But it was no longer an Empty Fruit. It was more like a seed that had vines growing out of it. The vines were purple and red, and they looked as if they had been drenched in blood.
Han Sen was shocked, and he thought to himself, "There really was something wrong. It was fortunate that I chose not to go; had I been the one to grab that fruit, that would have been me!"
The super creatures all stared at the purple-red vine, and as they did, the vines moved. Instantly, the vines extended and shot out to grab the green kirin which was closest to it.
The green kirin was as terrified as it was angry. Its body flashed green as it cast water arrows to strike the vines that grabbed it. But the vines had thorns growing along them, and they pierced through the kirin's green scales with apparent ease. They wormed their way through its flesh and continued to drill their way inside.
Han Sen felt a chill run down his spine as he watched. It was unlike anything he had ever seen before, and it was so odd it felt surreal.
Even though the other super creatures were frightened by what was happening, none of them were sure how they should react. They merely watched the vines drill their way into the kirin's body.
As the vines drilled in, the green scales of the kirin began to develop a purple pattern, as well. The more that pattern overtook it, the weaker its resistance to the vine was.
Roar!
As the green kirin continued to twitch in agony, they heard a roar. The black tiger was going for the griffin once more.
On the other side of the peak, the black skeleton and the black-flame phoenix were starting to develop a purple pattern across their bodies, too. They stood up and made scary noises, and then attacked the creatures that were closest to them.
It was chaos again, as the blood of super creatures began to drench the mountainside. The black skeleton and the black-flame phoenix were far more powerful right now, and they savagely destroyed any super creature they fought. With a misty red haze, the peak was doused in the color red.
Roar!
The green kirin stood up again, looking angry. Its body was covered in the phantom pattern by now, and it leapt over to the lime-green elephant. In between the splashes of lime, the kirin was able to tear into its back. With its ravenous mouth, it ripped open the flesh to expose the spine inside. Blood began to cascade from the wound.
The other super creatures, which were currently free of attackers, all decided to escape the area. They all knew there was something wrong with the fruit they had previously been hungry for, and so they all thought it was best to book before something bad happened to them.
The creatures that had been trapped were having difficulty committing to flight. This was especially true for the griffin, which would soon be killed by the merciless black tiger.
Han Sen's heart went cold. It was all too strange, and he knew that he himself should run off now while he could.
"You can run, but you must make him stay." The woman's voice sung in Han Sen's ears once more, and it made him shiver.
Chapter 815: Real Empty Fruit
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"Who?" Han Sen was shocked by the sudden instruction. He looked around, but again, the voice was accompanied by no nearby person. Han Sen gritted his teeth and bid for Moment Queen to follow him. He wanted to get as far away from this strange place as he could right now.
When he lifted his leg, Han Sen felt something. He dashed out of the way just as the ground cracked open and a lashing vine suddenly appeared.
Amazed, Han Sen saw it was coming from the Empty Vine. Many more shot through the ground, all seemingly coming for him.
"F*ck my luck," Han Sen swore to himself. He jumped, summoned his Flaming Rex Spike, and swung it at the vines that came towards him.
The Flaming Rex Spike, that he again imbued with a green light, tore through numerous vines. But it was seemingly to no avail, as more and more vines appeared.
Han Sen jumped and attempted to go airborne, but in the next second, he froze. Countless vines sprung out of the ground like a coven of wyverns. They twirled in between each other, forming a barrier to block his ascent.
Dong!
Han Sen's Flaming Rex Spike whacked against a vine that was thicker than a train. He created a meter-thick dent in the vine, but it wasn't nearly enough to cut through it and give himself release.
Many other vines now came towards him, and Han Sen could do naught but run. He cast Aero and took off flying low. He dodged many of the vines that came for him, but the chance of escape seemed slim.
Han Sen did not dare use wings, because the wings were nowhere close to the speed of Aero. And neither were they as agile. If he used his wings, a vine was sure to grab ahold of him and pull him down.
Moment Queen moved quickly alongside him. She appeared to be a whole lot more relaxed than Han Sen was, however. It was strange to see her so composed, given the situation. The vines that netted together continued to grow and extend across the sky, forming a cage that would eventually to keep them trapped where they were.
"Make him stay." Han Sen heard the woman's voice once more.
"Make who stay? There's no need to be so ambiguous and mysterious; just tell it to me straight!" Han Sen still couldn't see where the woman was talking to him from, but he still spoke aloud in response.
Han Sen did not think what he said would yield much of anything, but after he spoke, the raging vines stopped and returned to the soil.
