I’m an Alraune, a plant monster girl.
And I’ve just rapidly grown from a little girl into my original form as a saint.


The one flying over there in astonishment is one of the Four Heavenly Kings, Garuda Hræsvelgr of the Radiant Crown.


It seems my sudden transformation from a little girl into a grown lady came as quite the shock to him.
Well, considering he was basically my stalker, I guess that’s not surprising.
He’s clutching his head, muttering “Impossible” over and over.


“…From that childish form earlier… to this divine beauty overflowing with radiant energy. It is as though I am looking at Saint Iris herself…”

“Hehe… good day to… you… Mr. Stalker.”

“S-Saint…!? No, impossible, impossible! Even if her face is identical, she is nothing more than a plant monster. There is no way she could be Saint Iris, who possessed such immense light magic.”


The Heavenly Stalker rakes his hands through his feathers in frustration.
It appears he simply can’t accept that the saint he admired could have fallen into becoming a plant monster.
Well, that works in my favor, so I’ll take the luck where I can get it.


“…Hmph. Even if light magic does not affect you, and even if you have grown, it changes nothing. Should I attack with overwhelming numbers, an Alraune like you shall fall with ease. Behold!”


The birdman points toward the sky above the forest.
There, a massive flock of bird-type monsters had gathered.


“I used my Heiligenschein to perforate the Dryad’s barrier. It has already closed, nevertheless, letting this many in is more than enough.”


Above us, over a hundred birds of all sizes—hawks, eagles, falcons—circled the sky.


“Go! My birds! Tear that insolent Alraune to pieces!”


The flock dove toward me all at once.

Even in my current state, being attacked by that many at once would be overwhelming.
No matter how much I want to fight, I’d be completely outmatched against such numbers.



Well, that is, if I were still a little girl.


Welcome, dear birds.
Thank you ever so much for attending my coming-of-age celebration.


In honor of your visit, allow me to present a performance for you all.


My instrument? The squirting cucumber machine gun.
But one instrument alone would sound rather lonely, wouldn’t it?


No need to worry.

I alone am quite capable of forming an entire orchestra.
Just take a look.


I’ve prepared about forty squirting cucumber machine guns.
I am, at present, overflowing with power from excessive photosynthesis.

Every instrument in this ensemble happens to be a squirting cucumber machine gun, so I do hope you will forgive the lack of variety.

Now then, please enjoy the performance of the Alraune Machine Gun Symphony Orchestra, conducted by yours truly.


Pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop–pop-pop!!


Poisonous seeds, twice the size of before, fired in rapid succession.
Their speed and power far exceed what I could do in my child form.

And so, the symphony of poisonous seeds, performed by forty machine guns, echoed throughout the forest.


Moved by my performance, the bird monsters began to fall one after another.
Foaming at the beak, they offered their highest praise for my performance.


With a conductor’s flourish, I directed the barrage toward the remaining flock, and with each explosive burst of poison seeds, more of my audience was pulled down to the earth.


Ahh… this feels amazing…!

For the first time, I could feel it with absolute certainty.
That I was the one in control of this stage.



Now then, as much as I’d love to continue, this concludes the performance.

That was the Alraune Machine Gun Symphony Orchestra.
Conducted by yours truly, Alraune.

Thank you all for attending.


“Bravo!”


I cheered to myself.
Yes… that was a wonderful concert.

Thanks to that, the only one still left flying was the Heavenly King, Garuda Hræsvelgr.


It looks like he’s been struck by my poison seeds as well.
Back when I was a little Alraune, the thorns on my seeds couldn’t pierce his tough feathers. But now that I’ve grown, my attacks can finally get through.


That said, Garuda Hræsvelgr is casting light-based healing magic on himself.
So while the poison and damage aren’t enough to take him down yet, he definitely recognizes my attacks as a threat.

I can see it in his strained expression.


And guess what? I’ve figured it out.
Judging from the amount his light recovery magic restores, Garuda Hræsvelgr may excel in offensive light magic, but is rather poor at healing.


Which makes sense. He merely absorbed the light magic of saints. At his core, however, he’s still just a demon.
Even if he’s devoured nine saint apprentices, there has to be a limit to how much he can absorb.
Because of that, he’s clearly prioritized attack magic over recovery magic.


