"All right, you take point, kid," the mustached mercenary ordered. "We'll bring up the rear. And no arguing. You want to play hero, fine, but we're not going to let you risk your life alone."
"Don't worry, I won't be alone."
The mercenaries stared at me, puzzled, but I was already moving into the ruined tower. Cautious and slow, looking around for any enemies. Vines continued to creep down like curtains, with smears of mold and moss all over the once intricately sculpted walls.
There was a spiral staircase that ascended in a winding manner up the circular tower. While I climbed the stairs, I could make out symbols carved into the stone walls of both the central pillar and the outer walls. Most of them were concealed underneath green moss and ferns that had grown rampantly throughout the years, but a few of them continued to be displayed.
Sometimes, I would reach out and brush the mold away to reveal more runes. I didn't understand any of them, though when I activated the Eye of Odin, I was finally able to somewhat decipher the ancient language.
"These weren't built or carved by humans," I murmured.
Then I stopped when I neared the center of the tower. Here, there was a curtain of vines hanging from above, slithering over the walls at a glacial pace. Plants didn't normally move, so there was only one explanation.
"I see. So that's how it is."
I raised a hand and signaled for the paramilitary teams to come to a halt. The mustached mercenary strode over impatiently.
"What's the holdup, kid?"
"You see those vines over there? They belong to a plant type spirit beast. I don't think it's a good idea to walk through them, unless you want to get grabbed and dragged into a sac filled with acid."
"So we should cut them apart or burn them away?" The mustached mercenary turned to his men. "Anyone has a flamethrower?"
"I don't think that's a good idea. I mean I can incinerate the vines for you, but that will provoke the creature into attacking us. Considering it's powerful enough to scare away a Mystic ranked Giga Rex, I suspect it's Earth ranked at least. Are you sure you want to attack it?"
"Then what do you suggest we do?" The dude snapped, annoyed. "We didn't come all the way here just to turn back! We have to do something about the plant spirit beast!"
"Yeah, but I'm just cautioning against doing something reckless. Instead of attacking it, let me find its location and lure it away from the tower. That way, we wouldn't be putting anyone in danger."
"Wouldn't you be in danger, though?" The mustached mercenary snapped. I shook my head.
"Don't worry about me. I have plenty of experience in dealing with spirit beasts. I know how to handle them, and run away if necessary.'
"Fine. We'll leave it to you then." The mustached mercenary was grouchy, but it seemed more because he was frustrated at not being able to help except watch me take on all the risks than because of hurt pride or any pettiness.
I proceeded upward, making use of my Eye of Odin to pick out mana flow, which allowed me to distinguish between the vines belonging to the spirit beast and the ones that were harmless. As they dangled from above, I dropped to a crouch and made my way through them as best as I could to not disturb any of them. But the foliage was so thick that it was near impossible to get past them without brushing them away.
Then one of them struck.
I jumped away from it, but instead of drawing my sword, I chose to evade. Leaping onto the ledge of one of the windows, I watched the writhing mass of vines and tendrils crawl toward me. One whipped out, but I sliced it apart with Azure Dragon, realizing now that I had no way of avoiding a fight.
There was a screech, and the tower shook.
Glancing up, I saw the vines peel back, the mass of vegetation and leaves reforming to take the shape of a massive maw. Fangs lined the green jaws, even as vines congregate to form a gigantic tongue within the pink insides. More vines coalesced into whip-like appendages as the creature dragged itself out of the roof of the tower that it had rooted itself to and lurched toward me from the ceiling less stairway.
"So you've finally deigned to show yourself, huh?" I murmured. The spirit beast reminded me of a kaiju from one of the Heisei Godzilla movies, but I refrained from naming it because of copyright reasons.
In any event, I identified the spirit beast as a Devil's Pitcher. Despite the menacing maw and intimidating whipping vines, its bulbous body resembled a pitcher jar. A monstrous pitcher plant that had mutated from the dense mana that had flowed in from the other dimension (or the close proximity of Yggdrasil), or perhaps a native of the other dimension that had crossed during one of the interdimensional breaks (no, I'm not calling it dungeon breaks), its huge size allowed it to take up the top one-third of the entire tower, which meant it was at least twenty meters tall.
"Over here!"
Sheathing my sword, I drew Obsidian Drake and fired a volley of azure arrows that sliced through vines and cut through the tendrils and leaves that made up its shifting body. the pitcher-shaped body convulsed as my arrows sank deep into it, causing blood-like sap to gush out. Though it served the same purpose as blood, the sap was clear liquid.
At least it wasn't acid, or the tower would be corroded by the thick fluids.
Another vine lashed out to curl around me, but I was already leaping away. With no other place to run, I jumped out of the window and plummeted toward the ground below.
"Jun Wen!" Sylvie shouted. Having remained outside the tower, she and Silvia had been assigned the task of protecting the research team and noncombatants.
"Big bro! Hang in there!" Jun Hai also reacted quickly, joining Sylvie in casting a spell. But they didn't have to, because I already had a contingency in place for that. I waved at them before my body was lifted up by a huge gust of wind.
The Sylphs had responded to my call, summoned to my location to assist me. They bore me aloft, allowing me to borrow their elemental magic and wield their wind spells as my own. Using that, I soared away from the tower and hovered a distance away, watching the vines stretch and whip out around nothing, just staying barely out of reach.
With a roar, the Devil's Pitcher squeezed its massive body out of the roof of the tower, sending debris crashing down. Sylvie, Silvia and Jun Hai cast spells to either form a barrier or shoot down the rubble, with a shimmering dome formed over the research team thanks to the fairy sisters, and big chunks of rock blown out of the air by my brother's hydro blasts.
