*Chapter 42 - Forest of Death*
The first thing Medana felt as soon as she set foot on the campus was that her whole body was restless and she wanted to run away. Humans have an instinctive response to danger. In the mutant, it is much stronger than normal people.
When faced with a danger that is much more powerful than yourself and can kill you, you feel this kind of foggy feeling. Medana didn't even get that feeling when she passed by the S-level mutant Centi.
Cutting through some of the purple vines that closed in front of her with a metal sword, she looked at the Venus trap plants inside.
"System... What are these plants?"
[Accepting assignment. The result: a hybrid of North Carolina species of Venus trap plant and other types of carnivorous plants. Overview: Area type mutant power. Risk beyond A+.]
Medana's face immediately turned dark. 'Mutant composed of carnivorous plants? Even if this mutant is not an S-rank, it can already cause a good deal of trouble to an S-rank in its territory.' Medana immediately became more concerned about Lisa.
The problem is that her power isn't really enough. Even for an ordinary A-ranked Aizawa, she had to fight to the death, so it was more difficult to face this terrifying mutant.
"I don't care anymore... What can I do?"
Medana raised the sword in both hands and faced the giant tree forest.
"I'll break in and save..."
After a single roar, Medana cut down the slowly growing vines and created a man's entrance.
"Frog... don't follow me, stay outside and get some help," Medana said to the boy who was still behind her and immediately ran into the forest.
The frog just stood there. "It's like I'm familiar with the way she talks."
The inside of the forest is hellish. The venus trap plants are trying to capture Medana, and the purple vines are often entwining her legs.
Worse, when zoomed in on the purple vines systemically, the surface of the plant appears to have tiny, pore-like suction cups and tiny spikes that can suck blood directly from skin contact.
Medana swung her sword continuously, cutting through the plants that surrounded her. After a while, she felt dizzy because of the sudden amount of pleasure she received. Looking around, she saw a large reddish-brown flower growing on the grass. Even if the system doesn't tell me, Medana knows she might dead from that plant.
Because it is a parasitic plant, it often grows on the roots of trees and has a very bad smell. As Medana approached, she saw a horrifying sight. Some students dressed as government heroes are lying at the foot of a large flower as they are pierced by the roots of the flower and are slowly being drained of blood.
Medana immediately cut the roots of the plant and tried to save the students. After cutting the first root with the knife, the big flower seemed to get angry and blew out a green mist.
[Poisonous gases are detected in the air. The emergency gas mask system will open.]
Medana sighed. A thin layer of filter covers all the air vents on the head of the Silver Knight suit, protecting it from being affected by the toxic fumes.
[15:00] Just as Medana was thinking, the suit system was already showing when to use the gas shield the most.
"Looks like I can't save everyone." Medana is not omnipotent. She can't save everyone in fifteen minutes, but at least she wants to save Lisa from this flower mutant.
Medana took back the knife and looked around. There was a green mist hanging over the entire forest, and not even the sun could be seen. There is only a faint light.
"No one would believe this if they said it was a hero school."
...
"Fox NY9 is reporting important news. It's been more than four hours since the mutant science organization attacked New York City. Over three thousand people have been injured and some heroes have also been affected."
The pretty-looking female news anchor was delivering the news quickly in a fast voice.
From the square where the ground news was being shown, there was a close-up of a wrecked Hero Association car and a fallen Vice Dean Harry. It was a great embarrassment to the New York Association that even an important official was affected.
"As for the biggest damage, an underground test chamber appeared in the Queen port area, and the S-rank villain Mad Doctor and A-rank heroes fought. According to sources, Silver Knight also participated in the fight. According to reviews, His suit has become stronger and has reached B-rank."
Suddenly, a man entered the newsroom in the middle of the live news broadcast and dropped about a dozen A4 sheets. As the whole city was under attack and receiving a lot of new information continuously, this kind of new information was not unusual at the moment.
The news anchor's eyes widened after seeing the top sheet. Then she coughed to clear her throat...
"Important news...New York City's historic government hero academy is under attack by some unknown villains . The news will be relayed by a team of airborne reporters on the ground."
... The scene shifted to the other side and the sound of a helicopter began to be heard. The middle-aged journalist wearing sunglasses pointed to the Government Hero Academy below him, shrouded in green mist and trees.
"Not long after we arrived, the entire campus was covered in carnivorous vines, and the students inside seemed to be dead. And look at this..."
The reporter pointed to a huge snake lying stretched out on the road. "Silver Knight killed this big guy. he was the hero who came to this place first. he saved a student from that big guy and went in."
The news shows the other side. The news anchor's big smile was seen for the first time.
