I’m an Alraune, a little plant monster girl and a former saint.

And the one before me is Garuda Hræsvelgr, one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon King’s army, and the Golden Birdman who had devoured saint apprentices and stolen their powers of light magic.


I feel like I’m about to explode with anger.
This might be the first time I’ve felt this furious since becoming an Alraune.


Even more than the thought of withering away from weedkillers, what shocks me is knowing that my comrades from my days as a saint were eaten and had their powers stolen.


I remember their faces. The saint apprentices I grew up with in the Grand Cathedral.
Some of them had died in battle against the Demon King’s army.
There were also some whose bodies were never found.

Those girls were devoured by the birdman standing before me.


“I have swallowed nine so far. The more saint apprentices I consume, the stronger I become.”


──Nine.
Among them… there had to have been people I knew.


“Come to think of it,  I hear a new saint apprentice has arrived in Tower City. I shall make her my tenth, a fitting milestone.”


This demon is still planning to hunt saint apprentices…

Before I could even think, I formed a squirting cucumber machine gun from my vines and fired poisonous seeds at the birdman.

Pop-pop-pop-pop-pop!


“What are these seeds supposed to do?”


The birdman’s golden feathers were as hard as stone.
Because of that, the thorned seeds couldn’t pierce him at all. they were all deflected.


“Hmph. A flower shooting seeds… it is hardly enough to even tickle me.”


──Damn it… this is so frustrating.

He’s the enemy who killed my comrades from my days as a saint, and yet my attacks won’t even land.
If the seeds don’t pierce him, then I can’t even use Operation Mistletoe, which took down the Begia Adler.
What am I supposed to do?


As I struggled to suppress my rising emotions, the birdman’s entire body began to glow.
Rings of light, like radiant halos, formed around him.


“It seems there are some hot-blooded ones among you. Very well, I shall deal with you personally. Let me start with the strongest.”


I know that technique.
As a former Saint, I can tell immediately what this Heavenly King, Garuda Hræsvelgr of the Radiant Crown, is about to do.
He’s about to unleash a powerful light magic attack.


“Holy Rupture Beam—Glanzstrahl.”


A massive beam of golden light burst forth from the birdman.
The blinding ray struck the Raub bear, who was Papa Bear’s relative, head-on.


It happened in an instant.

The ten-meter-tall Raub bear took the beam of light and collapsed on the spot.
Its entire body was charred black by the blast.
It was already dead.


…No way.
Even Papa Bear’s relative… taken out in a single hit.
That light magic attack was far beyond anything I’d imagined.


This is the power of one of the Four Heavenly Kings.

He’s far stronger than the minotaur of the Demon King’s army I fought before
Even among the demons I faced back when I was a saint, he would rank near the top.
For a demon—not a saint—to use powerful light magic like this. I guess he wasn’t just bragging for nothing.


As I stood there in stunned silence, the birdman turned to the dark fairy, Oin.


“Hmph. That was trivial. Oin, does this satisfy you?”

“Not at all! That Alraune is still alive! Hurry up and kill that detestable flower already!”

“There is no need to rush. It is but a little Alraune. What could she possibly do?”


He’s really looking down on me.
Well… he is literally looking down on me too, I guess.

Oin, the poison fairy who was on the ground like me, shouted up at the Heavenly King in the sky.


“Lord Garuda Hræsvelgr, that’s not it! It wasn’t the Raub bear, this Alraune was the one who defeated the Begia Adler!”

“The Alraune? I find that hard to believe.”


Just as I thought… he’s underestimating me, thinking I’m just some plant monster.


I’ll admit, your light magic is incredible.
You took down that Raub bear in a single hit.
But I’ve defeated Papa Bear before, you know.
I’m not going down that easily.


Still…
Light magic is kind of unfair.

If possible, could you fight me without using magic?
I can’t use any.
I mean, I’m just a plant.



“You are next, little Alraune. You will be annihilated.”


W-wait, hold on a second.
If even a monster on Papa Bear’s level couldn’t withstand that beam of light, then I’d be wiped out in one hit, right?


I… I don’t want to die yet.
I turned into a plant monster, an Alraune. And now I’m supposed to fight one of the Four Heavenly Kings while still basically a little girl? It’s completely ridiculous.


Even back when I was a Saint, I never fought one-on-one against a Four Heavenly King.
Yet, he’s being this cruel to an Alraune that’s only a year old.
And physically, I’m basically only a week old.


There’s no way I can win this.
I’m just a little flower girl.

There’s no way I can stand against an extraordinary demon like him—one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon King’s army, an extraordinary demon who can even use light magic.


So of course I want to run away from here as fast as I can.
I really do.

But I can’t.

Because I’m a plant……


“Holy Rupture Beam—Glanzstrahl.”


The massive beam of light that had annihilated Papa Bear’s relative in a single strike came hurtling straight toward me.


So I’m going to be burned away by light too.
What a short life as a flower that was.
If I’m reborn, I’d at least like to be some kind of animal that can walk. If possible, I’d like to be human again.


As I stood there in a daze, that sinister light beckoning me toward death shone down on me.

There’s no dodging something that moves at the speed of light.
Before I could even form a shield with my vines, I was engulfed by the birdman’s beam.



NoooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO……………Huh?



What’s going on?
The beam… doesn’t hurt at all.

If anything… I feel better.


“W-what is the meaning of this? Why is my Holy Rupture Beam not working…?”


The golden birdman looked flustered.

But I get it now.
It surprised me too, but it seems light magic doesn’t work on me.


Because right now…
I’m photosynthesizing.

In fact, I’m actually recovering.


That Holy Rupture Beam might be a powerful light magic spell, but to me, it was nothing more than a snack.


Yep. Photosynthesis is delicious.

Thanks for the meal!

***

Author’s Note:

Thank you for reading.

Next Time: Light Magic Is Delicious. I’d Like Seconds, Please