Chapter 102: Oh, that’s a canyon

"Noo! Brave!"

"Calm down, Risha; the fox is dead."

"Because you killed him!"

"It was dead before I killed it. Why do you think the spirits were running away? Remember, your power doesn’t like the Verminus Plant."

"What does the Verminus Plant have to do with Brave?"

"My god. Brave was infected by the Verminus Plant and is being controlled by it. Dammit, now you have me saying its name."

"R-Really? Then that would explain why the spirits were telling me to get away from him. I thought they were just jealous."

Kanan facepalmed himself so hard that he wished he had broken his nose so the pain would numb the feeling of his brain cells dying every time Risha opened her mouth.

"Hold on, you can hear the spirits?"

"Yes? Didn’t I tell you that?"

"Nooooo! What are the spirits telling you now?"

"Hmmmm. It’s saying that Brave isn’t dead."

’The fox isn’t dead? No, that makes sense. If it’s being controlled by the Verminus Plant, then it should regenerate just like the giant and get back up.’

And as Kanan suspected, the fox got back up, shaking off its injury, and began charging at the two of them.

"It’s okay, Brave! I’ll sa–"

A blue spirit beam completely eviscerated the fox, leaving nothing behind, not even ashes. Kanan wasn’t going to take any chances.

"B-Brave."

"Risha, ask the spirits if they can sense a similar presence to the fox elsewhere."

"R-Right." She closed her eyes, then opened them again, the dark green hue returning. She turned around, then pointed off into the distance before she began walking.

"Risha? You okay?"

No response. It was as if she were possessed by the spirits themselves.

’No wonder Telah sent her to me. She may be an airhead, but her power is no joke.’

Risha suddenly moved faster than Kanan had expected, not faster than his travel speed, but faster than he would think a non-combatant could move.

She traveled westward, past where the river flowed in this direction, and far beyond the confines of the forest.

Kanan had never ventured out this far. It was forbidden. Their land stopped at the riverbank. Any further out belonged to no territory, meaning it was free rein for all tribes in the region.

The only saving grace was that the closest tribe lived a good distance away, especially since the Typhon Tribe was now part of their own.

After around an hour of traveling, Risha stopped near a cliff and pointed down below.

"This is what looks to be the start of a canyon." It wasn’t as carved out or as deep as a larger canyon; Kanan could jump and not even break his legs from the fall if he amplified them with spirit energy.

As he looked further into the distance, he could see the canyon getting wider and deeper until his vision couldn’t see anymore. But by that point, the canyon looked similar to the ones he saw on Earth, a grand canyon, so to speak.

Once the light faded from her eyes, Risha regained her consciousness.

"H-Huh? Where are we? And why are my legs tired?"

"The spirits led us here, and I see why they did. Come, look."

Rhisa stepped close to Kanan, then wrapped her arms around his own to avoid falling. She liked how muscular he felt and didn’t even notice that she kept pressing his arm against her boobs.

"W-What is that?" She asked while looking down.

"It’s animals, all kinds of them. Prey and predator alike."

"W-Why aren’t they attacking each other?"

"Because they’re all dead. The Verminus Plant is controlling them. Look, see how they’re leaving the canyon? My guess is that the Verminus Plant is trying to take over nature by affecting the food chain. What a smart creature."

"Food chain?"

Kanan briefly explained what the food chain was, and surprisingly, Risha understood it right away.

"T-Then what are we waiting for? Let’s wipe them out right now."

Kanan continued to observe instead of wiping out the animal. He wondered how so many of them could be gathered in one spot and not be noticed by anyone. Sure, the land around them was vast, but there was no change in animal patterns at all.

’Then were these animals taken from another place? That would explain why nothing has been disturbed on this end. But if that’s the case, then this would mean that the plant has long since infiltrated this side of the mountain, definitely solidifying it as a monster.’

It was too intelligent to be anything else. Kanan wouldn’t be surprised if there was someone who was actually controlling this plant. Only thanks to how it moved like a parasite did Kanan put that thought in the back of his mind.

’Even if I can’t kill them all, I can at least slow them down.’

Kanan created two spears of spirit energy and fired them toward the walls of the canyon. The land broke apart like glass, and a landslide crushed most of the animals underneath its weight.

Not done yet, he followed up by firing hundreds of spirit energy beams to destroy any animal that might not have been crushed, and even told Risha to use the power of fire spirits to set the bottom of the canyon ablaze.

"Do you think that’s enough?" Risha asked

"I don’t know, but it should buy us some time. For now, let’s head back to the village. We’ll need to fortify our defenses."

Fire was the weakness of the Verminus Plant, as it is for the majority of living things. A plan was already being formed in his head, one that had to do with anyone and everyone who could use fire.

The only thing that he didn’t know how to do was formulate a plan on how to use the people with fire abilities. His first thought was creating a dome of fire around the village, but he didn’t think that could bode well for the people.

The second thought he had was creating a ring of fire around the village, but that would pose the same problem, especially if the fire were to spread.

’Maybe the others will have an idea once I tell them what I’ve learned today.’