Cornflower Witch

Chapter 159 Post-war Inventory
The giant snake's head was raised, and its entire body was shaped like an "S". Its eyes were cloudy, dark yellow with vertical pupils. When it stared at the group of people, they all felt a sense of stiffness to varying degrees.

Even though they were both at the 'second tier', this giant python still exerted a considerable sense of pressure on them.

The snake's tail, covered in dark red scales, slithered through the grass, crushing the blades in its path before rising again and striking down like a phantom. This time, its target was not Yaon in the front row, but Bona, the weakest member of the group.

Those few seconds of staring allowed the giant python to quickly assess the strength of the group. It ignored the heavily armored Yaen in the front row, swept its tail, and with a sharp screech, pounced on the girl with chestnut-red short hair.

At that moment, Bona couldn't react at all. Fortunately, the captain, 'Bad Apple,' had a flash of inspiration and kicked Bona away, taking the hit of the snake tail whip in her place.

When he was hit by the 'bad apple', he tilted his body to try to be hit at an angle. This way, much of the force of the snake tail was dissipated, and he was only knocked to the ground. If he hadn't adjusted his posture and had been hit straight down by the snake tail, he would probably be unconscious with broken bones by now.

Seeing that his teammates were under attack, Yann stopped and raised his sword and shield, charging directly at the giant python to divert its attention.

The sturdy broadsword struck the giant python, creating a spark and raising a few scale fragments. While it had some effect, the scratch was negligible compared to the enormous python's body.

The giant python began to move again. Despite its enormous size, it was not slow. Its body, thicker than five Siltia combined, swam quickly around Yern's position, and then its head lunged at Bona once more.

The bloody maw opened, revealing two pairs of scimitar-like sharp teeth, ferocious and terrifying. At this moment, Hiltiah released the arrow she had been holding back for a long time, striking the upper jaw of the snake's mouth.

The arrow pierced the flesh shallowly, and the seeds contained within quickly germinated, with serrated vines growing inside the snake's mouth.

Feeling the foreign object and stinging pain in its mouth, the python stopped its struggle and instead raised its head, shaking it to throw away the thorny vines that were spreading everywhere inside its mouth.

At this moment, it had no intention of attacking, giving the people present time to make their move.

Yaen threw down his shield, gripped his sword with both hands, and slashed down with all his might. The sturdy broadsword gleamed with a silver blade, finally piercing deep into the snake's body and cutting a huge gash.

As the team leader, 'Bad Apple' gripped daggers in both hands, sprinted up, stepped on the snake for leverage, and then plunged the daggers into the snake's heart.

Wounded, the giant python went berserk, its head and tail thrashing about wildly, throwing the 'bad apple' aside. It then lunged at Karl, who was alone nearby. The wizard only had time to use his ghostly powers to defend himself, but he couldn't stop the python's fierce attack. Half of his arm was caught in its gaping fangs, and he visibly turned pale. Fortunately, Hilti arrived at that moment and used her sword to forcefully cut off the fangs. With blood gushing out, the snake could no longer suck blood after losing its sealed tubes, and it finally released its grip.

Enraged and out of its mind, the giant python swam its body, staring intently at Hilti. Then, the python's head swooped down again, opening its blood-stained maw, attempting to devour the girl whole.

Faced with such an attack, Hilti was unable to resist and could only dodge quickly. She was knocked away by the side of the python's body, but fortunately, she avoided the sudden attack of the snake's fangs.

Meanwhile, Yann and 'Bad Apple' rushed over. One of them helped Karl up and quickly retreated, while the other launched another attack to attract the giant python's attention.

This disturbance resulted in several more wounds on the python's body. It instinctively sensed the danger of defeat and death, and began to retreat. It once again burrowed into the tall grass nearby, crouched low, and quickly slithered away.

At this moment, Hiltiah raised her composite bow, aimed it at the fleeing giant serpent, and stared intently at it.

