Chapter 184: Bait

[CARNIVOROUS BLOOM — Level 40]

HP: 800 / 800

Threat Level: MODERATE

« Analysis »

A predatory plant native to the Great Tartarus’s shell. The Carnivorous Bloom disguises itself as ordinary vegetation, waiting motionless until prey steps within range. When triggered, it erupts from the ground and attempts to swallow its victim whole. Its vines are covered in paralytic thorns, and its digestive fluids can dissolve flesh and bone within minutes.

Weakness: The bloom is fragile once exposed. Destroying the head disables the creature. Its vines are slow and can be severed with precise strikes.

Gray let out a slow, weary breath.

"Not a single plant in this world is normal, huh."

Cindy drifted closer in her container, her silver eyes fixed on the twitching vines.

"That’s why you couldn’t detect it," she said. "It’s a plant. Your electroreception picks up living creatures with nervous systems. Plants don’t have those. They’re invisible to your senses."

Gray nodded slowly, his gaze tracking the creature’s movements.

"Good to know."

Then the Bloom attacked.

Its vines lashed out in a wide arc, thorned tips slicing through the air. Gray pulsed backward, his body dissolving into the current and reforming several meters away. The vines struck the moss where he’d been standing, carving deep furrows in the ground.

"Be careful!" he called out. "Those vines cause paralysis!"

But Lily wasn’t listening.

The star creature had already darted forward, her five points spinning like saw blades, her body sharpened to a razor’s edge. She carved through the first wave of vines with wild, joyful abandon, her dark core pulsing with excitement. Three vines fell, severed cleanly.

And then the sap hit her.

A thick, amber fluid sprayed from the severed vines, coating Lily’s body in a shimmering layer. Her points slowed instantly, her orbit stuttering, her dark core flickering with sudden, sluggish pulses. She tried to spin, tried to retreat, but her body refused to obey.

The vines wrapped around her, tightening, dragging her toward the Bloom’s gaping maw.

Gray’s voice cut through the chaos.

"I told you to be careful!"

Cindy pressed her small hands against the inside of the water container, her silver glow flaring bright. The water around her responded instantly, swirling, rising, lifting her out of the container in a bubble of shimmering liquid. She drifted upward, her axolotl body suspended inside the sphere, her frills splayed wide with concentration.

"I’ll support you, Gray!" she called out. "Go!"

Gray set the empty container down on the moss and nodded.

"Alright."

He turned toward the Carnivorous Bloom, his golden eyes burning beneath the shadow of his hood. The creature was still dragging Lily toward its maw, its vines tightening around her paralyzed body.

Gray ran forward.

The Bloom’s vines lashed toward him, thorned tips aimed at his chest. Gray activated Current Dash, dissolving into the water and reforming directly behind the creature’s head. He raised one hand, Cavitation Pulse already charging at his fingertips.

The Bloom spun, its maw gaping wide, its vines whipping toward him in a desperate, hungry arc.

Gray fired Cavitation Pulse directly into its open mouth.

The superheated jet of water and crystal shrapnel tore through the Bloom’s maw, punching through the soft tissue of its head and erupting out the back in a spray of steaming sap.

[CAVITATION PULSE — 252 DAMAGE]

[CARNIVOROUS BLOOM — HP: 548 / 800]

Gray didn’t stop.

He drove his fist forward, Void Reaper’s Lance forming around his arm like a blade of solidified darkness. The void-edged spear punched through the Bloom’s cracked head, splitting it open in a burst of amber fluid.

[VOID REAPER’S LANCE — 268 DAMAGE]

[CARNIVOROUS BLOOM — HP: 280 / 800]

[BLEED — 10 DAMAGE PER SECOND]

The vines around Lily went slack.

Gray grabbed her paralyzed body with one hand, yanking her free from the dying creature’s grasp. Her dark core pulsed weakly against his palm, sluggish and dim, but she was still alive.

Cindy’s voice rang out from above.

"[Glacial Lance]!"

A spear of ice shot down from her water bubble and punched through the Bloom’s exposed core. The creature shuddered, its vines curling inward, and collapsed into the moss.

[GLACIAL LANCE — 336 DAMAGE]

[CARNIVOROUS BLOOM — DEFEATED — 1,100 EXP]

Gray landed on the moss, Lily cradled in his arms, her body still trembling from the paralytic sap. He turned her over carefully, checking for damage. Her five points were moving again, slowly, her core pulsing with a faint, embarrassed rhythm.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Lily pulsed once, weakly. Then she pressed her point against his chest, as if apologizing.

Gray let out a slow breath.

"You need to listen when I tell you something," he said. "That thing could have eaten you."

Lily drooped, her core dimming with shame.

Cindy descended in her water bubble, landing gently beside them. The sphere dissolved, and she drifted back down into her container, her frills swaying with relief.

"Is she okay?"

"She’s fine," Gray said. "Just paralyzed. It should wear off in a few minutes."

Cindy studied the star creature for a moment, then shook her head.

"She’s going to get herself killed one day."

"Probably," Gray agreed.

He set Lily down gently on the moss and turned back toward the field of rare plants. The battle had scattered some of the fruits, but most of them were still intact, glowing softly in the dim light.

"Alright," he said. "Let’s finish what we came here for."

He walked toward the nearest cluster of Bloodberry fruits and began to harvest them carefully, one by one.

Cindy studied the spot where the Bloom had erupted from the ground. Her silver eyes traced the thick, tangled roots that twisted down into the moss, and her frills lowered with curiosity.

"Gray," she said. "Look at its roots. They’re leading somewhere."

Gray paused mid-pick, his gaze following her gesture. The roots ran deep beneath the shell’s surface, coiling through the moss like veins, disappearing into a dark hollow beneath a cluster of pale trees.

He straightened, a Bloodberry cluster still in his hand. ℯℯ𝘭.

"Yeah, I see it. What do you think it is?"

"A nest?" Cindy suggested. "Or a burrow? It’s hard to tell."

Gray tossed the Bloodberry into a small pouch he had fashioned from his cloak. He stepped closer to the hollow, studying the dark opening with cautious interest.

"It doesn’t look natural," he said. "The Moss grows around it in a circle. Like something carved this hole."

Cindy’s frills swayed thoughtfully.

"I noticed that too. And if this is a carnivorous plant’s hunting ground... it would need prey. Meaning there are other creatures on this shell."

Gray’s eyes narrowed.

"So the field of rare plants isn’t just a treasure. It’s bait."

"Correct," Cindy said. "The fruits attract herbivores. The Bloom eats the herbivores. It’s a feeding cycle."

Gray was quiet for a moment, considering that. Then he glanced toward the hollow again, his hand resting on the hilt of his shadow blade.

"If there are herbivores, there are probably predators too. Things that hunt the herbivores."

"Probably," Cindy agreed.

Gray turned toward Lily, who had finally recovered enough to hover weakly beside him.

"You stay close this time," Gray said. "No charging ahead. No eating things without asking. Got it?"

Lily pulsed once, bright and obedient.

"Good."

Gray turned toward the hollow and took a step forward.

"Then let’s explore. We still need to find the reward Noir mentioned. And if there’s a nest down there, it might be where the real treasure is."