Han Sen looked around, but no one appeared. All the super creatures that had come to the mountain for the fruit had now dispersed and vanished.
Only a few remained. There was the griffin, which was dead. And there were also the black-flame phoenix, the green kirin, the black skeleton, and the black tiger; they stood atop the peak as if they were frozen. He was unsure what they were doing.
But after taking a closer look, he was given quite a shock. The legs of the four super creatures had grown roots, and vines had replaced what was once their hair.
Their eyes seemed sullen and empty, as they stood there. They looked like vegetables, unable to move or even blink.
Han Sen used his devil-eye mask to watch them. Their lifeforces were still strong, but ever so slowly, that energy was being driven into the roots.
Needless to say, Han Sen was quite surprised. He thought to himself, "Is this the way the Empty Vine produces its offspring? All these creatures are made to become some sort of parasite-host, is that it? And they provide the nutrients for the newborn vines?"
Han Sen thought it was a terrifying thing to witness, and that the vines were scarier than any other creature he had encountered before. Fortunately for him, he had decided not to eat the Empty Fruit. Becoming fertilizer was not in his best interests.
If such powerful creatures were unable to resist the parasite-like being, Han Sen's human body would never have stood a chance.
"What is the current situation, then? The four Empty Fruit have already found their hosts, so why does it want me here? What does she want?" Han Sen now believed the woman's voice was in fact the Empty Vine, since the voice seemed to control it.
Han Sen, however, couldn't comprehend what the vine might have wanted from him. And neither did he know who the person she wished for him to make stay was.
The strange woman's voice no longer spoke to him, though. As he scanned the area in confusion, the Empty Vine that poked through the peak of the mountain began to stretch open as if blossoming.
A new vine stretched out from the center, and there, Han Sen saw a fist-sized green fruit. It was glowing beneath the sunlight with a lime glare.
Han Sen's nose smelled something nice, and it made his body feel at ease. In his heart, he thought to himself, "Moment Queen was right, after all. The four fruits from earlier were not the genuine Empty Fruit. This one right here has to be the real one."
Han Sen, however, did not dare to approach. He merely watched the crystal-clear fruit that hung on the vine from afar. He could see where its core was, and there was a baby-like thing inside, similar to a fetus.
The baby was too small, and it was all curled up, obscuring its gender.
While Han Sen looked at it, this single vine approached him. The fruit hung from the vine less than ten feet away from him.
The baby that was curled up inside the core had its eyes closed, yet Han Sen felt as if he was being checked out by it. He felt as if he was being watched.
"Make him stay and you can go." Not long after, Han Sen heard the female voice once more.
"Are you talking to me?" Han Sen looked at the baby inside the fruit with much shock and posed the question to it.
"Who else?" The female voice spoke, as the Empty Fruit trembled upon the vine it grew upon. It was telling him that it was indeed her that was talking.
"Are you the super creature created by the Empty Vine?" When Han Sen said this, he suddenly felt rather stupid. The answer to that question was fairly obvious.
"Sort of, yes. But sort of no, too." The baby's answer surprised Han Sen.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Han Sen asked with curiosity, while a portion of his mind thought of a way he could escape the area.
He had a lot of treasure on him, but he didn't want to give it to anyone. No matter what the baby wanted, he wouldn't give away anything of his.
"With Little Silver, the little angel, and Moment Queen, and the unreliable fairy, I should be able to flee from here." Han Sen then looked at the four super creatures that were starting to look like plants, and suddenly lost the confidence he had just given himself.
Chapter 816: Holy Spirit
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"I am me; I that swallowed the seed of the Holy Empty. I was reborn. My genes advanced and took me to the Third God's Sanctuary but now... I do not know if I am truly myself." The female voice sounded heavy and solemn.
Han Sen's heart leapt at the words, and he asked, "Are you the same as these super creatures?"
Han Sen was referring to the black-flame phoenix and the rest that were under the influence of the parasitic force.
The fruit moved, and then the female voice spoke again. "After thousands of years, the Empty Vine bears fruit. They are reborn and their genes have improved. But who knows if they are still themselves right now?"
Han Sen thought to himself, "The emotions of this Empty Fruit don't seem too stable. If I play my cards right, maybe I can escape."
Thinking this, he told the Empty Fruit, "If you feel this way, why do you force others to swallow the Holy Seeds?"
The woman responded, "If I am born, I can open the gate to the Third God's Sanctuary. And then, I will leave the Second God's Sanctuary and the Empty Vine will die. If I do not leave behind seeds, there would not be any Holy Vines."
