Erika’s movements were swift and light, thanks to Alicia’s enchantment. She rapidly closed onto the black flower and aimed her knife at the vulnerable stem; it was the same efficient strategy she employed against Windfloras.

However, it wasn’t as easy against this mysterious flower..

“W-wah!”

Erika dodged a fierce punch by a hair’s breadth. If she wasn’t faster than usual, she would have been smacked hard.

“Geh!”

The flower quickly thrust a punch with its other arm. There was no time to dodge, but Erika managed to blocked the attack with crossed arms. This was all thanks to the responsive Combat Aid which she leveled up.

Curses! I can’t get any closer like this!

Erika’s advances were continuously interrupted by the flower’s long arms. Every time she tried to charge in, she was welcomed by a brutal fist. She always ended up abandoning her attack, either to evade or to block a punch.

While keeping Erika at bay, the flower refilled its missing petals. Time was Erika’s enemy in this confrontation.

A shower of blades from point blank... it’ll be a one-hit K.O, no doubt about it. I need to settle this fast, somehow!

Despite shouting so in her head, Erika struggled to find a winning strategy. Alicia couldn’t possibly provide any support either, as her strong gusts would blow Erika away along with the nearby flower.

“Haa... haa... curses!”

Erika decided to gamble and rushed in at full speed. She ignored her defense and swung the knife toward the black stem.

“Gah!”

A punch rammed her shoulder and trashed her into the field. Her face crashed into some flowers and smashed them.

“Heavens! This is such a disgrace!”

Jeff held his head in anguish as he watched his precious field getting messed up.

“Curses...”

Erika jumped on her feet, but a stack of blades was waiting for her.

T-this is bad!

The flower aimed its cannon and released a barrage of blades. Even with the sharper Combat Aid and with Alicia’s buff - there was nothing Erika could do!

... luckily, Alicia reacted fast. Since Erika was pushed a decent distance from the enemy, Alicia’s fierce gust safely annihilated the black daggers.

“Phew...”

Erika was granted a second chance. She didn’t have the luxury to relax and strategize, but she took some time to examine the flower’s arms. No matter where she looked, there was no weakness in the dark flower’s structure; there was no way to reach the flower’s stem.

“Hey, Titan! Try cutting them dumb arms!”

“Eh? Cut them...?”

“Yeah! C’mon! Chop chop!”

“Is that even possible...?”

Instead of focusing on the stem, Erika shifted her attention toward the arms. They were stretching out from the stem itself and appeared to be as fragile as the stem. She was so obsessed with the unreachable stem, that the thought of striking the arms never crossed her mind.

There was no telling whether the flower’s arms could be cut off, but it was worth a shot. Originally, Erika didn’t believe that the Windflora’s stem could be sliced either, so anything was possible.

I’ll bait it into attacking, same as before. Let’s see where this goes...!

Erika pretend to charge in for an attack, triggering the flower’s security system. She stayed at the very edge of the opponent’s reach, to have an easy time dodging its fists.

The flower thrust its long arm as predicted. Erika sidestepped the strike and lifted her legendary Silver Knife.

Cut it in half!

The knife hacked through the flower’s arm and left a red burning mark. The dark flower shook violently, in either pain or fury; perhaps both.

“This seems to be effective...! Great call. Mini!”

Erika repeated the process with the second arm as well, digging right through the flower’s arm. One slash wasn’t enough to chop an arm, but two slashes sealed the deal.

The flower was now missing both arms and staggered. Before the flower could regain its composure, Erika dashed forward and delivered the final strike. She hacked at the stem over and over, until it snapped in half.

【Defeated Darkflora. Obtained 8 [Darkness] pieces and 5 Darkflora Seeds.】

“Phew... haa...”

Erika leaned forward to catch her breath. It was amazing how much trouble could flowers cause in GoVe.

“Thanks, girlie! Here’s ya reward!”

Jeff praised Erika and paid her 50 pieces. She felt that she deserved way more for this bizarre event, but she was in no mood to negotiate.

“I’ll be on my way, then.”

Alicia announced and prepared to depart. Erika was quick to stall the elf.

“You aren’t going to investigate the cause of this incident?”

“No. I just happened to be on an errand and passed by.”

“Then, do you have any quests for me?”

“No. I already happen to be on a quest with another Vessel.”

“Oh, I see...”

Erika blinked in confusion.

Wasn’t she part of this event...?

Erika hoped that the helpful elf would stick around for one reason or another, but Alicia lived up to her words and left the area. Apparently, Erika was rescued by dumb luck, not by a scripted event of any sort.

This game is so much fun.

Erika sighed at the game’s cruelty and interrogated Jeff about this scandalous event. She still couldn’t believe she was forced to fight in a SAFE zone.

“Do you have any idea what was the deal with that black flower? I believe it was called ‘Darkflora’.”

“Hrm, to tell ya the truth, girlie... I’ve never seen such a thing in my whole life.”

Jeff crossed his arms and knitted his eyebrows.

“I reckon it’s that peculiar seed I got from a traveler.”

“A traveler?”

“Yea, a grim guy he was. Gave me a black seed for free, he did.”

“You mean a seed like these?”

Erika took out the newly obtained Darkflora Seeds from her Dimension Vessel.

“Yea, yea! That’s exactly it! Who coulda guessed it’d grow into such monstrosity... I’mma never grow one of ‘em black seeds again! Gotta make sure fellas in the village know to avoid ‘em too.”

“Yes... you should do so...”

With this, any chance to sell the Darkflora Seeds in the village was killed. Erika hoped that Jeff was just blowing hot air, and that none of his words truly affected other NPCs in the village.

“It’s troublin’, ain’t it? That grim guy must be up to no good.”

Jeff made a severe expression.

“Nobody in here village can go after that grim fella, but maybe you can, girlie.”

“You want me to pursue that suspicious man?”

“Yea. Last I remember, he headed south. Must be to Zelin.”

“Alright, I’ll look for him when I get there.”

Erika accepted the quest【Seedcrumbs of Revenge】. She had a bad feeling about the word “revenge” in the quest’s title.

Perhaps her killing spree on Windfloras made her rack up negative karma points. Now, all the strongest flowers in the world were seeking her death and prepared to assault her at every corner. This bloody chain of vengeance could only end once she defeated the Godflora itself.

... yeah ,right.

Erika cracked a laugh and spat a sigh. The saddest thing about that silly idea was... that it didn’t even sound all that absurd at this point. Erika was gradually learning that anything could happen in the wacky world of GoVe, even random flowers attacking you inside a safe area.