When Did I Become An Artifact Dealer?!
Chapter 62: Embers

Chapter 62: Chapter 62: Embers

Aires wasn’t affected by his taunt. Cail realized that Inshi seemed to be the only one affecting him.

So Cail went for that route. "Wanna know what I did to Inshi? Make a guess."

A vine was slashing toward his throat. Cail managed to shield himself by letting his arm take the hit. Blood gushed out. To be honest, Cail’s reaction time was worsening.

Aires looked crazy now. "Son of a bitch. Whether you say it or not, you’re already my plant’s fertilizer." Then he continued whipping plants at Cail.

Cail was running around a huge tree. It provided cover and room to do something.

"Do you think running around that tree will save you?" Aires yelled.

Damn, just mentioning Inshi drove this guy crazy. But I like it.

Cail, despite bleeding and all, was still in the mood to reply. "I know, I know it won’t save me..." Cail’s eyes darted toward the sap.

"About Inshi, looking at you, you’re probably a controlling lover, right?" Cail mocked as he dodged another vine.

"She told me that her lover is no longer interested in her," Cail continued. "Your look of disgust at the hospital? She saw it. She lost hope."

That sentence gave Aires a pause. Despite feeling that this was not the right time to feel like this, a feeling of horror slowly welled up inside him.

"That—that really happened..."

Despite getting angry, Aires half knew that he was probably being taunted. But now, hearing that, there was a possibility that this guy really did something to Inshi.

The feeling of horror was because something might have happened to Inshi, and that she saw his initial look of disgust.

Cail’s smile inside the helmet was beaming. "Poor girl, was a bit lonely so I accompanied her for a bit~. And guess what? She enjoyed it."

Damn, his voice was very punchable! to the point that Cail wanted to punch himself. If someone dared talk to him like this, his head would explode with a rifle immediately.

"Shut up! SHUT UP! Don’t let me catch you, or I’ll rip out your tongue and plant it in the ground! And I’ll make sure nothing of you ever grows back up!"

Aires’s voice was cracking. He probably got Cail’s hidden message. Whether he believed it or not, he was pissed off.

Cail was already straining, but he needed to finish his preparation. A vine almost wrapped around his neck. Aires’s desperation made the vines more lethal.

He continued his provocation. "Why are you angry at me? Shouldn’t you be angry at your lover? Oops, oh no! She found a better man that can satisfy her than you? She thought you wanted her sister now that she was ruined."

"Inshi is a respectable woman. Even if something happened between the two of you, you must have forced her! Therefore, it’s your fault!"

Aires had full trust in Inshi. Cail admired the spirit, but he was not here to analyze the lovers’ devotion.

Cail actually could have shot him, but his bullets were limited. Now, the preparation was almost over...

"Oh relax, I was just joking. I didn’t touch her. Not in the way you’re thinking. But I think it’s funny how much people spill when they’re on the brink of death..."

Cail narrowly dodged a vine. The moment the vine hit the tree, the tree was split in half. Cail hissed.

"How brutal. You’re a gentleman on the outside. I wonder, does Inshi know you’re this extreme?"

Despite looking calm, Cail knew he was getting dizzy from blood loss.

Aires removed all his façade. He wanted to go back to check on Inshi, but Cail definitely should be his priority now.

"All that venom in your mouth won’t save you when I choke the life out of your spine!"

IT’S TIME!

Cail mustered his strength. He let the vine fling him away. Then, while flying backward, he took out his rifle and shot Aires in the kneecap.

If Aires had been sane enough, he would have taken Cail’s rifle into account and always taken precautions. But now, he was almost crazy with rage.

He kneeled down. His right thigh was pierced by a bullet, and his left knee was shattered. It was a rookie mistake and an oversight.

Cail was not any better. He was slammed into the ground. Without that force treating him like a ping pong ball, he wouldn’t have had time to react before...

There was an immediate blast.

Aires was closer to the huge tree, so he was caught in the fire.

"AHHHHHHHH!" He tried to put out the fire, but to no avail. The fire started to spread like a domino effect.

Then the trees exploded one by one like firebombs.

BANG BANG BANG!

Each explosion made the ground shake as the sap pockets ruptured.

At this point, the greenhouse was filled with dead plants. Now, with the fire, it became a mini furnace. Aires was trapped inside. It was raining fire.

Cail could hear the roar from the heat, together with Aires’s screams.

Cail felt the heat. It was a localized wildfire. Cail had another achievement... and that was arson.

The embers raining down looked like fireflies.

"Ah, what a magical scene. The scream is definitely ambiance music for this atmosphere."

Cail had a few minutes to breathe. He could already sense people coming, but that was his plan.

Cail lifted a glass bottle. Inside was a purple liquid. He hummed...

"Potassium permanganate~ I almost forgot about this stuff. This is my lover when it comes to cleaning wounds. Just mix it with the right sugar... Glycerin works well, and so does tree sap. Nature’s full of gifts if you know where to look."

"Just a few simple steps."

Cail picked up a charred root. It was from Aires. Cail was familiar with the fucking vines that had been whipping him nonstop.

"A resin-heavy bark, overripe oilfruit, and those sap-bleeding creepers our gentleman loved so much..."

"I set the stage with some oxidizers, a little drip of glycerin, then lace the roots with trapped heat... KABOOM!"

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Cail was shivering from excitement. "Ironic thing about nature... you just squeeze it a little hard, it explodes. Guess I just gave it a little push."

Explosives are harder to get than guns, so Cail had to learn.

It was unknown if Cail was talking about real nature or Aires... Maybe both.

"You and Inshi are now a perfect couple. Well, that is if you survived. Inshi finally won’t feel inferior, huh."

"Will she hate me for this?" Cail thought. But it was easy. "I can just leverage her hatred into payment... or maybe do some tweaking. I’m good at gaslighting."

Then he sensed something.

"Oh dear. Another contender."

Cail looked back and saw that someone had finally arrived. Under his helmet, he smiled.

"I’ll let you choose... how do you want to die?"