The Minion Forest (2)
"Lan-lan-i! Get out of there!"
The moment Lan-lan-i heard Sophia's shout, she stuck out her lower lip.
I already know!
Anyone who wasn't a complete idiot would know they needed to break free of the restraint. The instant the roots bound her ankles, Lan-lan-i was already calculating a way out.
What would Mad Demon do?
He'd just trust the toughness of his body and thrash his legs around like a complete brute. Of all Yohan's children, Lan-lan-i had watched the most battles.
Naturally, her principles of action and her combat tactics had come to resemble his.
"Hyaaaah!!"
Lan-lan-i discarded the option of slicing the roots with a blood blade. She discarded the option of turning her ankles to mist with her Vampir power and reforming them afterward.
She would trust her Iron Man body and push forward!
"Cheonsol Dominion Step!"
Lan-lan-i deployed the footwork her mother had taught her. Blood and internal energy surged into her lower body, and a crimson mist billowed around her legs.
— Thud.
The moment Lan-lan-i took a single step, a deep footprint carved into the earth. The ground trembled as though an earthquake had struck the entire area.
"Kieeek!"
The Dryad felt the agony of the roots she had planted underground being crushed flat. Dozens — hundreds — of root bundles were all damaged at once, and she could not hold back her scream.
"Lan-lan-i is invincible!"
In that opening, Lan-lan-i closed the distance and threw a punch. Crimson fist energy slammed into the Dryad's face.
Crrrack!
The Dryad's head spun a full hundred and eighty degrees. Watching from the sidelines, Yohan muttered,
"Is she dead?"
"She's not dead!"
Lan-lan-i could hear the Dryad's breathing. Steady and even — the kind of breathing that made the blood look delicious.
I didn't eat her earlier because she was filthy, but this one looks tasty!
What would Dryad blood taste like? Just thinking about it made her mouth water. She wanted to sink her fangs into the Dryad's flesh right then and there — but Lan-lan-i was a good girl.
"Mom."
"Why does this lady call upon me?"
"Let's eat together."
Cheonsol was so moved that tears nearly sprang to her eyes. She lifted her gaze to the blue sky.
"I'm glad I've lived this long..."
"Lan-lan-i thinking of her mom too. How sweet. Hold on — since she's unconscious, Cheonsol should be able to touch the Dryad as well. I'll check the info, so go ahead and eat up."
Cheonsol lifted the unconscious Dryad. Then she pointed to the breasts, whose nipples were only barely covered by leaves.
"Since this is your first time feeding directly, this lady shall instruct you on which parts yield quality blood."
"I drank Lirota's blood though?"
"...This being the second time, the lesson shall begin. The chest has too much fat, so it is not a good place from which to draw blood."
"Uh-huh!"
"The nape of the neck or the wrist, where the blood vessels pass, are the finest spots. Would you like to try biting the neck?"
Lan-lan-i bit down exactly as Cheonsol taught her. The sensation of her fangs sinking into the Dryad's throat was dangerously good.
A little less good than getting praised by Mad Demon!
Excited, Lan-lan-i sucked the blood with wet, eager slurps. The Dryad's blood was cool and refreshing. She felt like she wouldn't even need to brush her teeth.
"It's delicious!"
"This lady shall try some as well."
Cheonsol decided the Dryad tasted rather like toothpaste.
"Hmm. Quite unique. A flavor this lady never experienced in her homeland."
"Mad Demon, you want some too?"
"Daddy?"
Yohan swallowed hard as he looked at the Dryad, whose important parts were only barely covered.
Pregnancy-optimized body type.
Looks were good enough to pass, and she had the proper holes. But this wasn't a battle, so the jealous goddess and his wives probably wouldn't allow it.
"Daddy's fine."
"Mad Demon is pitiful."
Lan-lan-i genuinely felt sorry for him. Not eating blood this delicious. Someday she would have to teach Mad Demon the taste of blood.
And then we'll suck blood together, all friendly!
Lan-lan-i smiled happily, imagining herself and Mad Demon sticking straws into Lirota and drinking blood side by side.
Unfortunately, the Dryad did not receive a passing necklace. No talent to speak of, and too frail to withstand even a single punch from Lan-lan-i — those were the reasons.
But I think Sophia's standards are way too high.
"Cheonsol Fist!"
Just look at this. Lan-lan-i, fist energy coiled around her knuckles, was currently beating the living daylights out of a wild Skeleton.
The Skeleton seemed to despise the fact that it was undead. No matter how hard it got hit, it wouldn't die — so it simply got hit even more.
"Cheonsol Kick!"
Just what did Cheonsol teach this kid? Why does every single technique name have Cheonsol in it?
When I shot her a reproachful look, Cheonsol immediately started making excuses.
"Wh-why are you looking at this lady like that? Martial arts techniques are traditionally named after their creators. This lady recently achieved enlightenment and created these techniques, so of course they should bear this lady's name, should they not?"
"I didn't say anything, but sure, let's go with that. So you use Cheonsol Punch and Cheonsol Kick too?"
"They are techniques this lady newly established, so of course. This lady will still employ previous techniques as well, but the main techniques shall be this lady's own."
Cheonsol demonstratively swept a sword through the empty air. A blood-red afterimage lingered in its wake.
Looking closer, I could see blood droplets condensing in midair. A bug that happened to brush against the afterimage withered and died in an instant.
"Ugh. Tasteless."
"What was that just now?"
