Scenario #3 - Plant And Survive! (VII)

"Are you all ready?" he asked, looking at the two girls right before him.

"Obviously..." Jane started stretching her arms.

"Yes, Papa!" Bianca replied happily, brushing her head against his waist.

In response, Lucius patted her head with a small smile on his face. However, in reality, Lucius wasn't so sure about this battle.

Just the 99th wave caused him to spend all of his mana, and he almost died from a giant mutant snake...

So, passing through the 100th wave, you surely be a challenge.

'SSS-level difficulty, huh... let's try it.'

"Begin the 100th wave..." he uttered to the system.

[Begin the final wave...]

[Boss Fight Incoming!]

[Please defeat the "Blue Venom-Fanged Kasaka"!]

"Huh... not a... zombie?" Lucius mumbled as he looked at the panel in front of him.

— Thrrrrrrrrrrr!

Suddenly, the ground of the building started scrambling as the supporting pillars started breaking themselves.

Along with that, a slithering sound could be heard in the distance...

— Fwish!

Two huge vertical pupils could be seen looking at them in the distance, with a murderous look that sent shivers down their spine.

[Your status has been decreased by 20% due to the presence of the 'King of the Swamp'!]

"Damn it...! Get back!" Lucius immediately spoke as he felt the snake disappearing with such a great speed that he almost didn't catch on.

But it was already too late.

The Blue Venom-Fanged Kasaka burst from its shadow, launching itself forward with its body in a terrifyingly fast slither. Its scales glittered like blue steel, and its drooling fangs sizzled where the poison struck the ground.

— Thrrrrrrrum!

The snake crashed into the base, and Lucius barely managed to dodge to the side, rolling out of harm's way. The ground shook beneath him as the snake reared its head-long, snake-like-above them.

Its eyes locked onto Lucius, gazing at him with a cold and predatory gaze.

"Jane, Bianca, scatter!" Lucius called out immediately. He knew this was going to be a fight where one of them could die.

This snake was simply too powerful for them right now...

— Grrrr!

Bianca roared like some beast, and from her tiny body burst white stripes, similar to those of a white tiger.

Her raw strength just beamed from her, and with a charge, in an instant, her fist shot toward the snake's side.

— BOOM!

Her fist landed with a resounding thud, but snake's scales were like armor. Bianca's punch only made it step back a pace.

Then, the snake suddenly hissed in anger as its tail whipped toward her with lethal swiftness.

"Bianca, move!" Lucius yelled.

— Thwip!

Bianca barely dodged; the force of the tail crashed against a nearby wall, shattering it into dust.

Immediately, Lucius summoned a huge icicle, hurling it at the snake's eye.

— Swish!

The icicle flew with speed, but the snake was quicker. To the side, it swerved its head, dodged the attack, and then lashed out at Lucius with its venomous fangs.

He leaped backward, narrowly able to dodge the strike. A drop of venom splashed onto his arm, and a searing pain shot through him.

"Gah—!"

His arm burned in the venom eating through his flesh, yet there was no time to stop. They needed to kill the snake, and fast.

And now it was the perfect time for 'that'...

"Jane, do it now!" Lucius yelled between gritted teeth.

As he said those words, Jane stepped forward and her eyes started glowing with a strange pink light that could be said to be seductive.

She swayed her hips; the aura around her changed and became more alluring, and almost hypnotic.

"Come to me …" she whispered in an enchanting voice.

— Hissss…

Upon hearing her enchanting voice, the snake froze; its pupils dilated, staring at Jane as if mesmerized by her beauty.

For a second, it almost looked dazed, its body coiling slower, losing its focus.

Looking at this opportunity, Lucius limply got up from the ground and gathered his magic in a giant ice spear...

'It's now or never...' he uttered inwardly, gritting his teeth.

"Now!"

— CRACK!

He shot the ice spear directly into the snake's open mouth. Throughout the air, it shimmered with cold energy.

— Thud!

The spear ripped through the side of the snake's jaw, leaving a huge trail of blood!

— HISSSSSSSS!

The snake shrieked in anger, snapping out of Jane's trance. It lashed its tail in a blind fury to squash Lucius beneath it.

'Fuc—!'

— Boom!

Lucius dove onto the ground, but the tail still clipped his leg, sending him into a pile of debris.

"Lucius!" Jane called out hurriedly, running toward him, but the snake was too fast. It struck again, this time its deadly fangs aimed squarely at Jane.

— Whooosh!

But Bianca was there!

"HAARGH!" she launched herself into the air, grabbing the snake by the throat and bringing it down with as much strength as she could manage.

— BAM!

