The seeds we plant

Mia's POV:

A desperate cry comes out of the mouth of the hero in front of me. I can't help but feel disappointed in this opponent. Even though he seems well trained and has his heart in the right place, that's not enough in a fight to the death. I raise my sword that I'm dragging, determined to end this. With a quick movement I try to bring my sword down on his head, but I can't lower my arm. A jet of blood falls to the ground before I could react properly to the new situation.

- But what..?

A huge sword was stuck right at the junction of my elbow, blocking my arm from moving. Before I could think about it, the hero lunged at me with his sword in hand. I let go of the sword to grab it with my other hand to repel his sudden assault. Once again I send him flying with the blow of my sword, but this time it's different. Before he hits the ground or a tree, he is stopped by four bright red swords forming a sort of rectangle in the air. The same type of sword that pierces my arm. Seconds later, the man used 3 other swords that came out of nowhere like steps of a ladder to reach the ground safely.

- I see you have some tricks up your sleeve after all.

As I say this, I shatter the sword that was lodged in my arm with my free hand, but when I do, it falls apart like water. Looking closer, I realize that, instead of water, it was blood. I finally understood why he was so obsessed with his friends.

- So this was your plan? Killing your subordinates to turn them into weapons?

The hero, whose face was disfigured in a grimace of hatred, bites his lip while looking at me in a piercing way.

- Of course not! My original plan was to sacrifice the smallest amount of them and rely on the ones that survived to fight you as a group… but nothing went according to plan.

A broken voice comes out from the hero, whose bloodlust increases even more. He seems determined to kill me here. Sadly for him it won't be that simple.

- Fine, Lord Hero, if you are so confident in your blood weapons, come at me with everything you have.

- Shut up!

With the help of his blood swords, he launched himself like an arrow towards me while some of them stayed at his side to support his assault. But now that I already knew the trick, I just had to leave it to the skill of this body. I also advance at full speed to meet him face to face. When we cross paths, 2 more swords appear out of nowhere to attack me from the sides, causing 10 blood swords to be flying towards me from all possible directions.

- Useless!

Before the swords could touch me, a sudden gust of wind vibrates around me, reducing all the impact of the swords. Afterwards, those swords are repelled by that same wind once they have weakened enough. The hero seems surprised by this sudden change and stops short before he is within reach of my sword.

- Did you like that? Allow me to formally introduce this appearance to you.

With a smug smile, I point my thumb at myself.

- Cassandra, former storm hero, "the wind tank"

At my introduction, he just sighs as he looks at me with a marked hatred.

- I see that this will be a nuisance, but that doesn't make you invulnerable right?

Immediately after, another 4 swords come out from under the ground and pierce my legs from the feet, by the time I realize the pain, it's too late. A groan of pain escapes my lips at the sudden assault. Although I immediately jump back, my legs are already quite injured. I soon realize that the swords around them have increased to 15.

- Don't you have any more swords now?

- Don't worry about it, anyway, you will die here.

He charges at me again with 13 swords in the air and another 2 that vanish into the ground. Even though he caught me off guard last time, that won't happen again. To make sure of that, with the power of my body, I float a few inches off the ground to avoid the swords coming from below and charge at him again.

Despite the clear uselessness of his attacks now that I'm in this form, he continues to constantly attack any point he considers a blind spot. On the other hand, since my defense is left to the Wind Tank skill, I fully concentrate on hitting the hero with my sword. However, I now have 2 major obstacles. The first is those pesky blood swords. Every time I try to go for his head, the swords get in the way, taking away all my momentum, making it easy for the hero to block. The second problem I have is the wounds on my feet.

Thanks to them, I can't take advantage of my speed to change the focus of my attacks, which greatly limits my movements.

It's thanks to this that we entered a stalemate where I would send him flying, he would recover and launch himself at me in return while he launched himself at me like a wild beast surrounded by his 15 annoying blood swords. Without a method to settle the matter. The only thing we could do was continue fighting while looking for the other's weakness. In the middle of one of the assaults, the hero suddenly smiled and moved a safe distance away from me.

- It really took me a while, but it seems that it's ready now.

- .... What are you talking about hero?

- About this!

As he dramatically raised his hand, a sudden pain began to come out of my limbs that had been hit by his blood swords. The pain was so intense that it was hard for me not to faint on the spot. A cry of pain came out of me as I tried to stay conscious. A slow sensation of something moving inside my skin spread throughout my arms and legs. The veins in my limbs burst as small spikes made of crystallized blood emerged from them. Although it was sudden, I was able to endure the pain enough to not let my guard down. The hero just sighed as he watched me writhe in pain.

- You really don't lose focus for a second, do you?

As he said this, his 15 swords assaulted me from all directions, but were deflected and avoided by the wind tank.

- But it's okay, that doesn't matter. That same blood that is making you suffer right now will eventually reach your lungs and heart, when that happens I don't think even the witch of deception herself can avoid dying from a puncture from both.

His confidence was palpable. Although a few minutes ago he was crying like a spoiled child, now he's being too arrogant... I guess he's right that I'll lose if I don't change my strategy. I guess it's time to change.

- Hey brat, what's your name?

- Me? I'm Keir, the hero of blood.

- …I see, then brat Keir, I'm glad to inform you that you've earned a spot to be part of my numerous appearances, you can feel proud of it.

- What are you…?

Before he finished, I get up despite the pain and with the help of my only healthy arm I jump into the forest surrounding the camp. Surprised by the sudden movement, Keir sends his swords after me. Despite everything, my wind tank manages to avoid all the swords and I fall safely into the top of a tree.

- I really have to thank my pupil for giving me this appearance. Right now it's the best form I can take to defeat Keir.

In a matter of seconds, I transform into a little girl with a smile plastered on my face. Despite having changed form, the wounds I made earlier are still there, causing a stabbing pain. I look with some annoyance at the wounds while sighing.

- I guess I have to deal with these thorns first… ah

As I was thinking about how to deal with the thorns, an idea came to mind.

- But first, I have to set the stage properly.

Smiling, I focus on my surroundings while connecting with the plants I had planted earlier. Through the multiple red lips I had planted beforehand, I say the following sentence to announce that I have changed in the most dramatic way possible.

"Carnivorous Venus Mode"