Chapter 1254: Red Bloom (Part 1)

Every fighter knew that they had to save their trump cards for the end of the battle, and in this case, Adam was the trump card for the forest monsters.

They couldn’t let him waste any more energy on destroying the last barrier, which is why the Dark Blobs and the Thorn Hunter sprang into action.

Their first joint and final attack possessed a threatening power that even the Red Bloom could not withstand.

Her main barrier was her last line of defense, her ability to buy herself some time to create more bloom soldiers and accumulate energy.

However, the monsters were not going to give her that opportunity. They knew that the Red Bloom had to be dealt with right here and now.

The wave of darkness, with the silhouettes of a dozen eyes, like a ferocious beast, crashed directly into the barrier surrounding the bud.

Unlike Adam’s abilities, which pierced and cut through barriers, the Dark Blobs and the Thorn Hunter had a different approach, given their capabilities.

The darkness devoured the barrier like a pack of hungry piranhas, slowly destroying it, piece by piece.

At that moment, all the fighting monsters stopped, both the bloom soldiers and those from the forest, to see if the Red Bloom could withstand this attack.

Adam smirked, knowing that the barrier could no longer withstand such an onslaught.

‘What an interesting ability…’ Adam thought, looking at the raging darkness. ‘Those eyes, like jaws, tear everything in their path with their energy. It would be nice to have something like that in my arsenal.’

At the end of his thought, there was a loud crack as the barrier shattered into a myriad of flashing fragments.

At the same moment, the great bud came to life, revealing its majestic petals with a red burst of energy.

The darkness tried to advance further, but the energy of the bud prevented it from doing so.

“You… Pathetic scum!”

A menacing, deep voice boomed through the forest, sending violent gusts of wind toward anyone who dared to meet the gaze of the Red Bloom.

“There she is…” Adam muttered as his gaze darkened.

A woman in a dark dress woven from petals hovered above the open bud. Her flame-like hair cascaded down to her shoulders while her eyes, two shining discs, seemed to want to incinerate anyone who dared to disrupt her plan.

The Red Bloom wasted no time as she crossed her arms, setting the roots around her in motion.

She knew that battle was inevitable, and while the monsters were shocked, she had the opportunity to deal with some of them.

Thump.

The Thorn Hunter fell to one knee as the Dark Blobs rushed towards him.

“Hurry!”

“We have to leave!”

“But… we can hardly move!”

“GHA!” The Thorn Hunter spat a mouthful of dark blood, splattering the cold ground before him.

The blowback was severe, and they knew what they were getting into.

But the Red Bloom was not willing to wait. There was no mercy in her gaze, and two great roots lunged at the Thorn Hunter to end his life.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

The Dark Blobs trembled, trying to shield the Thorn Hunter, but they couldn’t hold their shape, breaking into twelve pieces.

However, before the roots could reach the Thorn Hunter, Garrah appeared before him.

“You’ve done a great job, both of you,” Garrah said, summoning a series of wooden pillars from the ground, blocking the dark roots’ path. “Now that the Red Bloom has lost all its barriers, it has no choice but to fight us.”

Step. Step. Step.

Footsteps sounded behind them as Adam rushed past the Thorn Hunter, swinging his needle several times.

White lines cut the dark roots into pieces, and the parts crashed to the ground with a rumble.

“Yeah, Garrah’s right. I would have had to expend a lot of energy to destroy her last barrier.”

The Thorn Hunter brushed the blood from his mouth and nodded slightly.

“Glad to hear it. I don’t know if you’ll be able to return to the fight, but… the rest are yours.”

Thus, the Thorn Hunter stepped aside. The Dark Blobs climbed onto his back, transforming into a long cape to cover him in shadow.

The Red Bloom frowned. She wanted to kill these two right here and now, but she knew that Adam and Garrah would not let that happen.

First, she had to defeat them, and she knew that only after Adam and Garrah fell would she be able to subjugate the dark forest completely.

“Garrah…” She grunted through clenched teeth, slowly descending to the ground on petals. “Do you really have so little respect for yourself that you decided to use Phantom’s help? That must be humiliating for an old monster like you!”

In response, Garrah shook his head.

“You are wrong. There is nothing wrong with asking for help, especially if your goal is to save your home from arrogant parasites like you.”

The Red Bloom’s eyebrow twitched. She had a high opinion of herself, but such provocations could not hurt her ego.

Slowly, she turned her gaze to Adam.

“And you are…?”

“Adam Vinter,” he replied quickly.

From The Red Bloom’s gaze, he could tell she didn’t know who he was. Ironically, defeating her would only increase his notoriety among monsters, whether at the Dark Shore or the Tarnished Lands.

Sure, if the Red Bloom died, she wouldn’t be able to tell anyone that she had fought Adam Vinter, but other monsters would spread the news.

Phantoms became recognizable not because of their strength, but because of how strong their opponents were.

True, someone like Damien didn’t need additional victories to instill fear in monsters, even the strongest ones. This worked for other Second Rank Phantoms as well.

Adam still had a long way to go to reach this peak, and he had already taken the first steps.

The Red Bloom would be his next step. Not the greatest one, but a memorable one, especially for the monsters of the forest.