The Cornflower Witch

Chapter 99: A Collaboration Between Two

On the second night, Sylutia sat on a rock by the campfire, turning the fish skewered on a wooden stick with her hand, sprinkling a little salt and spices. The golden-brown fish emitted waves of enticing aroma.

Beside the fire, there were also several skewers of mushrooms roasted until dry, equally fragrant and tempting.

Taking the cooked fish off the stick and placing it on a makeshift wooden board she had cut, Sylutia blew on it, took small bites to taste, then ate some roasted mushrooms, feeling it was even more delicious than the dinners Lining usually prepared.

It was probably just the novelty, actually. Lining's cooking skills were quite good, but her specialty cuisines were different from Sylutia's preferences.

During the afternoon, apart from taking time to catch fish, Sylutia had been searching for poisons that could secure victory.

She had some gains, for example, she found several types of poisonous plants and tree saps, but their toxicity couldn't be considered strong. Even if she wanted to process and refine them, she currently lacked the tools.

Finally, Sylutia had to change her thinking, looking for another type of special mushroom that wasn't fatal but would cause hallucinations. The few white-spotted, red-capped mushrooms in the basket at her feet were today's harvest.

[Pleated Skirt Fly Agaric] (Nightmare): A highly poisonous mushroom that has not yet fully condensed its Aspect. If consumed by mistake, it causes severe nausea, abdominal pain, chills, hallucinations, dizziness, and blurred vision.

If the Flower Blooming Method is used to stimulate the toxic spores within, it could probably make that Two-Headed Ogre react. However, since this mushroom is wild and hasn't condensed a complete Aspect, stimulating it for just a few minutes would deplete the Aspect power it contains.

Turning these mushrooms into poison could probably temporarily reduce that Ogre's strength by 10-20%.At that point, she could then pluck the 'Fire Glow Orchid' from her lantern, making it transform into a violent fireball explosion to injure and weaken the opponent.

It's a pity the opponent has a hide resistant to high temperatures and heat. Otherwise, fully catalyzing the 'Fire Glow Orchid' could seriously injure it.

After these layers of weakening, even if she couldn't kill that Two-Headed Ogre, she could take advantage of its weakened state to retrieve the 'Blood Aberration Flower' from the cliff and complete the mission.

...

On the morning of the third day, Sylutia, well-rested after a good night's sleep, set off again in full condition.

Mick, Komea, and the others prepared to escort Jello down the mountain to leave.

"Ray, what are you doing here?" Along the way, the four of them encountered the tall Ray. He was carrying an Ogre's beast bone club over his shoulder, and an Ogre's head was wrapped in cloth at his waist.

"I, I took down an Ogre, getting ready to go back." He scratched his head. Although he had some bruises and scars on his body, they weren't serious.

"You actually handled an Ogre alone?" Komea and the other two were astonished.

"Ogres stupid, I smart." Ray gripped the beast bone club, proudly patting his chest.

"Suddenly realizing Ray's fighting style is similar to an Ogre's, but his technique and awareness, after so much practice, are definitely stronger than an Ogre's. Without the huge gap in strength, the shortcomings of the Ogre's crude martial skills are exposed." Karen analyzed.

The four of them gathered together and escorted Jello halfway down the mountain. Further down was the relatively safe sparse forest.

"This is far enough, Mick." Jello's condition today was similar to usual. He patted Mick's shoulder.

"You haven't defeated a First Tier opponent yet, right? If you get the chance, you can try with your friends."

"However, if you encounter danger, don't confront it head-on. Leave as soon as possible." In Jello's view, although Ogres are dangerous, with so many capable companions around Mick, it shouldn't be a big problem.

"No problem, big bro." Seeing Jello like this, Mick was quite happy because the familiar Jello big brother had returned.

"I'll come find you after my assessment, and we'll celebrate together then."

"Celebrate..." Jello shook his head.

"No need. I plan to leave Scorchstone City, go somewhere else."

"Big bro..." Mick was about to persuade him a bit more, but seeing the other's dejected eyes, the words that had reached his lips stopped.

"That's it, Mick. You have your own things to do. Don't follow my example." Having said that, Jello walked down the mountain, not looking back.

After bidding farewell to Jello, the four began discussing their direction after this assessment.

"Do we head back directly, or continue searching for the Blood Aberration Flower?" Karen asked the group.

"The assessment time is three days. The latest is to return to the mountain foot before noon tomorrow, and it's considered complete."

"Let's vote." Mick thought for a moment, not wanting his own decision to influence the others.

So the four wrote their thoughts on slips of paper, then gathered them together.

Three votes agreed to continue exploring, one vote agreed to return to the starting point.

