“Arrow, poison spit, target the flower!”

Zachary’s frog raised its head. Its throat expanded to twice the original size. With a surge of Eternum and a sharp exhale, a blob of purple and green slime shot out and formed a mesmerizing arc in the air.

Splat!

The range was good but the aim was bad. The poison landed below the flower on its stalk and started to bubble as the poison ate away at the tough exterior. The creature stopped going after Jean-Pierre and turned towards Zachary. Its numerous vines shook angrily and several of them shot towards him with alarming speed.

“Arrow, keep firing! Onkie, eat the vines!”

His words were clear and sharp. Novice ensouled could only handle the simplest of commands.

Arrow and Onkie responded without error. Blobs of poison shot out one after another, landing on the flower, its stem, and the mass of vines. They didn’t seem to cause too much damage but it kept the creature frozen in place.

At the same time, the small mountain of fur that was Onkie charged forth bravely and tackled an encroaching vine. It bit down, chomping through the plant and swallowing it whole. Finding it palatable, it attacked another vine, picking on the most tender portion at the tip.

“Zachary, hold your frog!” Jean-Pierre shouted.

“Arrow, stop!” Zachary ordered.

The frog stopped firing poison and a few moments later, two large flying bugs descended from the canopy. They were the purple stag beetle and giant mosquito. They flew directly at the flower with the mosquito in the lead and pulling ahead. The mosquito’s proboscis extended straight down like a rapier, ready to pierce the flower. The stag beetle behind it opened its two horns as it prepared to take a big bite.

Pa!

The mosquito’s proboscis slammed into the yellow petal. But instead of piercing through, the proboscis broke on impact. In the few breaths that it perched on the flower, unsure of what to do, several vines had already surrounded it.

“Hee!” It hissed in alarm as the vines quickly wrapped around its thin frame.

Its weak legs quickly snapped into pieces and its carapace started to crack as the vines twisted and constricted.

“Hee! Hee!” It hissed even louder in pain but there was nothing it or Jean-Pierre could do.

The purple stag beetle finally arrived and landed on another flower petal. It took advantage of the dying mosquito occupying the flower creature’s attention and snapped its claw-like horns towards the red pistil that seemed like an inviting meal. The target was unprotected. It seemed like an easy victory. Whatever it was, it had to be this strange thing’s weakness.

Suddenly, a blast of Eternum erupted from the flower. Like an inexorable gust of wind, it swept both the purple stag beetle and the mosquito away. The stag beetle was able to recover and fly away to safety whereas the mosquito hit the ground and did not move.

“Damn it!” Jean-Pierre took out the mosquito’s summoning card and glanced at it.

The anima crystal in the center had already turned to dust, meaning the summon had died. The bond between human and Ensouled was broken and that was that. Jean-Pierre didn’t even glance at the dead body of the mosquito that had been his loyal soldier.

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He quickly brought out another summon to replace the fallen mosquito. It was a particularly ugly and fat caterpillar the size of a small dog. It was brown and yellow with dangerous-looking spikes all over its rotund body. It was something that not even the most avid entomologists could appreciate. It was truly a tough life being a bug catcher.

While this was happening, Zachary’s frog had resumed its poison spit attack. However, the flower monster’s body was so tough that Arrow’s poison only left some shallow marks. The toughness of adept rank Ensouled was far beyond the abilities of ordinary novice rank Ensouled.

There were also differences in Eternum reserves and Eternum control. Zachary and his group’s entire force of summons could fight until exhaustion and the flower would probably still be full of energy. If he and Jean-Pierre had an entire lineup of Eight Paths Novice Rank summons, they would have a better chance of wearing this creature down. This thing was substantially weaker than the green elephant but in their current state, it was still an arduous endeavor.

Unless…

“Katherine, help us!” Zachary shouted over the noise of battle.

Her wide eyes whirled in his direction, “What do you want me to do?”

It sounded less like a question and more like a statement.

“You…” He suppressed the first retort that came to mind.

So far, she and her cat had done nothing. But he needed them if they were to have any chance.

“Your cat! Tell it to do something!” He cried out in exasperation.

“Why? Marble is just a little kitten. How can she fight against that ugly thing?”

“Heavens Eternal! Will you two shut up?” Jean-Pierre roared.

During their argument, he had lost another insect. It couldn’t keep going like this. It was a losing proposition.

“She’s not going to risk her cat. This is pointless. Let’s just run!” He shouted.

Instead of answering, Zachary glared at Katherine. She didn’t back down and clutched the furball to her chest like it was her baby. The cat also had an expression of uncaring and superiority as if the current situation had nothing to do with it.

It was infuriating. The opportunity was quickly slipping out of his grasp. If they couldn’t capture this Ensouled… he didn’t know when or how he could heal his soul. He felt helpless.

He whirled around and waved to Jean-Pierre, “Damn it. Let’s retreat!”

“Fuck! Fine… get behind me. Keep your frog attacking until the last moment. I will send two of my beetles to hold it off and we can make a run for it!”

“Okay!”

Zachary followed the plan. Arrow remained atop his head and fired poison shots every few breaths. It was exhausted but he urged it to keep going for a little while longer. It resisted through his soul bond but he pressured it with his higher-rank soul force.

For the rest of his lineup, he sent Blue ahead along their path of retreat to make sure it was safe. He recalled both Boba and Onkie to conserve Eternum. Boba was done today. If he summoned it again, it would probably try to break the enslavement of the summoning card and escape.

“Alright, ready?”

“Now!”

The rain of poison stopped as Arrow was recalled. At the same time, the yellow pill bug and the round black beetle charged at the flower monster. They didn’t get far as they were quickly wrapped up by vines. The black beetle struggled mightily but in vain as its limbs were snapped. But it had a tough shell which was difficult for the vines to handle. As for the pill bug, it had rolled into an armored ball and seemed impervious to the vines.

“Let’s go!” Zachary shouted and turned.

“Wait, what’s that? Ahh!” Katherine suddenly screamed.

She sounded so scared that he actually paused his steps against his better judgment. Even before he turned around, he sensed a sharpness and wickedness in the air that wasn’t there before. The forest clearing was suddenly plunged into shade as something covered the sun.

Huge wings with white feathers, a gleaming yellow beak, and sharp black talons descended from the sky. It was one of those four-winged seagulls that had attacked the navy ship. It was even bigger up close.

The giant seagull paid no attention to the three diminutive humans and crashed into the flower. It batted away the mass of vines that tried to entangle it. In a flash, it bit down on the long red pistil and sliced it apart. The flower monster thrashed desperately but it could not throw off the seagull which proceeded to peck at the exposed and delicate flesh in the middle of the flower petals.

It eventually ripped the whole thing off, a bulb the size of a watermelon that bled with fresh nectar. With the prize in its beak, the seagull flapped its wings and took off, disappearing into the sky as quickly as it came.

The flower creature’s body that remained stopped moving and withered. It died just like that. This adept rank Ensouled that gave Zachary and his group so much trouble was merely a part of the food chain of this jungle. It was uncertain when they would become a part of it as well.