It was normal for treants to occasionally get killed.
Even though their strength was considered high on this floor, the dungeon never lacked accidents.
But the culprit responsible for killing this treant still made Lin Jun blurt out in shock!
What a huge flower bud!
What a huge flower demon!
So huge!
Of course, Lin Jun had long since transcended worldly desires. He wasn’t thinking anything improper—he was simply astonished.
After all, flower demons grew their pistils into the likeness of a human upper body precisely to lure in humans, right?
But such mimicry had long gone out of fashion. What adventurer these days would fall for that?
And besides, even though flower demons looked human, they actually had no higher intelligence.Whether they made sounds resembling speech or showed expressions like humans, all of it was nothing more than predatory behavior—no different in essence from a Venus flytrap secreting nectar to attract insects.
Still… this flower demon was ridiculously big!
The deep purple flower crown at its base filled the entire small basin. It looked as if its sheer weight had pressed the surrounding land into collapse. The treant, taller than a human, seemed like nothing more than a toy in front of it.
Whatever had caused that treant to provoke it, now its body was already flattened into scrap wood by the flower demon’s stems and leaves.
And if the treant’s corpse could still be considered somewhat intact, the Puchis that had gone with it were far worse off.
Their bodies were plastered against the ground, so stuck that prying them loose was impossible. Only one that had stood far away survived.
Lin Jun had no intention of seeking revenge. As rare as such a huge flower demon was, to him it wasn’t particularly valuable.
After all, he wasn’t craving its materials. Better to leave it as a feature of the sixth floor.
The treant’s corpse, on the other hand, was far more valuable—Plant Affinity skills!
It was rare to have a naturally deceased treant. It needed to be taken back to the fifth floor for a proper burial.
But this wasn’t something he could ask other treants to help with. He would have to rely on the Puchis.
Before long, a mixed squad of Puchis rushed down from the fifth floor.
Since they were gathered on the spur of the moment, there were all kinds:
Cannon Mushrooms, Whip Mushrooms, Ox-and-Horse Mushrooms, Suicide Mushrooms, Big Black Mushrooms…
???
“Gray? Why did you come along?”
“I followed the Puchis here!”
Really here just to join the fun, huh.
Well, whatever.
Just in case, Lin Jun warned, “Just watch, don’t cause trouble, alright?”
“Mm!”
The Puchis marched mightily toward the giant flower demon. Without a treant to clear the way, plenty of them were attacked by plants along the road.
Lin Jun didn’t interfere. Plant-types had a problem—they digested very slowly. Feed them a few Puchis along the way and they wouldn’t finish digesting for half a day, effectively neutralizing them.
At first, Gray tore apart any plants that grabbed Puchis, but soon realized she couldn’t keep up with the main group that way, so she stopped bothering.
By the time they reached the edge of the basin, there were just over forty Puchis left. Only the final task remained—retrieving the treant’s body.
Lin Jun planned to use the old tactic: feint east to strike west.
Send down a few decoys first. While the flower demon struck at them, the ox-and-horse Puchis would drag the treant’s body away.
Simple strategies always worked well on brainless monsters.
But suddenly surrounded from a distance by so many Puchis, the flower demon seemed restless.
Its stems shot out of the ground, impaling a Puchi standing outside the basin.
What the hell?
That was outside its attack range!
More stems burst forth, skewering Puchis one by one.
Damn!
So this flower demon had been hiding its real capabilities?
That lone surviving Puchi standing on the basin edge earlier must have been a trick to make Lin Jun assume its attack range was limited!
In just seconds, more than ten Puchis died.
Lin Jun quickly ordered the rest to retreat. He needed to regroup!
Only one slow-reacting figure remained—Gray.
Clang, clang, clang—
The flower demon’s stems kept stabbing out of the ground, striking the Big Black Mushroom’s scales with crisp metallic sounds.
Not a mark was left on the scales, while the stems broke themselves instead.
Gray stared at the little holes left by the roots in the ground, then at the flower demon in the center of the basin.
After a long moment, she seemed to realize at last that she was the one being attacked.
Just as Lin Jun had finished reorganizing his troops, a thunderous crash echoed from the basin.
When the Puchis rushed over, what they saw was the flower demon smashed deep into the earth, so much so that they couldn’t even pry it out.
“…Wait, what? It’s already dead?”
Such a huge one, so rare!
“It poked me!” Gray pointed at the mess of flower demon below.
“It couldn’t even hurt you…”
Sigh—
“Forget it, pack it up and let’s go. Gray, you take the flower demon too, don’t waste it.”
The Puchis lifted the treant, while Gray grabbed the flower demon’s core, yanked it free, and dragged the monster three times her size behind her.
Lin Jun glanced at the flower bud left behind, wondering if another flower demon might grow from it.
The flower demon had already been smashed to bits, and with the dragging, pieces kept falling off. By the time they reached the staircase, less than half of it remained…
“Boss?”
The voice in the fungal network made Lin Jun jump.
Little Green was standing not far away, staring doubtfully at the Puchis carrying the humanoid chunk of rotten wood.
…
“Little Green… why did you come out?”
“I sensed a lot of Puchis coming down… so I came to see if I could help…”
Then came a stretch of silence, only Gray looking around blankly, not understanding why they had stopped.
By now, the treant had realized what the situation was. But what could it say? It was a bit awkward.
After a long pause—
Little Green: “Accidental death?”
Lin Jun: “Accidental death. We even avenged it.”
Little Green glanced at the flower demon remains, then at the Big Black Mushroom dragging them. Unpleasant memories surfaced.
It nodded silently, then turned and left the way it came.
Lin Jun finally exhaled in relief. He hadn’t done anything wrong, but being misunderstood would have been bad.
It had taken effort to build up the treants’ goodwill. Planting a seed of doubt now would’ve been troublesome.
Fortunately, Little Green was reasonable… he’d send it an A-rank magic crystal later!
——
While Lin Jun was busy dealing with the corpses of the two monsters, far away, Dylan was doing much the same.
Heavy rain pelted Dylan’s face, soaking his eyelashes, but he had no time to wipe them. His hands were gripping something tightly.
“Brother Dylan, careful not to slip!”
In the small forest, two figures carried a corpse between them through the downpour.
“Do you remember the spot?” Dylan asked.
Hearing this, Cloro looked around, then pointed in a direction.
“That way!”
Soon, the two placed the body at their destination. Another corpse they had carried earlier was already lying there.
Dylan took two steps back and plopped down onto the ground.
He wasn’t physically tired—his nerves were frayed.
This was already at the edge of the port city of Clark. Who would’ve thought he’d be fine, while the more experienced Cloro ended up in trouble!
Looking at the two bodies on the ground, Dylan was at a loss for words.
How had it come to this?