.
"Are they… absorbing nutrients from the pillar?"
At regular intervals, the monsters pulsated, greedily drawing the liquid oozing from the quartz.
This could only mean one thing: these massive man-eating flowers were leaching nutrients from the storeroom itself. They had eroded the labyrinth to establish their presence and fed the smaller creatures with the magic stones of the monsters that breached the meat wall.
Efficient, no doubt. And clearly, they were the source of all this trouble.
"Wait, who are they?"
Someone's voice broke my concentration. Looking down, I noticed another group within the chamber. Cloaked figures in white robes, their faces obscured by hoods, with identical forehead insignias.
One of them pointed toward us, shouting in alarm.
But my gaze was drawn elsewhere, deeper into the chamber.
A green gemstone. Inside it, a fetal form.
Its faint pulse seemed to resonate with my own heartbeat, which pounded wildly in my chest.
What is that…?
Then, the fetus's eyes met mine.
"Ugh…"
"Toki!?"
A sharp ringing filled my ears. My skin crawled as if worms were writhing beneath it. A wave of nausea surged through me.
I couldn't stay on my feet. Clutching my mouth, I dropped to one knee.
"Toki, are you okay!?"
"This… this is just like what happened to the Sword Princess…"
"What do you mean, Lulune!?"
"I-I don't know!"
No. I couldn't let this be the reason the party faltered. Not because of me.
Forcing the nausea down, I exhaled deeply and avoided looking at the gemstone. …Alright.
"Asfi, Lulune. I'm fine now."
"Are you sure!?"
"Yes. Let's focus on assessing the situation…"
I turned my gaze back to the cloaked group. Among them, a figure in white was being approached by someone in a robe of a different color.
Then, all at once, the group drew their weapons. Raising them high, they charged toward us.
"Hey, looks like they're spoiling for a fight!"
"We'll engage. We need to find out what they're doing here… and why."
Their intent was unmistakable, murderous and directed squarely at us.
"Toki, you, "
"I'll fight."
"But…"
"I'll be fine. This is why I was brought here, to handle combat against people."
"…Understood. One more thing, leave the one in the different-colored robe and the man in white alive."
In other words, anyone else was fair game.
I shifted my mindset. I wasn't a puppet anymore, killing because I was told to.
I was here to protect my companions, to be useful to them. Even if it meant taking lives.
"I'll kill them."
"Kill them!"
"Engage!"
And so, the battle began.
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