Chapter 80: The Old War Axe (2)

“Ah, wai, aaah!? I-I'm gonna be eaten! I'm gonna be eaten!!”

Ibi, whose whole body was instantly wrapped, was getting closer and closer to the petals of the 「Man-eating Flower」.

If left alone, it would surely swallow her whole in one bite.

『Stop!』

But as soon as it heard my 「Word Command」, the 「Man-eating Flower」 stopped dead in its tracks.

At the same time.

“──Hup!”

(Unbelievably so for such a body) Toric, who had jumped high, cut down all the vines binding Ibi at once.

Ibi, who fell without being able to prepare, landed on her butt with a "Ack!" and fell to the ground.

Shwaaak!

From the cross-section of the cut vines, 「Sticky Liquid」 spewed out again, covering Ibi and Toric below.

But, we had no intention of falling for it twice.

“Rine! Water!”

“Mage! Spray water!”

As soon as Toric and I shouted at almost the same time, Rine's 「Water Bomb」 fell on Ibi's and Toric's heads.

Swaaaa──

And so, the 「Sticky Liquid」 that covered both of their bodies was instantly washed away.

Immediately after, Toric kicked the ground again and rushed towards the 「Man-eating Flower」.

Hwoook!

The axe came down.

──Kaang!

And was immediately repelled.

It seemed that while the old ‘hatchet’ could split firewood cleanly, it couldn't cut the thick stem of the 「Man-eating Flower」.

But Toric wasn't flustered and continued his attack.

He thrust with the repelled axe, ‘hitting’ the stem with the end of the handle.

At that moment, the vines of the 「Man-eating Flower」 flew towards Toric.

“…Ugh!”

And whipped him away like a whip!

It then tried to wrap the ‘fallen’ Toric like it did with Ibi before, but.

『Just die! You idiot!』

Instead, before the vines could reach him, it had to writhe in a silent scream at my 「Vicious Mockery」.

There was an unverified myth that when you speak ‘good words’ and ‘bad words’ to a plant, the one that heard good words grows well and the one that heard bad words doesn't.

This was the moment it was proven to be complete bullshit.

Because upon hearing the 「Vicious Mockery」, despite having no expression, it looked thoroughly enraged, and its stem immediately stiffened and grew larger.

Taking massive damage momentarily, its aggro was naturally drawn to me, and its vines flew towards me all at once.

Hwiririk!

‘Dosun’, which had flown over in an instant, spun around and cut down those vines.

As it did, 「Sticky Liquid」 was splattered on me, but since my body was far from ‘agile’ to begin with, it didn't matter at all.

It just… felt unpleasantly damp and sticky.

In the meantime, Ibi, who had instantly retrieved the ‘Dosun’ she had thrown.

“I’ll kill you…!”

Rushed forward, looking thoroughly pissed off, as if to return the humiliation she had just suffered.

“You, pervert flower bastard──!”

Nimbly dodging the vines that extended as if to block her, to launch a 「Feint Attack」.

Seogeok!

A petal cut by ‘Bokdol’, which drew a band of light, fluttered down.

At that, the 「Man-eating Flower」 writhed as if in pain again.

“Ugh!?”

And after knocking Ibi away by wildly brandishing its vines, it scattered 「pollen」 once more.

At that moment.

──Paang!

It was all blown away before it could properly spread by the 「Gale」 shot from one of Lily's gloves.

The 「Man-eating Flower」, which seemed enraged by this, swung its vines to aim at Lily, but.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

Miki, who rushed in to 「Guard」, perfectly 「Parried」it.

Not stopping there, Lily immediately grabbed a vine lying on the ground with one hand.

Then, pshshk! wind blew out, and using her momentarily enhanced [Strength], she broke it off as if pulling it out.

As it did, the 「Sticky Liquid」 that spewed out covered both Miki and Lily, but.

“Rine!”

Swaaaa!

Almost simultaneously, a 「Water Bomb」 that poured down from above their heads cleanly washed away the liquid.

And then, suddenly, the 「Shield of Water's Protection」 that Miki held began to emit a bright blue light.

It meant that the ‘charge’ was complete.

In the meantime.

“Uryaaat!”

Seogeok!

Another vine was cut off by the axe that Toric brought down.

Toric didn't stop and continued to swing his axe, cutting off the vines that were obstructing him one by one as if pruning branches.

On the other side, Ibi was cutting off vines by throwing ‘Dosun’ from a distance, as if determined not to be covered in that liquid again.

Before long, the number of vines had noticeably decreased.

Yes, very noticeably.

To the point where only two were left.

Because of that, the 「Man-eating Flower」, no longer able to attack with its vines, chose to make a last stand.

It meant that it had moved on to the final phase of spraying a ‘digestive fluid’ prepared to digest swallowed creatures── in other words, a 「Dissolving Liquid」 that melts everything.

Even if it meant giving up on making us its nutrients, it was to somehow survive.

For a moment, the petals closed.

“──Miki!”

“Yes!”

And then again, when they opened wide──

“Now!”

──Shwaaak!

The spewed 「Dissolving Liquid」 was instantly swept away by the raging 「Wave of Protection」.

Nevertheless, the 「Man-eating Flower」 did not stop.

