Some Martyr

An anomaly occurred quietly.

First, it was the Engai Forest, where hundreds of millions of plants of all kinds, especially trees, began to move.

The dark brown bark gradually peeled away, like rotting wallpaper. However, the substance exposed beneath the bark was not white, but a blood-red color, so bright it was almost blinding. Upon closer inspection, one would discover that the red was actually countless tiny blood vessels, layered upon layered together, like an impenetrable canvas.

Ouch... Ouch...

The branches of countless towering trees began to sway slightly, and bright red veins appeared on them. The branches became increasingly flexible, eventually wriggling freely like snakes. They were more like vines than branches!

Hissing sounds filled the air—wisps of pale red mist quietly and rapidly escaped from the gaps in the branches and leaves, the cracks in the tree trunks, and the crevices in the ground, spreading swiftly through the forest with the help of the wind. It was only then that the contestants, the audience, and the media noticed the unusual phenomenon.

"The battle between Ferruggio and Noxar is getting fiercer, and they're getting closer and closer to Vino Lions, who's currently in first place! It's almost over—wait, what's going on!?"

The commentator was on an airship high in the sky, where he could clearly see the red mist spreading below, like a giant red flower blooming in a sea of green! The red mist spread extremely rapidly, and the trees touched by it grew veins that emitted the same red mist. In just a few minutes, the entire Engai Forest was shrouded in red mist!

"There's an unidentified red fog appearing on the field! It's obscuring our view, so we can't see what's happening below! Is this some kind of superpower of one of the contestants? If so—uh, uh? What—what? A scream?"

With a click, the broadcast stopped, and countless viewers looked at each other, wondering what had happened.

"Screams? Are you serious?" Garde was quite frustrated as he left the broadcast room. This was the final stage; any more mishaps would be a huge problem.

"Absolutely true! It's intelligence from an airship very close to the ground. Anyway, we're halting the live broadcast in your name!"

"Tsk... Immediately dispatch a ground escort team to investigate! If there's no news of a solution within half an hour, immediately suspend the match!"

"Yes!"

"Ugh, ugh, ugh~~~~~~ What is all this?! It's disgusting!"

Ally, who was immersed in the competition that pushed her limits, was extremely annoyed when she was interrupted, but she no longer had the energy to continue her duel with Lewis.

Veins, tangled with veins, lashed out like whips, the thickest of them requiring several people to encircle them! A single blow could easily overturn the entire vehicle! All the trees revealed their true nature, their plain bark peeling away to expose disgusting veins, their branches transforming into all-pervasive vines that attacked Sirius! The Vine Whip whipped wildly, Blood Mist filled the air, and the once ordinary Great Forest instantly transformed into a living hell!

"This is the Blood Tree Clan! First the Alien Race, then the Phoenix Clan, then the Black Abyss Tribe, and now we've encountered them! There are so many powerful demonic beasts on the race route!"

"Instead of talking about that, let's scout ahead!" Ally roared, even she was flustered by the onslaught of countless Vine Whip.

"I want to too—but my powers are severely suppressed! I can barely use my second power, the Air Bomb!"

"By the way, me too!" Seeing the once pristine forest turn into a tentacle hell reminiscent of those in erotic novels, I was frantic with worry. Normally, I would have already sliced them flat with a single crystal blade! But now...

The Blood Tree Clan ranks fifth among the top ten demon beast clans.

Fleshy plants, man-eating trees, and blood-red hell—these three titles perfectly encapsulate their characteristics. As peculiar creatures possessing traits of both animals and plants, the Blood Tree Clan is probably the weakest of the ten major demon beast clans in terms of individual combat strength. However, once they multiply into a forest, they can easily occupy vast territories, and any creature that ventures into their domain becomes prey. They win by sheer numbers, a stark contrast to the Desolate Beast, which, despite their strong individual combat strength, rank only ninth due to their small numbers.

Meanwhile, Noxar's three companions also found themselves in danger.

"Dead Luo Huan! Aren't you able to control demonic beasts? Make them stop right now!"

"I've said it so many times, my superpowers are still being suppressed! Even if they weren't suppressed, I still couldn't control the Blood Tree Clan, which is half-animal and half-plant!"

"What use are you in a critical moment!" Lewis cursed fiercely, frantically turning the steering wheel to dodge one whip-like attack after another—it was impossible to completely avoid them, as evidenced by the increasing number of dents on the car.