Besides, even nine saint apprentices combined don’t come close to the power I had in my saint days.
And considering how he keeps firing off large-scale attack magic like that, I doubt he had the capacity to master healing magic as well.

With that in mind, I resumed firing the squirting cucumber machine guns.


Just as I expected, the golden birdman was trying to avoid taking any more hits.
He dodged and weaved through the air, skillfully evading my poison seeds.

But… he doesn’t realize he’s being led exactly where I want him.


The golden birdman, after taking several hits from the squirting cucumber machine guns, suddenly came to a halt.
You see, I slipped in a few sundew seeds just now.
From the seeds lodged in his body, sticky sundew vines began to sprout, binding his entire body.
The clinging tendrils wrapped around him, leaving him unable to move.


Back when I fought the giant eagle, I used baby Alraunes as ammunition, but it seems I can forcibly make other plants take root like this as well.
This is some very valuable experimental data.


Alright then, with his movement halted, it’s time to finish this.
Even after all that continuous firing, I’m still overflowing with energy.
Right now, I can generate plants on a scale I never could before.


Let’s end this.


Like the towering pylons I once saw back in my high school days, I grew a massive Venus flytrap from the ground.
With a thunderous cracking sound, it surged upward from the earth, rapidly stretching toward the sky.

Compared to when I was a little Alraune, everything about this monstrous Venus flytrap, its height, its size, and its thickness, was on an entirely different scale.


Now then, Garuda Hræsvelgr of the Radiant Crown… this is the end.

I’ll catch you like a fly.



Bound by the sundew vines coiling around him like tentacles, the birdman couldn’t move.
On top of that, the relentless barrage from the squirting cucumber machine guns formed a wall that blocked his escape. And so, he failed to evade the massive Venus flytrap shooting up from directly below.

The two enormous jaws snapped shut mercilessly on the birdman.


“Gyaaaah!!”


Garuda Hræsvelgr was caught in my giant Venus flytrap, clamped tightly between its two massive lobed trap leaves.


This Venus flytrap of mine is actually a special model.
Those tooth-like spikes lining its mouth? Once they pierce someone, they inject anesthetic and poison into their victim.

Even if he used light recovery magic to cure the status effects, he won’t be able to escape from inside.
After all, any light magic attack would only restore me.

Conversely, even if the birdman continuously healed himself with light recovery magic, it wouldn’t be enough.
His body will be dissolved by the digestive fluids faster than he can recover.

That level of recovery magic simply isn’t sufficient to keep someone alive inside the way I did when I died.


So… this is the end.


“Th-this cannot be… I am one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon King’s army…”

“I am… the guardian of this… forest.”

“A mere plant monster… a guardian…?”

“And you underestimated plants… But plants… are truly amazing.”


Garuda Hræsvelgr’s body no longer moved. The anesthetic and poison had already taken hold.
He looked at me with eyes full of disbelief, as if he was staring at a monster.


I’m no longer a kind saint.

I’m an Alraune, a plant monster.
So I have no mercy left to give you.


I clenched my hand into a fist.
At the same time, the flytrap closed completely, swallowing Garuda Hræsvelgr of the Radiant Crown whole.


I then pull the flytrap back down into the ground.

BOOM!

With a thunderous rumble, the Venus flytrap buried itself beneath the earth and disappeared.
And the Heavenly Stalker vanished without a trace.


“Thanks… for the meal.”


So in the end, you were the one devoured, Garuda Hræsvelgr.
And to be digested in a saint’s stomach, perhaps that’s just what you wished for.



“I… I must be dreaming. There’s no way one of the Four Heavenly Kings could be defeated by an Alraune…”


From the edge of the devastated forest, the poison fairy appeared.
She stared at me in a daze.


Oh, right… there was the poison fairy too.
I’d completely forgotten about her.


Now that the Heavenly Stalker has been dealt with, you’re next.

A naughty fairy who sprays weedkiller on beautiful flowers won’t be forgiven.


I stretched out a mass of vines toward the poison fairy.
Overrun by countless vines, she was quickly entangled and bound.


Got you.


Now then, it’s time to properly punish a bad girl.

***

Author’s Note:

Thank you for reading.

Next Time: The Poison Fairy and the Mysterious Seed