"Ah, everyone is so ambitious, huh." Komea curiously looked at the others. She was the only one who voted to return.

"But if you're all going, then I'll follow too. Otherwise, it wouldn't be very loyal of me." Having said that, she patted the 'Doughball' beside her.

After deciding on their next course of action, the four set off again. Because they were cooperating fully, they quickly devised a new route, heading towards the depths of the forest they hadn't explored before.

...

In the afternoon, Iona arrived at the foot of the cliff and simultaneously spotted the Two-Headed Ogre in the distance.

She quickly estimated the strength of both sides, realizing she couldn't defeat the opponent before her, so she stopped, pondering countermeasures.

At this moment, Sylutia also stepped forward, approaching again from the side of the slope. In the basket in her hand were several small wooden tubes containing prepared hallucinogenic poison.

The two soon noticed each other and, through eye contact, reached an agreement, walking towards each other.

"You seem to have some ideas." Iona noticed the things Sylutia was holding.

"Correct, but the chance of victory isn't high." Sylutia shook her head. Killing that Two-Headed Ogre was indeed difficult for her, but escaping would be relatively easy.

"I also have something here that should be able to help." Iona took out a slender golden needle from a pouch at her waist.

[Golden Needle] (First Tier·Blazing Sun): A long needle crafted from radiant gold. After infusing it with the Blazing Sun Aspect, the needle tip erupts with extremely high burning temperatures, capable of piercing through the skin defenses of most creatures.

After some negotiation, the two decided to join forces to deal with that Two-Headed Ogre.

An hour later, Iona initiated the attack first. She leaped down from a tree branch and, while the Two-Headed Ogre hadn't yet reacted, thrust the 'Golden Needle' in her hand with all her strength into the Ogre's back.

Stimulated by the Blazing Sun Aspect, this golden needle pierced through the thick, tough hide like a red-hot branding iron, creating a bloody hole in the Ogre's back.

Attacked, the enraged Two-Headed Ogre grabbed the weapon by its side and fiercely counterattacked, swinging and smashing. Iona, relying on steps as nimble as a bee's, dodged the attacks and then retreated from the Ogre's side again.

Facing the fleeing Iona, the Two-Headed Ogre gave chase with large strides. It even picked up a stone from its side and hurled it at the leaping Iona, causing the golden-haired girl to stagger, her face turning pale.

Although the stone didn't make Iona vomit blood, it still caused her significant internal injuries.

At this moment, Sylutia silently leaped down from a tree branch again. The glow-green longsword aimed precisely at the previously pierced wound, stabbing into it once more, drawing forth black-red blood.

Stabbed again, the Ogre felt the wound go numb, its body trembling, a wave of intense chill rising from the soles of its feet.

Poisoned. It immediately realized, ignoring the distant fleeing Iona, it swiftly twisted its waist, turning around to smash and strike.

Not expecting the seemingly burly Ogre to be so agile and fast, Sylutia's dodge didn't completely avoid the attack, allowing the Ogre to grab the blocking blade.

The glow-green blade bent in the rough, stone-like palm, and the sharp edge of the blade only left a white mark on the palm.

To avoid being caught and dragged down by the blade, Sylutia had no choice but to abandon that Tree Jade Spirit Sword, pushing off with her feet to leap away, avoiding the Ogre's second sweeping attack.

Failing to catch this agile black-haired girl twice enraged the Ogre to the extreme. One of the two heads on its shoulders roared ferociously, the spreading sound waves making Sylutia's heart pound wildly, as if being pulled by an invisible hand, bringing severe pain.

The cycle of her Breathing Technique was temporarily interrupted by the Ogre's [Intimidating Aura]. The extremely quick-reacting Ogre swung its arm again, determined to catch this delicate girl.

In a moment of extreme crisis, the lantern at Sylutia's waist opened. Several tiny flower stamen sparks flew out, exploding into a huge fireball in the air.

The scorching wave of fire engulfed the Ogre's vision, the flames burning its eyeballs, making it retreat several steps in pain, avoiding the oncoming fire wave.

Seizing this opening, Sylutia finally escaped, leaving the Two-Headed Ogre's attack range.

The battle continued. While the Ogre was temporarily blinded, Iona seized this opportunity, thrusting the sword in her hand once more into the wound left by the golden needle.

A brilliant Blazing Sun erupted. Power as scalding as magma surged and stimulated within Iona's blood vessels, finally pouring into the sword in her hand, making its golden sword radiance prominent, expanding the originally narrow wound several times over.

The Ogre's dripping blood sprayed from above Iona's head, dyeing her originally golden hair red.