Erick's POV:
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
In what seems like a strange, maniacal dance, I dodge stone after stone while burning any orange flowers I can find.
- "How cold you are! Why won't you accept any of my gifts?"
Without wanting to answer, I raise my axe against a stream of vines pouring from the ceiling toward me. Thanks to the fire clinging to the axe, the vines I cut don't grow back, remaining completely useless at my feet.
- Where the hell do all these plants come from? We burned all the plants in the city to prevent this!
"Sir, I suspect the Plant Witch's power lies not only in controlling them, but in making them grow abnormally fast."
- Damn it. And to think the Weather Witch brought them into the city just a few hours ago.
The speed and volume of the plants was terrifying. Someone who can create an entire forest from just one or two plants in a matter of hours…
- If only we weren't under the castle…
"I'm so sorry I didn't realize this sooner, sir."
The enormous dome we were standing in was beneath the northern part of the castle. Ifrit confirmed this when the fight started. Although I initially wanted to raise a pillar of lava and destroy the entire dome, I didn't dare because of how suspicious everything seemed. I sent Ifrit to investigate exactly where we had landed, and my hunch had been right.
Although I would like to raise just enough lava to incinerate the dome, I still wasn't confident enough to attempt it. One small mistake could blow up the entire northern part of the castle.
"Sir, to your right."
Whoosh!
Clank!
- Ugh...
My arms creaked from the force of the impact. It was absurdly difficult to see all the rocks in the darkness. Even if I wanted to illuminate the entire place, I couldn't reduce the air so recklessly. I only had Ifrit as my light as I tried to survive and think of a plan to get out of here.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
From three different directions, whistling sounds flew toward me. I jumped in an attempt to avoid the impact, but a huge mass of plants slammed me into mid-air.
- Khu
Is all I manage to utter before being sent flying against the dome's ceiling. The force of the throw shakes the entire place. The impact practically crushes my armor, leaving my form on the wall, from which I'm practically hanging. The air in my lungs is forcibly extracted. An intense pain in my back and head is all that keeps me awake.
- "Hero, what a lovely wall decoration you make!"
Immediately, some vines grab my limbs and free me from the wall. The vines hang me like a puppet being held by its strings. One of the orange and yellow flowers appears in front of me.
- "How pathetic! I can't believe that beings like you are allowed to call yourselves heroes. You're just disgusting, selfish creatures driven by self-interest and your own ego. And to think my sister was near you…"
Her words become strange. I can't quite understand them. My half-consciousness doesn't help much either, but one of the words she mentions lingers in my head.
- …sis-?
I don't manage to finish my question before the vines hurl me against the wall on the other side. This time face-first, I sink between the stones that cruelly crush my bones. The pain becomes almost unbearable. But, without any respite, the vines pull me off the wall again. This time I'm thrown against the ceiling, where I create a small crater as I fall.
- "Did you feel even a little of the suffering you deserve?"
Unlike before, her words are tinged with resentment. She doesn't seem like the same witch I was fighting at the beginning. The pain in my torso is simply too oppressive. I try to move my limbs, but I'm unable to move them at all. The weight of my armor has become my prison.
"Lord… We should simply blow up the entire dome. We can't go on like this."
I could… feel it. Ifrit's power was gathering beneath the earth. It seemed ready to erupt at any moment.
"Only truly strong heroes can protect everything."
A memory of my master entered my mind. I knew very well what Ifrit was proposing. It was possibly the only safe way out of my situation. Many of my bones are broken. Although Ifrit has tried hard to mend what he can, if things continue like this, there will be nothing left to heal.
- …I'm sorry for being such a weak hero, Ifrit. Even though you lent me this power.
"Lord!"
- But… I will not abandon my ideal. Though I am weak now, I will grow stronger.
Slowly, my feet touch the ground as I summon the great axe to stand. I can feel the orange flowers focus on my movements. Slowly, I rise, leaning on it for support.
- I will fight… and I will win.
With my bones being welded by Ifrit, my body aching and my armor in pieces, I prepared for the second assault against the flower witch.