Monster Flower (4)
"Ughhh, bleeech!!"
I hurl blood onto the floor without warning. Who the hell knows how many times this has happened now? Every ten steps I take, I puke up blood? This is bullshit—I'm gonna die from blood loss before the boss even shows its face.
The reason I'm in this pathetic state is simple. It's because the forbidden secret art I learned from Pill Seller master—the Reverse Blood Great Law—works by stabbing your own acupoints to draw out immense power.
Arts like the Reverse Blood Great Law come with a passive lifespan drain, so I'm constantly taking dot damage as my HP ticks down in real time. It'd be great if I could just toggle it on and off outside of combat, but this ain't that kind of Reverse Blood Great Law.
The alchemy I learned from Pill Seller master has restrictions even once it's activated—you can't freely switch it on and off. The whole point is in pursuing something else, so once you start, you ride it all the way to the end.
The silver lining is that I can offset the stamina drain somewhat with the Absorption Great Law. The problem? The enemies seem to have caught on, because their spawn rate has noticeably dropped lately.
Fucking mutants—ain't one damn thing I like about 'em.
I trudge along, dragging my heavy body toward the building Monster Flower has claimed as its lair.
This spa building, once built around a local hot spring, has long since turned into a demon's den. Not a trace of its old charm remains, but the Monster Flower still juts up like a landmark on the roof, plain as day.
What's weird is that even after I've come this far, the damn thing hasn't budged an inch. Just earlier, it was thrashing those tank-like tentacles wildly to devour the gluttony splitters, but ever since it went full ahegao mode, it's only been sending small fry.
Obviously, there's some intent behind it, but I can't for the life of me figure out what. It bugs me a little, but I decide not to dwell on it.
No point agonizing over something that won't solve itself right now, and in a standoff where we're both plotting to backstab each other, lacking a hidden trump card would be the real problem. Why? Because anyone who doesn't bother prepping one usually has the raw power to not need petty tricks.
So I keep stumbling forward, puking blood with every step, until a familiar sight comes into view.
A massive meat tumor sprouts beneath the giant building—the meat tumor. That repulsive thing pulsing open and shut is an eyesore you couldn't forget even if you tried.
Yeah, this is definitely that thing.
The entrance to the altar where those raiders fed it live humans as tribute. Monster Flower ate people through this tumor and spat out transformative sap in exchange—like some shitty house-flipping toad.
Last time, I hightailed it outta there because I didn't even want to deal with it.
"Hmm..."
But y'know... doesn't this look super suspicious?
Sticking out vital spots ain't exactly rare.
People think weak points get hidden, but nature's full of 'em just popping out all over. Think about turtles or udders... Hell, when you consider how they all spew something when stimulated, it's eerily similar to this meat blob.
"So, slicing it off would hurt like a bitch, right?"
No matter how far I gotta go, I can't just walk past something like this.
I halt my steps and drop into a sword stance. The tumor immediately starts wriggling—twitch!!
"Yeah, knew it!"
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Holy fucking shit, that's gross!!
The moment it realizes it's busted, the thing starts throbbing furiously. Yeah, no way something this sketchy is just some random growth.
I grip Hope tight and backstep. Right then, the ground where I stood explodes, and a tentacle pillar erupts from below.
BOOM!!
As if guarding it, tentacle pillars shoot up from the floor. Each one's wide enough that a grown man couldn't hug it with arms outstretched, and they tower over 4-5 meters high. And it's not just one.
BOOM! BOOMBOOMBOOM!!!
"What the fuck!"
Explosions rip from all directions. Beneath them, tentacle pillars surge up like they've been waiting. So that's where all the mutants were hiding without spawning?
Lonely-ass virgin Jung Kkeokma, who's spent every birthday alone, nearly tears up at this extravagantly welcoming party.
SHHHWOOOOOSH!!
The tentacles rocket sky-high, then whip down at me in unison. It's like a palace guard barrage—literally darkening the sky, but Heaven's Mechanism Calculation doesn't give a shit about vision blocks and activates.
Heaven's Mechanism Calculation: Meteor Spectroscatter
My inner energy surges into Hope in an instant, heating its crimson blade white-hot. Then, turbulent sword ki blasts out in all directions! The incoming tentacles get shredded into chunks on interception.
Fucking lit!!!
That's the power of Heaven's Mechanism Calculation boasting invincible defense with enough inner energy. But it's not all good news—that one move just drained half my dantian.
Plus, it triggering on the first attack is a bad omen. It means my subconscious judged that strike lethal enough to take my life.
What a clusterfuck.
Tough spot, but I don't flinch. You think I didn't expect this going into a boss fight?
I scan the spraying flesh and blood feast blooming around me, prepping for what's next. If I were the boss, I wouldn't end setup with just this.
Sure enough, a chill crawls up my neck as the ground explodes again—this time downward.
WHOOOOSH—!
My vision plunges suddenly. The floor caves in with a squelch, and I size up the situation in a second, swallowing a bitter laugh.
Map change pattern here? Classic boss room drop into the basement.
Y'know that trope where you enter the boss arena and the floor collapses, dumping you underground? Spot on. And what usually waits after...
"Krrheee..."
"Kraaah..."
"Keeeaah..."
Yeah, fucking knew it.
"Wondered where all the small fry went—hoarded 'em down here, huh."
The dusty underground is packed with the freakiest mutants yet, their red eyes glowing. And the floor's vibrating—not solid ground, but a basement vibe. Hummmm— Hope growls low in warning. Below us, clumps of those earlier tentacles lurk.
*Sniff sniff.* The stench of death thickens. Lowly malice and killing intent too. Are we fighting mutant shits or battle-hardened raiders? Doesn't matter.
"Everyone who was coming showed up? No more?"
I've survived five years amid worse. This level of bloodlust is just tiring now.
"No one leaves halfway through!"
SQUELCH!! I slam Hope's blade into the floor hard.
It might've prepped this tentacle farm as a mousetrap for me, but our Hope passively packs Absorption Great Law—sucking stamina or inner energy from anything it pierces or slashes.
Which means—ZUOOOOOORP!!!
"Guhk. Damn, you guys went all out."
Inner energy drained by Heaven's Mechanism Calculation? Refilled.
"If you wanted to catch me, this wasn't the way!!"
Zerg rushes like this don't work on me.
KABOOM!! In one clash, the charging mutants get spun and diced into flying chunks.
"Keeak?!"
"Kit?!"
Some evolved mutants with brains even backpedal in fear. Pure overwhelming terror. To them, I'm like the narc crashing a locked-room orgy. Even runners are bailing now.
Not like they can go anywhere, but they're thrashing to survive anyway.
And then—squelch—! A nasty flesh-ripping sound echoes in my ear. Squelch, squelch, squelch, squelch! Two, three, four, five.
"Keeaaak!"
"Keeeek!!"
Not Hope's doing. I focus my sight—tentacles pierce the fleeing mutants from the shadows ahead.
No escapes, huh.
This space's creator's malice hits home. A sealed chamber trapping not just me, but its own spawns too.
And—squiiiishsquiiiish—
"Wasn't planning to run anyway."
Tentacles overhead form a meat-wall partition. Plus, crunchcrunchcrunch— the ones that ate the runners swell up, merging into small flower buds.
What the fuck is that? No need to wonder.
CRACK— The bloated buds split open, revealing saw-tooth maws. Drooling tongues loll out, dripping thick saliva.
Yeah, you get it.
"Sperm or egg, fucking hell..."
Mini Monster Flowers sprout in the basement.