With Leopard Cat Nimra off to tend to Keeper Taru, the wild plant’s countless vines rose from the earth and swayed as though sensing a new threat standing before it.
The red haired young man lowered himself while tightening his fingers around the green energy cloaked dagger. Even though his face expressed nothing but steeled resolve, his heartbeat was pounding so violently against his ribs that it almost drowned out everything else.
In this moment, every cell in his body hounded him to turn tail and run, to prioritize his own survival. There was no guarantee if what the Keeper said was the truth and even if it was, what were the chances of him reaching it?
Rhos was Prey, nobody would fault him if he ran, right? As far as he was concerned he had done more than anyone could reasonably expect from Prey. Even if that wasn’t the case, surviving was far more important than proving anything.
’You’re bait. Nothing more than that. Prey like you should understand the one role they have’
These thoughts of self doubt suddenly brought him back to the words Keeper Taru had said. They were sort of humiliated when he had said them in front of everyone from Division 14.
But now, for some odd reason, they made him laugh.
"Yeah... screw you too"
A shaky grin appeared on his face as he inhaled deeply, then forcefully exhaled every trace of hesitation.
"Alright, let’s get this over and done with"
When he took a low stance, spiritual energy surged through his body. Unlike a Class Gamma with an explosive Totem Art, Rhos’s enhancements were subtle but above average. Spiritual energy flowed into his muscles, sharpening his movements, reaction and every ounce of strength he could squeeze from his exhausted body.
With man and wild plant facing off, there was a moment of silence. In the next, the forest exploded with motion as Rhos rushed forward. He ducked beneath the first vines to scream toward him.
When more burst from underground, he stepped onto one of them as if it were solid ground, sprinting three strides along its surface before throwing himself onto another wave of vines.
Thanks to his enhanced agility and reaction speed, he was able to run across them while doing his best not to be cut by their sharp thorns.
Once he got past the first wave, the second had an increase in numbers. They crossed together like giant jaws trying to crush him.
He planted one foot against the side of a trunk and launched himself upward, spinning between the closing vines by less than the width of his shoulders
His next foothold became a boulder that was crushed in the next instant. By then, Rhos had already launched himself to a nearby tree that was in the middle of assimilating with the colony.
Rhos bounced between trunks and branches with almost reckless abandonment. Every movement flowing into the next unstable foothold without hesitation.
The closer he got the more the wild plant began to recognize him as a genuine threat, forcing it to focus all its attacks solely on him.
This was bad of course, mostly because now he was starting to get overwhelmed by its dense and faster attacks.
"Tch!"
As he was threading through them, he finally put the weapon in his hand to good use. The enhanced dagger flashed, slicing through the thick plant fibers as though they were wet grass.
The colony did not take kindly to that. More massive roots erupted beneath his feet, forcing him to abandon the ground entirely and vaulting from one whipping vine onto another before springing higher into the canopy.
Flesh tearing thorns scraped across his side as he narrowly avoided being impaled, the impact sent him spinning through the air. He caught a hanging branch but did not account for the massive vine that slammed into him from the side.
Rhos had barely managed to raise the dagger before he launched through two young trees. He rolled across the ground before forcing himself upright again and raised his weapon.
Blood dripped from fresh cuts covering his body, but he ignored them all for the sake of pushing through. It wasn’t over yet!
"....Come on... Just a little closer"
Without giving himself time to think, he charged again with the same repeated movements. Every vine he had cut forced the colony to redistribute its defenses. Just like before with Nimra. And when he found an opening, he dove straight into it and continued his assault.
Eventually, Rhos found himself on top of the writhing mass protecting the center and below him, fifteen feet from where he stood lay the core.
Almost immediately, hundreds of vines burst upward like the blooming petals of a gigantic flower. They folded inward, trying to imprison him alive.
"Shit!"
Rhos had reached the spot Taru mentioned, whether it was the correct one or not, did not matter as there was no viable escape. No option left... except to hack and hack. And he focused that into one spot.
He drove the green glowing dagger downward, the energy blade bit into tangled roots, severing them with ease. He didn’t stop at just one, he slashed again and again, descending into a wild frenzy of slashes.
The vines converged and wrapped around his arms, legs and waist while several moe struck his back like heavy whips, sending all sorts of pain to explode in his body.
"Nghaaa!"
When they tried to drag him backward, his muscles bulged as he forced another slash downward, allowing him to descend even deeper into the belly of the beast.
The vines tightened harder and thorns sank into his flesh through his torn jacket. Blood ran freely from dozens of wounds but he did not allow that to stop him. He kept cutting deeper and deeper.
"Come on! Damn you!"
Rhos did not have a moment of rest ever since they had left the shelter tree, and such he was exhausted. Whatever bit of strength he had before this encounter was rapidly getting depleted.
His chest felt as though it had been set ablaze. His vision was becoming blurry and he was beginning to lose feeling in his hands.
"Just.... one.... more!"
He screamed through gritted teeth as one more slash gave way to what was hidden beneath layers of tangled roots.
A crimson flower no larger than a man’s head bloomed. Its petals pulsed around a glowing seed that beat like a living heart.
"The core..."
In this half mad state, Rhos barely recognized his own voice. He couldn’t even see the core correctly because his vision had already faded around the edges. His body was on the edge of collapsing as well.
But he still forced one last step forward.
"Die..."
It was hard making his battered body listen to this one final request. He raised the dagger high overhead while powering through the vines that were still wrapped around his body.
"DIE!"
The green blade descended. It split the flower cleanly in two in one decisive slash. This caused the moving vines in the forest to freeze.
The countless thorn-covered tendrils stiffened where they stood before collapsing lifelessly onto the forest floor. Even the ones on his body slid off like dead snakes.
The wild plant was dead.
Rhos remained barely standing, his hand still gripping the dagger like his life depended on it. He swayed to the side once before a weak laugh escaped him.
"Hahehehe.... I win... you..."
His exhausted body gave out completely and he fell face first into the lifeless vines, laying there unconscious beside the dead heart of the wild plant.
".... bastard"