Chapter 421 - Bee-ware of Flowers

Since the new feature could certainly contribute to the defense, Belissar moved to implement it right away. First, he checked his available mana…

Mana: 568/3880

He actually had a decent amount at first glance…though, since the trap flower fields cost a hundred each, he’d still only be able to afford a few. He’d have to pick and choose which rooms to place them in.

The battle Bog was an obvious first choice, since he could fill it with vaporous hemlock. There was just one problem: the Silver Host was currently guarding the room and would likely not appreciate it being filled with toxic mist.

“First of the Fifth’s First Daughter, could you contact Duke Turuhave? Let him know I have a powerful new defense, but that he’ll need to leave the Bog while I set it up?”

“Ok!”

While she did that, Belissar rearranged the rooms so that a shade wouldn’t stumble into the Bog while he was working on it. He was going to place the Hall of Purifying Light first to catch any attacks…but then he remembered the Tower had said the hall would be needed to stop the corrupted room from affecting the core. Since purifying the room seemed like it would take some time, Belissar decided to use the Hall of Purifying Light to protect the core and placed the Abyssal Trench as the temporary defense room instead.

Duke Turuhave had quickly returned in the meantime. He was a bit nonplussed at Belissar asking the Silver Host to fall back almost immediately after they had deployed…until Belissar explained the new feature and what he intended to do with it. Duke Turuhave hummed.

“A room filled with vaporous hemlock mist…I can see the appeal. The Silver Host does have tactics to take advantage of fog, though we’ll need to use magic to protect ourselves. Very well, I’ll prepare for a more mobile defense, we’ll jump in and out of the room to strike the enemy while they’re hindered. We’ll need you to alert us when the enemy enters the room so we know when to move in.”

Once the Silver Host had duly returned to the shortcut room, Belissar got to work. He placed the field, which appeared as a glowing green area highlighting the entire room. Belissar wondered if he could adjust the size and tried just that, it turned out he could make the area smaller if he wished. He then experimented manipulating its shade and found he could do that as well. He could even create isolated empty areas within the field if he wished, so he could leave some areas free of traps for the Silver Host to use.

He found Duke Turuhave again after that, discussing where the safe zones should be. Duke Turuhave…reluctantly requested Finnakynne’s assistance due to her experience with dungeon traps. Finnakynne was also reluctant to discuss such things, but did give some advice. Belissar then placed the zone, filled with winding paths from the room’s shortcut that would lead defenders all across the room…along with a seemingly safe path from the entrance for the enemies that would lure them into good ambush spots.

Belissar then placed the field and was prompted to select which trap plants to grow. The vaporous hemlock was there as he hoped, along with the thorny roses. But there was one option Belissar had not anticipated…the gravilion flowers. He had forgotten those were classified as traps as well, having almost never used them during purifications. But…if any there was a time to see what they could do, it was now. Belissar went ahead and selected them too.

He placed the feature and kept his Tower sight on the battle Bog. A wave of green light shot through the ground and the water of the swamp. Immediately afterwards, shoots and buds began to break through the mud and the water, growing before Belissar’s eyes. Mist rose from the puddles and ponds as vaporous hemlock covered their banks and even began growing out of the water itself, until entire ponds were hidden under leaves and white flowers that themselves vanished in a blinding fog.

Meanwhile, bushes and vines of thorny roses took over every patch of even faintly dry land in the room, besides those few areas Belissar had designated as safe. Dense patches of brush sealed off entire sections of the room, promising pain for anyone who attempted to cross them.

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And in the midst of it all, gravilion flowers bloomed, creating distortions in the mist…and in the water. Belissar stared as a bunch of gravilions bloomed near a pond and pulled the water of the pond towards them, then released it all at once, creating a wave that washed over a nearby path Belissar had left empty. The Bog now had waves, waves that would suddenly reverse and pull back into their ponds. The gravilions also seemed to pull the mist around as well, creating currents in the room-wide fog.

