Whoosh!
The light returned and condensed back into human form. Seeing the satisfied smile on Raize's face, Vali knew he had gained something significant.
"Looks like you got quite a harvest."
"Indeed. Those light orbs taught me more ways to use light—and how to turn my body into light."
Raize didn't hide anything.
Elemental transformation wasn't rare among those present, and no one felt envy. The power didn't suit them anyway.
They were more curious about the stone giants and why they contained pure light.
Raize simply said the statues were once giant beings of light.
His knowledge of ancient Ultraman civilization was limited, unlike his detailed understanding of BETA.
Only now did Raize truly understand why the ruined realm was said to hold both danger and opportunity. Discovering Ultraman statues alone made the trip worthwhile.
After finishing their investigation, Raize and Vali left together. Raize had gained his opportunity, and the others didn't want to fall behind.
Wasn't the point of entering such a dangerous realm to train themselves and seek opportunities?
They had encountered danger, and Raize had found opportunity. They wanted their own chances too.
When everyone exited the BETA nest, their expressions suddenly changed.
Arthur looked at the roiling black clouds overhead and said gravely, "The power of darkness has grown much stronger."
Everyone felt it.
Le Fay pointed back the way they had come. "The source seems to be over there."
"What should we do next?" Bikou asked, planting his staff on the ground.
Vali considered the countless BETA they had encountered earlier. Getting entangled again would be disastrous, especially with Destroyer-class units. Now, even stronger dark power was emerging.
He loved challenging strong enemies, but he wouldn't endanger his teammates.
"There are too many monsters over there. If we get stuck, we won't escape easily. Let's avoid it for now and head the opposite way."
Everyone agreed.
Raize had no intention of investigating either. Too many dangers had appeared already. Venturing deeper blindly was unwise.
Heading the opposite direction, BETA became scarce, and strange vegetation appeared.
---
Raize and the others moved toward an area with fewer BETA and odd plant life.
Le Fay felt uncomfortable in the dark mist, staying close to her brother.
Unlike the barren wasteland, twisted trees and plants grew here.
Ahead stood a towering tree crowned with massive yellow petals. From above, its roots and vines stretched across hundreds of miles of fertile land.
This stark contrast drew their interest.
"Meow… flowers in a place this creepy?"
While scouting, Kuroka spotted a yellow flower among purple grass. Curious but cautious, she used magic to pick it from afar.
"Hey, Sister Kuroka, where did you get that flower?" Le Fay asked, approaching curiously.
"I was wondering too, how something like this grows here."
Suddenly, as Le Fay leaned closer, the flower released pollen.
Caught off guard, both Kuroka and Le Fay inhaled it and froze, their eyes turning vacant.
Kuroka saw her long-lost sister, Koneko.
A perfect illusion.
A happy family. No experiments. Growing up joyfully together…
Le Fay saw herself as a powerful mage, admired by many, acknowledged by her brother…
Smack! Smack!
Two sharp slaps rang out.
Pain snapped them back to reality, and both broke free from the illusion.
Vali, Bikou, and Raize surrounded the two women. Raize immediately withdrew his hand—the two slaps earlier had been his doing, and he had also snatched the flower away from Kuroka.
There were faint slap marks on both girls' faces. After breaking free from the illusion, Le Fay immediately saw the worried expression on her brother's face, while Kuroka looked unsettled and distracted.
"Brother, just now I—"
"You were standing still next to Kuroka, smiling stupidly the whole time. Looks like you fell into an illusion," Arthur said coldly. His words were harsh, but he secretly breathed a sigh of relief. As long as his little sister was fine, that was what mattered.
Vali frowned as he looked at the yellow flower Raize had taken from Kuroka's hand. He understood now that this thing was what had caused two members of his team to fall into an illusion.
Raize raised an eyebrow and examined the flower. Through his game interface, he already knew exactly what it was.
The Gijera Flower. Its pollen could cause humans to become intoxicated by blissful dreams and lose themselves. Its essence could be refined to keep human brain cells permanently active.
It was actually a pretty good item. He could try to see if it was possible to grow it after going back.
After putting the flower away, Raize noticed that Kuroka still looked unsettled. He extended a finger, condensed a tiny bit of holy energy at the tip, and lightly tapped her exposed, fair, delicate shoulder.
