I'm the Only One With a Different Genre - Chapter 150

Chapter 150
We Must Protect the Dark Fantasy Residents

Noah, her face flushed—whether from the fire or the emotions—continued speaking.

“You said we’re friends no matter how I look. So, I was wondering if it’s okay to be comfortable when it’s just us.”

“Uh… uh, yeah… right? That’s… right.”

“Thank you.”

Noah immediately unbuttoned the top button of her shirt, causing Lian’s eyes to shake as if an earthquake had struck his mind.

“Wh-why are you undoing the buttons?”

“Well… if I change like this, my clothes will get ruined.”

“Oh… Ahh—ha, ha… I see… yeah…”

The focus disappeared from Lian’s eyes as he let out a drawn-out, awkward laugh. He had broken down; the man acknowledged by the unicorn was malfunctioning. As Noah’s trembling hand reached for the second button—

RUMBLE!

“Ahhh!”

“…!”

“…!”

The ground shook violently as though an earthquake was happening, and a scream of terror echoed from outside the cave. The two immediately locked eyes, their expressions hardening.

RUMBLE!

Thud, thud…

The ground trembled again, more violently this time, causing dust and small rocks to fall from above. Fearing they might be buried if they stayed any longer, the two dashed out of the cave. The rain had stopped, but the thick fog remained.

“Is this… a plant?”

What appeared before them looked like tree roots, thicker than a wrist, emerging from the ground as if they were being pulled up by some force. The roots repeatedly rose and sank back into the earth, like a needle stitching through the soil.

Looking at the rapidly approaching tendrils, Noah shouted with a grim expression.

“It’s a plant-type monster, a Raphle!”

“Raphle?”

“It usually takes the form of a giant flower bed or tree, devouring any creature that comes close. What’s shooting out of the ground are its roots.”

The plant’s rapidly moving roots were sliced in half by Noah’s sword. Though tough, they were severed with a slight delay, indicating their durability.

“If the roots catch you, they’ll pull you into the ground, so be careful!”

After dealing with the encroaching tendrils, Noah added sternly.

“Unless we kill the main body, it’ll keep sending out more roots. We need to find the source.”

“There’s something more important! The scream we heard earlier—”

Before Lian could finish speaking—

“Aaaah!”

“…!”

“That voice!”

A bloodcurdling scream resounded in the distance. The two of them immediately sprinted toward the source of the scream.

Whip! Whip!

Roots, hidden beneath the ground, shot up, aiming to impale Lian and Noah. However, they were cut into pieces with a few swift strikes.

“Grrk, ugh… Hyung!”

“…! It really is Nero’s voice!”

“Damn it…”

Lian shouted with a grave expression, and Noah cursed under her breath, accelerating even faster.

Thanks to the rain clearing some of the fog, their visibility was slightly better than before. As a result, they were able to clearly see the massive flower head standing in a wide-open space.

The first thing they noticed was a flower bud the size of a carriage. Between the tightly closed petals, sharp teeth were lined up in rows, and a sticky liquid dripped from them.

Sssss…

The liquid made a sizzling sound as it hit the ground, seemingly melting it. The stem was as thick as a person’s torso, towering as high as two carriages stacked on top of each other.

Instead of leaves, the monster had tendrils as thick as a wrist, writhing like tentacles. As they got closer, they could see the tendrils wrapping around a person, pulling them toward the flower’s maw.

“…!”

“Nero!”

The one trapped by the tendrils was Nero. He hung limply, as if unconscious from the crushing pressure. Seeing him about to be devoured, the two rushed forward, throwing caution to the wind.

Whip! Slash!

The roots sprang up from all directions but failed to leave even a scratch on the two as they fought their way through.

“Nero!”

Noah immediately slashed through the tendril holding Nero. His body, which had been hanging in midair, plummeted to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. Noah quickly caught him in her arms.

“Raaagh!”

Enraged at having its prey snatched away, the Raphle lunged at Noah, baring its rows of teeth.

Swoosh!

With a sound like a soft petal falling gently to the ground, five deep slashes appeared across the giant flower bud.

BOOM, BOOM!

With a delay, the flower’s head split into several pieces and collapsed to the ground.

Splat!

Green liquid sprayed from the severed stem, reminiscent of blood gushing from a severed arm.

Thud, thud…

As the chunks of the Raphle’s body hit the ground, Lian quickly approached Noah and Nero.

