CH 314

Hipopo and I are on our way to the royal castle, but Hipopo suddenly stops, and I hold on to the saddle to stay in place.

“Hipopo!?”

“Bumoh!!”

Hipopo warns me of something, and a large crowd of people come running and screaming from around the corner.

I see fear on their faces, and their screams and yells fill this street. I’m sure fear is spreading, and people are pushing each other and running in the opposite direction.

I can tell from up here that the crowd seems to be running away from something. They split right and left as they dodge Hipopo, who is standing in the middle of the street.

I stand up on top of the saddle to get a better look.

“I can see it! Hipopo, the enemy is clad in purifying light. They’re like the purifying light praying mantis I saw in the underground tomb, and there are over a hundred of them. Once the crowd clears, push forward!”

I see a lot of bugs with a pale glow. All of them are as big or bigger than a person.

For a second I think about manifesting Hipopo brothers and destroying all of them quickly, but stop. Up ahead, where the bugs are almost reaching, I can see someone who fell behind cowering.

I take out a different scroll.

“《Activate》, 《Manifest》 Rose! Please take care of that person!”

The scroll hovers, and vines burst out.

It goes over the people running through, and stops right in front of the approaching bugs.

“Rose, build 『Rose Garden』! Stop any enemy from getting through!”

I instruct Rose to build a special anti-monster wall, one of a few things Rose can construct with its vines.

As the name implies, Rose is making an edge with its rose vines.

But the way is not completely blocked, and there is a space for people and other beings that aren’t our enemies to get through.

More people might be running through the side roads. And with such a spacious street, it’s best to make a maze of sorts with the Rose Garden to draw in the enemies and finish them from the inside.

Giant bugs enveloped in purifying light soon push their way towards us, but are faced with a complete Rose Garden.

Since they are bugs with low intelligence, a lot keep going and crash into Rose’s hedge.

The thorny vines on the surface of the hedge dig into the bugs as they wrap around them and drag them into the hedge.

I hear crunching sounds here and there coming from the hedge, and what sounds like the bugs being ripped apart.

“Hm… I’m glad I went with Rose Garden. It hides what’s happening.”

Some people stop near me and look at the Rose Garden with surprise. I’m sure for regular people living in the capital what’s happening in the hedge is pretty shocking.

Hipopo looks around, and starts running. There are still people on the street, so Hipopo weaves through them with more agility than one would expect from such a big body. Sometimes it jumps high as well.

We soon approach the Rose Garden and the person I saw cowering earlier.

I get down from Hipopo and run towards that person.