I noticed that Jun Hai had chosen to specialize in water spells, much like I did. I guess it ran in the family, huh? Considering that dad also imparted to us the Flowing River Clear Sword technique. I doubted Jun Hai liked wielding the sword, but he was clearly skilled in the manipulation of water. I watched, impressed, as snaking torrents of water rose to meet the falling debris and wash them away, knocking them off course and sending them crashing in much smaller fragments onto the forest.
In such a short time, he had mastered water spells. I would later learn that he had always been practicing water spells on his own before he requested Sylvie and Silvia to mentor him, which was why he had a solid foundation to begin with. Nonetheless, I was still impressed by his progress.
For now, though, I should focus on the enemy. The Devil's Pitcher was crawling out of the tower and lurching after me. Its maw continued to snap and growl, its eyeless head almost resembling a dinosaur's or a crocodile's. like I said, if this was a kaiju movie, I would say that it was a pitcher plant who had been genetically modified and spliced with a certain kaiju's DNA to mutate it into a monster, but that would cause copyright problems.
Now that I could see its entire body as it uprooted itself from the tower that it had inhabited for heavens know how long, I finally understood why even a Giga Rex would run from it. It was not only an Earth ranked spirit beast, it was also massive enough to swallow even a Giga Rex whole.
Interesting. I was reminded about the debates regarding dinosaurs and modern organisms. They were always talking about how dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures were much larger than the modern animals that had prospered today, and I supposed the same thing applied to plants. Now extinct, prehistoric plants appeared to be much bigger than modern plants today.
And this was applicable to the Devil's Pitcher, which reminded me of a dinosaur plant. Honestly, that dinosaur-shaped head really nailed home the point.
"Whoa!"
Whoops, I shouldn't get distracted. I had to duck under the writhing vines, using the Sylphs to cut them apart with wind blades and fly away from the Devil's Pitcher. But I modulated my speed, ensuring that I didn't get too far away from the Devil's Pitcher and cause it to give up its pursuit.
"Now!"
While I veered away, getting to just barely out of range of the Devil's Pitcher, I called forth my spirit beasts. Xiao Huo and Xiao Huo Long burst into the current space, flames swirling around them.
The Devil's Pitcher initially dismissed them because of the difference in cultivation realm. After all, what did an Earth ranked spirit beast have to fear from a couple of Mystic ranked summoned beasts? This was a monster that fed on Giga Rexes for dinner. A couple of Mystic ranked spirit beasts were hardly enough to threaten it.
Or so it thought.
Both Xiao Huo and Xiao Huo Long unleashed their flamethrower attacks in unison, the torrents of fire coming from opposite directions and incinerating large swathes of vines and foliage that the Devil's Pitcher reflexively threw up to defend itself. nonetheless, huge sections of the enormous plant spirit beast caught fire and it shrieked thunderously, flailing about desperately as it attempted to extinguish the many infernos that had broken out all over its bulbous body and appendages.
Even so, this was an Earth ranked enemy, and despite the elemental advantage that my fire type spirit beasts had over it, their lower cultivation realms meant that they couldn't instantly destroy it. Despite the initial lack of success, they continued bathing the Devil's Pitcher in flames, relentlessly burning away sizable portions of its grassy body.
The Devil's Pitcher lurched away, visibly seeking to take refuge in the tower that it had grown in over the decades or perhaps even centuries. Xiao Huo Long spread his wings and glided above the canopies of the prehistoric-looking forest, mercilessly chasing it down with fire. Xiao Huo made use of her incredible speed to dart through the trees, bounding from root to branch, or tree to tree, while her six tails continued to bombard the fleeing Devil's Pitcher with fireballs.
Our foe lashed out with huge vines, sacrificing them to the fire to keep its pursuers at bay. Both Xiao Huo Long and Xiao Huo were forced to duck as the burning appendages whipped across their positions, leaving furrows in the soil and uprooting entire trees. Even with their elemental advantage, they were no match physically for the much larger and more powerful Devil's Pitcher. I continued to command them through our telepathic link, instructing them to take evasive maneuvers.
I was not going to lose them to carelessness.
Despite our best efforts, the Devil's Pitcher was closing in to the tower, hoping to use its rock as a barricade against the painful flamethrowers and other fire spells that Xiao Huo and Xiao Huo Long continued to hurl at its fleeing form. And it might have succeeded, if not for the titanic figure that stood between it and its refuge.
My Elder Tree Revenant had manifested before it, and without waiting for it to respond to his sudden appearance, Da Shu hammered the Devil's Pitcher with a massive wooden branch, hurling it backward.
The Devil's Pitcher landed with wood crunching impact, writhing about in shock and pain, only to once again be engulfed in flames by Xiao Huo and Xiao Huo Long. while it struggled to defend itself, Da Shu approached it, his branches and their sharp tips glowing with ghostly energies. A Phantom Force attack and Shadow Claws tore more vines and foliage apart from the bulbous body, sending sap spurting out. The Devil's Pitcher retaliated by lunging forward to bite Da Shu's trunk – where the neck would be for an ordinary beast – but the Elder Tree Revenant blocked its maw with a well-positioned branch, keeping it at bay.
And then another couple of fiery torrents washed across the Devil's Pitcher back, causing it to emit a shrill shriek.
"Good job, guys," I said as I swooped down nearby, courtesy of the Sylphs. "Let's finish off this Devil's Pitcher once and for all."