You know what? I feel that I really need to question my own sanity, at this point.

Now, since I was reborn, I thought I was a rather level-headed woman and a rather rational alraune. Well, there were moments where logic seemed to vanish from my head, but for the most part, I believed that I was being rational.

Sadly, or probably not, maybe agreeing to fight two Level 5 [Grandmasters], who both have powerful beasts and techniques, was not the most logical or optimal decision, even if my instincts told me back then that I must conquer my fears and fight for the future, or something like that.

At the moment though, a small part of me seemed to almost mock me for not letting the Queen Bee murder the Xie clan guys and be done with it. But, a slightly louder part wanted me to fight for real and grow stronger, because this enemy is one that I could defeat with the help of Mei Wu.

Already, the two elders were damaged, their pathways damaged due to the Impurity Eater painfully ripping the impurities out of them. Xie Yao in particular would have his power affected for months after this fight, if he either escaped or managed to kill us.

Not that I or Mei Wu preferred either outcome, and I had the feeling that the Queen Bee won't allow it. But regardless, we must do our best in this fight, while staying alive, and as safe as possible.

Something that seemed rather impossible when Xie Yao decided to rush at us, now with his Saber-toothed Blazing Tiger after he shattered the ceiling, giving a better space to maneuver for that invisibility-loving Xie Xiu.

The tiger roared, flames burning at the plants my Qi was growing and regrowing, the distance between us almost crossed in only a couple of seconds, as it directed itself towards me while Xie Yao seemed to be interested in attacking Mei Wu.

'Admittedly, a good plan.' I thought, 'I could definitely kill that tiger, but it would take way more than a few seconds for that to happen. The best I could in only a couple of seconds is to stop its attack. I won't be able to stop these two at the same time.'

"Ai'er!" Mei Wu shouted as Xie Yao's hulking figure and his beast were about to hit us, her Qi pulsing, and I felt the difference in what she wanted to do compared to merely throwing the Apoptosis Qi and the Impurity Eater at the two monsters about to hit us.

"Haa!" I instinctively shouted as I ignored the flames of the Saber-toothed Blazing Tiger as they hit my body, and its stinging bite on my monstrous body, its teeth piercing through my body, both my faces grimacing as I focused on creating thick and sturdy branches to stop Xie Yao's terrifying bullrush, standing in his way as he was determined to hit my lover with enough force to instantly murder her and brutalize her body at the same time.

The pressure was honestly immense. My branches, thick and full of energy and with the most lethal poisons, paralytic and plain deadly, running through them, creaked at the pressure he exuded, almost giving in and breaking apart. More branches and vines, thorny and sharp, entwined and circled tightly around him, almost digging into his skin, as I was doing my best to stop this raging bull's advance, even as I threw toxic pollen at him while at it. If he inhaled them, and continued to be hit by my poisonous nectars, I was certain that even his resistances to poison would not be able to keep up.

Xie Yao though didn't seem to care that I managed to stop him -barely at that-, and if he was affected by my pollen or their rather awful taste, he didn't show it. Instead, with a face that seemed to be made of granite, he pulled back his absolutely massive arm as power pulsed through his figure to crush me.

If this hit me head on, I would be dead, no questions asked. Naturally, I didn't plan to wait for him to continue as I blasted his body with another torrent of poison even if its effects won't be visible or as useful at the moment, making sure to control it so that no single drop falls on Mei Wu, who had already made her move.

Xie Xiu had already summoned another beast of hers, one that my instincts as a beast 'remembered' it was called the Venomous Viper, a giant purple snake that was capable of throwing highly potent poison along with acid from its mouth, and I was certain its bite was extremely dangerous. A Silver-ranked Level 4 existence that to me, is more dangerous due to the acid than the poison it could make, since being an alraune meant that I could resist its poison just fine, especially since I was a Gold-ranked existence myself, eclipsing it by a rank, and had I been a Level 4 instead of Level 1, I was certain that my presence would be able to pressure it a bit.

Sadly for her, she had no time to actually attack since Mei Wu's attack against Xie Yao started.

"Tumor Mandala!" she shouted as she jumped right in front of the hulking monster that was about to punch my human body into oblivion, even as my branches tightened their hold on him, yet his body seemingly not even registering my efforts to bind him in place.

"The same trick wo- Gh! Ghah!?" the elder's hulking figure shuddered as his arm stopped right when it barely touched Mei Wu, as a sound boom echoed from that slight contact, my lover's body immediately hitting the ground and cracking it. The energy in the fist, once vibrant and powerful, dulled massively, and became tainted. As if the energy itself was being contaminated by an insidious force, which was exactly what was happening.

