Wasteland: I Awakened A Plant System - Chapter 123: What The Hell Are You?

Chapter 123: What The Hell Are You?

The celebration on the wall of Cameron Town grew louder and warmer with every passing minute.

Guards and awakeners hugged each other, laughed, and shouted names into the night sky. The 500 town guards below joined in, raising their weapons and cheering wildly.

“Captain Isha!!!”

“Vikram!!!”

“Carol!!!”

“Plant Team!!!”

Sana, Kavya, and Ayesha were still glued to Vikram, happily kissing his cheeks one after another in pure joy and relief.

“You were amazing!” Sana laughed, pressing another kiss.

“We actually survived…” Kavya whispered, kissing his other cheek.

“Our hero,” Ayesha added softly, giving him a warm kiss as well.

Vikram accepted it all with a gentle smile, his heart feeling lighter than it had in a long time.

The Plant Sprouts became the center of attention. Guards and awakeners surrounded them, patting their heads and backs.

The Warrior Druid and Guardian Druid stood proudly, puffing out their chests with happy “Wawa!” and “Gaga!” sounds. The Fire Mage Sprout glowed brighter with pride. The Light Mage Sprout blushed a soft golden color when girls gently touched her leaves. Even the newly born Assassin Sprout and Phantom Sprout received attention, though they lingered slightly in the shadows.

Isha watched everything with soft, proud eyes. For the first time in weeks, the heavy burden on her shoulders felt lighter.

Carol leaned against the wall, arms crossed, a faint amused smile on her lips as she observed the celebration.

But the joy didn’t last.

Because suddenly, “Bahahaha…!! Bahahaha…!! BAAHAHAHAHAHAHA…!!”

A twisted, echoing laugh rang across the battlefield.

It was loud, playful and mocking.

Hearing this, everyone froze.

The laughter echoed again, “Bahahaha… Bahahaha…!!”

All eyes turned toward the source.

And then, they saw it.

One of the portals had not disappeared. It flickered violently, unstable… but still open.

From within it, something stepped out. First, a human leg, followed by a full figure emerged.

It was tall, around six feet. Its body was pale and deathly, covered in a torn royal-military coat that fluttered unnaturally in the air. A jagged, crown-like bone structure grew from its head, giving it a twisted sense of royalty.

Black-purple mist leaked from its body constantly, like living smoke. Its eyes glowed red and purple. And its wide, mocking grin, felt alive.

The celebration died instantly, and silence fell on the wall. A heavy, suffocating pressure covered Cameron Town. Even breathing felt harder.

“…Aunt… what is that thing?” Vikram asked, his voice low.

“Captain… what is that?” others asked as well, confusion and tension filling their voices. It looked human, but everything about it said otherwise.

Isha’s expression hardened.

“Carol… What is that? Human… or something else?” she asked seriously, even she didn’t know.

The creature tilted its head slowly, looking at them like they were toys. “Bahahaha…!!”

Its laughter echoed again.

Carol narrowed her eyes. For the first time, her expression wasn’t playful.

“…Even I don’t know,” she replied quietly.

Vikram immediately checked his system panel.

Name: ???

Strength: ???

Speed: ???

Reaction: ???

Stamina: ???

Abilities: ???

But in the panel, everything was unknown. A cold feeling ran down his spine, even though he didn’t know why.

“Carol,” Isha said, stepping forward, her aura rising again, “we finish it now.”

“Whether it was human or not, it didn’t matter. From its presence alone, it was a threat.”

Carol nodded slowly, “…Yeah.” Even she didn’t want to leave something like this alive.

The creature watched them step forward, but didn’t stop laughing. “Bahahaha…!! Come… come…”

It spread its arms slightly, as if welcoming them.

Carol stepped forward first, her eyes glowing faintly as she released her charm. The air around the creature subtly shifted, layered with invisible influence, desire, and control. Normally, no being, human or zombie, could resist it so easily.

But this time, nothing happened.

The creature simply tilted its head, staring at her with curiosity, as if trying to understand what she was doing.

“…What are you doing?” it said, its voice strangely clear, almost human, yet distorted.

Carol’s expression changed for the first time with surprise.

In Isha hand, a green blade instantly formed. She stepped in without hesitation and slashed straight toward its neck.

“SHHHK—!!”

But the blade cut nothing. The creature had already moved, it was soo fast.

Isha’s eyes narrowed. She turned immediately, and there it was, standing a few steps away, still smiling. “…Too slow,” it said lightly.

Instead of getting provoked, Isha aura surged again as she attacked once more, this time she was faster. Her blade flashed again and again, cutting through the air with deadly precision.

“SHHK!! SHHK!! SHHK!!”

But she missed every strike, because it moved at the exact right moment. It stepped aside, leaned slightly, tilted its head, dodging every attack with the smallest movements possible.

Carol stepped in again, her eyes glowing deeper now. “Let’s try something else.”

The air warped and Illusions spread through her. Multiple versions of Isha appeared around the creature, each attacking from different directions. The ground shifted, the space distorted, and even the flow of time perception twisted under Carol’s control. For any normal enemy, this would have been the end.

But the creature simply looked again at her. “…Hmm.”

It moved straight through the illusions, ignoring every fake and every trap. It stopped in front of the real Isha and chuckled, “…Found you.”