"Our hardworking Silver Knight is the first to arrive everywhere. But will she be able to defeat that group of villains? According to the expert review, an A+ rank territory-type mutant created this carnivorous forest."
...
"You brat...what else can you do?"
Bat Mutant grabbed Lisa's tail with both hands as she tried to hit him with her tail and swung her like an object. Lisa hit the wall and immediately fell down. Blood dripped from her forehead.
"Gah..." But she immediately got back up, bared her fangs, and ran into the bat man again. This time it was to tear him apart with her teeth. But the bat is much faster than her. It was moving from place to place, flapping its wings, scratching Lisa's body with its claws.
Finally, the big bat stopped in front of Lisa and poked one of its claws into Lisa's back. Five fingers came out from Lisa's stomach. The large intestine burst, and the dirty blood filled the floor. Lisa fell. Bat Mutant was still laughing ugly.
"You have no chance to protect yourselves."
The bat mutant did nothing to end Lisa. The Mad Doctor's orders are simple. No matter what other people in the school do, the only thing that mattered was bringing Lisa back alive. In other words, as long as Lisa doesn't die, there's no problem.
Due to her extraordinary healing ability, after a few seconds, Lisa's wounds healed and she stood up with unwavering determination. The big bat shook his head...
"With just a little bit of dragon blood, your healing ability is better than mine. But how many times can you get back up? Are you addicted to pain? Do you think you have infinite healing power? Aren't you hungry? Don't you feel weak? If so, you won't die of injuries, you'll die of malnutrition."
There is nothing like it in the world. Even the bat-man's healing ability can only be used if he relies on human blood as nourishment. The same goes for Lisa, and without nutrition, her injuries can't heal. Lisa looked at the scratch on her side. Some blood is still flowing. After a while, the wounds healed, but as the man said, she was getting weaker and slower each time.
"Anyway... I can't go with you." Lisa ran forward and raised her right leg as she boasted once more. As for the bat, he was able to dodge the danger with just one flap of his wings, but she didn't give up.
Using the unarmed martial arts she learned from Medana, she defends herself to the end. Suddenly, the bat reappeared behind her, pressing Lisa's shoulder with one hand and holding Lisa's neck with the other.
"Shut up... I want to taste your blood." Then the bat mutant bit into Lisa's neck with its fangs.
...
Medana walked cautiously, holding the sword still. Suddenly, a flower plant that looked like a large water jug fell from the roof of a school and tried to swallow Medana. However, the system had already informed her in advance, and without looking back, she slashed her hand with the knife.
The Bat Pitcher species flower fell to the ground without the toy rope and the stem and flower were broken.
As you get inside the Forest of Death, the types of plants become more diverse, and it seems like you are in a biodiversity museum. Since the campus is a quarter block in size, Medana's goal of finding Lisa within such a plant-covered area becomes even more blurred.
Along the way, there were only students and ruined buildings that were slowly emaciated by being suffocated and drained of blood under the corpse flowers. There was no living thing in motion.
Huh...
Medana looked around as she suddenly heard a whistling sound. But nothing was found. Every drop of water falls on the roof of the school. In fact, the water drops are from a carnivorous plant, the water plant, which originally could only live under water, and their trap leaves are about a centimeter long and trap mosquitoes. Although they can only eat small bugs, now their trap leaves are about a meter big and can even swallow a dog.
Fortunately, the plants did not fight her. Their territory seems to be set on the roof of the school and they don't come down. Only one watercress came down earlier, and the watercress and venus trap plants seem to be more aggressive than others.
[11:24] [11:23] Time is running out. She only had more than ten minutes left.
...Hero...
Once again she heard a voice like the sound of wind. Medana frowned. She knew for sure that it was not the sound of the wind this time. It was as if someone was talking to her... but there was no indication of any unusual sounds coming from the suit, so that was not the case. It was as if the voice had entered her mind directly.
'Wait... The principal of this school isn't a mind-power type, isn't she?' Medana suddenly realized and cleared her mind. The way to communicate with each other is stronger when both parties clear their minds.
'Hero... There are teachers in the two venus trap trees at the school entrance. Save them first...'
Medana nodded. The principal's emotional connection was weak, but she understood immediately.
When she first came in, she came from the side of the entrance gate, but because the trees covered it, she entered from a convenient place, so she did not reach the entrance gate.
But luckily she was only a short distance from the entrance. Medana immediately contacted the suit's drive system.
"System... Show me a map of the school. Show me where I am with GPS."
[Accepting the task... one success... one failure. GPS and location are not yet available. Death Forest blocks satellite communications. School map saved offline has been opened.]
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