"Hero, I already removed the scent bait from your body, so you don't need to worry."
Only after seeing that Ethan really had no plans to kill them did Idris finally dare gather the courage to speak to him.
Ethan raised an eyebrow at Idris and said, "Not bad."
"Alright! Next, I'm going to practice my swordsmanship. You people stay close. If you die, don't say I didn't keep my promise."
After speaking, Ethan immediately rushed toward the direction Nolan had escaped.
Nana and the other two exchanged glances, then quickly followed behind Ethan. During that time, Nana said to Idris in surprise, "I didn't hear wrong just now, right? He's planning to practice swordsmanship in a place like this?"
"That's right, Sister Nana, you heard correctly," Idris also looked shocked as he said, "Hero seems to have had me use the scent bait skill on Nolan just to lure monsters and practice… practice swordsmanship."
"I really don't know whether to say this person is too powerful or too strange," Nana carried Nini as she quickly followed behind Ethan and said, "Who would run to a place like this to practice swordsmanship? Wouldn't practicing at home be fine?"
"Who can understand the world of experts?"
Idris shrugged and said he didn't understand either.
———
At this moment, Nolan, who was running at the very front, still didn't know he had already been marked with scent bait.
He thought he had already escaped. Right now, he was grinding his teeth and resenting his teammates. "Nana, Idris, just wait! After I get back, I'll definitely make you regret this!"
"I'll make you understand what happens when you offend me… ah!"
However, right at this moment, a giant cherry blossom tree suddenly appeared in front of Nolan.
No, it should be called a blood blossom tree instead.
Because every leaf on that tree was bright red. And the instant Nolan got close, all the vines and flowers on the tree turned toward his direction like radar, then pointed straight at him.
This scene scared Nolan so badly that he quickly stopped moving, afraid that any sudden action would trigger an attack from the strange tree.
[Blade Tree: When prey approaches or crashes into this tree, the Blade Tree's flowers or leaves (during blooming season, the petals become blades; outside blooming season, the leaves become blades) turn into sharp weapons and attack the prey until the prey is sliced apart so thoroughly that not even a drop of blood remains!]
[PS: This tree cannot be transplanted, but the tree heart (tree seed) in the center of the trunk can be removed and planted elsewhere!]
"Blade Tree? Interesting," The moment Ethan saw the tree from afar, he immediately understood its attack traits and purpose.
Since the focus of this tree's attacks was actually slicing apart prey and obtaining blood from the prey's body to nourish itself, then that also meant this tree would not easily let its prey die.
Using it to torture a piece of trash really was somewhat interesting.
"Stop! Don't go any farther."
Ethan raised a hand to stop Nana, Idris, and the others, "Stand here and don't move around. Leave the rest to me."
"Y-yes, Hero!"
"Okay!"
Everyone answered.
Only then did Ethan hold his sword and look at Nolan in the distance. He might as well use him to understand the Blade Tree's attack style.
"Huff~"
"Huff~ Huff~"
Nolan was around twenty meters away from the Blade Tree.
But he didn't even dare breathe too loudly. He forced himself to suppress the sound of his breathing and slowly adjusted it, trying to make the tree withdraw its attack state.
But the tree showed no reaction at all. It didn't attack him, but those petals pointed at him also showed no sign of retracting. They still pointed straight at him like blades.
"I remember… those petals only started moving after I crossed that line," Nolan turned and looked at a large rock about ten meters behind him.
He remembered that after stepping past that rock, he had triggered the strange tree's hostility. If he quietly retreated outside the attack range, then maybe the tree wouldn't attack him anymore.
With that thought in mind, Nolan slowly lifted one leg.
Although, he had other ways to test things slowly and carefully escape danger.
But he also wasn't sure whether the man trying to kill him had already caught up, so Nolan could only take the risk and try escaping the strange tree's attack range.
"Hoo!"
Nolan lifted one foot. Luckily, this small movement didn't trigger any reaction from the strange tree.
This made him gradually become bolder. He hurriedly stepped backward once.
"Hoo!"
The strange tree still showed no movement.
That made Nolan gain more confidence. He quickly backed up three or four more steps. He was just about to leave the strange tree's attack range.
But at that moment…
BANG!
A completely ordinary stone suddenly landed beside his foot out of nowhere.
It neither attacked him nor attacked the strange tree. It had simply been thrown onto the ground.
But the next second, Nolan immediately realized someone was trying to screw him over.
"Fuck!"
Nolan no longer cared about moving slowly. He instantly turned around and ran outside the attack range.
But it was already too late.
All the petals on the Blade Tree instantly transformed into blades and shot toward him.
Whoosh!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
"AHHH!"
The instant the first red petal sliced across his calf, Nolan screamed in pain and dropped to his knees.
The moment he knelt down, he lost every remaining chance.
Because the overwhelming storm of petals kept flying toward him one after another, treating his back like a target.
Slash!
Slash! Slash!
"AHHHHHH!"
Nolan could even hear the sound of blades cutting through flesh.
In just a short moment, his back had already become a bloody mess. The pain made him collapse onto the ground completely. Using the strength in his arms, he tried to crawl little by little out of this hellish place.
Unfortunately… those petals clearly didn't want to let their nourishment escape.
Even though Nolan had already been knocked to the ground and was crawling forward with only his arms, those petals strangely curved through the air and evenly sliced across his back.
One cut after another and every cut left behind nearly the exact same wound.
The feeling was like a master chef slicing sashimi. Every cut was perfectly precise.