"Eek—!!"
With a scream, Asuna was hoisted into the air. Given her reflexes, all she needed to do was slash through that tentacle with her sword, and she could have escaped the danger. Yet for some reason, Asuna, who had always fought so bravely before, seemed like an entirely different person this time. She screamed in terror and struggled desperately, even flinging away her sword, but she simply did not think to fight!
What was going on?
To be honest, Fang Zheng was quite surprised by the sight. This was the sort of mistake only rookies or immature novice fighters would make. Asuna had fought alongside them through so many floors and was one of their best. How could she possibly make such a mistake?
To Fang Zheng, it was as unbelievable as an eighth-circle mage making an error while chanting Magic Missile and suffering a mana backlash.
In fact, Fang Zheng was not the only one surprised. The other girls were also taken aback by Asuna's reaction. Asuna had always been one of the more forceful members of the team; they had never imagined she would be dangling in the air like a little girl, trembling in fear!
However, Lestia and Esther clearly did not care about that. As the tentacle stretched outward, an enormous man-eating flower poked its head out from the flower field. It opened its mouth, and dozens of tentacles swiftly lashed toward Asuna. At that moment, Lestia and Esther had already dashed into the flowers. A flash of sword light swept past, and the tentacle wrapped around Asuna was severed at its base. Then Asuna let out another scream and fell straight from the sky.
Bang!
But just before she hit the ground, Fang Zheng hurried forward and grabbed her by the collar. Using the