Tales of the Endless Empire

Chapter 490: Better Plant Wins

Flames roared to life and the air hummed as Thalion shot forward, swinging Saranya at the Chosen’s head. Yet even caught off guard, she somehow reacted in time—evading the Gaze of the Blooded Templar and slipping under his strike.Vines erupted from the elven Chosen. She used one to pull herself backward while three others lashed straight at Thalion. More and more followed, sprouting endlessly from her body as she widened the distance.

While she kept summoning, Thalion answered with fire. Flames flared to life around him, his bloodline eagerly igniting everything in reach—including the plants. His new fire skill finally showed its teeth. The flames burned hotter than before, scorching even hardened wood, and the vines had absolutely no resistance. They disintegrated midair, turning to ash before they could touch him.

This was going better than expected. And his power only kept growing alongside the wrath of the raging inferno.

“You… who are you?” the Chosen shouted, as more red plants burst from her body while others withdrew back into it.

Thalion had never seen anything like them. Some circled the sky like birds, flapping leaves as wings. Others spun their flowers like helicopter blades, while a few simply hovered, defying logic entirely.

That… was a problem.

They stayed just outside the range of his flames, and he needed her on the ground. So far, the flames weren’t exactly inviting. Then again, what was he supposed to do differently? If he’d jumped earlier, she would’ve just followed and dodged anyway.

He launched multiple streaks of fire upward, pouring nearly twenty percent of his mana into the attack. The plants tanked it.

Some caught fire, but aside from a few scorched edges, nothing really happened. The curse didn’t spread either.

So far… not ideal.

“What is it—did you swallow your tongue? Who are you?” she pressed, sounding far more confident now that her plants had survived.

Nice of her to want a conversation.

Too bad Thalion didn’t.

Pikar had been right—the longer this dragged on, the higher the chance her patron would notice. He activated Scarlet Maelstrom and surged forward.

The Chosen only frowned and pulled herself back with a vine, matching his speed effortlessly while her plants swarmed him. Each one attacked differently—some snapping with massive maws lined with rows of teeth, others trying to bind him with grasping tendrils.

Thalion wasn’t about to test whether he could phase through them mid-dash. He reformed and cut.

Saranya sliced through the plants like butter.

Moving like the swordsman he was, Thalion carved a path through them, one after another. Occasionally, vines burst from his own body, devouring nearby plants in return.

So far, everything was going very well—

Until it wasn’t.

A sharp sense of danger shot through him, coming from above. He reacted instantly, using Telekinetic Dash to dive downward with full force as something passed just by his head.

A green claw.

The Chosen had transformed.

Vines and flowers sprouted from her skin, her hands reshaping into long, curved claws. With every movement, her flowers released clouds of pollen—only to be burned away instantly by the flames constantly igniting around Thalion.

He tried directing the fire toward her, but she was too fast. Too practiced.

With her new form, the momentum shifted. Thalion found himself on the back foot, dodging relentlessly while searching for an opening to strike with Saranya.

Most of the plants joined her assault, but one remained behind—its flower spinning faster and faster, its glow intensifying.

Not good.

His flames weren’t enough here, and tapping into his blood reservoir didn’t make sense yet. He was still holding his ground, even if barely.

They clashed again and again, their blows sending shockwaves across the ocean, blasting water into the sky each time their skills collided.

Everything moved at a speed no human from old Earth could have followed.

As the Chosen pushed harder, Thalion answered in kind. Alongside his blade and blazing inferno, he shaped red mana into barriers and shockwaves, weaving offense and defense together seamlessly.

The Gaze of the Blooded Templar remained active, pressing against her mind. Her defenses held strong—but not perfectly. Small drops of blood escaped her skin every few seconds.

Her expression hardened.

For a Chosen elf, struggling this much against a human… wasn’t a good look.

Thalion, on the other hand, felt fantastic.

He was at eighty percent mana, but he would recover quickly if he got even a few seconds—not that he needed it right now. In fact, things were going exactly how he wanted.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

He gave the Chosen the upper hand, dodging more while slowly retreating toward the ship. With her so focused on the fight, she likely wouldn’t even consider a trap waiting there.

Thalion hadn’t landed a clean hit yet, while the Chosen had shredded his robe in multiple places. Each wound planted a few seeds that immediately tried to sprout.

Unfortunately for them, his blood burned like magma—and with the Primordial Bloodseed present, they had no chance of taking root inside him.

After dodging three quick slashes from her claws, Thalion finally struck. His left hand formed the Claws of the Blooded Templar before raking across her chest.

The hit applied a strong dose the blood curse.

The Chosen stumbled back in surprise. The curse wasn’t strong enough to truly threaten her, but the moment of shock was all Thalion needed.

He activated the Phalanx of the Blooded Templar.

A portal to hell opened behind him, firing seven long lances toward the Chosen. At full power, the skill made the air thrum with energy. Without his bloodline, such force wouldn’t have been possible—and the best part was that it cost him far less mana than it should have.

Instead of dodging, the Chosen activated a boosting skill. A shockwave burst from her body, shattering the blood lances midair.

A small white flower bloomed on her shoulder. The moment it began to glow, Thalion felt pressure against his soul.

Without the mental defenses he had forged in Ratgul’s domain, this would’ve been a serious problem.

As it was… just a mild inconvenience.

Then the fight escalated.

The Chosen pressed in, landing multiple hits in quick succession. Behind her, the rotating flower released a concentrated orange beam, which Thalion could barely dodged in time.

