This Dungeon Grew Mushrooms

The Sword Saint!

How could you just die like that!

Shlorp…

Taking advantage of the brief opening, Lin Jun sent the mycelium he had prepared in advance surging over the Sword Saint’s corpse—its status panel already confirmed to be gone. The mycelium accelerated decomposition, then devoured the mycelium carpet itself, pulling everything swiftly back underground.

To think, back then, standing on opposite sides, they fought that earth-shattering battle that nearly tore the entire dungeon apart!

Lin Jun replayed that peak duel—worthy of being recorded in mushroom history—over and over in his mind. Yet he never expected that…

Urp.

【Seven Sins: Greed Triggered】

【Skill Plundered: Qi Sense LV4】

【Skill Plundered: Treading the Moon LV4】

【Skill Plundered: Flowstep LV7 → LV8】

【Skill Plundered: Evasion LV9 → LV10】

【Skill Plundered: Accelerate LV9 → LV10】

…

【Plundered State: Dragon Crystal Potion (provides high-level resistance across all categories)】

As expected of the Sword Saint—he carried good things all over his body…

Wait?

Isn’t something important missing?

Where is my The Pinnacle of the Sword?!

Switching to his Inspiration view.

Under Greed’s frenzied devouring, the Sword Saint’s soul had been sucked clean—no impurities at all.

Except for The Pinnacle of the Sword.

If the soul were an ice cream, then skills were like the chocolate coating—Lin Jun only needed to lick lightly for everything to fall off seamlessly.

But The Pinnacle of the Sword was different. It was the wooden stick inside the ice cream—extracting it took effort.

In simple terms, for the first time in his mushroom life, Lin Jun was choking on a soul.

The current situation was bizarre.

Because the plundering was incomplete, Greed still bound the Sword Saint’s soul, preventing it from dissolving into the world’s garbage bin like other finished souls.

Lin Jun currently had one end of The Pinnacle of the Sword in his metaphorical mouth, slowly dissolving it, while the other end was still attached to the Sword Saint’s soul like some kind of keychain accessory.

Still, even if the progress was slow, he would get it eventually.

Of everything on the battlefield, the things Lin Jun wanted most were The Pinnacle of the Sword and the artifact Bloodbane above the emperor’s head.

Now that he confirmed The Pinnacle of the Sword was basically already in his mouth, he felt relieved.

As for the emperor’s artifact—maybe someday.

In truth, Lin Jun also quite wanted Envy. With that, he could probably fight multiple ranks above his own effortlessly.

Unfortunately, titles couldn’t be plundered. He wondered whether the Seven Sins might be an exception—but in case of disappointment, he chose not to hold too much hope.

Lin Jun did sometimes reflect on himself. Was his habit of stealing every good thing back to his mushroom nest too greedy?

But then he thought—was it not a form of responsibility?

Artifacts and skills rightfully belonged in the hands of the virtuous.

And in this world, who was more deserving than himself—who aspired to save the world?

With his part finished, Lin Jun turned attention back to the front lines.

Number one and number two puji had their souls return in embarrassment—number five, despite being the fastest, also failed to escape.

This Rage was clearly abnormal—her mind seemed gone, yet her goal was clear.

Everything in her path, demon or human, she tore apart effortlessly.

But she never strayed from one direction—straight east, toward Tri-Mountain City.

It was hard to imagine someone without rationality could still advance so purposefully.

What’s more, her attributes kept rising as she moved.

She gained strength rapidly without killing for experience, as though an endless well of power was inside her.

To the point where—despite being only level seventeen, not even reaching copper rank—her stats surpassed a typical duke.

And they were still climbing.

Lin Jun didn’t believe such easy power existed. The whole situation reeked of strangeness.

Fortunately, this obviously abnormal Rage had already encountered the old bat, and seemed hungry for more. Lin Jun simply stayed put and watched.

Elsewhere, the pink puji had been shoved into the mycelium network by her two bodyguards.

The three puji were lined up like candied hawthorn skewers, Inanna squeezed in the middle; puji number 10 led the way, while number four guarded the rear to prevent her from slipping out.

Letting number four lead was out of the question—number 10 simply did not trust that reckless idiot’s sense of direction.

As for Arama and Lorenzo—

With Lin Jun deliberately reducing the number of puji on the battlefield, the two dukes had no choice but to retreat under worsening conditions, unwilling though they were.

Their remaining troops could no longer fight.

And without the puji covering the rear and blocking Xenophon’s attempted pursuit, they might have been wiped out entirely.

…

Outside Tri-Mountain City.

Valerius fixed his gaze on the figure rampaging through the demon army, crimson eyes filled with confusion. This ragged woman could tear apart heavy-armored demon soldiers with her bare hands, yet her fighting style was utterly crude.

Her raw power and unrefined technique clashed so strongly that he couldn’t imagine where she had come from.

A human trump card?

Judging by her appearance alone, Valerius found that extremely unlikely.

And even though her physical attributes now surpassed his own, she fought without skill—she would lose to Xenophon in a direct duel. Far too weak to be a final gambit.

“Prince!” Ern, still one-armed, raised his weapon. “Please allow me to—”

“No. You reorganize the formation. Maintain the siege.” Valerius raised a hand to stop him. He brushed the claw mark on his chest—though bothersome, putting down a brute with nothing but raw power would be easy. “This uninvited guest, I’ll handle personally.”

With a light wave, countless blood-bats surged like a storm, swallowing the rampaging figure.

The swarm twisted into a rotating dark-red vortex. Violent impacts and beastlike roars echoed from within, but no matter how the woman struggled, she couldn’t break free of the blood-bat cage.

Seeing this, Ern decisively took over command, reorganizing the formation disrupted by the Sword Saint’s battle with the emperor, intent on crushing the last remnants of human strength.

A long time passed. Ern finally finished arranging everything.

At the same moment, the blood-bat vortex suddenly contracted inward—

Then exploded with a deafening bang.

“Is it over?”

Ern turned to look—

A dark figure plummeted from the air.

As it swept past Ern, he instinctively caught it.

A head.

When he saw the face, his expression collapsed in horror.

“Prince?!”

“RaaAAAHHH—!!”

The blood-bat cage collapsed completely. Rage stood amid falling blood-rain, both hands gripping Valerius’s mangled torso.

With a wet tearing sound, the prince was ripped cleanly in two.

She did not pause.

Blood-soaked toes shattered the ground; her figure shot like a scarlet bolt straight through the demon formation.

Where she passed, demon soldiers were flung like broken dolls—limbs and armor fragments spinning through the air.

Ern had barely lifted his weapon when the remaining arm was shredded by a passing silhouette, sending him flying into a pile of corpses.

After a moment of slaughter, the humanoid monster turned toward Tri-Mountain City.

“Not enough… need to kill… more…”