"Hang in there, we're almost out!"
An exclamation of drive rang through a flower space as those within clashed with the flower's petals in a bid to escape.
They'd already been attacking the flower barrier for several minutes, but they hadn't seen any sort of change. Even the spirited shout that spurred them on was one of false hope.
It seemed like the only way to escape the flower space was to kill each other and claim the treasure, however, none of those currently alive were stupid enough to even consider this.
They'd seen the flower's evolution for themselves. They'd seen how the heavenly vine absorbed the dead to grow. After that, how could they still believe that its treasures were safe?
Still, their mentalities meant nothing in the face of the flower space's defensive power.
Alexandra sighed to herself as she attacked the wall.
She didn't even know how to feel at the moment.
How was one supposed to feel when they learned that one of the universe's leaders was a traitor?
Was one supposed to doubt everyone and everything from that point forth?
Alexandra couldn't bring herself to do that, and while she of course held the desire to do something, she didn't have the power to act on it.
'I have to find a way to tell him.'
She thought back to the strange man she'd met for barely any time at all. If it was him, maybe ridding the universe of a great betrayer would be a possibility.
But how was she supposed to warn him?
Rumble!
At this time, the flower space suddenly shook. Muffled impacts sounded all across the barrier as if a rain of hail was battering it.
Alexandra's eyes widened. "Someone's helping from the outside! Push harder!"
The others noticed around the same time as her, and their efforts were maximized instantly.
Crack! Crack!
The barrier began to crack slowly. As the petals were being attacked from multiple angles, the spreading cracks eventually met each other and became more pronounced.
And just as the petals began to shatter…
RUMBLE!
The earth itself rumbled.
The heavenly vine glowed with intense golden-red light.
Rilia appeared beside Alexandra in an instant.
"Must…leave."
She grabbed Alexandra by the arm and rapidly shot into the air.
"Wait! The barr—"
Alexandra started to warn Rilia, but her worries were unfounded. Before the duo reached the top of the flower space, the barrier shattered entirety.
Alexandra and Rilia shot into the air of the outside world and rapidly retreated away from the heavenly vine, leaving its sphere of influence entirely.
"Time…of…reckoning," Rilia muttered, pointing at the heavenly vine's peak.
There, Alexandra saw a sight she'd never once expected.
A massive giant stood facing Lucas Streem, who was currently impaled by the Nox Supreme's blade.
The heavenly vine squirmed below them, the petals of the twin flowers at its peak curling and releasing as if to express excitement,
"This is…just what happened?!" Alexandra exclaimed.
It wasn't just about the Cloud Giants who suddenly appeared, but the battlefield as a whole.
Where did all the troops go?!
Unless…
They couldn't have died in the relatively short amount of time that passed, right?
Then again, thinking about the sheer number of extreme peak masters who died within that same span of time, Alexandra stopped doubting what she saw.
RUMBLE!
The earth shook again, sending vibrations even to where Rilia and Alexandra stood several hundred thousand kilometers away.
"The heavenly vine…is moving," Alexandra muttered.
Before her eyes, the vine squirmed to life.
Two massive vines like tentacles shot from the main vine's surface, flying into the air and wrapping around Lucas' body.
In the air above the vine, Sir Theon's expression changed instantly.
Boom!
The air exploded as he pushed away from Lucas as fast as he could.
And at the same pace he moved, he clearly witnessed Lucas' body freezing over and being sucked into the vine's "mouth," almost as if it was being stored for later.
'I must flee!'
The thought was instantly changed into action. Without any care for face or mission, he turned tail and ran away at his fastest speed.
In the first place, this kind of conflict wasn't in his pay grade!
He was sent to kill a weak kid not even at the extreme peak of 4th class!
Why should he entangle with these forces that'd definitely cause his death?
And he wasn't the only one thinking so. Galantis pulled away even before Sir Theon, completely avoiding the vine.
In the first place, he was hired help! There was no need to risk his life where it wasn't necessary.
'The mana shards in my body have become ownerless now that Lucas has been taken by the vine. If I can find a place to sit down and refine them, I should be able to heal back to my peak.' Sir Theon ruminated inwardly.
With his power limited, Sir Theon could fight evenly against Lucas and even escape the heavenly vine. What would his full strength look like?
Though, Sir Theon's fantasies remained fantasies.
Escape?
Maybe if it was a few minutes ago before Galantis arrived, escape was still an option.
But now?
The heavenly vine's growth was accelerated exponentially after it absorbed the mana of three Supremes, and in its current state…
BANG!
…it was no different from a Supreme itself.
The ground below exploded. A vine as thick as a tree trunk flew into the air, aiming to tangle around Sir Theon and bring him down.
He narrowly dodged in the air, but was met by a second, third, and fourth vine as he moved like a fly, buzzing around without a particular destination.
Once the 99th vine exited the ground, the group of vines began to sway in formation. A magic circle appeared around them, increasing their girth and length, as well as imbuing them with certain powers.
They now shot out with the power of the earth itself at their disposal. More than that, it even seemed like the vine had certain elemental affinities, likely gained after devouring so many experts.
After all, it wasn't impossible to gain an unnatural affinity, merely extremely rare.
The prospect of escape which was barely possible before became completely impossible.
When one entered 4th class, their every attack would be imbued with laws. The form of the attack stopped mattering as much as the substance became more defined.
This meant that most people opted to drop their fancier techniques for simpler, more useful skills that could be utilized with speed in a normal battle, and this also meant that the current heavenly vine, even though it was only swinging tentacles around wantonly, was throwing deadly force with every attack.
It was especially annoying since the heavenly vine didn't quite know how to control its strength.
And Sir Theon was incredibly unresigned since his internal injuries were the only reason he was so miserable right now.
But, the reason didn't change the fact that he was miserable.
With the vines filled with terrifying law fluctuations attacking him relentlessly, a thought crossed Sir Theon's mind.
'Did I offend someone insanely powerful in my past life?!'
There was truly no other explanation for his misfortune.