Mei Wu's Inherent Skill, Tumor Mandala. The ability to create impurities and augment them, this was what she had just used right now, to enhance the impurities in Xie Yao's body, particularly in his attacking arm and shoulder, nearly spending more than half of her reserves to make the process monstrously fast.

Impurities aren't exactly a good thing to have in a cultivator's body, after all, and if too many impurities suddenly appeared in one's body, then it was going to give a negative effect. Right now, the qi coating Xie Yao's arm looked as if black cracks were running through it, and neither the Impurity Eater nor me ignored this chance, Mei Wu's beast once more brutally feeding on the impurities on his arm, so violently a finger was almost ripped out of the offending fist, stopping him for only a couple of seconds as he grunted, and I swung my vines right into the fragile flesh, inserting more doses of poison into the wounds as drops of his blood fell on the ground.

'Get lost!' with such thought, I immediately threw him away with all my strength all the way into the wall of the hive almost out of it, honestly, the few seconds of him being immobile making it easy to do such a thing.

Sadly, this success didn't come with immediate consequences.

"Ghk! Ah, uk!" Mei Wu spat blood, the pain of being hit by the Xie Yao. Even if it was barely a hit, the difference between their levels was too much, not to mention the fact that she used the majority of her reserves to induce the impurities into the Xie clan elder.

"Wu-chan!" I screamed as my vines moved towards her figure as she had already hit the ground, and I was sure I heard the cracking of her ribs. She was visibly in a great amount of pain, and I was honestly terrified out of my mind.

This was the first time I saw her take such damage, the first time I saw her in such physical pain, seemingly so close to death. I just didn't like that sight at all.

And thus, I didn't hesitate to use my own body as a shield as the Venomous Viper's acid and poison was unleashed toward us. My monstrous body screamed as the acid burned the skin, and I protected my human body with the usage of a blast of nectar, that I then threw at the Saber-toother Blazing Tiger that was still biting and trying to burn my monstrous body, before piercing it with a thorny vine full of even more poison then throwing it away in the direction of its master.

"You won't die! I won't permit it!" I yelled, holding tears as I all but pierced her body with a vine to inject my healing nectar into her blood. This would give much better results than having her drink it, after all.

"Kuh, gha!" color returned to her body, as she caughed the blood still inside her mouth, her reserves filling rapidly, as the Apoptosis Qi returned with vigour, imposing her will on her enemies with as much power and determination she could muster.

"Thank you, Ai'er..." she spoke with gratitude as she quickly stood on her legs once more.

"No need to thank me." I muttered, as while a pair of my eyes was looking at my beloved, the other was paying attention to Xie Yao and his beasts.

The man seemed to be even more upset than he was before, if the way he was making quick glances towards his arm that was filled of impurities. And this time, he didn't seem to bother speaking to us.

I wondered if he is thinking that fighting us is too risky at this point. So far, he had seen Mei Wu's technique, her Guardian Beast, and was just a moment ago experiencing the effects of her Tumor Mandala skill. All of these were highly dangerous even for an enemy at his level, and had he been even a mere Level 4 [Champion], he would have most likeky been dead right now by the damage. He must know by now how problematic to fight us.

Will he try to escape? That sounded like a logical conclusion, honestly. The best move in my opinion would be escaping then bringing backup capable of actually killing us in seconds. And that's without including the Queen Bee and her army, which I had long lost any sign of where they are. I know that the Queen Bee was certainly here in the hive, probably concealing herself by her honey, but I don't feel that the Protector Bees are as numerous as they were before.

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"Really, this is a seriously troubling battle." his voice rumbled as he felt as if he was getting more and more pissed by the second? No, more irritated, it seems. Yet, I felt as if he was praising us as well? It was honestly a bit confusing, especially with all the adrenaline, or its equivalent rushing through my body as my healing nectars were also injected into my own body to heal it.

Thank goodness that the my healing nectars restore more energy than I spend making them, and with my healing skills being boosted by the Heasy plant-type beast I ate in the first week or so since I was reborn, we would be able to survive as long as the damage isn't too severe to heal and neither I or Mei Wu are dead.

"Kuha! Thanks for the praise, elder. Glad I could be such an irritating cancer cell in your eyes." Mei Wu talked even as her body was still healing, blood still leaking out of her mouth, and I felt as her ribs were healing with my vine still attached to her.

I was honestly surprised by how easily she could joke in this situation, and yet a part of me was proud for her showing that much spite and defiance in the face of this strong enemy. It was frankly amazing how people in this world could easily have such willpower even against overwhelming odds. Then again, I was one of them too.

