"Raphtalia, Filo, stay on your guard."
So, this time our enemy was plants.
Even for me, who regularly handles medicinal herbs, these plants before us were something else entirely.
Fruits of all kinds hung from the vines, and tubers grew from the roots.
On top of that, they supposedly had the ability to parasitize the human body and spit acid or poison.
The most likely solution would be herbicide... though I had no idea whether it would work if I just destroyed them physically.
After advancing a short distance, the vines writhed and lunged at us.
"Haah!"
"Yah!"
Raphtalia and Filo swept the vines aside.
Vines from all around were coming at us.
Well, I supposed I might as well use magic.
"I, the Shield Hero, root of all strength, command thee! Once more decipher the truth and shield those before thee!"
"Fast Guard!"
I cast a defensive spell on Raphtalia and Filo.
The effect increased the target's defense power by a percentage. It was an auxiliary magic that was particularly effective when used on someone who already had high defense.
"Lord Naofumi, thank you!"
"Thank you!"
The two thanked me and each continued attacking the vines assailing us.
Well, pressing forward like this was fine, but I had no idea how to actually get rid of these plants.
It would be one thing if I could blast them away with powerful magic or use some special medicine. But if it could only be suppressed with magic, then retreating was the only option right now.
Still, systematically wiping out the enemies here was at least one approach.
There was a high chance that some kind of clue was hidden among the monsters in the village.
The old records didn't specify how the extermination was carried out, so no concrete method had been found.
In that case, I'd just have to try a direct assault, and if that didn't work, come up with some other strategy.
The vine attacks couldn't penetrate my defense, so they weren't actually impeding our progress.
"For now, let's push ahead and investigate!"
"Right!"
"Okaay!"
I broke into a run, heading toward what must have been the central core of the plant in the village.
It was swarming with plant-type monsters.
Their strength was manageable — something that I, Raphtalia, and Filo could handle.
However, I still had concerns about Raphtalia and Filo's defensive capabilities.
"Um, let's see..."
The monsters' names were Bio Plant, Plant Riwei, and Mandragora.
Bio Plant was the general term for this entire organism, Plant Riwei was a humanoid monster constructed from vines, and Mandragora was a non-mobile monster that resembled a pitcher plant.
The one Filo had mentioned that spit poison was the Plant Riwei — it scattered poisonous pollen from the large flower on its head.
Next, the Mandragora sprayed acidic dissolving liquid from its vines, weakening its prey before pulling it toward the main body with its vines to consume it.
The Bio Plant was the root monster producing both of these types. Occasionally, swollen vines would burst open, and one of the two species would come spilling out.
When I tried spraying herbicide on it, it withered as though struck by a critical blow.
It seemed to count as an attack against the shield.
Well, maybe because it was more like an aggressive plant than a monster per se...
What kind of criteria determined that, though?
Was it like using Holy Water or healing magic on undead monsters — because the effect differed from the intended purpose?
Or maybe it was because the herbicide could restore a parasitic state...
I couldn't figure it out.
If I broadened my thinking, it might be similar to how a virus was a pathogen, and a Healing Potion effective against viruses could work.
"What should I do?"
The vines and Plant Riwei kept up their pointless attacks on me without pause.
The attacks themselves were meaningless, but the poisonous pollen was making it a bit hard to breathe.
The acid was annoying too. It apparently had an effect that lowered defense power, and checking my status showed a considerable decrease.
Still, it couldn't break through, which was good. My Poison Fang (Middle) was having zero effect whatsoever.
Of course. The enemy used poison too, and they were plants.
"Raphtalia."
"Khggh...! What is it?"
Was it the bad air? Raphtalia was coughing slightly.
Even though she'd fully recovered, Raphtalia had damaged her respiratory system in the past, so maybe she was still vulnerable.
"Here, take some herbicide with you, just in case."
"Oh, yes!"
I tossed the herbicide to Raphtalia. I'd have her use it if things got desperate.
...Come to think of it, writhing vines. If this were an eroge, this would be the kind of material where the heroine got violated.
"Lord Naofumi?"
With Raphtalia's figure and all, it was exactly the kind of monster where she could get captured and... you know.
"You're thinking something rude, aren't you."
The vines coiled around Raphtalia with a squelching sound, but she calmly tore them apart.
They apparently had less durability than expected.
"Lord Naofumi! Hurry up and let's go!"
"R-Right."
Pressing onward, I found a massive tree at the center of the village.