"When one masters the Cheonsol Heart Technique, one can plunder the blood of anything one touches. You should learn it as well... Ah. Mad Demon has already awakened Divine Power. Truly a pity."
Cheonsol wasn't the only one who felt the regret. I genuinely regretted it too.
The conditions weren't even that strict, and the effect was outstanding. Was there a similar technique in Holy Magic?
A technique that impregnates a target just by touching them...
"Lan-lan-i! Crush the bones! Snap them so it can't recover!"
"Yes!"
"Lan-lan-i! Kick the skull! If the head separates from the body, its movements get sluggish!"
"Yes!"
"Lan-lan-i!"
"Yes!"
Lady Sophia was completely absorbed in coordinating with Lan-lan-i. If I impregnated the goddess, would related Holy Magic appear?
"Interesting..."
"Mad Demon. What are you thinking about this time?"
— Obviously some insane thought.
I smacked the snarky Lirota. Too insolent a remark to let slide just because she was cute.
— Bwaaah!!
Hearing Lirota wail so pitifully put me in a slightly better mood.
"Lan-lan-i, stop! The Skeleton fainted!"
"The hand feel is so good — can't I hit it more?"
"If you hit it more it'll die, you know? If you leave a fainted wild minion alone, it goes back to where it originally lived. Since we summoned it just to beat it up, we should at least send it home."
"Why?"
Cheonsol, standing beside me, muttered under her breath.
"Lan-lan-i still needs more education. When we return to the Divine Realm, this lady must teach her the heart of a Vampir."
"Right. Evni, listen carefully too. People must have compassion. Feeling sorry for a Skeleton that got dragged out for no reason and beaten up..."
"What nonsense is that. Skeletons are a trash race that produces no blood. This lady was going to educate her to stop at a reasonable point, because beating them does not improve the blood's taste."
"..."
Sometimes I really feel the fact that Cheonsol and I are different races. Kind Evni wriggled over and nestled into my arms.
"Daddy..."
"Are you comforting Daddy? Evni really is the only one."
A gust of wind kicked up, and Lan-lan-i appeared right in front of me.
"Hmph! Hmph-hmph! I hate Mad Demon!"
"...Of course Lan-lan-i is here too. Daddy is happy thanks to all his daughters."
"Hmph!"
Managed to smooth it over before she got properly sulky. Cold sweat was pouring down my back.
"The Skeleton is useless too, so it's out."
Thud!
Lulu, who'd been sitting there perfectly fine, dropped to the ground. Cheonsol frantically scooped her up.
"Are you all right?"
Shiver.
"You seem quite startled."
Shiver-shiver.
Lulu clung to Cheonsol and acted spoiled. Maybe because it was almost time for Lulu to hatch from her egg as well.
The purple fragments stuck to Lulu's shell rummaged through Cheonsol's cleavage. They weren't sharp, but the hard mineral slightly tore the fabric that had already been worn thin.
"What a breastiful sight."
"What did you say?"
"I said it's beautiful to see a mother and daughter getting along so well."
Good thing "breastiful" and "beautiful" sound similar enough.
"Anyway, that was the fourth one, right? Let's head out for the final battle!"
Sophia strode forward with big, excited steps. Lan-lan-i eagerly trotted after her.
"What race will come out next? I hope it's a delicious one!"
"For this lady, the blood of highland creatures tasted best. On the other hand, the blood of marine creatures was said to be fishy. Ah — birds were decent as well."
"I want to try eating a bird sometime!"
I was listening to the mother-daughter pair's peaceful conversation when a golden beam poured down from the sky. Sophia cried out.
"Ahh! This is the rare minion appearance effect that shows up with an extremely low probability in the Minion Forest!"
"Rare minion?"
"Minions that are stronger than ordinary ones and have a higher chance of possessing talents! Rare races that are hard to find even across the cosmos sometimes appear!"
"Oh."
In short, we pulled the gacha and hit a 0.01% SSR character?
"I've always thought this, but Lady Sophia has really good luck."
"Huh? Why?"
"You summoned me first, after all."
My existence was the greatest stroke of luck there was. Sophia's expression, which had been buzzing with excitement over the rare minion omen, went completely flat.
"Uh, uh. Yeah. Right. Anyway — a minion is coming out!"
A massive shadow fell over us. A chameleon so enormous it could blot out the sun was flying through the sky.
True to a creature that deceives people by changing its skin color to match its surroundings, it looked grotesquely disgusting. The chameleon's giant eyeballs fixed on us.
"Uh... is that a minion?"
"Th...at... is a minion, yes, but... Sky-Leons start at a minimum of level three..."
"When we hit level three, we have to fight things like that?"
The Gods' Game really doesn't mess around. Even at level three you have to fight something like that? Is this a balance-broken trash game?
"Mom. Does that taste good?"
"This lady has never eaten one either. Regardless of the taste, the quantity looks substantial."
"Krista..."
— Don't you worry too much, our Evni. This big sis will protect you. That one's still a young Sky-Leon, so big sis can win.
— I can win too...
Hearing the spirits' words, my worries evaporated. Our Lady Sophia was strong enough to subdue spirits, so if push came to shove she'd step in herself.
Good. Getting scared before the fight even starts is basically half-losing already. Let's face it with courage.
I was pumping up my fighting spirit when the Sky-Leon opened its mouth.
— Ptooey.
A Lamia, covered head to tail in sticky mucus, dropped from the sky.