Reincarnated As A Plant Life

Chapter 281: Minecrawlers [Final]

The floor rumbled and cracked, prying open to reveal a crimson abyss. The skeletons, and all those not protected by Lucius's solar field, were swallowed whole. In exchange, blood began to bubble out of the cracks.

Eilphyr stared at the blood in satisfaction, as it rose and took a humanoid form. A crimson creature, nine feet tall, with nothing but a set of eyes on its face, came to being.

Lucius could barely sense the creature, it was as if it had no energy presence whatsoever. He could only detect it because of the scent of blood that clung to its body.

However, it wasn't the only thing with a negligible energy presence. Eilphyr had spent all its energy summoning that thing, and Lucius could sense Eilphyr's weakness like a shark in bloodied waters.

He sent his shadows after Eilphyr, grabbing its arms and legs, just as it did with Ghost.

"Morrghul, destroy that creature's core," Eilphyr said, staring at Lucius's cacoon with unconcerned eyes.

However, Morrghul did not respond. It stared at Luicus with the curiosity of a newborn. Unmoving even as its master was dragged towards Lucius.

"Morrghul! Kill it!" Eilphyr shouted, anger now seeping into its voice. Still, Morrghul did not react, it looked to its hands, and then towards the walls, then back at Lucius's cacoon.

"Listen to us! We are your master!" Eilphyr shouted. It struggled against Lucius's shadows, clawing at the ground as it was hauled to its doom. It managed to rip several of its claws, leaving a bloody trail in its wake.

"I told you, you would pay," Lucius whispered, before lifting Eilphyr into the air. The shadows began pulling at all its limbs, and they snapped out of their sockets with an audible pop.

"Did you think we would scream just because of this? This is but one vesse-" Eilphyr was about to say, before kumulipo made contact with its chest.

"No. But this is the part where you scream," Lucius interrupted, sending his energy gushing into Eilphyr.

Eilphyr screamed like no living being should. Even from within the caccoon, Lucius's ears rang, and a hot painful liquid dripped out of them. However, that was a small price to pay to see Eilphyr writhing and squirming within his grasp.

Despite the complexity of Eilphyr's channels, he quickly discovered where its manacore was.

"Morrghul!" Eilphyr shouted, its voice now gurgling. Blood dripped out of its mouth, and its eyes were deep red from pain.

Morrghul was on the ground, covering its ears, confused over what was happening.

Lucius surrounded Eilphyr's manacore, before slowly crushing it. He savoured the screams… the singing that Eilphyr let out with every crack that appeared. Sweet energy began to seep out of Eilphyr's manacore, perhaps the only thing sweeter was the snapping sound of Eilphyr's body slowly being mangled.

"Wherever it is you are go once you die, tell them the forest is off limits. Tell them what awaits them, if they choose to come here," Lucius said, before shattering Eilphyr's core.

Eilphyr convulsed violently. Bloody foam bubbled from its mouth, and blood seeped out of its eyes and ears. Its final scream was more akin to a squeak, nothing left of the once powerful creature it once was.

[Processing...]

[Foreign mana successfully converted.]

[220 million Helios added.]

The shadows encasing Lucius began to flicker, before disappearing altogether. He was left there, with the newborn Morrghul, who still stared at him as a newborn would its mother.

The fatigue from using Emperor's mantle for so long was beginning to weigh on him. His limbs felt like cinder blocks, however, that did not stop him from moving closer to the creature.

"It seems Eilphyr summoned a baby to fight his battles," Lucius said, his voice tired and slow.

As he moved closer, he noticed the shadows around the creature begin to twitch. He stopped in his tracks, studying the creature carefully.

An instant later, the shadows came to life, and grabbed Lucius's arms and legs, in much the same way he had Eilphyr. He was dragged towards the creature and lifted into the air. He felt his limbs slowly being pulled out of place —the excruciating pain fast followed by a popping sound.

Despite the agony, Lucius couldn't help but laugh.

The creature didn't even seem aware of what it was doing. It still studied him like a puppy would an interesting toy.

It emitted no malice or hostility.

The shadows began to coalesce into an orb, almost identical to kumulipo albeit crimson. It even had small tendrils writhing excitedly along its circumference.

"So you can copy Emperor's mantle and kumulipo, huh? I bet you would've been a pain to deal with if you weren't so clueless," Lucius whispered, as his arm was pulled to its outer limit.

The agony from using so much power was much more than any physical pain. In that regard, he understood why Eilphyr hadn't screamed when he had done the same to him.

"But still, child of the nether, huh? Why did he wait until now to summon you?" Lucius thought out loud. However, he quickly decided that now was not the time to question crazy demons.

"Tell your parents they shouldn't send you up here alone. It's dangerous," he added.

Kumulipo floated right behind the creature, awaiting Lucius's command.

"Drain," Lucius said before looking to the ceiling.

Morgull howled in pain.

Lucius found it funny that it screamed just like its master, even more funny that its energy tasted better.

His eyes were heavy… too heavy to keep open.

[...]

[Processing...]

[Foreign mana successfully converted.]

[300 million Helios added.]

[System event... {A Guardian's Wrath} complete!]

[+ 10 000 exp!]

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

[Reward granted: Complete Quest Pass]

[New Item unlocked: ???]

[Level 20 Acquired!]

[Guardian Quest Available!]

"That's all well and good. But I think I'm going to take a nap before reading all that," Lucius whispered to himself, as his vision went dim.

"I hope everyone is okay."