Chapter 92: Hold it, there’s what inside the giant?

The giant roared and swung all four arms at once, forcing everyone to scatter.

One fist grazed Solan, another passed inches from Nala, while Kanan ducked beneath a third and Telah was nearly caught by the fourth.

As the giant punched toward Kanan, he dodged, drove his staff into its fingers, and used the weapon as a lever to launch himself upward. He recalled the staff into his hand and fired a spirit beam directly into the giant’s face.

It recoiled.

Another arm swung toward Kanan.

Telah intercepted it, using wind spirits to redirect the enormous limb so the giant’s own fist slammed into its face. She immediately followed with a barrage of lightning bolts.

This is where Nala found her opening. Her sword flashed, and the giant’s arms and legs were severed in rapid succession.

Before they could regenerate, Solan unleashed his full gravitational force. The giant was driven face-first into the earth, the ground cratering beneath its enormous body.

"Now!" He shouted

Telah raised both hands and summoned the spirits of fire.

A blue flame erupted across the giant’s body, burning continuously into its flesh and preventing its regeneration from keeping pace.

Kanan landed nearby, gripping his staff with both hands as spirit energy poured into it.

More. More. His hand began to burn. He pushed even further. Then he threw the staff.

It tore through the air and pierced directly into the giant’s skull, ripping through bone before erupting in a massive explosion that engulfed its head.

Kanan didn’t wait. He rocketed downward, flying straight toward the giant’s back where its heart lay hidden beneath layers of flesh.

He drove himself through its body with everything he had, tearing completely through its back and destroying the heart within.

And when Kanan stood up, he saw something that sent shivers down his spine.

"W-What? What is a Verminus Plant doing in its body?" Kanan didn’t understand. He knew that the plant could and would absorb the life force of any living creature, but this was different.

Without wasting any time, he removed the plant from the body, then bombarded it with so much spirit energy that it began to burn, just like his hand.

"Kanan! Kanan, are you alright?!" Solan rushed over to check on Kanan, leaping inside the giant’s body with no issues at all.

He could still feel the boost he got from Kanan’s powers, but just because he knew Kanan was alive didn’t mean he wasn’t dying, so he needed to make sure he wasn’t.

"I’m fine. But I think I’ve just discovered a different problem."

"What is it?"

Nala and Telah arrived shortly after, wondering if Kanan was alright.

After confirming that he was, he showed them the plant burning in his hand. Since his power wasn’t that of fire, it was taking a while to burn, so the plant was still identifiable.

Telah grabbed it instantly. "No way! A Verminus Plant?" She wasted no time burning it.

"That’s right. For a brief moment, before I destroyed the giant’s heart, I saw it connected to it."

"I don’t understand. Didn’t you blast a hole through its chest earlier?" Nala was awake to see that. She was so proud of Kanan, but her injuries only had her cough up blood instead of shouting her praise.

"I’m guessing that it moved when it felt my staff pierce its brain. Also, rest in peace to my staff. Igor is going to be pissed."

"The plant moved, huh. If I’m not mistaken, we nearly saw something like this in those warriors three months ago, right?"

Kanan nodded, confirming Telah’s question. "If it weren’t for Alue, it would have moved to another location in the body. But look, did you see its size? It was huge, almost as big as a small child."

Solan understood the current situation and would have everyone be on alert. "We need to hurry up and burn this monster. Who knows what could be roaming inside its body."

Kanan nodded.

Everyone left the giant while Telah began to burn it. More warriors from each side who could use flames joined in, burning the giant’s corpse

As the corpse was set ablaze, Kanan noticed something that should have been a dead giveaway.

Blood, or the lack thereof. While there was blood inside the giant, it wasn’t nearly enough to sustain a living creature. In fact, there was barely any blood from the giant on him.

Then there was something else: the sewn-like markings on its body. It was as if the monster had been put together piece by piece then its body parts were sewn to keep everything intact.

That’s when everything clicked.

"Chief."

"Yes?"

"That monster is dead."

"Yes, I’m aware. Good on you to aim for both the heart and brain."

"No, before that, when we were fighting it. The monster was already dead."

"Hmm? I’m not following."

"Think about it. The Verminus Plant sucks the life out of any living being, leaving nothing but a husk behind. Tell me, did you see any blood come from the monster’s body? We’ve attacked it multiple times, ripped it apart, and yet small quantities of dried or nearly dried blood are what came out instead."

The realization was dawning on Solan.

"Also, we were inside its body. Where’s the blood on our bodies? Basically nonexistent."

"Are you telling me that we were fighting a corpse?"

"No, well, yes, but I’m telling you that the Verminus Plant was controlling the corpse of a giant monster. Its body parts were kept together by vine-like tendrils. I’m guessing that it was the roots of the Verminus Plant."

Telah, who had heard from afar, flew next to Kanan. "Is this true?" ℴℴ𝘮

"From my observation, yes."

"Oh no."

"What? What’s wrong?"

"We’ve got it all wrong. The Verminus Plant doesn’t absorb our life force to survive; it kills us so it can control our bodies."

Kanan realized what she was hinting at. "Telah, tell me. Did you burn all of the bodies that were infected with the Verminus Plant plague in your old village?"

"Unfortunately, before we understood the severity of the plague, we did not."

"Right. We need to send a rescue team to the Typhon Tribe’s old village as soon as possible."