"I am me, and I am also the Holy Vine. Even though I exist here, it is difficult for me to control my natural function of producing offspring."
Han Sen did not know what to say. Right now, she wasn't completely herself. She was once a super creature but now, half of her body was composed of the Empty Vine's genes.
It was a super creature that was created through the union of animals and plants. It was difficult to imagine it being in the Alliance.
"What were you before?" Han Sen couldn't help but ask, as a super creature such as this was sure to have some history.
"I was an Empty Spirit Witch. I am still an Empty Spirit Witch." The voice spoke with assuredness, and it went on to say, "I have already answered your questions. Can you give him over to me now?"
"I have to be honest with you, I really don't know what it is that you want. If you told it to me straight, I could have given it to you much earlier," Han Sen tested.
"I want your Plant of a Holy Spirit. There is nothing else you can provide, that I see value in," the Empty Spirit Witch said.
"Plant of a Holy Spirit?" Han Sen's heart jumped and he presented her his gourd. Then he asked, "Is this it? Is this what you want?"
"Yes," Empty Spirit Witch confirmed. And then, the vine moved to take the gourd from Han Sen.
"Hang on." Han Sen pulled back his hand and then said, "At least tell me why you want it."
The Empty Spirit Witch seemed upset by the question that was posed and said, "For some reason, it did not grow as it should have. I am going to help it grow again, this time to its fullest."
Han Sen froze, not expecting her to feel this way about it. When he first received the gourd, the gourd and the vines it clung to were dry and had almost died. What she said sort of made sense, and it didn't seem as if she was lying.
"Are you saying the gourd is like you? There is a super creature inside?" Han Sen recalled the giant, vine-wreathed bones that lay near the gourd. If the gourd created a giant creature similar to that, things would surely prove interesting.
She denied Han Sen's thinking and said, "It's different. It is a pure Plant of a Holy Spirit. It is special and it cannot be compared with me."
"Where is it from?" Han Sen asked.
He wasn't willing to give up the gourd, as it was something he played with almost every day. He had grown quite attached to enigma. And if it was truly a Holy Spirit that was still growing, it wasn't something he'd be quite willing to just hand over.
Han Sen had always been a greedy person, and unless death was certain, he wouldn't hand over his treasure.
"I don't know, but I can sense its holy presence. I cannot tell where it is from," the Empty Spirit Witch said.
"If it is not the same as you, then why do you want it?" Han Sen asked, looking at Empty Witch Spirit.
She seemed to be annoyed by the barrage of questions and no longer answered him. Instead, she said, "That is none of your business; just give it to me!"
After that, the vine came again at Han Sen's hand. In response, he took two steps back and evaded it.
This infuriated the Empty Spirit Witch, and now her vines came out of the ground like dragons. They netted the sky once more, attempting to deny Han Sen any chance of escape.
"Didn't you say you would enter the Third God's Sanctuary once you are born? How can you help this grow? It is not something you can do in a single day!" Han Sen shouted, and readied himself to summon the little angel.
If he couldn't talk his way out of this, then fighting his way out was the only option. He wasn't willing to hand over the gourd.
If Han Sen was willing to put up a fight and beat her, then there'd be no stopping him. Furthermore, if he did destroy the super creature, he'd be defeating one that was on the precipice of entering the Third God's Sanctuary.
But Han Sen was afraid of the four other super creatures that were nearby. The Holy Seeds were growing inside them, and although they were rooted down on the peak, there was no telling whether or not they could join the fight.
Even so, Han Sen steeled himself for battle. But when the Empty Spirit Witch heard what he said, she quelled her aggression and said, "What you say makes sense. I will be born soon, and it will be difficult for me to stay here. I can't take care of it."
Han Sen quickly replied by saying, "Then how about you let me take care of it? I have already been taking good care of it; in fact, I treat this gourd as well as I would my own son. I keep it fed, and it has even had the opportunity to drink up countless gallons of super creature blood."
Han Sen painted himself in the most positive light possible, as if he wanted to adopt a poor child into a wealthy family.
She seemed touched by his words, and then, the baby inside the fruit opened its eyes. Emerald eyes peered right at him. She looked at Han Sen and the silver fox that rested on his shoulder, and then looked at the fairy inside his pocket. After a while of examining his person, she said, "Okay. You will take care of him. But he will be born with an incomplete gene. It will be difficult for this thing to be born, regardless of how much super creature blood it drinks. Wait here. When I am born, I will provide it with Empty Spirit blood. By doing that, I will repair its flaws."