All in all, Belissar was satisfied with the room thus far, though he’d have to warn Duke Turuhave that not all of the safe zones were as safe as hoped. Belissar could move the trap flowers around within the zone, though, so he was able to make some adjustments to protect the areas the Silver host would use.

Belissar then considered which of his other rooms he might apply the field to. His first idea was the Sparkling Desert, with the intention of filling it with crystalspine cacti. But now…now there was an idea Belissar had not thought of previously.

What if he placed a trap field in a Floating Islands room and filled it to the brim with gravilion flowers?

Belissar had no idea what would happen. Would he make a perfect room for the gravity bees, filled with more gravity flowers than they could ever forage? Would the flowers combine with the room to become too dangerous for even the gravity bees, like how the Dragonvein Volcano could even harm burning bees?

Belissar double checked his mana. Since he had no idea what would happen, he didn’t want to try it on the gravity bees’ home room, so he’d have to buy another Floating Islands to attempt it. The Floating Islands room cost fifty mana on top of the hundred for the trap flower field, so it would be no small expense. But…Belissar did have the mana to afford it and the Sparkling Desert and still have some left in reserve.

Belissar…shrugged and decided to try it. There really wasn’t any reason not to, he hadn’t spent his currently available mana on anything else and he could always remove the room if it didn’t work out. He moved the Hall of Purifying Light down to an empty slot on the seventh floor, since he couldn’t use it until the nexus door room was purified, and replaced it with a new Floating Islands. He placed a new overgrown trap flower field across the entire room…fortunately just after remembering to enable environmental seals on the exits, and then selected gravilion flowers for the field.

A wave of green light passed over the islands and the gravilion flowers began to grow. They covered the surfaces of every island and rock in the room…and bloomed all at once.

Then the room descended into chaos.

Floating islands began to disintegrate, ripped apart as pieces of rock were pulled in every direction. Some smaller rocks just vanished, bursting into sand that then whipped across the room. The rocks and sand that formed would then smash together and form new islands, only to be ripped apart again. The islands large enough to stay together began to speed up, hurtling through the room like a lancer diving through the sky. They smashed all smaller rocks in their path before inevitably crashing into each other, sending smaller pieces of rock flying in all directions as the larger islands finally broke up.

Belissar…may have underestimated the gravilions. Maybe they only hadn’t seemed very impressive because he only had a few of them before? In any case, he was very, very glad he hadn’t tried this on the gravity bees’ home. Then…the Tower decided to drive the point home.

Warning! Critical anomalous mana levels detected in room Floating Islands (2F4R)!

Room features and monster spawners may deactivate or behave abnormally while anomalous mana levels persist. Mana storms may form if mana levels are not returned to normal.

Belissar put on a carefully blank expression as he spoke up.

“Niobee…tell everyone not to go into the new Floating Islands room, ok?”

“Ok!”

Belissar…then did nothing, leaving the room to its chaos. It seemed like it would make for another strong defense, that was for sure. He didn’t even add a shortcut to the room…as he wasn’t sure who, if anyone, could survive there. Maybe if the gravity bees got stronger…but he had no desire to test that for the time being.

It was with some trepidation, therefore, that Belissar added an overgrown trap flower field to the sparkling desert. Fortunately, the crystalspine cacti were not as immediately violent as the gravilion flowers, simply covering the sands of the desert in shimmering crystal thorns that sparkled as much as the sand they now hid. Belissar thought the room might even be safe…until he noticed the thorns were glowing brighter with each moment.

Then beams of light start to pierce the sky above the cacti field. Beams aimed lower hit the thorns of other cacti, causing them to immediately shoot beams of their own…or explode out from their cacti, sending thorns flying through the air as well. Some of the beams hit the mirror dome Belissar had placed in the room…which then spontaneously activated, amplified the Light mana, and sent out an even larger beam.

Belissar decided this room should be off-limits for now too.