Tris let out a gasp as all air escaped her lungs. The attack was so sudden that she didn’t have ample time to tighten her core. Her lungs constricted as pain shot to her head.

Before she could recover from the shock, she was once again ruthlessly slammed on the ground. She gasped a second time, and the impact almost made her lose consciousness. She was unable to call for Kazuichi’s name anymore since she was badly shaken up.

Kazuichi’s eyes turned blood red as he used his innate agility as a Hybrid. While the Zombie Plant tried to slam Albrecht for the third time, Kazuchi jumped up and sliced the roots that gripped Tris by the ankle.

It was a clean cut.

With a sigh of relief, Kazuichi caught Tris in mid-air with one hand. Currently, he was holding Amaya with one hand, slinging her on his shoulder just when he was about to catch Tris. Fortunately, his instincts gave him the smooth movements he needed and he caught Tris, slinging her on his shoulder as well while he grabbed her rear side.

"E-eh?!" Tris, who was about to lose consciousness a couple of seconds ago, suddenly lit up when Kazuichi held her butt tightly.

"Let’s go, don’t squirm too much," Kazuichi said. It was too late to adjust Tris so they just had to endure the embarrassing situation they were in. Besides, now was not the right time to think about such trivial things when they were being attacked with a powerful infected plant.

"M-mm!" Tris had no idea what to say so she just nodded her head while keeping her mouth shut.

"Yosh~," Kazuichi said, squeezing his hand as he jumped up, barely avoiding the roots that whipped past him. In return, Tris yelped when she felt her rear side being squeezed.

It’s not like Kazuichi could help it. He was bound to do something like that since he couldn’t afford to let go of Tris. Then again, Tris had no idea whether Kazuichi was doing it on purpose or not,

A crisp whipping sound was heard when another set of roots whipped at Kazuichi. It took all of Kazuichi’s strength to duck and keep his momentum forward. The additional weight of Amaya and Tris was bearing down on him but he didn’t complain at all. He just continued running and dodging.

Just then, vines came out of the Zombie Plant, and it started wriggling and whipping all over the clearing as if some sort of berserk plant. Well, it was indeed a berserk plant trying to catch the uninfected that Kazuichi was carrying on his shoulders.

Another root and another vine whipped past, and Kazuichi had to do some crazy evasive maneuvers just to not get caught with them. His adrenaline was pumping through his veins, and his senses were enhanced to the point where his surroundings started to slow down.

Kazuichi knew that once he was caught by one of the roots or the vines of the plant, he was going to be dead meat along with Amaya and Tris.

And judging from his surroundings, he could tell that the range of the Zombie Plant was as far as the edge of the clearing. There was a reason why there were no trees or plants in the vicinity of the Zombie Plant, and Kazuichi assumed that that was the range of the Zombie Plant.

"Just a little more push! We’re almost there." Kazuichi gritted his teeth as one of the vines whipped past his face.

He wasn’t able to dodge in time.

Fwip~!

The whiplash of the vine caused his head to snap upward, almost breaking his neck. Blood dripped from his forehead as it was wounded by the vine.

Nevertheless, he didn’t let the pain distract him. He continued moving forward like a mad dog with one goal. As long as he was not out of the area, he would press forward.

Kazuichi could feel his vision dimming, and he felt like his legs would give out sooner than he had expected. His lungs were screaming, and his mind urged him to just drop the weight and run.

Shaking his head, Kazuichi removed the thought of leaving Amaya and Tris behind and he continued gunning towards the lush side of the forest.

He believed in himself that he was going to make it. That’s why he left all the unnecessary thoughts in his mind.

Oraaaa!

Kazuichi pushed past his limits. He didn’t mind the screams of his lungs nor the dryness in his throat. Three more vines whipped on his face, and he dodged them by ducking so low he almost fell on his face. The momentum carried him forward and a root appeared on his feet, prompting him to jump.

’This is some crazy obstacle course we got here.’Kazuichi said in his mind as he panted.

Twenty meters.

Ten meters.

Five meters.

There was a moment of silence when Kazuichi entered the forest once again, escaping the clearing as if he had just escaped hell... or rather, he just ran to hell and back.

The safe atmosphere of the forest caused Kazuichi to relax as his knees buckled, ultimately causing him to collapse while he dropped Tris and Amaya on the ground. He didn’t dare let go of them, however, since they might once again fall into a trance and head toward the Zombie Plant.

"That was... I thought I was gonna die..." Kazuichi heaved a sigh of relief, thanking his lucky stars that he was able to push past his limits and get out of danger. He was also able to save Amaya and Tris, which was a good bonus considering that his mind told him to leave them behind.

Now that they were safe, Albrecht could finally relax.

Rumble.

Rumble.

At first, Kazuichi thought that the rumbling only occurred in the clearing. But when he realized that the ground below him was also rumbling, he felt a pit in his stomach, and nervousness filled him.

The ground in the forest cracked, and out came the roots of the Zombie Plant as it slowly rose up from it.

As it turned out, the entire forest was the Zombie Plant’s playground.

"Oi oi oi~ you got to be kidding me!" Kazuichi exclaimed when he noticed the zombies attached to the roots. They were still alive, and they started crawling toward Kazuichi like parasites attached to a living host.