I was Alraune, a young plant monster girl.
Flying overhead was a giant bird from the Demon King’s Army—Begia-Ad Adler. It was a massive eagle that reminded me of the passenger planes I had seen in my previous life. The Poison Fairy, Oin, was clearly visible and quite pleased with herself, cackling “Kyahahahaha!” as she summoned her companion.
That Poison Fairy was such a coward! She was leaving the heavy lifting to a powerful monster while she just watched. The Demon King’s Army was intent on slaughtering us, and since they were the ones attacking, I had no choice but to fight back.
Besides, I was the Forest Bodyguard. It seemed the Lady Dryades I knew wasn't actually an evil spirit after all, so I had to work hard to repay the favor for her helping Little Witch. The problem was figuring out how to fight Begia-Ad Adler while it soared through the vast sky.
The giant eagle flapped its wings violently, sending a gale screaming toward us. I was fine since I was rooted in the ground, but Little Witch and Fairy Kiri were blown away by the force of the wind. I watched as they crashed into a nearby thicket, though they seemed to be okay.
At this rate, I really was the only one who could fight. However, my vines wouldn't reach a giant eagle high up in the sky, and my toxic pollen was in the same boat. That meant I only had one means of attack left.
I generated my Teppou-uri Machine Guns. I readied the four barrels and aimed at the giant bird.
“Well then, forgive me!”
Spopopopon!
I fired a rapid succession of thorn-like anesthetic seeds. We were just barely within range, and I watched as the seeds pierced the giant eagle's belly. However, the bird didn't even flinch. It appeared its thick feathers were acting as armor, preventing the anesthetic from being properly injected. Since Begia-Ad Adler was so massive to begin with, a small dose of anesthetic probably wouldn't have worked anyway.
“Uh... what am I supposed to do now?”
I didn't have any more tricks up my sleeve.
“There’s no way Begia-Ad Adler would lose to the likes of an Alraune!” Oin’s high-pitched laughter echoed from above.
I knew that already, even without her rubbing it in. At this rate, there was no way I could win.
Begia-Ad Adler suddenly dived with incredible momentum. Its giant talons lunged toward me. If I were gouged by claws many times larger than myself, my small Alraune body wouldn't stand a chance. I threw up a shield of vines overhead, but it was no better than a scrap of paper against the giant eagle's talons.
“T-This is bad! I’m going to get shredded!”
My seeds were useless. The only other weapon I had that could reach the sky was fire—no, smoke!
I generated eucalyptus leaves on my vines and quickly ignited them. Eucalyptus is naturally poisonous, but the smoke from smoldering leaves usually only acts as a mild insect repellent. To compensate, I used selective breeding to drastically increase the toxicity. Normally, I only used eucalyptus as a pilot light, but this time, I was going to be very generous with the poison.
If Begia-Ad Adler inhaled this toxic smoke, it would surely falter. However, things didn't go quite that smoothly. The smoke didn't head toward the giant eagle as conveniently as I had hoped.
“Lady Alraune, leave it to me!” Fairy Kiri shouted.
She was activating her spirit magic. Under Kiri's control, the smoke rose in a direct column toward Begia-Ad Adler.
“My spirit magic can manipulate the flow of the natural world! So you’d better rely on me a little, Lady Alraune!”
Thinking back, it was Fairy Kiri who had saved me when I was drowning in the river. I realized then that she must have manipulated the current to push me out of the water.
The toxic smoke engulfed Begia-Ad Adler's head. Flustered, the bird retreated back into the upper atmosphere. I breathed a sigh of relief, but I knew I wouldn't necessarily be able to dodge the next dive the same way. If only I could knock the bird down to the ground...
As I was pondering my options, I heard the Poison Fairy mutter in confusion. “What a clever Alraune... Wait, what is that? Why is there a withered tree running this way so fast?”
I turned around to see a withered tree approaching with a sharp, athletic form. It was my little sister-figure, Amazoness Treant.
Yay! She came to help!
But no matter how much of a female berserker Treant was, she was no match for a flying opponent like Begia-Ad Adler. Treant skidded to a stop and placed a bundle of plants in front of me. It seemed she had been out collecting rare species for me again.
Perfect timing! There might be a plant in here that can break this stalemate.
While Amazoness Treant uprooted nearby trees and hurled them at the flying eagle to keep it at bay, I rummaged through her gifts. A plant that could be a weapon... there!
I used my vines to grab a plant that looked like it was opening a wide mouth. Its two mouth-like leaves were lined with many fang-like thorns. I had seen this in a plant encyclopedia back when I was a high school girl.
It was a Venus Flytrap. Among the many types of insectivorous plants, it was one of the few that actively caught its prey. Most others were passive, so I had wanted an aggressive one like this for a while.
I predated the Venus Flytrap with my lower mouth. Then, I grew several of them from the vines I had hidden underground. The Venus Flytraps erupted from the surface, stretching toward the flying Begia-Ad Adler.
“Go ahead and eat that giant eagle just like a fly!”
“...No, it won't reach.”
The Venus Flytrap grew to about the height of a small tree and then stopped. It seemed that was its limit. You’ve got to be kidding me! The Venus Flytrap was useless!
As I held my head in my vines, a strange shadow passed over the ground. I looked up to see Little Witch and Treant. To my surprise, Little Witch was using her levitation magic to fly while carrying my sister-figure. I knew she could carry things heavier than herself, but what were they planning?
Little Witch suddenly threw Treant toward the eagle. Flying like a missile, Treant clung to Begia-Ad Adler's back. It looked like she was going for close-quarters combat, but it was impossible to fight properly while clinging to a bird in flight. Treant managed to land a few punches before she lost her grip and fell back toward the forest.
I see! I get it now! If attacks from the ground don't work, I just need to get close and attack directly.
But I was a plant rooted in the ground. I had grown too large since my Bucket Alraune days to fit back into a pot, so Little Witch couldn't just throw me. It was impossible for me to get close to a flying monster... or was it?
There was one way. There was a method for someone rooted in the earth to meet a monster in the sky. I just had to make myself fly! And if one of me wasn't enough, we would all fight together.
Having made my decision, I generated Alraune's male and female flowers on my vines. To defeat that eagle, I would pollinate myself and create clones.
We were in the middle of a battle, but I was going to make children.