'Sweuuu!!!'

The wind silently whistled against the trees that were now starting to grow their leaves.

The forest was slightly warmer, and the animals had all come out to play.

The birds tweeted away, and the frogs sang the base to the song.

Just one look, and one could see that the forest would soon get its full look within the next few months.

Several deers, rabbits and animals were all searching for food around the trees along a tiny forest trail.

Everything seemed to be at peace... when suddenly, all the creatures lifted their heads in unison and quickly vanished back into the heart of the forest.

'Gallop! Gallop! Gallop! Gallop!'

Right on cue, over hundreds of men on horseback rode along the forest trail silently, with their leader riding in the centre of the group.

But even though their leader was cloaked in black and had a long hood on, anyone who saw his frame or shadow would undoubtedly know that he was the leader of the pack.

The men rode vigilantly until they finally stopped at a field of 'Wet strangling grass'.

Yup!

As the name suggests, the grass would strangle anyone who dared to resist it.

Anyone who saw it would say that it looked like one of those Baymardian cleaning mops since It had a stick-like top body with its bottom half looking exactly like that of a mop's.

But one shouldn't be deceived, because underneath that mop-like wig of grass, were countless vines that were wrapped around like a ball of yarn.

The grass's outer appearance was just a camouflage to lower one's guard.

Because as soon as anyone came a few inches close to it, it would strangle them and cut off one's blood circulation in a heartbeat.

It was one of the most vicious plants known to man, and also liked blood the most.

Some people called it the devil's plant, while others called it the figments of enemy ancestors.

Several believed that they were a result of enemies that were buried in the place where they were killed.

Of course, beliefs like these made warriors travel several miles away just to throw the ashes of their enemies away.

All in all, the plant was believed to be pure evil.

.

"Stop!" One of the men commanded while raising his right hand in the air.

Soon, everyone did as they were told and quickly gave way for the man to approach the leader.

The leader then took out a small potion from his chest and gave it to the man.

"Everyone, stand back and wait!"

With that, the man moved towards the strangling plants and took a deep breath.

Even though these plants were deadly, they had but one weakness known to just a few powerful men in the Pyno continent.

Yup!

These plants hate this potion.

Even the man didn't know what the position was.

But all he knew was that whenever he sprinkled several drops of the potion onto 2 or 3 plants before him... a few minutes later, the entire field would turn red.

One thing to note was that these plants were normally purple in nature.

And when they attacked, they would turn grey.

But for some reason, red meant that they were asleep instead.

Additionally, they typically got affected by the other strangling plants around them.

So if one got hungry, turned grey and accidentally touches another one beside it... Then that one would also get hungry and turn grey too.

And in turn, the entire field would get hungry and turn green in a matter of minutes.

As for the potion in the man's hand, it could make these plants stay asleep for 15 minutes max with no signs of them waking up.

This was a huge secret that only kings and high-class nobles knew of, as the potion itself could make any middle class noble go bankrupt within a year.

The warrior sprinkled a few drops and quickly stepped back.

'Weeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhh!'

The affected strangling grass made a high-pitched crying noise, and quickly turned into red from bottom to top.

And once it completely turned red, it slanted sideways as if it were sleeping and immediately touched the other plants beside it with its long stick-like upper part.

'Weeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhh!'

The rest cried out and the cycle continued.

Within the next 4 minutes, the entire field had turned completely red.

"Everyone, we have just 13~15 minutes tops.

Advance quickly!"

With that, the rest of the men rode through a ting footpath amidst the red field.

Even though it seemed like the time was a lot, sometimes, these plants would get up earlier than expected, so the quicker they were the better for them.

.

The men rode along the small foot trail and finally entered a cave at the other end.

And right on cue, they heard the sounds of the plants waking up in unison.

'Weeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhh!'

As expected, some really woke up early.

Good thing that they hurried as fast as they could.

One should know that with no real way of measuring the potion ingredients, how could each potion have the same results?

The men rode into the cave while feeling relieved as well.

At this point, even if someone had accidentally seen them enter the cave, they wouldn't be able to advance at all..... Lest they want to die a gruesome death.

Heck!

Even the potions were so valuable and well treasures, that their leaders were only allowed to take 2 spoons of them in a potion bottle whenever they had to leave or enter the cave.

'Gallop! Gallop! Gallop! Gallop!'

The men continued to advance while avoiding all traps that were set up for intruders.

And soon, they came out of the cave and was greeted by a massive estate a little further away from the cave's exit.

"Welcome, your majesty Alec Barn.

Welcome!"

"Hmm... Have all the men that I sent this way arrived yet?'

"Yes your majesty, they're all here."

"Good!

Now round everyone up as soon as possible.

It's time to prepare for battle!"