She only has one chance to shoot now; any further and it will be difficult to hit the target, and the force will not be enough to penetrate it.

She swiftly tucked a seed into her arrow, aimed at the fleeing python, and glanced at the wounds on its body.

Constantly calculating the opponent's trajectory, Hilti forced herself to concentrate, then made subtle adjustments to her direction, finally firing an arrow just before the giant python was about to leave.

The black arrow, accompanied by a faint whooshing sound, darted through nearly a hundred meters of collapsed grass, disappearing into the wound on the fleeing snake's body, after which eerie blood vines began to grow.

Slender branches weave through the snake's body, spreading along its blood vessels, while vines on the outside constantly wrap around its body.

The giant python rolled and struggled, and after several minutes, eerie blood-red vines oozed from its wounds, constantly piercing its scales.

Finally, its body slowly stopped moving, and under the blood-sucking of the vines, it continued to grow thinner, as if only a layer of snake scales covered its skeleton, remaining in place.

Is it over? The crowd stared at the dead python from afar, still somewhat shaken.

After a while, Bad Apple, as the team leader, approached silently, inspected them, nodded to them, and then they came over.

Everyone observed the giant python's corpse. Following her senses, Hilti also came to the side of the giant python's body. Here, the eerie blood vines stretched out their bodies, blooming with tiny flowers, and then bearing bright red fruits.

【Crimson Blood Fruit】(Tier 1, Blood Law): A strange fruit containing the essence of 'Blood Law'. Consuming it can enhance physical strength and is particularly effective for Tier 1 and Tier 2 creatures. (Quality: Excellent)

The girl plucked a fruit from her finger; it was about the size of an egg and had a bright red skin.

"Is this the fruit that the Demon Blood Vine condenses after killing monsters?" Bad Apple asked as he walked over.

"I'd heard them talk about it before, but this was the first time I'd actually met one. Gardeners are definitely not a group to be trifled with."

“However, we’ll probably have to take a cut of the harvest in advance, Tia.” He looked behind him and saw Yann helping the weak and pale Karl walk over.

"I understand." Hiltiya picked 10 fruits, carried them over, and handed them to Karl.

"Thank you." The other person was too exhausted to refuse. He had just been sucked blood by the giant python, and if it weren't for Siltia interrupting the process, he would probably have died on the spot.

He bit into the bright red fruit and swallowed it, and Karl regained some color and strength.

After eating 10 fruits, his face turned red, and he broke free from Yann's support and sat down to rest.

Meanwhile, Bona returned, curiously assessing the snake's body and searching for other usable parts.

"The flesh and blood are basically gone; it seems that only some of the scales and snake teeth are still usable."

“Trading flesh and blood for fruit is much more worthwhile and useful.” Bad Apple walked over and counted the remaining fruit.

“There are 23 left.” He nodded.

"I really have to thank Tia this time. If it weren't for you, Karl would have been in big trouble just now."

The others also felt a sense of relief, as if they had escaped a disaster.

In a one-on-one fight, Yann could probably kill the giant python with minor injuries. Captain Bad Apple might not be able to defeat it, but escaping unscathed would be no problem. But it's a different story for Bona and Karl.

Bona's combat power is very low, and she can't escape. Although Karl has many ways to deal with strange creatures, he is particularly powerless against this kind of purely numerical monster, lacking a way to deal with high burst damage.

As for Hiltiah facing the giant python alone, as long as she can find an opportunity to cut a wound on the python and plant her seed, she can be certain of victory. Even if she escapes, the giant python will not be able to catch her.

After the battle ended, the group began to clean up the mess, clearing away the surrounding grass, and then stopped to rest.

Harvest;

23 pieces of 'Blood Fruit (Tier 1, Blood Law)'

One 'Vampire Fang (Tier 2 - Blood Law)'

The intact portion of the 'snake scale skin (excellent)' is approximately sixteen meters long.

(End of this chapter)