The Rat King's ball of flesh stood about two meters tall. Even after falling into the pit, more than half its bulk remained exposed. But the pit was roughly cylindrical, making it difficult for them to escape even if they broke apart on their own.
Although rats could dig quickly, they were surrounded by their own kind now, leaving them with nowhere to put that strength to use. Breaking apart would also cost them their original advantage in combat power, so even in this situation, the Rat King still chose not to disperse.
That cost them their last chance of survival.
Seeing that the players' plan had succeeded, Ed, who had made a promise to [Howling Pothos], did not hesitate in the slightest. He dropped to one knee and pressed both hands to the ground like a sprinter about to take off, silently reciting:
"Spread!"
Ten Deadwood Vines instantly sprouted, passing through the shallow soil toward the deep pit ahead.
In just a few seconds, the Deadwood Vines formed from his fingers broke through the earth around the pit, then began intertwining in layers, forming a large net around the ball of flesh in an instant.
The net was somewhat loose at first, but after establishing a node, it began rapidly contracting. Its openings kept shrinking, and the vines grew thicker and even sprouted thorns, seemingly about to begin the cutting that Deadwood Vines excelled at.
The players were all stunned by the sight. Ed's move was an advanced technique by their current standards. Although this skill, which barely qualified as a "plant cage," needed a very long windup, as long as they could cooperate a little to hold the target back as they had today, it was practically guaranteed to hit.
Remembering the two "Plum Blossom" Deer that had been killed so quickly before, the players could not help wondering whether the more powerful Rat King aberrant had some way to escape this cage.
But soon, an even more shocking sight appeared.
After Ed silently recited the word "Grafting," they watched in utter astonishment as little flowers bloomed on each vine forming the plant cage!
Looking at the somewhat familiar shape of their petals, everyone soon recognized them as the Paralysis Flowers that lived in symbiosis with the deer-shaped aberrants!
The players had either suffered at the hands of this plant themselves or heard others describe how sinister it was. At the sight, they all took two steps back.
But the NPC's attack clearly was not aimed at them. After blooming, the flowers all slowly turned toward the inside of the cage. As the mesh tightened, the rats' squeaking inside quickly diminished considerably.
"Holy shit, this NPC is that badass?"
[Do Some Farm Work] exclaimed in astonishment. Although somewhat crude, his words voiced what everyone was thinking.
[Zhongde]: "That reminds me of a facility that existed in the real world, but I can't say it. I'd lose merit."
The Paralysis Flowers began releasing their toxin. The gnawing and banging coming from the plant cage gradually weakened, but did not disappear.
Whether there were too many rats, diluting the toxin's effect, or their squeezing and trampling one another delayed the paralysis, even though Ed had already raised the dosage to its maximum, things still did not develop as he had expected. The rats only looked much weaker, but had not fallen unconscious.
But Ed had always been a meticulous man, and he quickly began carrying out plan B.
Everyone saw holes appear in the vine cage. They had not been gnawed open by the rats; instead, Ed had manipulated some vines to move aside.
These holes were very cleverly positioned. They looked like... attack windows!
As that thought occurred to them, the players heard Ed call out:
"Attack with your weapons, quick!"
The six, who had been watching for almost a minute, all grabbed the somewhat worn and chipped short spears beside them. Those without weapons grabbed shovels as well. Raising their weapons high, they rushed to the attack windows, drove what they held inside with all their strength, then began repeatedly twisting and stirring.
Stab! Twist! Pull!
With their bellies full of pent-up anger, the players began repeating these simple steps, steadily whittling down the Rat King's overall health bar.
The dead rats were soon trampled underfoot by their own kind, while the vitality remaining in their bodies was quietly absorbed by slender rootlets extending from all around.
Under the players' meticulous cultivation, the rats inside the cage grew fewer and fewer. Victory in the battle seemed close at hand.
But at that moment, there was not a trace of joy on [Howling Pothos]'s face. His gaze was fixed entirely on the time at the edge of his vision-
It was now 19:59 in the World of Disorder!
Their souls would soon leave their bodies, departing this world to return to reality. At their current fighting speed, there was no way they could kill the Rat King before eight.
What should I do?
What should I do?
Fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. The battle had already reached this point. If all their efforts came to nothing now, never mind the Deadwood Vine farm still under development-even the six of them would have their bodies gnawed away by the Rat King until nothing remained.
As the squad's taunter, he had already seen what had happened to the flesh used as bait. He did not want to end up like that, even in a game.
He had no idea whether, if they died this way, Ed would find fresh materials to make bodies for them or collect rat droppings for another round of "stitching close before departure."
His thoughts seemed tangled, but they had actually taken only a second or two.
To prevent something so disgusting from happening, [Howling Pothos] finally made up his mind. He looked at Ed and shouted:
"My lord! Our bodies are about to reach their limits. Please use your full strength to kill the Rat King, or all our efforts in this battle will come to nothing!"
Ed looked toward the voice and saw that the player most skilled at commanding and planning was requesting his help.
His expression barely changed, but inwardly, he was already bursting with delight-
You all heard him. He's the one who asked me to take the kill. I'm not stealing it myself~
As for why the battle had dragged on until now, that was, of course, a coincidence. Pure coincidence.
"Very well, Soul Returner. I shall grant your wish!"
Ed pulled both hands from the ground, new fingers rapidly growing out. Without his direction, the vine cage immediately became much less responsive. The attack windows no longer made small adjustments to their positions to accommodate the players' movements, instead creating slight obstacles to their attacks.
[Howling Pothos] kept his hands moving, but his eyes stayed fixed on Ed.
The emerald-green crown on the left half of the lord NPC's head became brimming with vitality in an instant. Several sections resembling the points of a crown even seemed to have sprouted fresh buds.
At that moment, Ed released the restrictions on what constituted his [self], allowing the faction represented by Little Green to expand greatly within a short time.
If hot pot still had to serve as the comparison, then Little Green's share in the [Ed Adrian] specialty hot pot had gone from the chopsticks beside the pot to the greens placed inside it.