Chapter 42
Star Dew Grass and the Mouse
Pa!
Under the cover of night, a crisp sound of vines lashing suddenly echoed through the Green Vine Garden.
A ripple of sky-blue magical energy burst from the back of the gray-robed man, like a fleeting galaxy.
The sudden strike caused the gray-robed man to stagger, and the blood-red maw of the pitcher plant’s digestive chamber narrowly grazed his face, tearing apart most of his hood and revealing a cascade of silver hair pouring down like a waterfall.
"You... are not... that... trader." A broken accusation came from within the digestive chamber. "You... broke... the agreement... I have the right... to dispose of... your... body..."
Lu Xi steadied herself and looked at the attacker.
The sunflower was dragging its roots and fleeing in panic, vanishing into the depths of the sea of flowers in an instant.
Judging by the magical energy feedback from the "Ring of Resistance," the magical energy degree of that previous strike exceeded 9°.
If not for the passive effects of the Gear Staff’s +2° and the "Magical Energy Storage" +3°, that sneak attack just now would have sent her tumbling into Zone 2 due to inertia, even if the zero-tier "Ring of Resistance" had not been shattered.
And that pitcher plant had clearly surpassed the limits that an apprentice could handle.
"It was you who first trampled on the laws of the wizard and arranged for a magical plant to launch a sneak attack. And you still accuse me of breaking the agreement."
Nearly laughing in anger, Lu Xi unhesitatingly drew the Gear Staff hidden in her sleeve.
Realizing the danger, the pitcher plant clumsily tried to retreat.
But after such a close call, Lu Xi would never give it the chance.
In the next second, a searing ray of Molten Steel Torrent erupted from the ruby tip.
The torrent of liquid metal, carrying 25° of magical energy, erupted with a roar. After the molten steel cone pierced through the body of the pitcher plant, it continued its momentum, flying more than ten meters away before solidifying into a metallic javelin that embedded itself deep into the ground.
Immediately after, the high temperature ignited the body of the pitcher plant. The digestive fluid inside its chamber acted like an accelerant, bursting into flames instantly. In the blink of an eye, the enormous body was completely engulfed by fire.
It kept twisting and rolling, trying to extinguish the flames, but all its efforts were in vain and only fueled the fire's spread.
Bathed in the firelight, several half-dressed female bodies rolled out from the digestive chamber.
Star Dew Grass?
Sex slave plant!
Lu Xi instantly realized that this creature was the real Star Dew Grass. No wonder those slender leaves had looked so familiar.
Fortunately, it was she who had come. If it had been that little girl Talia instead, she would have been dragged into the digestive chambers and tortured to death.
Understanding the situation, Lu Xi drew her dagger and quickly sliced off a forearm-thick leaf from the burning Star Dew Grass.
By now, the flames had awakened the sleeping magical plants, which uprooted themselves and fled in all directions in a panic. The fire was beginning to show signs of going out of control.
In the distance, the Rootvine Constructs, sensing the blaze, were also quickly approaching.
"Damn!"
Realizing the trouble she had caused, Lu Xi had no time to think. She wrapped herself tighter in her tattered cloak and leapt into the flower bushes. The towering flames behind her lit up the North Tower like a furnace.
...
Outside the Green Vine Garden.
At the garden entrance, Talia's knuckles turned white as she clutched her sleeve.
Why was the garden on fire?
Could something have happened to Lu Xi?
Should she go in and check?
One question after another left the young girl restless.
"Forget it, I must go in and check. What if Lu Xi needs my help..."
Just as Talia made up her mind to risk everything and enter the garden to search for Lu Xi—
A slender figure nimbly scaled the fence and landed gently in front of Talia with a light leap.
Thanks to the experience of sneaking over walls to use the internet during her school days in her previous life, climbing such iron fences posed no difficulty.
"Lu Xi!"
Talia rushed forward, her voice choked with sobs, as large tears welled up and spilled from her eyes. "What on earth were you doing in there?"
Lu Xi looked up at the circling flock of iron crows and the raging inferno in the distance that was now completely out of control.
"It’s a long story..."
Lu Xi took Talia’s slightly cold hand, cold from nervousness, and said, "Let’s get out of this cursed place first, then I’ll tell you everything..."
Fortunately, the number of iron crows on the tower had recently decreased. The two of them carefully chose small paths and safely made their way back to the apprentice dormitory.
What Lu Xi told Talia afterward will be left aside for now.
Just as she had left the Green Vine Garden, a peak apprentice with nine silver-edged stripes sewn onto his sleeve appeared in the air above the scene.
Looking at the devastation and the growing fire, his expression darkened considerably.
As a peak apprentice of the Symbiotic Mutation Studies Laboratory, Hyde Isaac was not only responsible for maintaining order in the tower but was also a disciple of Madam Vine.
Now that a fire had broken out in the Green Vine Garden, he was accountable.
He pulled up the sleeve on his right hand, and the blood vessels under his skin writhed and finally burst out, forming a bloom of ice-blue flower.
In an instant, the temperature of Zones 1 and 2 plummeted, and a layer of frost quickly formed on the plants.
The blooming ice-blue flower instantly froze the entire area.
In just a few dozen seconds, the sudden blaze was completely extinguished within a mass of ice crystals.
Hyde Isaac slowly descended to the ground. When he saw the pierced corpse of the Star Dew Grass and the dozen or so female bodies around it, his expression turned even gloomier.
"Ga~"
At that moment, an iron crow on the ground let out a deathly screech like a funeral bell, its gear-shaped pupils transforming into human-like irises.
Hyde Isaac quickly saluted.
"Honorable Tower Master Derrick, I will take full responsibility for what happened today, but as the guardian of Zone 2, Star Dew Grass could not possibly have captured so many people on its own. Someone must have used these women to bribe it and infiltrate the Green Vine Garden."
"With Madam Vine absent from the tower, I beg you to help us find the hidden enemy."
The iron crow's eyes glimmered with light before it gave a faint nod, then reverted back to gear-shaped pupils.
Receiving the response, Hyde Isaac secretly let out a breath of relief.
For the enemy to bribe Star Dew Grass without his knowledge meant this was not someone he could deal with. Only the great wizard could flush out the hidden rat.
He once again surveyed the fire scene and pulled a still-warm metal lance from the ground.
"What is this thing?"
Just as he pondered whether it needed to be handed over, an aged figure slowly appeared beside him.
"Fe... Fernando Wizard!"
As a peak apprentice who had served in the tower for over fifty years, Hyde Isaac naturally recognized this man and quickly bowed.
Fernando maintained his usual cold indifference toward outsiders.
He took the gradually cooling metal lance from Hyde Isaac’s hand.
"Go back. The Tower Master has already informed me of everything."
Hyde Isaac bowed again, then retreated a few meters before flying away from the scene.
Fernando stared at the several female corpses on the ground, his expression growing increasingly grim.
In truth, ever since Lu Xi had been possessed by a strange being, he had suspected that an enemy force had infiltrated the Tower of the Four Sages. Now his suspicion was confirmed.
For someone to slip past the tower’s guards and peak apprentices undetected, it could only have been the work of a wizard from another faction.
And he happened to know a wizard capable of creating such strange beings.
That was none other than the junior wizard of the Occult Studies from Eternal Silence Blackthorn Rudolph Sanders.