God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.
Chapter 963 - 963: To See the Queen (3).

"I know it is a bit late to be asking this, but what kind of creatures could we encounter?"

Blaze raised his eyes, his brows furrowed a bit,

"Along this path, we might run into {Blue-Horned Apes}, but since they are rare then probably not?"

"There's also the {Blitz Bats} and the {Steelfang Shrews}. Nasty little buggers. And thats just the beasts. The evolved plant life are far more dangerous and variable in terms of what will try to kill you out here." Steve added dryly.

Blaze shot Steve a dirty look, but nodded,

"He's right. Which means the key to successfully reaching our destination, is being as discreet as possible. Too great of a disturbance means we will be drawing the attention of every malignant beast and whatnot in this forest. In the worst case scenario, we will be waking the ones that are sleeping too."

Cain grimaced,

"That... Doesn't sound good."

Blaze shrugged, "It doesn't. Luckily for us, I believe there isn't anything living in his forest we can't take on. But it still won't hurt to be careful and..."

Blaze trailed off.

Cain raised a brow, wondering why Blaze had suddenly fallen silent.

Suddenly, he noticed something off.

He followed Blaze's line of sight and immediately realized what was wrong.

"It was hard to resist." Steve began saying.

Cain shook his head,

"Don't say anything else."

"Okay."

Cain had an ugly expression on his face, but it was nothing compared to Blaze's expression.

"This bastard!"

At some point during their conversation, Steve had wandered away.

Because of that, they had not noticed when he had been grasped by the vines of the thing he had been so curious about.

Now, he was suspended a good thirty feet above ground.

Above him was a strange thing that resembled an enormous flowering blood.

It was a glowing vibrant red and seemed to drip with a nectar that smelled of a wonderful fragrance and blood.

Laid upon the 'petals' of this flowering monstrosity, were countless sharp, tiny teeth.

Cain's expression darkened even further.

Steve struggled a bit then sighed,

"Guys, the vines are too strong for my to break our of. Help..."

"Why don't we just leave him here?" Blaze quickly suggested.

'That is not a bad idea...'

"Damn you, Cain! Are you really considering it?! If you don't cut me loose, I'll scream to the high heavens. Then we'll all be damned!" Steve wickedly spat out.

Cain let out a sigh as he crossed his arm.

A quick glance told him all he needed to know about this thing.

A {Lindworm Budding}.

"I don't think cutting you loose is a good idea."

"Eh? What do you mean?" Steve said with a grimace.

Cain chuckled,

"If we harm even a hair on this thing's head, it very possibly can release toxins into your body that can kill you."

Cain glanced at the dark vines writhing around the strange plant.

"Its vines are covered in barbs that can release poison. It hasn't released any poisons into you, for some reason. If we agitate it, then you might very well begin saying your prayers."

Steve clicked his tongue,

"How annoying. So is this how I go out? Burn all my research!"

Ignoring him, Cain turned to Blaze.

Blaze had his bows furrowed into a tight frown,

"We certainly can try burning it to ash. However, who knows how quickly it can release its poison. Do we take that chance?"

Cain turned to glance back at the plant.

"No. I don't think fire is the way."

Blaze raised a brow,

"What do you mean?'

Cain pointed at the freakishly grotesque flower like mouth.

"I think that thing might be about to fall asleep."

Blaze went silent.

Cain cleared his throat,

"Night hasn't fully come yet. However, I couldn't help but notice that as times goes on, the temperature decreases. Could it be, that this thing has adapted to the cold by falling asleep the colder it gets?"

Blaze hummed,

"If it is falling asleep, then shouldn't it be slower? It snatched that idiot up without us even noticing."

Cain nodded,

"I have an explanation for that."

He bent down and picked up a stone.

Infusing it with a bit of mana, he threw it at the stem of the enormous plant.

Suddenly, the other vines shot out and wrapped around the mana infused stone.

Cain smiled and dusted the dirt off his gloves,

"Those vines are in some sort of symbiotic relationship with that plant. They aren't the same creature. The plant is affected by the cold, but the vines aren't. So even if the plant goes to sleep, it can still be fed if the vines catch prey."

Blaze's eyes narrowed,

"Interesting. But if that is the case, then freezing won't do good either.'

Cain nodded, a strange smile appearing on his face.

"If that's the case, then we can simply give the damned thing what it wants. A meal."

Blaze's face lit up a bit,

"Then that means we are really going to let it eat him?"

"Blaze, you damned—"

Cain chuckled and waved dismissively,

"No. Just watch."

Cain picked up another stone and infused it with mana just like the last one. This is part of a series from My Virtual Library Empire (NovelFire).

However, this time, he didn't just throw it out. Instead, he bit his finger hard enough to break the skin and draw blood.

He squeezed out a single viscous, strangely vibrant red drop of his blood before the wound could close. However, that was more than enough.

With that done, he threw it towards the plant.

Like.the last time, the vines reacted with lightning speed, wrapping around the stone before it could make contact with the {Lindworm Budding}.

Unlike before, however, the vines quickly brought the stone up and into the waiting mouth of the {Lindworm Budding}.

Blaze watched this happen with raised brows, unsure of what had just happened.

Cain cackled manically,

"Turns out a single drop of my blood is more delicious than you are, Steve."

Steve was about to say something when he suddenly let out a yelp. The vines had let him go.

Suddenly falling from that height, he shut his eyes, anticipating brutal contact with the ground.

"I should just let you fall to your death." Blaze grumbled as he plucked him out of the air just before he could hit the ground.

Steve let out a sigh of relief,

"Thanks." He said with a chuckle.

Then he turned to face the plant that had nearly just digested him, his gaze burning with curiosity,

"Now then—"

His eyes widened and his face paled.

Blaze also had a starstruck look on his face,

The once terrifyingly grotesque thing had been reduced to a pile of bubbling rot smoldering with reddish motes.

In a matter of seconds.

"I see. The effects were rather quick to show." Cain muttered to himself absentmindedly.

Blaze stared at him blankly for some time before thinking to himself,

'This guy might be the most terrifying monster of them all within the forest.'