Chapter 265: Exploring The Rotting Orchard, Hunting Corrupted Dryads

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The next day.

The Rotting Orchard.

It was an open-air Dungeon located deep inside a D-Rank Gate, a place that felt as if the world itself had decided to forget it existed, and well, it did. The half-collapsed terrain still held the crumbling ruins of some ancient forest-dwelling civilization. Broken stone arches leaned at dangerous angles, shattered pillars lay half-buried in the mud, and moss-covered foundations peeked out from the damp earth like the bones of a long-dead giant. That civilization itself was long gone and no longer present in any living form, leaving only these silent remnants to mark its passing.

A faint, clinging mist covered the surroundings like a damp shroud. Rows of dead, leafless trees decorated this abandoned forest like skeletal sentinels standing in eternal silence, their blackened branches reaching toward a sky that never seemed to brighten. The air carried a heavy scent of decay, wet earth, and something faintly sweet that came from the rotting vegetation. Every breath felt thick and unpleasant, the mist itself carried the memory of decay and death that belonged to this forgotten world long ago.

The only life that could be seen from the start consisted of thick, long vines spread everywhere across the ground and hanging from the branches in heavy curtains. Each vine was lined with sharp needles ready to make anyone foolish enough to step on them suffer the worst pain imaginable while flooding their system with potent poison. The needles glistened faintly in the dim light, coated with a sticky, dark fluid that promised hours of agony to anyone who touched them.

Small flowers sometimes moved on their own, revealing rows of sharp fangs as they bit at the empty air with wet, snapping sounds. They waited patiently for someone to get trapped in the vines so they could crawl over and begin feeding. Their petals twitched with unnatural hunger, and wet sounds of chewing occasionally echoed from the undergrowth even when no prey was present, creating an unsettling atmosphere that made the entire orchard feel alive and watching.

Although these plants were fascinating lifeforms in their own twisted way, they were not catalogued as true monsters. The System listed them only as dungeon hazards because they did not require significant effort to defeat if a hunter came prepared, and they left no reward upon being burned or cut down. Still, underestimating them could cost an unprepared hunter their life in the most painful way possible, as the poison worked quickly and the vines tightened with surprising strength once they sensed movement.

A few silhouettes could be seen in the distance, moving quietly and hiding behind the dead trees. Their glowing red eyes watched the surroundings carefully, never blinking, waiting for any prey to show up so they could attack and drain every drop of blood from their victims. The eyes tracked every slight movement with cold, patient hunger that made the mist feel even heavier.

In the silence that hung over the orchard, the sound of footsteps slowly approached. A pair of hunters were on the move, their boots sinking slightly into the wet ground with each careful step.

"This shithole is no place to be this early in the morning, you damn slaver."

"Now that we’ve grown strong enough this shouldn’t take longer than half an hour. Let’s finish this quickly."

"Heh, then I’m going first."

"Ugh, I’m so sleepy. Do I really have to hunt with you, Riven?"

"Don’t worry, Daniela. Just stay behind. Noir will protect you. I only needed your presence here. This isn’t going to take long."

"Okay."

A red-haired man blurred forward out of nowhere, his form cutting through the mist like a shadow given solid shape. The red eyes hidden among the trees followed him instantly, locking onto his movement with predatory focus, but his claws proved far faster than their reaction.

SLASH!

SLASH!

SLASH!

"GYAAAAAAAHHHH!"

A deafening scream echoed through the mist as three monstrous women made of rotten wood and living vines cried out in agony. Their bodies were diced into pieces with brutal precision and dropped heavily into the muddy ground. Thick purple blood spread across the wet earth in steaming pools that hissed faintly where they touched the poisoned vines. From their broken bodies, glowing pieces of loot and items emerged out of thin air, floating gently for a moment before settling on the mud.

Indeed, with Daniela around, the drop chance increased massively. When Riven went alone, he and his Shadow Self barely ever obtained one or two items per dungeon run no matter how thoroughly they cleared. But with her present? It became an endless stream of rewards that made every clear far more profitable and turned even a simple D-Rank Gate into a treasure trove.

"INVADER!"

"DIE!"

"KILL HIM!"

Suddenly, voices echoed from every direction as the "invader" narrowed his eyes. His gaze darted toward every possible angle with sharp precision, tracking the sources of the enraged cries through the thick mist and dead trees.

In just a split second, dozens of these creatures emerged from the mud and the decaying orchards. They roared at him with voices that sounded like cracking wood and unleashed attacks formed from their own roots and vines. Thick wooden tentacles and needle-covered tendrils shot toward him from all sides, seeking to pierce his flesh and flood him with their potent poison.

The man simply stood there and allowed every attack to reach his body without flinching. The roots and thorns struck him hard yet dealt no real damage as deep red scales appeared across his skin, hardening like living armor that absorbed the impacts with dull thuds.

"Hoh, not bad. This works well... dragon scales, huh?"

As he sneered with dark fascination, his arms blazed with intense flames that cut through the surrounding mist. He then swung both arms in a powerful cross-shaped motion, the fire roaring louder with every movement.

"Blazing Cross."

BOOOOOOMMMM!!!

All the Corrupted Dryads screamed in pure agony as they were completely consumed by the attack. Their bodies burned to a crisp within seconds and collapsed into piles of glowing ashes across the forest floor.

The mist itself seemed to retreat from the intense heat for a brief moment before slowly returning, and countless items started to spawn into existence as the creatures died. Boosted by Riven’s x10,000 multiplication, the rewards became glowing pieces of premium equipment that would cost hundreds of millions each on the open market, turning the once-silent orchard into a field of shimmering treasure.

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