Chapter 296: A Timely Treat
I slithered about in a mad frenzy, causing the nearby faithful to look at me with varying degrees of [concern].
That concern only grew when the sounds of the ore-flesh beast started to reach us. Plant-flesh creaked. It crackled. It crumpled. The sounds echoed across the many-nest, even from so far away. I reached out with [Verdure Parasite] in the sounds’ direction, trying my best to stymie the approach of the dangerous group before they chanced upon any of the many homes that held the Great Core’s faithful. It wouldn’t do much, but it might slow them down just a little.
Just a little was all I needed.
My mind-self slithered down the connection to the only faithful that truly mattered at the moment.
“...to go now, Corinne. I have it.”
He stood in front of one of the other faithful, confident and straight-backed, and uncovered the thing that made him so important. In an instant, mana visibly radiated outward. It formed into whirls and eddies in the air, brushing against his skin. Those faint brushes threatened to turn into something more, but the Lesser Core that created them hadn’t recovered enough of its mana to truly become threatening yet.
It never would.
Before it could grow any further, the faithful plunged the Core back into a null-water container, hardly even flinching when a few droplets splashed his hand - though I could, through our connection, understand how much it must have hurt.
The now-ruined parts of his flesh reknit themselves.