"Hmph. I guess one can always enjoy the simple pleasures in battle." he retorted, barely giving his tiger a surprisingly calm yet soft glance before he took a stance, as if preparing for an attack.

I readied all my weapons, vines, oversized leaves, nectars, to stop him. Mei Wu as well prepared her skills and beast to attack with if he rushed at us.

"Here I come!" he crouched down, power, rather filled with impurities yet still monstrous and devastating, clear in his form. His beasts were as resilient as him, I was certain. I wonder how strengthening-type beasts truly work...

I had no more time to ponder, before he moved, and jumped really high with a surprising grace and now was out of the hive as he stood on the lush greenery! I immediately raised my guard for his attack that never came even after seconds of waiting!

... Wait, what?

I blinked, almost dropping my guard due to the utterly unexpected move. Xie Yao looked at us completely smug, a smirk on his face that seemed more like he made a successful prank on a friend than a nasty smirk that promised torture, and even more surprising, Xie Xiu suddenly appeared alongside him sitting on her Camouflage Chameleon and her Venomous Viper slithering next to her, making the exact smirk on her face.

"... Huh?" even Mei Wu seemed baffled by the sudden move. I just couldn't see or feel what they planned.

"What, what just happened?" I asked no one, even as my instincts warned me that they are planning something.

"I can't read what they plan to do..." Mei Wu whispered as she focused her senses to try and decipher what they're trying to do. "I know that they're not planning to escape, their Qi is too determined for that. I'm certain they will throw a surprise at us soon!"

"Do you really have that little faith in us, brat?" we looked at Xie Yao, who looked amused even with the damage he had received from us. "That really wounds me. I don't really have the patience to do such surprise attacks for the most part. It's just bothersome. Honestly, I would have been glad you two either died before, or surrendered, so I could then return to enjoying my days without dealing with this headache you two caused me."

He's stalling, I realized. Despite what he said, I easily sensed the lie from a mile away. He definitely has no problem being tricky, and what he just did before proved it.

My instinct was almost screaming at me that something horrible will happen. My heart was beating so quickly and strongly I felt it would liquefy from the stress as I didn't dare to make any move due to whatever trick they might pull.

"They're going to attack. They will attack. I can sense it, every instinct of my body tells me that they will attack any second now, and it would be something terrifying." Mei Wu muttered loud enough for me to hear, as she held her Grimoire tightly, eyes darting around trying to notice every foreign Qi not belonging to me or her around.

The voice of a hiss was what broke the building tension, as the Venomous Viper was the one that attacked, throwing a large torrent of acid and poison.

I immediately tried to ignore my instinct as it kept yellling in my head as I moved to intercept the attack with my nectar-

"Ai'er, below!" a hysterical and urgent voice screamed so loudly I almost didn't realize it was Mei Wu who screamed as she was almost about to jump, and I followed her.

Unfortunately, it was too late.

The ground where we were standing cracked and almost exploded, as a giant thing, no- a monstrously large beast slammed into us. An abnormally large worm was throwing us high in the air.

From the single glance I could get, it was an earthly brown massive worm, it's mouth the side that it hit us with was roughly five meters in diameter. Easily wider than my monstrous body's length.

I couldn't even know how long that beast was, but I was certain it must be easily longer than a dozen meters. I didn't even have time to have my instinct tell me what it was, as I and my lover were thrown in the air so high, it almost felt dizzying. I barely managed to catch Mei Wu with a branch lest we get separated.

"So that's their plan!? They planned to ambush us with another beast!?" I screamed, feeling hysterical myself. This was easily the worst shock I had ever experienced in this life.

"No! What they're trying to do-!" Mei Wu shouted as I followed her sight-

Xie Yao, while we were panicking, had already jumped, and he was already about to reach us!

"Use the Halo Shield! Protect yourself!" I almost ordered as I tried to move as much of my natural weapons to deflect him. He was already too close for me to be able to safely stop him, and I didn't have any solid ground to hold myself onto too!

Mei Wu did not even retort or argue, and she amassed some Qi to summon the Halo Shield. If she summoned it, it would protect her-

"Leopard's Brutal Hunt." a cruel yet calm voice cut my thoughts, as I felt it. Power rushing through that currently giant monster that is Xie Yao. Suddenly, speed or distance didn't seem to matter to him.

And my world was consumed by fear at what would happen now.

'No... No. No no no no! This is absurd!' My heart was filled with terror. He will reach us before Wu-chan could protect herself!

I will not allow that to happen!

