Chapter 42 - Demon Grass (New Book Seeks Everything)

　　"Kayne, if you encounter undead creatures like zombies, try not to use magic and only use your silver sword to kill the enemy. The disturbance of magic can easily attract the attention of the Wraiths."

　　As he prepared to leave, Baldwin said.

　　The Guildmaster, who hadn't picked up his silver sword for a long time, now took out his old partner, who was sealed away.

　　When he was turned into a vampire, his old companion became a poison that killed him instantly, which made Baldwin very lost. Although he was not stupid enough to be cut by his own sword, he felt that he was no longer comfortable wielding the silver sword, so he sealed it and replaced it with a steel sword.

　　Now in order to fight the undead behind the ruins, Baldwin once again carried his silver sword, plus as a backup, the steel sword stayed with him.

　　Looking at Baldwin with two swords on his back reminded Edward of a certain overpowered pile-driver who had been killed by a pitchfork... Nope, demon hunter.

　　Too bad Baldwin's whiskers are all dark brown and not white.

　　"And that is if you are in danger, don't fight hard, just run away." Baldwin instructed again.

　　"But what if it leads the monsters to the concentration camp?" Edward asked.

　　"Most of the magical beasts here guard the vampire's old castle, they don't chase after them once they're out of a certain range, and that lion and scorpion beast today was already considered an accident, probably because you pissed it off by injuring it."

　　Baldwin said, then admonished, "But don't let that be a fluke, more than ten years ago, the guild tried to go deep into the ruins to purge vampires, and the result was almost a total loss, the former Guildmaster died in that battle."

　　And that's why Baldwin, who escaped with the survivors, became president.

　　However, this time, they were only entering the outskirts of the ruins to look for the Lionheart Flower, and if everything went well, they might not even need to fight.

　　When they were ready, the three of them came to the large hole that had been blasted open by the cannon.

　　The large hole was still some height above the ground, and President Baldwin took the lead, Edward propped him up and climbed first, then he turned back and yanked Lenka up, and finally Edward leapt up as well and was yanked by the duo into the hole.

　　At the other end of the cave was a courtyard that had been abandoned for a hundred years, with weeds and vines growing unchecked and unchecked, making the courtyard resemble a primitive forest.

　　"As luck would have it, the Crusaders shouldn't have attacked here, probably no walkers or anything like that." Baldwin said.

　　A hundred years ago, after the great internal turmoil of the Zhu Yu Empire, the crusaders of the Holy Cross Empire attacked this place for a time before they were all destroyed at the main entrance. The bodies of the crusaders did not decay in a hundred years, but instead turned into zombies roaming the courtyard of the main entrance.

　　And the walls here are located at the side and back of the castle, and it should have been difficult to break into them as well, if they hadn't been blasted through by the cannons.

　　Baldwin was about to jump when Lenka suddenly pulled him back.

　　"Careful, there's something wrong with the plants below us."

　　The ground directly below the three of them was covered with a thick layer of fallen leaves, but if one looked closely, one would notice that the pile of fallen leaves was gently trembling.

　　Lenka pulled a piece of black bread from her arms and threw it at the pile of fallen leaves.

　　The bread fell onto the fallen leaves and bounced a little, then suddenly a "bloody mouth" appeared in the ground and swallowed the black bread.

　　"It's the Giant Mouth Demon Grass!"

　　Baldwin couldn't help but feel a chill down his spine, if he had jumped straight down, he would have been swallowed alive by this barbed man-eating plant.

　　"Look, those traces of fallen weeds in the distance, with blood next to them, should be made by the Lion Scorpion Beast. Even it didn't jump straight down from here." Renka said.

　　It was these details she discovered that saved Baldwin's life.

　　"Then what are we going to do? The lion and scorpion beasts can jump over, we don't have that kind of jumping power." Baldwin said.

　　"You can use salt to repel the demon grass, which is afraid of salt." Renka said.

　　"Where are we going to get salt on us now, Kayne, let's go back to the camp and get some."

　　"I have it on me."

　　"Uh?"

　　To be able to prepare holy water at all times, Edward always carried a small jar of salt with him.

　　"Will this be enough?" He asked Lenka as he pulled the jar of salt from the leather pocket he carried.

　　"That should be enough. You sprinkle some into its 'mouth' and see."

　　Edward dumps some salt on the giant-mouthed demon grass as Lenka says.

　　As soon as the white grains of salt touched the giant-mouthed demon grass, they dissolved into the slime on the demon grass.

　　The slime began to bubble as if it were boiling, and then the demon grass seemed to painfully begin to contract as vines sprouted under the giant mouth, driving the entire thing to wriggle.

　　Slowly, the huge man-eating plant squirmed and crawled into a nearby crypt, then sealed the hole with its leaves, also making a landing area for the three hunters.

　　"That demon grass shouldn't come out for a while." Renka said.

　　After confirming that the ground was safe, the three hunters jumped one after the other.

　　"Strange, Giant Mouth Demon Grasses should only be found in the swamps in the south, why are they here?" Renka said as she patted the dirt that had gotten on her skirt when she landed.

　　"I've heard that the old Valenvinia Castle has a collection of strange creatures from all over the world, so it's not surprising to find anything here. Let's go." Baldwin said.

　　The three of them came to the traces left behind by the Lion Scorpion Beast, and Lianca carefully recognized them and said, "There are two traces over here, both with blood stains, so I don't know which side was left behind when it escaped."

　　Baldwin pointed to one of the sides and said, "Is there something in the grass over here?"

　　Here the grass was fallen over to one side and some of the dead grass still had burn marks.

　　He pulled his steel sword from his back and slashed at the waist-high grass a few times, only to hear a clink as he cut into something hard.

　　"That's not the shell I just fired."

　　Edward said, pointing to the thing that had shaken Baldwin's hand numb.

　　That solid iron ball was actually still almost intact after blasting through the wall, so it seemed that the blacksmiths had put some effort into casting it.

　　"Then the marks over here are what the Lion Scorpion made when it was hit by the shell."

　　In other words, it escaped in the other direction.

　　"Let's go, and look that way first."

　　The three of them set their course and set off cautiously.

　　Following the tracks of the lion and scorpion beasts, they passed through an archway, and it was then that they realized that the courtyard, which had just looked large enough, was only a small, unremarkable part of the castle's ruins.

　　A large lake appeared before them, which, too, was enclosed within the old city walls.

　　On the other side of the lake, one could look out at the ruins of the old castle that stood on the shore of the lake, the morose image was similar to the angle from Constantine's side, but no one thought that there was a big lake behind the old castle.

　　"The lion and scorpion tracks disappeared when they reached the lake, probably flew." Renka said.