Mohg leaned out and peered toward the source of the fragrance. Sure enough, a faint, pale-green toxic mist was drifting through the tunnel ahead.
Through the haze, he could see several Lesser Miranda Flowers slowly shifting their positions. They only stopped when they bumped into a dark silhouette, slowly retracting their petals and curling inward.
"That green mist looks incredibly nasty... Are you sure it's safe?" Morgott asked, glancing at Mohg.
"Maybe? Possibly? Most likely... it'll be fine," Mohg replied, his voice trailing off with a heavy dose of uncertainty as he clung to the wall.
"In any case, I'll go check it out first. Stay here, Big brother."
"What did you just call me?" Morgott blinked, looking at Mohg with an unreadable expression.
Mohg spared him a glance. "I called you 'Big brother.' What of it?"
"Heh... heh heh. You're finally willing to call me your brother." A satisfied, almost goofy grin spread across Morgott's face.
Mohg nearly lost his composure seeing that look. It was difficult to reconcile this expression with the image of the righteous, stern Morgott who would one day stand before the thrones of the capital and denounce his kin.
"Sigh... just stay here. I'm going over there to test the mist," Mohg sighed, reminding Morgott once more.
"Isn't it too dangerous for you to go alone? We should go together—"
"No. My physical development is far ahead of yours. If the mist makes me feel even slightly off, then we'll have to find another route."
"But by that logic, wouldn't it be better if I went?" Morgott argued. "If I'm fine, then it means the poison is harmless to both of us."
Mohg looked at Morgott with narrow, skeptical eyes. "And if you get poisoned and collapse, are you expecting me to use an incantation to detoxify you?"
"…Fair point." Morgott fell silent and stood back, looking toward the rear. "Be quick, and be careful."
"Mmhmm."
Mohg nodded. He used a piece of ragged burlap to cover his nose and mouth before stepping into the toxic mist.
As soon as he entered, he could feel the spores seeping through the cloth. It brought a very slight sensation of numbness to his throat and lungs, but the feeling was weak—well within his ability to suppress.
To be safe, Mohg lingered at the edge for a while, wanting to see if a certain dosage would trigger a more severe reaction. While he called it "being safe," it was essentially a gamble.
Fortunately, after waiting quite a while, he found the poison to be almost trivial; it had virtually no effect on his constitution.
Confident, Mohg pulled the burlap from his face. But the moment he did…
"A-choo!"
The sudden sneeze echoed loudly through the otherwise silent tunnel.
A bead of cold sweat rolled down Mohg's temple as a rustling sound emerged from deep within the mist.
Two Lesser Miranda Flowers shivered their way into his line of sight. After spinning around twice, they locked onto Mohg's position and spat a cloud of significantly darker green spores at him.
Swish—
To avoid any accidents, Mohg narrowed his eyes and swept his hand, the force of the air scattering the mist before him. He leaped backward, clearing the immediate area.
After confirming there were no other threats behind these two flowers, Mohg's legs coiled with power. He lunged forward, his hand snapping out to snatch one of the small flowers.
The Miranda Flower, suddenly handled, began to writhe frantically. Its root-like tendrils beneath its bulbous body tried to burrow into the floor, attempting to anchor itself to avoid being taken.
But against such a massive disparity in strength, its resistance was futile.
With a sickening snap, green sap sprayed into the air. The flower curled into a tight ball, seemingly in pain. Mohg didn't look back as he sprinted toward Morgott.
"How is it?"
"Let's talk around the corner." Mohg gestured toward the bend in the tunnel.
"Alright."
Once they reached the safety of the corner, Mohg pulled the captured Miranda Flower from his tunic. The plant now looked entirely wilted, as if it were on the verge of death.
This was due to the biological traits of the Miranda species. In their youth, they can move freely to find suitable environments. Once they choose a spot, they root themselves and rarely move again, though some special individuals remain nomadic.
Earlier, in its desperation to stay put, the flower had tried to force a root into the stone floor. Mohg had yanked it out by force, snapping its roots—a blow that had severely drained its vitality.
Morgott reached out and poked the flower. Seeing no reaction, he looked at Mohg with a confused expression, as if asking why he had brought back a dead plant.
Mohg's lip twitched. He grabbed the flower and gave it a vigorous shake.
Poof!
Finally, the little flower managed to cough out a tiny puff of toxic mist toward the two brothers. It was small and shaped rather… unpleasantly.
"…Try it. See how it affects you."
Morgott's lip twitched at the sight of the "fart-like" puff of poison, but he silently leaned in to test it.
"A bit of numbness, but it's very faint. It won't affect us much."
"Then let's move!" Mohg nodded and began walking back toward the colony.
The discarded Lesser Miranda Flower began to crawl slowly away on its remaining tendrils, as if insisting it still had a chance at life.
"There's something up ahead."
By now, both brothers had wrapped their faces in burlap, looking for all the world like two Omen bandits.
Suddenly, Mohg spotted a dark shape on the ground. He narrowed his eyes and slowed his pace.
Morgott wordlessly picked up a stone, infused it with the light of the Golden Order, and tossed it forward.
The faint golden glow illuminated the area, revealing the rotting corpse of a "prawn" (or a giant crayfish). Judging by its size, it had been a near-adult specimen. It was unclear how it had died here.
What made the scene unsettling was that several Lesser Miranda Flowers were rooted directly into the carcass. Thick, arm-width roots had coiled around the body and pierced through the prawn's head.
Exchanging a look, the brothers followed the trail of the thickest roots. There, they saw a truly massive Miranda Flower, quietly curled into a ball.
Its petals pulsed slowly, rising and falling as if it were breathing. With every rhythmic movement, a dusting of pale green pollen shook loose from its form.
It appeared the toxic mist in the area was merely a byproduct of the creature's sleep. If it were to fully wake and release its spores… Mohg suspected that even with their constitutions, they would suffer more than just a little numbness.
This Giant Miranda Flower was a far cry from the small ones he had just encountered.
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My : https://[email protected]/AuAuMon
Elden Ring: As the Consort, I Reject Miquella (129 Chapters – Ongoing)
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