Man-Eating Flower

Rift Flower.

One of the variants of the Man-Eating Flower, a dangerous creature that looks like a giant trumpet flower.

The jungle is home to many strange plants, including Man-Eating Plant, mostly man-eating Man-Eating Flower and Man-eating Tree. While ordinary Man-Eating Plant are relatively easy to deal with, the mutated species are the most difficult. Due to a Great Cataclysm in the past, an invisible energy field exists underground in the Overseas Islands, making it easy for creatures to mutate. While humans haven't mutated much, they possess some strange innate abilities, mastering Spell- like skills similar to [Psionics].

However, it is not true [Psionics], but rather a Spell a single type of Psionics.

This energy field not only affects the natives, but also these mutated plants, thus some abnormal creatures also possess Spell-like Ability.

For example, the Rift Flower right in front of us!

It may possess some special Spell-like Ability, but it's hard to say exactly what they are, as many Mutated Creature are different.

"Your Mightiness?"

Adele Isabella frowned as she looked ahead, whispering, "How do we deal with it?"

Whether it was a woman's intuition or not, she felt that the strange plant before her was not so easy to deal with, because it gave off a dangerous aura. This prompted her to say, "Sir! How about we use Lamp Oil to deal with it? I remember there are several barrels of Lamp Oil on the ship; that should be enough to burn this creature to death!"

Soren turned and glanced at her, shaking his head. "It's useless. Fire is too ineffective against this kind of creature. You need a lot of Lamp Oil to burn it to death. More than half of its roots are underground."

"Cover me!"

Soren bowed slightly and gave a low shout, then leaped towards the location of the Rift Flower. These Mutated Creature were relatively slow to react. In contrast, their Hit Points was stronger than that of many flesh-and-blood creatures. Soren needed to familiarize himself with its combat capabilities first, because there were probably many more of these creatures. The challenge of the Overseas Islands was no less difficult than that of the Underdark, and nearly a third of the difficulty stemmed from these dangerous creatures. They were in no way weaker than the various monsters and creatures of the Underdark, and some were even more dangerous.

Fire attack is impractical.

Unless they can get their hands on something like Asphalt Gasoline to burn the Rift Flower in front of them, using other firewood is simply sending their men to their deaths.

CR 16, that's no joke!

Although the Rift Flower's Challenge Rating is not high, only half that of CR, and its final challenge difficulty is only C-rank, its CR is on par with that of Draconic. The reason for its low challenge difficulty is entirely due to its plant-type enemy, which has relatively obvious weaknesses. However, plant enemies also have one thing in common: their underground parts are the most crucial weak point, and attacking only the surface may not be enough to kill them.

Bump!

Soren stomped his toes on the trees beside him for leverage, then swung his Scimitar fiercely at the Rift Flower in front of him.

The above-ground part of this Man-Eating Flower is its feeding organ. Judging by the bulging inside, the dead pirate henchman was clearly inside. However, to Soren's surprise, the Rift Flower didn't react at all to his attack. Only when he cleaved the ground did it suddenly seem to stir, instantly sending five or six vines shooting out from the ground. Soren's blade felt like it was striking incredibly tough hide; despite its plant-like appearance, what flowed out after the surface was cut was a bright red liquid, somewhat resembling blood.

Clang!

Soren sliced through the vines with a single stroke, and what flowed out was also blood.

These vines were strangely eerie; after being cut and falling to the ground, they twitched like the tentacles of some bizarre animal, giving one a chill down their spine just looking at them.

At this moment!

The petals, resembling the tough, leathery surface of a feeding organ, opened up. On the outer, slightly inward side of the petals, three rows of densely packed teeth could be seen, somewhat like those of a great white shark—all tiny, sharp teeth distributed across the three layers. These teeth were still stained with blood and bits of flesh. Inside the petals, one could see what appeared to be the roots of a plant extending outwards, as if unearthing nutrient-supplying channels within a plant. There were also things resembling blood vessels within the petals.

The three rows of tiny teeth actually moved slightly on their own, and inside that huge flower bud was a pile of unrecognizable chunks of flesh!

Soren smelled a strong acid-like odor.

However, it's not a strong acid, but rather an acidic liquid secreted by the Rift Flower. This liquid helps it break down and digest most of its prey, and then it turns its head to transfer some of the nutrients its body needs to its underground trunk. Although the Rift Flower can grow by relying on the soil, its main food is still the flesh and blood of various living creatures.

Soren unleashed three consecutive slashes!

However, the effect was not very significant. The part of the main body directly above the Rift Flower has strong defensive capabilities, so slashing at it was like hitting the Dragon Hide, and it did not cause much damage.

Part of the torso was attacked.

Although the Rift Flower had no eyes or facial features, it still sensed Soren's location. Then, it saw its enormous bud suddenly open, like a gaping maw lunging at Soren. Unfortunately, Sauron was already prepared and wouldn't be so easily bitten. Instead, he seized the opportunity to slash at the base of the root with his sword. The incredibly tough root didn't break in one go, and Soren took the chance to slash several times before finally severing the feeding organ at the top.

Immediately afterwards!

Something very strange happened.

Strange sounds seemed to emanate from underground, and then the fluttering vines retracted slightly.

Then it was as if a small dent appeared in the ground beneath Soren's feet.

The severed feeding organ on the ground, which looked like a giant trumpet flower but had three layers of sharp teeth, began to wither rapidly after the connection was severed, as if it had suddenly lost enough nutrients. Then the other part below seemed to have burrowed deeper into the ground. Soren plunged his knife into the soil, but felt nothing else.

"Let's go back and talk about it first!"

Soren frowned, seemingly deep in thought. He checked his data and saw no notification of Slaughter Experience, indicating the Rift Flower was still alive. After retreating a short distance, he said in a low voice, "Tell the others not to approach here! The plants here are very strange!"

"There might be something terrible down there."

...(To be continued~^~)