The ground shook from the impact as the snake writhed in pain, trying to shake Bianca off. But she held on, her hands clutched firmly into its scales.

"Papa, help!" Bianca grunted, struggling to keep the snake pinned.

Hearing her daughter's helpless words...

Lucius biting his lips while holding his injured arm, stood up. Blood dripped from his wounds as his body screamed in protest, but he couldn't stop.

With shaky hands, he gathered the last of his mana.

— Shine...

Around his body, the white fairies that he had contracted with him, suddenly started sparkling and Lucius felt an even greater amount of mana being transferred to his body.

Blood escaped his pupils, as his eyes had let an icy smoke come out...

"Freeze… now… !"

—WHOOSH!

A wave of freezing energy shot forth from his hands, engulfing the snake's body. Ice crawled upon its scales, freezing it into place.

"W-we did it...?" Bianca muttered, releasing her strength.

Jane also did the same, slumping into the ground.

"Ahh... ahhh..."

'What's happening... why isn't there any notification...' Lucius wondered, and suddenly, he noticed something quickly...

"Bianca, quickly get away!" he screamed loudly, causing Bianca to flinch.

— Crack…

In a matter of seconds, the snake's strength made the ice shatter. It broke free, roaring furiously, and quickly attacked Bianca, tossing her aside and hurling her into a wall before she could even react.

— Thud!

"Fucking hell...!" Lucius mumbled he was about to check if Bianca was alright, but he immediately heard her voice.

"Papa, I'm f-fine! We need to finish it!" she yelled, stumbling to her feet.

Lucius nodded at her words, but before he could react, the snake's venomous fangs were already descending on him.

— Hissss…!

— Thwack!

At the last second, Jane hurled the rock at the snake's head, sending it off just for those vital seconds that allowed Lucius to roll out of its reach.

But the venomous bite still grazed his side, tearing through his clothes and flesh.

"Ugh—!"

Blood poured from the wound as Lucius fell to one knee, gasping for breath. He could feel the poison spreading through his body.

Even if he had poison skills at the 3rd rank, this poison was much stronger than the 3rd rank, which meant that he would definitely be affected by it.

"Fuc—AGH!" he uttered in pain.

He looked around and saw the condition of Bianca and Jane. Both of them were deeply injured; Bianca couldn't even move herself, completely staggering on her feet.

And Jane had taken a huge blow, and since she didn't have much constitution... she was in a pretty bad situation.

"Ahh... it seems that I'll need to deal with this myself..." he slowly got up from the ground, his bone cracking as he did so.

Blood sprouted from his wounds until they met the cold floor...

He used his thumb to wipe the blood from his lips, and formed two small ice daggers with contained a very huge amount of magic.

He had completely emptied his magic power, and his body started feeling drowsy as he did so, but he held on and focused on his job...

— Hissss!

The giant snake lunged at him, with its fangs bared to strike. It was a one-on-one fight, and the one that was the fastest would be the winner...

—Splurtt!

A huge amount of blood flew into the sky...

"PAPA!!!" Bianca screamed in horror...

The snake's fangs had pierced Lucius' waist, splurting blood to the ground. 

"A-ah... f-fucking... h-hell..." he muttered with a faint bloodied smile...

— THRUST!

Taking the opportunity that he was so close to the snake, he stabbed both of the daggers into the snake's eyes.

— HIIIIISSSSSSSS!

— CRACK!

The ice power contained in the daggers spread in an instant, freezing the snake from the inside out.

Its body shook once and then went limp, falling heavily onto the frozen landscape.

— Thud…

At that moment, there was nothing but silence...

"Huff—!"

Lucius collapsed onto the ground, his chest heaving with ragged gasps as the blood from his wounds drenched the ground.

Both Jane and Bianca immediately ran to his side, their faces pale with terror.

"Lucius!"

"Papa!"

They screamed out loud.

"Papa…!" Bianca shrieked, her face drenched with tears of gravely widespread fear.

Jane knelt beside him, her hands glowing with a pink healing light as she tried to stop the bleeding.

"Don't die on us… please…" she whispered with a trembling voice.

At their reactions, Lucius mustered a weak smile...

"I'm… not going anywhere…" his voice trailed off as he closed his eyes.

"L-Lucius?!"

"Papa?!"

"Wake up, PAPAAAAA!!!"

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[You have finished the 100th and final wave!]

[Calculating rewards...]

[Your location is larger than 1 kilometer! Bonus awarded!]

[You have killed more than 100 mutants! Bonus awarded!]

[You have completed 100 waves! Special Bonus awarded!]

[Rating calculated...]

[Overall Completion Rate...]

[ ✪ Platinum ✪ ]