I am sorry for the late update. m( )m
After I saved my sister Tulpe, yet another shock hit me.
To my disbelief, the Witch Queen was watching us from a window of the Duke's mansion.
—Why is the Witch Queen inside the estate?!
A woman with white hair and cat-ears. She was the spitting image of Rufe; I couldn't possibly have mistaken that face.
That woman was Witch Queen Kirke.
But it made no sense. The Witch Queen was supposed to be in the Royal Capital. The Mistletoe I had planted should have drained her life force until she was barely able to walk, let alone travel.
Furthermore, with the Church supposedly detaining her, it should have been impossible for her to reach Edelweiss.
The only thing that gave me pause was Diesel, who currently lay unconscious on the ground after being blasted out of that very window.
If Diesel, her subordinate, was here, then perhaps that really was her. Had she regained her strength and escaped the Capital?
The Goddess of Darkness, Hecate, had been intent on reclaiming the Witch Queen, so the possibility was high. If that was the case, we were in a very bad spot.
Assuming she was the real Witch Queen, I braced myself for combat.
In response to my hostile stance, the Witch Queen took a most unexpected action.
—Wait, what?!
Was she... waving at me?
I had no idea why, but the Witch Queen was giving me a friendly, casual wave.
She even wore a gentle smile, the kind the Little Witch would usually reserve for me.
Was she trying to provoke me? Was she trying to say, "I came all this way just to have my revenge on the Alraune, so you'd better be ready"?
If she had truly recovered her power through Hecate, we were in trouble. I didn't want her rampaging through my—Iris’s—childhood home, and more than anything, the Little Witch was in danger.
Both the Witch Queen and Hecate were after her, after all.
But if that was the case, so be it. I would simply protect the Little Witch—Rufe—all over again.
If you want a fight, come and get it, Witch Queen! I’ll beat you back just like I did last time!
But as I readied my vines, the Witch Queen simply gave me a bright smile and a wink.
"Wait... what was that?"
The Witch Queen... just greeted me?
But why?
I stood there frozen, unable to grasp her intent, while she simply vanished back into the depths of the mansion.
"She’s... gone."
I stared at the empty window, wondering what that wink was supposed to mean. The Witch Queen and I certainly weren't on casual greeting terms.
"Wait, actually..."
Had her outfit looked similar to the Little Witch’s clothes? Could that person have actually been... Rufe?
No, that was impossible. The Little Witch was still a child. She couldn't have suddenly grown into an adult. She wasn't a plant monster like me; humans didn't just have growth spurts like that.
Besides, no matter how much she resembled the Witch Queen, she couldn't have faked that presence. I had felt the exact same magic power from her as I did from the real Witch Queen. It wasn't a mere disguise or transformation magic.
Therefore, that was undoubtedly Kirke herself. My eyes couldn't be deceived.
"More importantly, I have to go... help... Rufe, quickly!"
The Witch Queen was surely heading for the Little Witch. Rufe wouldn't stand a chance against her alone. I had to get there!
Just as I moved to act, my sister Tulpe pointed toward the city, her voice trembling.
"Smoke is rising...!"
I turned my gaze to see grey plumes billowing up from the town. It wasn't just one or two; smoke was rising from several locations across the city.
"It's coming from everywhere! Just what is happening?!"
"I can hear... explosions, too... Could it be...?"
I looked back at the sphinx, Kusukusu-san, who gave me a pained, apologetic look.
"It's just as you suspected, Alraune-chan. It looks like the Golems in the city are running wild."
In that moment, everything clicked.
Those strange urns that had been moved into the Pilz Trading Company in such massive quantities—they had all been turned into Urn Golems and were now commencing their destruction.
"Kusukusu-san... you can't... stop them from here, right?"
"It’s the same as the one that just exploded. I can't overwrite the commands anymore. The only way to stop them is to neutralize them one by one."
"Tell me. Roughly how many... Urn Golems... are in the city?"
"About a hundred."
A hundred wasn't enough to completely annihilate a city like Edelweiss, but as a diversion for the Demon King's Army, it was a solid move.
That was right. This Golem attack was just a distraction. The real threat was the Demon King's Army unit Kusukusu-san had been a part of, which was likely moving to attack the city from the outside.
"I can't just... sit here."
Stop the rampaging Urn Golems, defeat the Witch Queen inside the mansion, and repel the Demon King's Army outside the walls. I had to do all of it simultaneously.
Was such a thing even possible?
...No, for me, it was.
If I were still Saint Iris, I probably couldn't have handled it all alone. But I was the plant monster Alraune now. As an Alraune, I could do things no human ever could!
I looked over at my sister, who was hanging her head in despair. Tulpe pressed her hands to her mouth, her voice cracking as she fought back tears.
"This can't be... The city of Edelweiss is..."
"It's okay. Leave... everything... to me."
"T-that's impossible! No matter how incredible you are, Alraune-san, you can't possibly stop a hundred Golems all across the city from this courtyard!"
The explosion that had targeted Tulpe just moments ago was happening all over the city. It was a catastrophe.
But I wasn't going to let her suffer. I would protect Edelweiss—our city—no matter what.
"Tulpe, don't worry. I will... defeat... all the bad guys."
I placed a hand on her cheek to steady her. I felt like I had done this once before, a long time ago. Tulpe was always so reliable, yet she always lost her composure when it came to me. She really was a handful.
Regardless, this was an emergency. Even a slight delay could result in casualties, and not even I could bring back the dead. I had to prevent that at all costs.
To protect my home, I couldn't afford to hold anything back. Fortunately, after absorbing Hecate's magic and becoming the White Alraune, I was significantly stronger than I was during the day.
It was time to end this. But first, I owed Tulpe an apology.
"I'll apologize... in advance... for what I'm about to do."
"...What do you mean?"
"I'm going to... turn the mansion... into a forest for a moment."
"W-what?!"
Since I had taken root in the ground, I couldn't move through the city. So, I would simply make it so that I could teleport using my roots.
Using the Goddess's power as fuel, I unleashed the Spirit Power. I activated every cell in my body and pushed my roots out in every direction.
"Dominion of the Great Forest—Herrschaft Pflanze!"
I released all the sunlight energy I had stored, mixing my Light Magic with Hecate's dark power.
In an instant, sprouts erupted from the ground. They grew into trees in the blink of an eye, reaching massive heights in less than ten seconds. It wasn't just a few trees, either; an uncountable number of them surged upward, enveloping the Duke's mansion in a dense canopy.
"The mansion is being swallowed by a forest?! What is this?!"
"It's... a Gajumaru."
I spread the Gajumaru—the famous 'Strangler Tree'—across the entire estate. Now that I could extend my branches into the house, I could find the Witch Queen.
"I'll have to... break some windows... to get the branches inside, but don't worry. They're moving a bit... but those trees... are like my own arms and legs."
"No, that wasn't what I was—"
The Gajumaru forest didn't stop at the mansion walls. It surged past the estate grounds, stretching further and further.
Tulpe pointed toward the city in a panic.
"The forest is heading for the town!"
"It's okay. It's all... according to... my plan."
"R-really?!"
Stop a hundred Golems, defeat the Witch Queen, and crush the Demon King's Army. This was the only way.
I was going to swallow the entire city with my plants!
Gajumaru: A member of the Moraceae family. They often germinate on other trees, extending parasitic roots that eventually smother the host. Their aerial roots hang from branches and trunks, intertwining to create unique shapes and jungle-like landscapes.
Next time: From a Fairy's perspective, turning the city into a forest is perfectly acceptable.