Isha’s blade was already coming down.

“CLANG—!!”

The creature had stopped her blade with its bare hand. Isha’s eyes widened slightly. Its grip tightened.

“BOOM—!!”

Isha was forced back several steps, her boots scraping against the ground. The wall trembled slightly.

Carol’s expression darkened. This was no longer playful. She raised her hand again. “Mind Games.”

This time, she didn’t hold back. The entire battlefield shifted into her domain, dark. The creature’s mind should have been trapped instantly.

But nothing changed. The creature stood there, completely unaffected. It blinked once, then looked at Carol. “…Is that all?”

Silence.

For the first time, Carol’s ability had failed completely.

“…Impossible,” she whispered.

Isha stepped forward again, her aura rising even higher. This time, she didn’t hold back either. Her strength surged through her entire body as she vanished from her position.

“THUD—!!”

She appeared behind it and struck. Missed.

She moved again.

“THUD—!!”

Missed.

Again. Again. Again. Each attack faster than the last, each strike stronger than before. And yet, every single one was dodged effortlessly.

The creature didn’t attack, didn’t rush, didn’t panic. It simply moved with perfect precision, watching and enjoying.

“…You’re fun,” it said, smiling wider.

On the wall, every one was silent seeing this.

Isha’s eyes sharpened as she stepped back slightly, adjusting her stance. She spoke to Carol, “I’ll hold it, you finished him.”

Carol glanced at her for a brief second, then nodded. “…Alright.”

For the first time since she had arrived, she drew a weapon. A slender sword appeared in her hand, its blade dark at first, almost dull, as if it hadn’t been used in a long time.

The creature noticed this, and seeing it, he smiled at her.

Isha hands shifted, and instantly, multiple vine-like energy ropes burst from the ground, wrapping toward the creature from all directions.

“SHHHHH—!!!”

The ropes struck fast and precisely, but the creature moved again. One step. A slight tilt. A shift. Every rope missed by inches.

Isha didn’t stop. More ropes surged out, faster, denser, layer upon layer. This time, it couldn’t avoid all of them.

One rope caught its arm. Another wrapped around its leg. A third locked onto its shoulder.

“…Got you.”

Isha clenched her fist. “Bind.”

“CRRRRACK—!!!”

The ropes tightened violently. More vines surged, reinforcing the hold, wrapping its torso and limbs, locking it in place.

“…Interesting,” The creature muttered, testing the bindings. It pulled. The ropes creaked, shaking, almost breaking.

Isha’s aura flared even stronger. More energy poured into the bindings as her feet dug into the ground. “…You’re not going anywhere.”

The creature’s smile remained, but its body was now fully locked, held, restricted.

Carol stepped forward slowly and calmly, her sword lowered at her side.

She raised her sword, and a soft glow appeared, it was pink, then purple, and then both merged.

The blade began to shine with a deep pink-purple radiance, energy flowing across its surface like liquid light. The air around it distorted, filled with an overwhelming, suffocating presence.

“You’re… very strange,” Carol said softly, looking at the creature. “…But let’s see…”

Her grip tightened. “…if your mind can bleed.”

The creature looked at her, still smiling, as if it didn’t care about being killed. It continued to laugh.

“Bahahaha… Bahahaha…!”

Carol appeared directly in front of it, and attacked it with the blade.

“SHHHHHHHK—!!!”

The glowing blade cut down, aiming straight through its head. A clean, perfect cut.

For a moment, everything went still. Then the creature’s head fell to the ground, rolling slightly before coming to a stop. Its body remained standing.

Carol stood there, her glowing blade slowly dimming as a faint smile appeared on her lips. “…Talk whatever you want… in the end, you only died.”

Isha exhaled, the tension finally leaving her body. “…Huh… finally.”

The pressure on the battlefield vanished. Both of them turned and began walking back toward the wall, calm returning as if the fight had already ended.

“Bahahaha…!! Bahahaha…!!”

Suddenly the heard the laugh again. And hearing it, both of them were froze.

“…What?” Isha muttered.

“…That’s not possible,” Carol said under her breath.

“Hahahaha… where are you girls going?”

They turned back instantly, and what they saw shocked them to the core.

The head that had fallen on the ground was floating, slowly rising into the air, still smiling, still alive.

“…What the f—” Carol couldn’t even finish her words. For the first time, she was truly shocked.

The head tilted slightly, looking at them with amusement. “Did you really think… that was enough?”

Then something moved.

From the body, it’s hand separated, and it flew, fast, straight toward Carol.

Before she could react, it flicked her forehead.

“Tap.” “BOOOOOOM—!!!”

Carol’s body was blasted backward like a cannon shot, crashing across the battlefield and tearing through the ground before finally stopping at a distance. Dust exploded into the air. The wall trembled.

“…Carol!!” Sana shouted from above.

Even Isha’s eyes widened, because that was just a casual hit. But it’s power was overwhelming.

Back at the center, the floating head laughed louder. “Bahahaha…!! This is fun…!!”

On its body limbs pull back together, reattaching, as if nothing had happened.

Isha clenched her fist, her aura surging again. But this time, her expression wasn’t calm anymore.

“…What the hell are you?”

The creature looked at her, grinning wider, its eyes glowing deeper. “Now… this is getting interesting.”