"Alba, can your 'finger tool' cut the vines?"

"With those small knives and saws used for car repair? Don't be ridiculous!"

Alba roared, his expression extremely anxious—yet he didn't look ahead, but stared intently at Sirius in the distance.

"Ally..."

The deep murmur went unheard by anyone.

In the midst of the chaos, no one noticed the arrival of "someone".

His strong, long legs, clad in high-end leather shoes, swayed on the ground with a seemingly casual yet undeniably commanding presence.

"The Blood Tree Clan? Those ancestors just kept putting up weird things."

Directly ahead were more than a dozen enormous, menacing blood trees, yet the owner of those legs showed no intention of stopping, acting as if they were nothing.

"It wouldn't be good to leave it alone. There's still some time before the World Crystal Tree fully recovers, so I'll play with you guys for a bit."

Boom!!!

The earth trembled violently, and a huge crack spread outwards, with countless smaller cracks rapidly expanding in all directions! Countless tree roots, entwined with blood vessels, emerged from the ground, causing the cracks to widen step by step—and the roots of the countless activated blood trees also began to move, actually destroying the entire ground!

Countless tree roots crashed down on Sirius like a tidal wave. Ally immediately swerved to avoid it, but she was too slow—the roots slammed into the hood, sending Sirius spinning through the air! Still inside the car, I felt dizzy and unable to use my powers to protect myself. I could only desperately shield my head, rolling around with the violent shaking. One wave subsided, another rose! Before Sirius even hit the ground, it was tightly bound by a thick, long vine! Instantly, countless tiny leaves crawled through the cracks in the car window and began to invade. Without my powers, I was just an ordinary person with a slightly better constitution!

As soon as the leaf touched my skin, it began to frantically burrow deeper, and a tingling sensation spread across my entangled arm—I, who always sucked the blood of others, was now being sucked myself!

"Sister Ye!"

Ailin, who was in slightly better condition, immediately came over and began to remove the leaves one by one, but there were simply too many to handle, and it was far from enough!

"Ailin, don't worry about me! Get rid of the vines that are tangling around the car..."

Normally, when I use blood in battle, I can quickly replenish my blood by absorbing spiritual energy, so I don't have to worry about anemia. However, this time, the long-lost feeling of anemia has overwhelmed me. My brain is spinning, and my consciousness is becoming blurry—it would be a huge joke for a blood-controlling ability user like me to die from blood loss!

"I... I'll do it as soon as possible!"

Ailin dodged the leaves that seemed to squeeze through any crack, leaned half her body out of the car, and frantically began to dismantle the vines. Right now, all she could rely on was her ability, which wasn't too severely suppressed!

"Is it not ready yet!?" Ally cried out anxiously. Her and Givinia's situation was also quite dire; if it dragged on any longer, all four of them would perish!

"Three more... two... all done!"

The screws were all removed, and the vines collapsed with a clatter—but we couldn't relax yet, because what awaited us next was...

Thump!!!!

--Falling vertically from a height of twenty meters.

Having already lost blood, I nearly passed out from that violent jolt! Luckily, Sirius's shock absorbers were strong enough, otherwise I would have at least suffered a fracture... By the way, how's Sirius doing?

Thinking of this, I quickly opened my blurry eyes and saw wisps of black smoke coming out of the hood. All the windows were shattered, and the car was filled with glass shards. The situation was far from optimistic!

"Damn it, move! Move now!"

Ally frantically pressed the pedals and cranked the gearshift, but Sirius didn't react at all! And several more vines were closing in from all sides!

"Move faster—I can't take it anymore! Jet—"

A sharp vine lashed out at me; if Sirius had fired at that moment, it would have crashed right into it!

"Jump out of the car!!!"

Givinia yelled, and I, succumbing to my anemia, grabbed Ailin, shoved open the loose car door, and leaped out—the next instant, vines pierced Sirius, entering through the front window and exiting through the rear window. If we hadn't jumped, our brains would be splattered on the ground by now!

My body slammed heavily against the ground, a sharp pain shooting through my back. The smell of dust and blood filled my nostrils. A piercing whooshing sound filled my ears—the sound of vines cutting through the air, so close, I could become the next victim at any moment!

"Elder sister..."