The beam slammed into the ocean, throwing up a thirty-meter fountain.

Five vines shot from her body, but Thalion countered with the Primordial Bloodseed. His vines tore through hers with ease, utterly dominating the exchange—even with the Chosen nearly sixty levels above him.

Thanks to his bloodline, he could match her power easily.

As Eclipsari, he could only reach that level in close combat when using all of his strength. His wyvern and serpent forms offered more raw power, but they lacked the precision needed to deal with an opponent this fast and agile.

After dodging a sword swing, the Chosen blinked forward and grabbed his shoulder, driving her other hand toward his chest.

Thalion let go of Saranya and answered with his claws.

Neither landed a killing blow, but both tore deep wounds into each other, ripping away chunks of flesh in the process.

Thalion noticed her grinding teeth, while he just grinned under the mask.

Methodically, he continued dealing as much damage as possible. The Chosen’s boosting skill was no joke, and he had to be careful not to get cut in half.

Her claws sliced through his right bicep.

In return, Thalion ripped two ribs from her body.

Then they crashed onto the ship.

Just before impact, Thalion pulled away, landing cleanly on his feet—while the Chosen hit headfirst.

Sadly, not enough to snap her neck.

Thalion didn’t hesitate. Killing intent surged as he dashed forward, claws aimed at her throat.

A new purple flower bloomed on her back releasing a massive shockwave that blasted him away.

Suddenly, plants were everywhere. More and more poured from her body, each preparing its own attack.

Thalion caught Saranya and prepared a forward slash to wipe them out—

Then Pikar’s voice rang in his mind.

"Detonation in T-minus one."

He aborted the strike instantly and activated his bloodline skill, teleporting upward. The cost was higher than usual, as the teleport also healed his wounds, and his mana dropped to forty percent.

Not great—but the explosion that followed made up for it.

The blast tore the massive ship apart.

It was so large that Thalion could still track the Chosen through it, already preparing a follow-up attack. He had to admit—this plan was working far better than expected.

Her battered body was flung to the side, her plants destroyed, only a few tattered vines still clinging to her.

The ships immediately opened fire. The strain on her Mana was obvious, and one cannonball slammed straight into her chest, sending her spinning sideways.

She endured it.

Her body was far more resilient than Thalion had expected. He had already noticed it when he ripped out her ribs—but surviving both the explosion and a direct cannon hit…

That was genuinely impressive.

Her condition wasn’t looking great anymore.

Thalion, on the other hand, was fully healed, and with every passing second, his mana and stamina kept climbing.

The thought amused him.

He activated Scarlet Maelstrom and shot toward her in a straight line.

The Chosen reinforced herself with her boosting skill, but she clearly lacked the plants to fight back properly. A few vines remained, but otherwise… she looked almost helpless.

Some red flowers still hovered in the air, now diving toward her—but they were far too late.

Thalion appeared before her, swinging Saranya downward.

He had to admit—it was a lot easier fighting a Chosen when you could actually keep up instead of being crushed just for existing in F-grade or not having a overpowered bloodline.

Well… and having a good trap probably helped too.

The Chosen wasn’t done yet. She twisted away from the strike and kicked Thalion back—only for him to retaliate instantly.

A blood thorn shot forward, piercing straight through her right leg.

The Primordial Bloodseed immediately took hold, the thorn growing rapidly inside her.

Her eyes went wide.

In panic, she unleashed another shockwave, blasting Thalion away—then pulled out an escape token.

And vanished.

Normally, that would’ve been the end of the chase.

But Thalion had one big advantage.

A new title.

It allowed him to track her perfectly—even through the teleport.

“It was to be expected that it would end like this!” Pikar shouted as the ship approached their position.

“Yes… but this isn’t over yet. And the token sent her in the wrong direction,” Thalion replied, already shifting into the Heavenrend Wyvern.

“I’ll be back.”

With that, he shot into the sky and disappeared into the distance.

Using the full speed of his wyvern form felt incredible as he tore across the ocean. Even better—through his title, he could feel how quickly he was catching up.

It took less than thirty minutes.

Then he saw her.

The Chosen hovered just above the ocean’s surface, battered and barely holding herself upright. The teleport and constant boosting had clearly taken their toll.

Wounds covered her body, her breathing ragged.

For a moment, Thalion felt like celebrating his first Chosen kill—

Then he stopped.

So why not make it more… useful?

If he played this right, he might actually gain something from it. Killing a Chosen and extracting elven plans? That sounded like a pretty big win.

Not wanting her to see his wyvern form, he shifted back into his human shape and activated Scarlet Maelstrom.

Her eyes widened in horror and disbelief as the red energy closed in.

Thalion reformed right in front of her.

She didn’t even try to fight anymore—just raised her hands in a desperate last line of defense.

His hand shot forward, grabbing her by the neck, while multiple vines erupted from his body, wrapping tightly around her.

“Please… don’t kill me. The Golden Lord wants to talk to you.”

Thalion raised an eyebrow.

“Golden Lord? You don’t look that golden. Or is your god some kind of flower, and you just haven’t evolved enough yet?”

“What? No! Please, just listen—the Golden Lord isn’t my patron!” she stammered, clinging desperately to hope.

Thalion considered it.

Her chances of survival weren’t exactly great.

But… why not hear what this “Golden Lord” had to say?

Out here, in the middle of the ocean, he could kill her whenever he wanted—long before anyone could even think about rescuing her.