It raised its stem upright again as if throwing its head back, and closed its petals to spew 「Dissolving Liquid」 once more.

However.

“Rine!”

That flower bud would never bloom again.

『──Soar!』

Because flames had soared first.

Hwareureureuk──!!

Two large 「Pillars of Fire」 completely engulfed the 「Man-eating Flower」.

『Now you’re not a flower, but a fire!』

As my 「Vicious Mockery」 shattered its mind.

* * *

Before long, after the fire went out, the 「Man-eating Flower」 no longer had even a form.

Because it had burned fiercely and then turned to ash, scattering in the wind.

A moment later, ‘experience points’ came in.

It was a signal that the subjugation of the boss 「Man-eating Flower」 had been successful.

In other words, it was now time to collect the rewards.

First, I picked up the 「Lesser Magic Stone Ore」 that was lying there where the 「Man-eating Flower」 had been until just a moment ago.

Next, I picked up one of the vines rolling around near Toric, who was asking Rine to wash off the 「Sticky Liquid」 covering his body.

Probably the one that was in the most intact state among those we had cut, which had become a ‘weapon’── the 「Man-eating Flower's Vine」.

--

「Man-eating Flower's Vine」 (Rare)

Effect - Has a certain probability of making the hit target ‘bound’.

--

The damage itself was nothing special, just an ordinary ‘whip’.

However, it had the ability to sometimes put the enemy in a ‘bound’ state.

Just like the 「Man-eating Flower」 had done to us… or to be precise, to Ibi.

Therefore, after picking up the 「Man-eating Flower's Vine」, I immediately rolled it up and attached it to my waist.

Currently, the only ones with an empty ‘weapon’ slot were me and Miki, but since Miki couldn't use a weapon for the reason I mentioned before, I was practically the only one who could use it.

My real weapon was 「Vicious Mockery」, but it had the disadvantage of being unusable in situations where I couldn't open my mouth, like when the 「pollen」 was spreading earlier.

So I did need a suitable auxiliary weapon for such times.

Of course, with my minuscule ‘strength’, it would be no different from swinging a rat's tail.

Besides, it wasn't a very good weapon in the first place.

However, the additional effect it had was quite useful.

Of course, it had the disadvantage of having a very low probability of causing the ‘bound’ state── but I, have the 「Moment of the Star」 that can overturn that low probability, don't I?

In other words, it means that for just one time, I can unconditionally bind the opponent.

So, while it might not be much of a weapon, it's a tool with many uses.

“──Heheh.”

The moment a laugh escaped me at the thought of getting a useful item, I saw Ibi, who had approached me at some point, glaring at me with cold eyes.

“Pervert bastard.”

“Huh?”

Why on earth?

As I said at the beginning, the real reward of this mountain was separate.

After safely dealing with the 「Man-eating Flower」, we headed towards the large tree where ‘Toric's axe’, the real reason we had climbed to the summit, was buried.

Miki volunteered to do it himself, but Toric firmly refused.

It wasn't a matter of courtesy.

“This is something I must do.”

Was the reason.

Then, after Toric had been digging for ten-odd minutes, the ‘end of the handle’ finally appeared.

“Th-That’s…!”

To be precise, the decoration at the end of the handle── the insignia of the ‘Kapers’.

As soon as he saw this, Miki's eyes began to sparkle with a face full of anticipation.

Every time Toric dug out the surrounding soil, the shape of the upside-down buried axe began to be revealed.

Soon, when even the blade of the axe began to slowly appear, Toric stopped digging and gripped the handle.

And then, he pulled it out with force.

Shwaaak!

Toric first lightly brushed off the soil covering the double-bladed axe he had pulled out, which was as tall as him.

--

「Old Toric's War Axe」 (Unique)

Effect - When equipped by Toric, Strength stat +2, Dexterity stat +1

--

A mix of emotions must be crossing his mind.

Because he had dug up his own axe, which he had buried deep with the intention of never wielding it again.

Toric just silently looked down at the axe for a while.

How much time had passed since then?

The moment Toric finally gripped the axe with both hands.

“…!”

For a moment, my companions and I couldn't help but hold our breath.

It was an axe that had clearly looked like nothing more than a worn-out, faded piece of junk.

“Let’s go now.”

Until it was held, ‘properly’, in Toric's hand.

I want to say a final goodbye.

At Toric's request, we stopped by Haim Village again before descending from the mountain.

To find the two graves in the backyard of Toric's house.

Toric said nothing, but Lily, who seemed to have immediately recognized that the two stone towers were graves, cautiously asked.

“If it’s not too rude, may I ask whose graves these are…?”

“The graves of my wife and child.”

As if it were an old story now, Toric answered calmly.

But it was clear just by seeing him immediately kneel that he was not really accepting the fact calmly.

And then, as usual, Toric began to offer his own prayer without a word.

At that, Lily and Miki also began to pray together, politely clasping their hands next to Toric.

A moment later, Toric, having finished his usual prayer, got up.

However, unlike until now when he had said nothing, today he left just one word.

“I’ll be back.”

A promise to return, which he probably hadn't made when he first left this house alone.

--

Companion Quest

「Two Graves 」

Track down clues about Stras, the 4th Corps Commander of the Demon King’s army.