The black flower rustled and aimed it razor petals at Erika. From her experience with the Windfloras, Erika could tell that an attack was incoming.

W-why is this happening!?

Erika’s mind raced and she couldn’t collect her thoughts. She reached toward her knife in a daze, but the mysterious foe was faster.

“W-wah!”

Black daggers were fired from the dark flower’s petals. Erika’s lowered Combat Aid wasn’t as sharp as before...!

“G-gah!!”

The black blades grazed her arms, legs and torso. She was definitely cut all over, but no blood poured out. Instead, the blades vanished into thin air, and black ink marks formed around the injured areas.

“H-huh...? M-my body...”

Erika couldn’t feel the blackened areas of her body. Numbness was spreading throughout her muscles and draining her energy.

I-I need to get closer and slash it...!

Erika pushed her paralyzed arm to draw the Silver Knife. She took a few stiff steps forward, closing onto the mysterious flower.

Erika already became an expert at wiping out flowers, she knew that they didn’t fare well in close quarters. However, her expertise with Windfloras betrayed her here.

“G-gah!?”

A black fist rammed into her chest and sent her pummeling into the ground. Unlike the Windflora, this black flower had ghastly arms stretching from it stem; it could fight at close range too!

“Curses...”

Erika staggered to stand up. Between the paralysis and the blunt injuries, her petite body was about to break apart.

Am I going to die again...? Haa...

Her fighting spirit was sucked out of her when she noticed the sharp petals on the flower’s head. The stack of black knives was completely refilled and stood ready to fire.

“This is so unfair...”

The black daggers pierced through the air. There was no chance to dodge, no chance to block. Erika closed her eyes and mentally prepared to be stabbed to death.

... but the attack didn’t reach her.

“... eh?”

A fierce gust blew above her. When Erika opened her eyes, the black daggers flew in random directions and scattered across the field.

What...? Vivi...?!

Erika raised her head to check out her savior. A powerful blast like this was something the little pixie could easily pull off.

“Do you happen to be alright?”

The young woman behind Erika was not a pixie. Her golden hair, sky blue eyes and pointy ears identified her as an elf.

“Ah... yeah, I do happen to be alright...”

Erika replied in a daze, unable to wrap her head around the situation.

【Alicia】

Based on the single name tag over the elf’s head, it was safe to assume this woman was an NPC.

Is this part of a scripted event...?

First, the evil flower popped into existence out of thin air. Next, a random elf rescued her. These were both bizarre events for a safe area.

“Eh...?”

Erika noticed a glittering puddle of water hanging in midair. The elf, Alicia, generated water from her fair palm... right above Erika’s body.

“W-wha- aaaaah!”

Erika was showered as if from a bucket. Her body was fiercely struck... or was it?

“Hm? This feels... nice, somehow.”

Unlike the splashes of the mischievous Water Blobs, Alicia’s water didn’t slam Erika’s body. Instead, the warm water was instantly absorbed into Erika’s skin, as if diving into a pool.

A warm, tingling sensation spread across Erika’s body. The black ink marks dissolved and the numb body parts were rejuvenated. Rather than a “water attack”, Alicia’s splash must have been some sort of healing magic.

Erika jumped on her feet up with her renewed body. Both the numbness on her limbs and the blunt pain in her chest were history now.

“Thank you.”

“There happens to be no problem.”

Alicia smiled softly and aimed her palm in Erika’s direction. Wind gathered around Alicia’s palm in a spiral, foreshadowing a gust attack.

“W-wha!?”

A blast of wind grazed Erika’s ear. Behind her, another wave of flying blades was thwarted.

“T-thank you, again...”

For a moment there, Erika thought she was going to be blasted to the moon by Alicia’s attack. Everything Alicia did was sudden, but the elf was clearly on Erika’s side.

“Hey!””

Jeff came in running to investigate the commotion in his precious field. He shot looks at both Erika and the black flower

“What’s goin’ on here, eh?!”

“That’s what I’d like to know myself. This thing popped out of nowhere and tried to kill me.”

“A monster in my field?! What a disgrace...”

Jeff lowered his head in shame. From his reaction, it seemed that he wasn’t surprised by the event itself. Rather, he was only surprised he allowed such a monstrosity to be born in his precious field.

Is this sort of thing common when farming in this game? Scary.

Erika jerked as another set of black daggers approached her. Thankfully, all the knives were blasted away by Alicia’s absolute wall of defense. The dangerous battle no longer felt like a battle at all.

“Heavens, this is so troubling...”

Jeff was losing face as a farmer by letting a wild monster raise havoc in his beloved field.

“Could ya please exterminate this pest here, girlie? I’mma make sure to compensate ya for the noble effort.”

“Gladly.”

Erika initially cursed this sudden event. But, now she had an elf on her side and she could easily get a compensation too.

This is great. Together with Alicia, this evil flower is no big deal at all.

Erika grinned at another array of flying blades. They were all shot down and destroyed.

Something was off, however. Alicia neatly provided cover with her wind magic, but she never bothered to strike the flower itself.

“Could you please shoot the flower too? I'm sure your amazing blasts will easily knock it out.”

“I happen to dislike violence.”

Alicia answered plainly, without even giving the request a second thought.

“Eh...? But...”

Erika was lost for words. Alicia could heal and protect, yet she refused to partake in the combat itself; this drilled a huge hole in Erika’s confidence.

“Then I understand this is up to me...”

Erika turned toward the black flower and prepared her Silver Knife. There was no immediate danger, so she took her time to tinker with the Combat Aid.

Her slow reactions to the flower’s attacks were not amusing at all. Even though the Combat Aid was turning her violent, Erika still needed this cursed system for this one boss fight.

This won’t be easy.

Erika frowned as she observed the evil flower. She was safe from flying daggers thanks to Alicia’s cover, but getting into close quarters didn’t seem like a good idea. Erika already had first-hand experience with how hard the flower could punch with its thin arms.

“Say, Mini. Do you have any advice about beating this one?”

Mina’s earlier advice proved useful when Erika struggled to utilize her knife against the Windfloras. Erika hoped to get another good tip from her secondary “Combat Aid”.

“Just charge in and SMASH that fucker! Like WHAM and done!”

“I... see...”

Erika immediately lost all respect for the little beastie. In the end, everything was up to Erika herself.

As she prepared to charge, Erika heard an odd melody from behind.

“Li la li~♪ Li la li~♪ Li la li~♪”

Alicia’s eyes were closed and she repeated an upbeat tune. Musical notes flew out her mouth and tickled Erika’s skin.

Hm? I feel... stronger, somehow.

Energy surged through her veins. It was as if her muscles were all clutched, ready for hyperactive action.

“Thank you.”

Erika smiled with newfound confidence. The energy flowing through her body must have been an enchantment to her physical capabilities, a buff.

A new wave of black daggers was blocked, and the flower was now busy recharging its stock. Without further ado, Erika charged in.