A small body struggled out of my arms and stood up unsteadily; it was Ailin, of course. Despite my protection, she already had countless scrapes and bruises, and her cute, delicate face was covered in dust. It wouldn't have been surprising if she had collapsed at any moment—even so, disregarding the threat of the Blood Tree swarm, she looked around desperately, trying to confirm her sister's safety. Just a few steps away from Ailin was Givinia, whose complexion was also quite bad, but she was still trying to assess her surroundings.

Just then--

"Hello... is that you guys?"

A familiar voice came from another direction. I turned around and saw it was Noxar's trio, but I couldn't see their car. It seemed they had encountered something similar to us.

But to my surprise, the one leading the charge wasn't the most flamboyant Lewis, but rather Alba Cena, the Sena Sisters' father's killer and the object of Ally's revenge!

He swiftly waved his hands, his ten fingers transforming into sharp saws, repelling the approaching vines. His face was deathly pale, and his body was covered in countless wounds, but his expression showed no pain, only anxiety.

"Roll!!!"

Alba waved his hand, severing a vine that was wrapped around his foot, and then roared at us—

Where is Ally?

... ha?

I, Givinia, even surprised Ailin was preoccupied with her sister.

"I'm asking you, where's Ally? Is she safe? Can't you understand human language or what?!"

Seeing that we didn't respond, his face turned even uglier, and he yelled at us again.

Wait a minute, aren't he and Ally sworn enemies?

Why did you rush to check on Ally's safety as soon as you arrived?

"No... we're looking for our sister too, but..." Ailin hesitated.

"Tsk! A bunch of useless trash!"

Alba spat angrily and began to dig rapidly from the large amount of rubble next to Sirius. The sharp edges of the rubble immediately cut his palms raw, but he showed no sign of stopping.

It was as if I were responding to him--

"Ugh... um..."

A faint sound came from not under the rubble, but from the bushes not far away, which were covered with branches and wood.

"Ally!"

Alba immediately leaped up and sprinted over, with Ailin, who was a beat slower, following closely behind. They swept away the bushes as quickly as possible, but what they saw made their hearts leap.

Ally didn't have any serious external injuries, but a thick vine was wrapped around her waist and was rapidly draining her Blood Energy. Ally's face grew paler and paler, and her struggles became weaker and weaker; she could go into shock at any moment!

"Quick! It looks like the blood tree only recently entangled her. If we get rid of these vines quickly, she'll be fine!"

Alba quickly snapped out of his daze, his fingers transforming into saws as he moved back and forth across the vines, cutting them at an unprecedented speed! Ailin also hurriedly joined in dismantling them. Although she disliked Alba too, she had to go all out for her beloved sister! After all, of everyone present, only the two of them could still use their powers!

But... what's this guy up to? Before, he always coldly mocked and hurt my sister every time we met, so why is he putting on such a kind face now?

While lost in thought, Ailin quickened her pace.

"Hmm... Ailin? This is... and...?"

Ally regained some consciousness and recognized her saviors in front of her.

"Alba!?"

Ally's face turned ashen. She struggled desperately to get away from Alba, but she was entangled by the blood vines and couldn't muster any strength.

"You... leave now! Don't..."

"Quiet!!! I'm saving you!!!"

Alba roared, a roar that contained a kind of terrifying power, and even Ally, who hated Alba the most, couldn't help but shut her mouth.

"Ailin, don't stop! Do you want to see your sister die?"

"Oh, okay... wait, that's--"

Suddenly, a foul stench approached—

Watch out behind you!!!

"Alba!!!"

Beside me, Givinia's roar merged with Lewis and Luo Huan's desperate screams—

Time seemed to stand still.

Everything happened in an instant.

Three sharp vines simultaneously stabbed at the three of them.

Alba kicked Ailin away.

At the same time, he swung the saw blade one last time.

The attack from the vines was also imminent.

Get Ally away quickly—it's too late!

Then, without the slightest hesitation,

Alba took action.

Pfft!

A tall, thin figure covered Ally.

The enemy's blood splattered into his pale blue eyes.

This warm yet cruel touch felt so real.

At the last moment, Alba shielded Ally with his body.

It blocked the deadly attack of the vines.

"... Al -Ba?"

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No updates yesterday, 4000+ views today.

Even though I only missed updating for one day, I still feel like something's missing.

The second volume will probably end in about seven or eight chapters, with a surprising twist at the end.

I have my midterm exams tomorrow, for electrical engineering and calculus.

Wish me luck.