With all my effort, I dragged my beloved behind me, a distance I knew that these arms will never reach. Ignoring her panicked and horrified look, ignoring her screaming my name even as she tried painfully to claw her way out of my branches while she kept focusing on summoning her protective shield...

"Ai'er!"

"Heh..." I only chuckled at the situation as the vines and branches I threw as quick as I could, the poisonous nectars, all hit Xie Yao's fist, and breaking as if they didn't matter.

And then I felt pain and followed by sudden numbness. I almost forgot what was happening, before my mind reminded me.

My monstrous body was pierced, my mouth barely missed, as I tried to deflect as best as I could...

Huh... No wonder that I feel as if I was digesting something. My acid is already trying to digest this guy's arm...

"... Ah?" I could only mutter numbly as he painfully ripped his hand out of me, my precious blood and acid violently spurting from my body, along with the healing nectar that is running in my veins too.

It almost felt surreal, how... strange this all felt. Here I was, in the air, almost as if suspended, looking at the serious and strict glare of Xie Yao as he prepared to hit me again, as Mei Wu finally summoned her Halo Shield. She will be probably safe now. If only, she could stop screaming.

"YOU TRAASHHH! I WILL BREAK AND RUIN YOU EVEN IF IT WAS THE ONLY THING I WILL DO IN MY LIFE! NOT EVEN A CELL OF YOUR BODY WILL REMAIN!!!" a torrent of noise barely recognizable to me was leaking from her mouth, and I was only able to understand anything out of that gibberish due to the sheer gigantic rage that seemed to explode and leak from her.

I could faintly feel as she was clawing her way out of my vines as the Tumor Mandala seemed to almost explode from the sheer amount of power she was putting into it!

And she threw her Impurity Eater while at it too! Hehe...

Wu-chan, why are you so angry? It's just a hole. I will- I will heal it soon, okay? I... I am not thinking rationally at the moment, aren't I? Damn, it's getting too hard to think...

I tried to focus, to really focus, ignoring the static feeling of numbness that was consuming my body, my branches trying to catch her from the retaliation of that ogre guy, not even caring about the futility of it as she still had that shield-

'No... Think, you stupid alraune!' my mind screamed at me, and I barely returned to the reality as I saw the ogre g- Xie Yao's body was spasming, Qi seemingly so filled with impurities that I only noticed how he was loudly screaming in pain, almost as high as Mei Wu's broken shriek.

'Wu... chan...' I tried to raise my branches, vines, anything. Anything to stop Xie Yao from killing you with that arm...

I could not even register the Halo Shield, my eyes not able to notice it through the pain, not even bothering to register it as the only thing I wanted was to protect her-

Yet, I failed. The punch connected, yet surprisingly, she was not dead, and instead she was pushed onto me...?

... Ah, so she was protected, after all... And I and her were thrown far away, flying in the air, until a feeling of pain made itself known to my body.

My instincts told me that we just hit the ground...?

"...er! Ai'er! Ai'er! Answer me! Please!?" I could barely feel a hand holding my human body. It was just so warm, I'd love to just sleep and take a small nap...

Even smiling hurt.

"... Sorry, for worrying you..." I spoke honestly. It felt as if I was saying a goodbye, didn't it? It was just so strange.

"Ai'er! Don't you dare die on me! I'm begging you! Please, don't sleep!" I could hear the broken tone in that voice, even if my eyes were barely able to open.

But, I am just so damn tire-

"Hah? What's this? You're going to die like that?"

I felt my body suddenly freeze at that. That voice... it's mine? Who said that?

"Are you seriously going to die without allowing me to play a bit? How cruel of you~! I guess I should take control of the wheel for now then, if you are this weak-willed?"

And then, I felt it. Something deep, deep inside me. Inside my mind... Something was moving and crawling as if finally given the chance to actually do anything for a long time...

What is... this? What is this thing that is emanating such a feeling of hunger and... lust?

"Welcome, little princess~! Here's the person, or identity that you were trying so hard to suppress~!" it just oozed with malicious glee. Something that was holding the same Nature Qi and abilities I had, but felt uncaring towards anything but primal hunger and desire...!

Don't tell me... This thing is...!

"Kasumi Ai is what you call yourself as? Even in this world? Then, I think I should follow your example. Call me Jiko Ai, if you please. In other words, I am your Narcissism, and even more..."

A feeling of terror consumed me as I could almost notice the piercing green eyes of mine seemingly gazing at me, mockingly as if finding it funny that I was dying so easily.

"Your instincts~! Don't worry~! I won't break your little lover of you yet~!"

Hearing that voice almost oozing with sadism, as I felt my control slip, I could only think of one single thought, hoping it would be reached no matter what...

'Wu-chan... run.'