“He… how could he be so cruel?” Inanna’s face was filled with disbelief, anger, and pity.
“Who knows?” Lin Jun’s voice carried just the right touch of helplessness and sorrow. “Perhaps in their eyes, Pujis are just ‘monsters’—creatures only fit to live hidden away in the deep layers, never to see the sun…”
The Pink Puji had finally managed to contact Lin Jun—but only the next morning, after her transformation wore off and she had put away the Veil of Obscurement.
Mushroom comrades reunited, eyes brimming with tears.
Lin Jun first stirred her emotions, reminiscing about the carefree days in the mushroom garden. Then, “offhandedly,” he mentioned how he had been “unable to survive” in the deep layers and had been “forced” to move upward. Finally, he focused on the “cruel persecution” carried out by Guildmaster Fahl:
How he had “brutally dissected” those “kind and harmless” Pujis who only provided light for adventurers.
How he had “ruthlessly organized raids” to destroy the peaceful fifth-layer homes of Pujis who “never troubled anyone.”
As for the one-third casualties suffered by those raids?
Lin Jun explained it all as Pujis acting in self-defense—the blame rested squarely on the new guildmaster’s shoulders.
All he wanted was a quiet life in the Dungeon. If not for the guildmaster’s oppression, humans and Pujis could have been friends.Inanna’s eyes grew misty, nodding repeatedly. She deeply sympathized with the hardships her “boss” had suffered in her absence.
“Then… what should we do now?” she asked urgently, truly wishing to help him.
But she also understood her limits. As a duke’s daughter, she carried prestige, but when it came to major decisions about Dungeon management, her influence extended only as far as polite suggestions—far from enough to overturn the Guild’s policy of “Puji extermination.”
Lin Jun had expected this from the start.
He never intended to rely on Inanna to “persuade” the Guild.
“Inanna,” he shifted tone, steering to the point, “did you bring what I asked for in my letter?”
“I did! Look!” Inanna eagerly rummaged through her luggage and presented a dagger, ornate and inlaid with prismatic gems.
The weapon radiated a powerful magical aura.
“Excellent!” Lin Jun’s voice carried the excitement of a plan about to unfold.
His idea: have Inanna reveal this dagger, claiming it could “control monsters,” and then, before witnesses, stage a performance where she “tames” a Knight Puji.
Such items weren’t unheard of. Many adventurers who kept monster pets relied on similar tools—though usually limited to low-level creatures.
For a duke’s daughter to possess one capable of handling a Knight Puji would raise no eyebrows.
Whether the dagger was genuine or not didn’t matter. The Knight Puji would cooperate in the performance.
Once the “control” succeeded, one of the Guild’s two reasons for exterminating Pujis—“monsters are uncontrollable threats”—would vanish.
The other reason, the fear that Pujis were tied to the Dungeon Core, would naturally dissolve once the experts investigated and saw the truth.
And with Inanna serving as a bridge between Guild and Pujis, the Guild wouldn’t dare recklessly order their extermination.
Of course, there was still a flaw: the dagger.
If it were a fake, outsiders might be fooled, but Inanna’s family would surely know what artifacts their house possessed.
That loophole would need a convincing backstory, perhaps with Aedin’s help to sell the illusion.
But all of this was only temporary. Lin Jun never intended to rely solely on it.
His safety, in the end, depended on himself.
If this plan could buy him two or three months, that would be enough—time to either seize control of the Core or move operations elsewhere. By then, perhaps the Chiss could also be…
His thoughts drifted. Then curiosity struck. “By the way, this jeweled dagger… what does it actually do?”
“Control monsters, of course!” Inanna answered without hesitation.
A real artifact, then… as expected from a duke’s family.
——
The “expert team” didn’t linger in the Guild.
After a single day’s rest and a brief meeting, they departed under Gug’s stern urging.
Alongside the team, Fifteen followed at the Sword Saint’s side as disciple, while Aedin was included as an invaluable scout.
With the Sword Saint himself leading, additional muscle was unnecessary.
Before departure, Guildmaster Fahl saw them off with solemn ceremony, offering words of safety and mission.
But one detail unsettled him: Lady Inanna’s departing gaze had held a trace of unmistakable dislike.
Fahl frowned.
They had only just met the day before. He racked his brain, but could not recall how he might have offended her.
“Strange…”
As for the method she suggested, with the Sword Saint present, capturing a Puji alive was far easier. It was worth trying.
And if it failed? They could still fall back on the original plan—kill the “King of Pujis.”
“Let’s hope they succeed…”
——
“So dark!”
The first surprised exclamation upon entering the Dungeon came from Sword Saint Elvien himself.
He narrowed his eyes at the shadowy passage, astonishment clear. “The Amethyst Dungeon has changed so much!”
His tone made it obvious—he had been here before.
“What’s that?”
Before Fifteen could even explain the first question, Elvien pointed at a rented lighting-Puji in the distance, asking again.
It was clear the Sword Saint hadn’t so much as glanced at the thick report Fahl had prepared.
Fifteen sighed in resignation, forced to serve as tour guide, patiently explaining everything.
“Let’s rent one too!” Elvien suggested enthusiastically.
As he spoke, a monster down the corridor silently split into two halves, its cut smooth as glass.
“Master… isn’t that… inappropriate?” Fifteen asked hesitantly. “Our mission isn’t just about the Core, we also need to—”
To deal with the mysterious “King of Pujis”!
How could they bring a Puji along with them?
“That’s something to think about after we find the Core!” Elvien waved dismissively, then kicked Fifteen squarely on the backside. “Quit whining and get it done!”
Rubbing his sore rear, Fifteen had no choice but to drag the bisected monster corpse back and trade it for a round, glowing Puji.
All the way down, Elvien marveled at the Dungeon’s changes like a curious tourist.
Fifteen, however, was more troubled: strangely, no Pujis had tried to stop them this time.
The ones they did see were busy fighting slimes, ignoring the party entirely—so different from before.
Had they sensed his master’s power? Fifteen wondered, but had no answer.
Their descent continued smoothly until they reached the deep layers.
The lighting Puji stopped following at the end of the seventh floor.
And then—they saw the true state of the Amethyst Dungeon.
By the stairs leading deeper lay the lava cavern once ruled by the Flame Demon.
Even after its death, it had remained a blistering magma lair.
But now… no heat at all.
The roaring lava lake was gone, vanished without a trace.
At its bottom yawned a spatial rift, five meters wide.
Shock rippled through the group. For many, it was their first time witnessing such a phenomenon. Even Elvien arched his brow in surprise.
And Gug, silent until now, grew grim. His face darkened like thunder.
“This… is far worse than we expected…”