This Dungeon Grew Mushrooms

The giant puji’s massive body was nothing more than a clumsy sandbag before Rage.

Each time that pale-blue flame–shrouded figure flickered, she tore open another horrifying wound across the mushroom flesh.

Only its astonishing regeneration kept it from being obliterated outright.

Continuous heavy blows blasted huge chunks of tissue off; puji number four struggled to regenerate while taking hit after hit. Its once-majestic giant-puji form was gone—reduced to a rolling, oversized mass of tangled mycelium across the battlefield.

Mounds of shredded mycelium littered the ground, piled higher than the giant puji’s original size.

Puji number four was full of grievance.

It didn’t understand.

For the first time, it had this much power.

For the first time, it had a worthy opponent.

Two joys overlapping, producing even more joy.

It was supposed to be a glorious, dreamlike moment.

So why… why did it become like this?

Rage’s power kept climbing.

Even without skills or technique, purely by brute force, the damage output far surpassed what the giant puji’s regeneration could handle.

Endless regeneration burned through enormous magic.

Regeneration and Mycelium Reconstruction—both dependent on magic—were the first to fail.

Only Life Essence remained, capable of creating life force from nothing, but without its two helper puji, even that was insufficient before peak Rage.

With one final crushing punch, puji number four’s miserable, honorless mission of full-time being beaten came to an end.

Having finally killed this annoyingly durable puji, Rage shook her energy-flaring head. It seemed she finally remembered she still had unfinished business.

She took another step toward Arama.

Crack.

She turned back.

Her left foot remained in place—its inner blue flames dying out.

The cracked outer shell lost support, collapsed into pieces, and crumbled to dust with the wind.

Then her arm, her torso, her head…

No explosion.

Just… like dying firewood, burning out quietly.

The status panel vanished.

She was truly dead.

But for the first time, Lin Jun encountered remains—no, scraps—that he didn’t dare absorb.

He had never absorbed another bearer of the Seven Sins before.

In theory, since the Sins were title-series abilities, Greed shouldn’t be able to steal them.

But what if? Rage’s terrifying nature was something he had witnessed almost from beginning to end. No matter how strong his soul was, he absolutely couldn’t withstand burning like that.

And why would her soul burn anyway?

To destroy the world?

But Lin Jun didn’t want to touch Rage.

That didn’t mean Rage wouldn’t touch him.

Fragments of her body scattered with the wind.

Some fell onto the remaining mycelium.

【Obtained: Sin of Wrath】

When this line appeared on his panel, Lin Jun’s whole mushroom brain froze.

A wave of absurdity washed over him—followed immediately by fear.

He reacted instantly, hijacking the body of Little Xi, who was busy reorganizing the army and preparing to return to the battlefield.

He slammed open the door and began frantically stuffing rock candy and “wine” into his mouth.

Sticky sweetness and red liquid dribbled down his chin.

“Eat a little more, little mushroom.”

Lin Jun halted immediately.

He returned body control to Little Xi[‘Sigismund’], who roared in confusion.

Who said that?

And why call him mushroom, not puji?

He had heard that voice before—in the fog.

He checked his panel again.

【Sin of Wrath: Meteoric Might (Requirements not met, inactive)】

Seeing “inactive,” Lin Jun exhaled sharply in relief.

He honestly thought he might burn up on the spot.

Wrath was currently greyed out, dim like skills sealed by Jealousy.

But what caught his attention was something else added to his panel.

Three lines of numbers.

【153345】

【546433875】

【9453412779】

They shifted constantly—no labels, no explanation.

Lin Jun couldn’t decipher their meaning, reminding him of the meaningless number-streams inside the Abyss.

But this wasn’t related to the Abyss—this came from Wrath.

He recalled the voice in the fog.

That “eat more” clearly didn’t mean the candy.

His gaze swept from Tri-Mountain City to the killing grounds—mountains of corpses.

Rage had also come from the fog.

…Had she been sent specifically to feed him?

Something in the mist… was watching him?

Damn it.

Lin Jun hated being manipulated—hated being treated like a toy.

He needed to reach the fog eventually.

But life still had to go on.

And he wasn’t stupid enough to abandon all the skills and EXP scattered across the field.

Without intent, his mycelium naturally spread across the battlefield.

The abundance of nutrients caused it to grow, and in the days that followed, a massive mushroom forest sprouted.

Rage’s arrival had been a calamity—annihilating the main forces of both humans and demons.

Two demon dukes exploded into chunks.

Tri-Mountain City destroyed.

The High Priest dead.

But many survived.

Bloodborn Prince Valerius, once Rage turned toward Tri-Mountain City, used his last drop of Blood of Kin to rebuild his body and fled skyward carrying the dying Erne, who had lost both arms.

The High Priest Dietas, though dead, used his final radiance not to attack but to shower the city in divine light.

Most soldiers still died under the collapsing mountain, but many survived, clawing their way out once Rage left.

Among them was Fifteen, clutching his master’s short sword.

The demon army was nearly annihilated, but quite a few escaped.

Regardless, the war to annihilate the kingdom could no longer continue.

Unless the emperor stripped defenses from elsewhere, Sigismund’s forces—still reorganizing—were the empire’s only remaining army capable of fighting humans.

They could continue south, causing more devastation, but destroying the kingdom was now unrealistic.

The empire’s east was under delayed dwarven invasion.

The north suffered unnatural cold—another calamity.

And worst of all—

The sealed former Demon King had escaped.

This terrified Mortis more than the current Hero ever could.

Large numbers of elite Bloodguards were dispatched to hunt for clues.

Thus, this war—one that cost both sides everything—came to a temporary end.

【Harvest Phase: Complete】