The Poison Ivies surrounding the carriage smiled coldly. One licked blood from her clawed finger lazily while staring at Aerith.
"So this is your protector?"
Another crouched low atop the broken carriage roof, her red vine-like hair swaying unnaturally.
"He slls talented."
Aerith slowly pushed himself upward despite the pain ripping through his body. Cuts covered his arms and chest now, while the thorn scratches along his side had already begun darkening from poison. His eyes remained sharp, but inwardly, he was frustrated.
Every attack he made landed, every movent was precise, yet none of it mattered. The Poison Ivies didn’t fight like beasts; they baited attacks, used terrain, and controlled line of sight. They retreated only to lure them deeper. Even their emotions seed weaponized. Smiles, whispers, movents... all distractions. And they spoke. Aerith was knowledgeable, and he knew that any beast that had reached the level of speech was more dangerous than a brute.
Aerith’s telepathy let him perceive movent, but unpredictability? That was harder. Especially against intelligent enemies fighting as a collective.
One of the Poison Ivies suddenly vanished into the foliage. Aerith’s instincts scread.
"Behind!"
SHIIIK!
A vine pierced through his shoulder from behind and pinned him against the side of the carriage. Blood splattered across the wood.
"Agh!"
Another ivy appeared directly in front of him, smiling sweetly.
"You’re strong."
Her fingers touched his chest lightly.
"Let’s see how long you stay that way."
The plants around them suddenly blood. Purple spores exploded outward, causing Aerith’s vision to blur instantly. The ivy creatures began laughing softly around him like predators enjoying a ga.
Inside the carriage, silence remained. The veiled girl watched everything calmly. Beside her, the darkness elental floated quietly.
"You’re enjoying this."
"A little."
"The guy is getting destroyed."
"He’s learning."
"That’s a terrible teacher ntality."
"I’m not a teacher..."
Outside, one of the Poison Ivies suddenly approached the carriage entrance, smiling softly.
"Little lady..."
The shadows inside the carriage moved, causing the ivy to halt. Sothing felt wrong. The darkness beneath the carriage slowly expanded outward unnaturally, swallowing the roots and vines touching it. The Poison Ivy frowned as shadows rose and twisted upward like liquid smoke before taking shape.
The ivy creature’s expression froze. Standing before her now was... herself. Its body was entirely black, ford from living darkness, but every detail remained identical. The sa feminine shape. The sa vine-like hair. The sa crimson eyes, now glowing purple-black. The darkness elental had copied her.
The Poison Ivy instinctively stepped backward.
"What..."
The shadow moved instantly. Its vine-hair exploded outward. The Poison Ivy barely raised her arms before dozens of shadow vines pierced through her body simultaneously. Her scream barely escaped before the darkness swallowed it. The other Poison Ivies froze as the shadow imitation slowly tilted its head toward them and smiled.
The jungle shook. The shadow beneath the trees expanded rapidly now, spreading across roots, vines, and flowers alike. Every plant touched by it blackened instantly. The Poison Ivies finally panicked.
"Retreat!"
More shadow figures rose from the darkness. Each one was shaped like a Poison Ivy, perfect copies made entirely of darkness. The veiled girl still hadn’t moved from her seat. She just rested her chin against her hand lazily while watching the massacre unfold.
The shadow copies attacked silently, and unlike the real Poison Ivies, they had no fear and felt no pain. The jungle erupted into screams.
SHIIIK! KRAAAASH! BOOOOM!
Shadow vines tore through trees while black roots strangled the Poison Ivies rcilessly. Every trick the ivy creatures used was mirrored back at them perfectly.
Plant manipulation?
Copied.
Vine control?
Copied.
Ambush tactics?
Copied.
And they were all enhanced through darkness. One Poison Ivy tried escaping through the trees: a shadow version appeared upside down directly above her, its smile widened unnaturally.
CRACK!
The ivy’s neck snapped instantly.
Another attempted to attack from underground roots, only for the shadows themselves to devour the roots whole. Aerith stared in stunned silence.
"What the hell..."
Bartoc swallowed hard despite the poison weakening him. The veiled girl sighed softly.
"You’re being noisy."
The darkness elental floated proudly beside her.
"Did you see that one?!" it exclaid excitedly.
"I copied her hair perfectly!"
"You’re overachieving again."
"I like winning."
Outside, the remaining Poison Ivies finally broke completely. Fear appeared in their crimson eyes for the first ti because this wasn’t a battle anymore.
It was extermination.
...
The battle no longer resembled combat. It resembled judgnt. The Poison Ivies fled through the jungle desperately now, abandoning coordination entirely. Their earlier elegance and composure had vanished completely, replaced by panic and terror.
But the darkness followed them. It crawled across the forest floor unnaturally fast, swallowing roots, vines, and flowers alike. Every shadow beneath the trees had beco hostile.
And the worst part? The shadow copies kept multiplying. Every Poison Ivy killed beca another imitation, another silent hunter born from darkness.
"RUN!"
One of the remaining ivy creatures scread as she leaped between branches at blinding speed. Her vine-hair stabbed backward repeatedly to slow the pursuing shadows. It didn’t help. A shadow version suddenly erged from the tree she landed on.
Black vines pierced through her stomach and chest instantly as her body froze and slowly dissolved into darkness itself. The jungle grew darker with every passing second.
The plants themselves were dying. The once-thick vegetation blackened and crumbled as the darkness elental spread deeper into the nest. Poison flowers wilted. Massive vines shriveled into ash-like dust. Entire trees collapsed as their life was drained away.
Inside the carriage, the veiled girl remained seated calmly.
"You’re overdoing it again."
The darkness elental floated proudly beside her in its natural formless state now.
"They annoyed ."
"You say that every ti."
"They attacked your carriage."
"That’s true."
Outside, Aerith slowly pulled the thorned vine from his shoulder with a grimace. Blood dripped heavily down his arm while his breathing remained uneven. He stared silently at the devastation. Even with his abilities, he still couldn’t fully understand what he was seeing. Freda walked toward the carriage carefully, lightning still crackling weakly around her body.
"Who exactly are you people?"
No answer ca. Instead, the jungle trembled.
BOOOOOOOM!
Far deeper within the forest, an enormous tree suddenly collapsed. The darkness elental was moving through the nest itself now, and clearing it. Screams echoed faintly through the jungle for several more minutes before gradually fading one after another, until silence remained. Then the darkness returned. It flowed back through the forest like liquid night before slipping casually beneath the carriage once more.
"Done," the elental said proudly.
The veiled girl nodded slightly.
"How many?"
"Forty-three."
Aerith’s eyes widened faintly. Forty-three? That many Poison Ivies had been hiding in this region?
Freda cursed under her breath.
"If that nest attacked a town..."
"It would beco a graveyard," Bartoc finished grimly.
The jungle looked completely different now. The oppressive atmosphere was gone entirely. No movent remained among the trees. No hidden eyes watched them anymore. The nest had been erased.
Aerith slowly looked toward the carriage again. He felt uncertainty toward the mysterious woman they were escorting. If her elental alone could erase an entire Poison Ivy nest this casually... Then just how powerful was she herself?
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