Sizzle…
Bikou and Vali both twitched at the corners of their eyes as they watched. The spot Raize touched immediately began to emit steam, accompanied by a sound similar to meat sizzling in hot oil.
"Meow? Kyaaaaaaaaahhh!!!"
Kuroka's expression instantly changed. As a reincarnated devil, what would happen when she came into contact with Raize's holy energy went without saying. Intense pain exploded from her shoulder, playing a symphony on her pain nerves, and her scream followed immediately.
She jumped backward more than ten meters like a startled cat, lowering her head to see a small burned hole in her exposed shoulder. Steam continued to rise from the wound, and the residual holy energy forced her to immediately gather power to remove it.
"Uh… wasn't that a bit too much?" Bikou asked with cold sweat on his forehead as he scratched his head and looked at Raize.
"She was deeper in the illusion than Arthur's sister. A slap wasn't enough to wake her, so this was the only way," Raize replied calmly, shrugging as if to say he did it for Kuroka's own good.
Arthur pushed up his glasses, indicating that he understood. Raize hitting both his sister and Kuroka had been to help them escape the illusion. He wasn't angry at all—if anything, he was grateful.
Vali also knew Raize was helping them and didn't say anything further.
However, one small-tempered woman did not think that way. After removing the injury on her shoulder, Kuroka returned to the group with a dark expression, gritting her teeth as she stared at the calm Raize.
"Raize~ don't you have anything you want to say to this big sister?"
"Oh, no need to thank me. We're teammates. Helping you break free from the illusion was only natural," Raize replied indifferently, clearly unfazed.
She knew Raize had helped her out of the illusion, but he had slapped her and burned her with holy power. With skin this fair and delicate, how could he bring himself to do that?
What if it left a scar on her smooth, tender skin?
"…I'm really very grateful to you, Raize~~~"
Suddenly, Kuroka dropped her sour expression. Her face brightened, and her tone became alluring and sweet.
Bikou shuddered instinctively when he heard that tone. As someone familiar with his teammate, he knew Kuroka was about to get nasty in a very sneaky way.
Raize turned away and stopped looking at her. He raised his head and looked toward the towering tree dozens of kilometers away. If his guess was right…
Whoosh!
Blue flames ignited in his palm. With acceleration applied, Raize flung the fire like a baseball. In an instant, it turned into a meteor of flame that shot toward the distant towering tree.
"Let's take off, Vali. There's no need to explore this place anymore," Raize said.
White Dragon Emperor light wings suddenly spread from Raize's back. Bikou and Vali didn't understand his actions, but Arthur, the calmest among them, glanced at the distant tree and seemed to realize something.
In Arthur's sight, the blue fire meteor Raize launched slammed directly into the towering tree.
Boom!
A tiny spark instantly turned into a raging inferno, spreading across the tree's body and engulfing it in domineering flames.
Roar!!!
In an instant, the high-temperature flames spread to the massive petals. The inextinguishable fire, which also reduced toxins, easily burned away large portions of its body.
Caught completely off guard, Vali and the others heard a shrill scream echo throughout the twisted forest. The distorted trees around them seemed to come alive, ripping themselves out of the ground!
"What the hell did you do, Raize!?" Bikou shouted as he immediately summoned his cloud. After enlarging it, he carried Kuroka, Le Fay, and Arthur into the air.
As for Vali, the moment the environment changed, black scythe-like devil wings extended from his back and carried him into the sky.
"I already said we don't need to explore this strange forest. Just look for yourselves," Raize said, glancing at the agitated Bikou and pointing downward.
Looking down, they saw that the twisted forest stretching for countless miles had truly come alive. All the distorted vegetation transformed into massive vines, writhing wildly across the ground like a nest of serpents.
So the forest they had been exploring was alive. Those twisted trees were all vines.
Then the source of all these vines was—
Everyone looked toward the distant, burning structure that had begun to move. No, at this point, it looked more like an enormous flower than a tree.
"So all this massive vegetation was just the roots and stems of that giant flower," Vali said, finally understanding why Raize had said there was no need to explore this area.
Indeed, there was no need. Since this was the body of a plant-type life-form, continuing to explore would only invite trouble.
What had happened to Le Fay and Kuroka earlier was proof enough.
After obtaining the flower that had caused Kuroka's illusion, Raize had already grasped the general situation.
If he wasn't mistaken, the giant flower he had ignited was the true body of the Gijera Flower.