Chapter 342: Chapter 342

The writhing branches sent a dull, stabbing pain through his heart where the roots were anchored, but the sensation vanished as a torrent of life force flooded his body.

Jenkins's entire right arm was now encased in a sheath of branches, leaves, and vines. Countless green sprouts shot out from his arm, enveloping the silver monster's body.

Once the dazzling silver was completely consumed by green, the pipe-like branches connecting them ceased their growth. The green spirit now flowed solely toward Jenkins.

Just then, the runes etched into the iron cage flared to life. Jenkins, his right arm immobilized, couldn't react in time before a piercing whine—a sharp bzzzzzt—split the air. When he looked up, he saw that the points of light had been disturbed.

He tugged at his right arm, desperate to flee, but the branches, feasting with gleeful abandon, paid him no mind. After several futile yanks, Jenkins realized he had another problem.

His body was merely mortal. He was already astounded that he had managed to absorb life energy for a full thirty seconds, but the creeping sensation of being filled to bursting was undeniably real.

His ears began to itch. A sideways glance revealed that his hair had somehow grown down to his shoulder blades. The overgrown sideburns persistently tickled the cartilage of his ears.

But he had come prepared. His free left hand slipped into his pocket and closed around the seed he had brought with him.

The entire process halted after about twenty seconds. The Fantasy Flower needed more than just life force to grow; it had reached its limit for now. It hadn't even held out as long as Jenkins himself.

"Now I'm really done for!"

The enemies overhead were racing toward the lowest level of the basement. The seed, his contingency for the immense life force, had proven woefully inadequate. With his right hand pinned in place, he couldn't imagine a more dire situation.

"Chocolate, get out of here!"

he ordered in a sharp, urgent tone. It was nearly the time he'd arranged to meet with Miss Miller. Her diversion on the surface of the estate should draw some of the enemies away, giving him a chance to escape.

But nothing was certain, which was why Chocolate had to leave first.

The cat, however, remained motionless on his shoulder. A thin tendril of spirit flowed up from his arm and was absorbed by Chocolate.

"I know you want to help, but please, just go. Be a good boy,"

he pleaded with a wry smile, but the kitten remained stubbornly still.

This life spirit, sourced externally, did little to expand his overall spiritual capacity despite its immense volume. The cat's siphoning was a mere drop in the bucket. As the pressure inside him intensified, his features began to subtly transform.

To be precise, if he had looked eighteen before, he was now regressing toward the appearance of a sixteen-year-old.

But a body has its limits. Even this immense torrent of life force couldn't truly turn back the clock. Once his physical absorption reached its peak, a green glow became visible to the naked eye, coursing wildly just beneath his skin.

Jenkins never imagined that energy, when concentrated to such an extreme, could manifest this way. Forgetting about Chocolate, he began to gasp for air. With every breath, points of green light escaped his mouth. Patches of moss and tufts of wild grass sprouted along the base of the walls.

His entire being was now radiating a verdant light. Instead of shattering under the strain, his body, fortified by the life energy, felt stronger and more resilient than ever.

Dazzling green light erupted from his eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouth. The agony was so intense he nearly lost consciousness, but the same life energy that tortured him also forced his mind to remain painfully clear.

God only knew how much life energy the cultists had managed to store inside that monster. The staggering amount of spirit finally awakened his [Contact Healing] ability. A green halo materialized at his feet, and from it, the shape of a sapling began to form, line by line.

The branches encasing his arm immediately shot downwards, burrowing into the earthen floor. The sapling at his feet trembled, appearing to grow slightly larger.

Meanwhile, on the surface, Miss Miller stood quietly on the slope before the estate's main gate, holding Jenkins's umbrella. A colossal mathematical wheel materialized behind her, its symbols taking on physical form before shooting out like arrows and detonating on impact.

The ceaseless explosions drew the attention of those below ground, but none had yet managed to emerge. Neither human nor undead could survive such a relentless barrage. Malevolent spirits capable of temporarily turning intangible were the first to be sent out in a counterattack, but they dissolved the instant they made contact with her mathematical symbols.

Within the estate, at least three 6th-level Enchanters were being completely suppressed by Miss Miller, herself a 6th-level. She watched the unfolding chaos, her expression impassive, as she waited for Jenkins to emerge.

Then, in a flash, a fountain of green light erupted from somewhere among the estate's buildings. The ground began to tremble violently. A few seconds later, an emerald shockwave swept out, catching everyone off guard. It vaporized the layer of snow on the ground in an instant; even the ceaseless snowfall paused for a heartbeat.

The undead scattered across the grounds dissolved into sludge as the shockwave passed over them. Even the Enchanters who had grafted necrotic power onto their own bodies were nearly obliterated.

As the curtain of green light washed over her, Miss Miller took a deep, appreciative breath. "Ahh," she murmured, "a rather nice beautifying effect."

This was no mere tremor; the quaking didn't subside. As the vibrations intensified, Miss Miller backed away, step by step, all while maintaining her own ability without fail. Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn novel⦿fire.net

Late autumn was hardly the season for rampant growth, but as soon as the snow vanished, the trembling, barren ground was covered in a blanket of green with astonishing speed.

A deep rumble echoed from beneath the earth, growing louder until the first massive tree root burst through the soil. It was followed by a frenzy of enormous roots, all clawing their way to the surface. In that moment, all thought of battle was forgotten. By unspoken agreement, everyone scrambled to get away.

Artificially reanimated undead tried to halt the monstrous plant's advance with their bone swords, only to be crushed into splinters by the roots seconds later. Evil spirits took to the air, burning their own souls to unleash necrotic power upon the ground below, but the torrent of life spirit erupting from the earth was their natural bane.

Having retreated early, Miss Miller was free to leisurely dispatch any cultists who fled in her direction. Umbrella in hand, she took a light leap, rising effortlessly into the air. From her vantage point, she calmly watched as the ground below was completely overrun by the surging, colossal roots.

Had Jenkins witnessed this, he would have been stunned. In all his time in this world, he had never seen anyone take to the sky without the aid of wings.