No — looking more closely, it wasn't a tree. It was an enormous mass of vines.
"If only that were the main body..."
As I approached the mass, an organ resembling a giant eye in the trunk of the cluster stared intently at us.
"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Creepy.
But it did seem to be the main body.
"Master~ Filo's going in!"
Filo charged forward and leaped at the giant eye. However, a massive vine attacked her mid-jump.
"Hyah!"
With a thud, Filo kicked the vine away with her powerful legs and launched herself higher... but sadly, she didn't have enough distance.
"Master~"
"I know! Air Store Shield!"
I materialized an Air Store Shield beneath Filo's feet as she fell, letting her use it as a foothold.
After landing on the shield once, Filo jumped again and reached the space directly in front of the eye.
"Tei!"
Splat! With a sickening sound, Filo's kick obliterated the eyeball.
Ugh... that was pretty grotesque.
"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
The vines went berserk, shaking the earth violently.
So just destroying the eye wasn't enough to take it down after all.
Hmm... what to do about this.
"It won't go down."
"Nope."
The eye was regenerating with a hissing sound.
While that was happening — I suddenly spotted something inside the eye that looked like a plant seed.
"Raphtalia, Filo. There's something inside that eye that looks like the main body. Pour the herbicide into it."
The cooldown had ended. I could fire another Air Store Shield. By the way, I was currently being mobbed by every Plant Riwei and Mandragora in the area. They were raining down from above in what felt like infinite numbers.
"Got it!"
"Roger that!"
Raphtalia climbed onto Filo's back and leaped toward the regenerating eye.
The eye seemed to sense the threat — dozens of vines rained down toward the two of them like a downpour.
"Shield Prison!"
I quickly conjured a cage of shields around them to protect them.
A shield prison suspended in midair — inside it, they could withstand any attack.
The duration was fifteen seconds.
Every vine that fell during that window was repelled by the prison.
Grrr... the vines wrapped around the prison.
Fifteen seconds elapsed, and the prison vanished. The instant it did, I deployed an Air Store Shield as Filo's foothold.
"Tei!"
Raphtalia slashed through the vines swarming around Filo on the platform with a single flash of her sword.
The vines were cleanly severed, and Filo's second jump succeeded.
She landed a second kick right on the eye.
"!?????"
The eye froze for an instant as the follow-up strike hit the portion that was still regenerating.
Seizing that opening, Raphtalia hurled herbicide into the seed-like structure inside the eye.
"!!!!!?????"
A sound that was neither a scream nor a noise — some indescribable vibration echoed through the area, and the Bio Plant's movements came to a dead stop.
"Did we get it?"
I had a bad feeling I'd just flagged myself for death, but honestly, it didn't matter since taking hits didn't hurt or itch for me.
However, that was only temporary. The Bio Plant started moving again.
"Sorry. I don't think I sprayed it properly."
"No, it was definitely on target. It seems the medicinal effect wasn't quite enough to kill it."
If that was the case, I was out of ideas...
Just as I was thinking that, a thought struck me.
I had an herb-boosting skill. Just a moment ago, I'd used that skill to help someone.
So what would happen if I used it myself?
"Then let me try using it next."
I grabbed the herbicide in one hand and walked forward, ignoring the swarm of enemies around me.
I'd noticed something recently — my defense stat apparently extended to my strength as well. Even when swarmed by large numbers of enemies, I could still push through.
Attacks, on the other hand, were completely useless.
So I could walk around with hordes of monsters clinging to me and it wasn't a problem at all.
And so I reached the root of the Bio Plant.
"If I could, it would probably be more effective to ride Filo and spray it directly on the affected area."
I scattered multiple bottles of herbicide at the base.
"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!??????????"
The Bio Plant's movements intensified even more than before. The vibrations were like death throes.
Then the eye turned brown and withered away.
Everything began to dry up with a soft hissing sound.
Crack, crack — with snapping sounds, the Bio Plant's main body crumbled, and we scrambled to evacuate.
"Whoa..."
Looking around, every other monster had also turned brown. Everything except the ripened fruits and tubers had become a uniform brown. The only things still moving in the area were us.
And then — glowing seeds rained down where the Bio Plant had stood.
...Hmm, if I left those alone, it could be bad...
"Let's clean up, I suppose. The shield might absorb some of these too. Gather them up."
"Right!"
"Gob gob!"
While we collected the seeds, Filo stuffed her cheeks with the remaining fruits and tubers.