“Noah, are you okay?!”

“I’m fine, but Nero…”

Noah looked down at Nero lying in her arms, her gaze filled with concern. Lian, who had caught up to them, pulled a blanket from his bag and spread it on the ground.

“Let’s lay him down here first.”

“…Right, we need to give him first aid.”

Now that her mind had settled a bit, Noah carefully laid Nero down on the blanket. As soon as he touched the soft surface, Nero groaned and opened his eyes.

“Ugh…”

“…! Nero!”

“Hyung…?”

Nero slowly blinked up at Noah. Just as she was about to speak with a voice full of concern—

“Noah! Look out!”

“What?”

Before she could even process what Lian had said, something yanked her from behind. Her eyes widened, and time seemed to stretch out.

In that slow-motion moment, she saw Lian rushing forward, as if to shield her from whatever it was, and Nero, who had been unconscious just moments ago, now smiling brightly with an expression too clear for someone who had just fainted.

Thwack!

With the sound of flesh being pierced, time resumed its normal flow, and Noah’s body rolled across the ground, landing in a pool of the Raphle’s blood. The stench of iron filled the air as blood dripped onto the earth.

“Huh?”

Nero tilted his head, looking down at his hands. The sword that had impaled Lian’s stomach shattered into pieces, falling to the ground in fragments.

Sss…

The blood that had soaked the ground evaporated, as if being sucked back into something.

[How dare you covet my blood…!]

‘Wait… isn’t that my blood?’

[We made a pact. Your blood is my blood, and my blood is yours!]

‘You don’t even have blood.’

Lian, ever the Gag Resident, exchanged banter with his cursed sword while looking down at his stomach. His clothes were torn where the dagger had pierced him.

‘Huh… Cold air is coming in.’

[See? I told you not to be stubborn…]

‘But the clothes you give me are way too flashy.’

[Hmph! Just because you flatter me doesn’t mean your foolish decision will disappear!]

‘…Yeah, thanks for thinking that, I guess.’

After finishing his conversation with the cursed sword, Lian turned his gaze to Nero, who was smiling strangely.

“Hyung.”

With eyes so clear they seemed almost eerie, Nero reached out and embraced Lian. Lian’s face twisted in confusion.

‘What the…? Did he go mad from a mental attack? Should I just stand still since it doesn’t seem like he’s attacking?’

As those thoughts swirled in his mind, the sound of someone scrambling toward him reached his ears. It was Noah, who had been thrown quite a distance, now rushing desperately toward them.

“Lian!”

At the same time Noah, her face pale as a sheet, shouted Lian’s name—

RUMBLE!

The ground split apart, even more violently than when the Raphle had torn through it earlier. The earth beneath Nero and Lian cracked open, as if some massive creature had just opened its mouth wide to swallow them whole.

“Huh?”

Only then did Lian realize something was terribly wrong. He whipped his head around to look at Noah. While Lian himself could survive a fall from a hundred stories, Noah might not be so lucky. Instinctively, his eyes darted toward her.

“Lian!”

“Ah.”

Seeing Noah stretch out her hand toward him with a desperate expression, Lian smiled in relief. The pit that had opened beneath him wasn’t large enough to pull her in as well.

In his final moment of thought, his body was swallowed by the endless darkness.

“No!!”

Noah screamed and tried to throw herself into the pit after him, but the ground sealed itself shut faster than she could react. Just like when the Duke had disappeared, the earth smoothed over in an instant.

Thud!

Noah’s fist, charged with magic, slammed into the ground furiously. The impact left a deep crater, as if a massive boulder had fallen from a great height, but beyond that, nothing happened.

“No… no… no!!”

The cold, rain-soaked ground had frozen solid, becoming hard as rock, but Noah continued to dig desperately. Magic swirled around her hands as she dug, pulling up chunks of earth.

As the ground became uneven, the green blood that had soaked the battlefield pooled into the hole she had created, forming a small pond.

Drip. Drip.

“No… no… Lian… please…”

Her tears fell from her face, mixing with the green blood. Though the sight was grotesque, Noah didn’t stop. She couldn’t stop.

‘Lian… Lian…’

The pit that had been so dark it seemed bottomless, those gentle eyes that had softened in a moment of danger, and the lips that had unconsciously mouthed something.

‘I’m glad you’re safe.’

Lian’s muttered words burned into Noah’s mind like a scar, filling her with endless pain.

End of Chapter.