An unnamed crimson cloak with +5 Agility, somewhat long, fluttering behind like a red carpet being dragged along when running, half of it trailing on the ground, stained with mud and mycelium;
An unnamed silver pendant with +4 Agility, rather tight, wedged just beneath the mushroom cap with barely any room to spare—good thing puffshrooms didn't need to breathe, or this pendant would have strangled the little guy;
Plus an ancestral dragon scale shield as tall as a person.
It was only because of the puffshroom's mismatched physique that a full set of helmet, gauntlets, rings, and such couldn't be equipped.
Lin Jun discovered that while adventurers favored skill-based equipment, for puffshrooms, straightforward attribute equipment was far more practical.
After all, puffshrooms never lacked skills.
And this stacked Agility was all for this very moment!
Without aiming for the head or heart, Lin Jun only planned to render him unable to fight back.
【Pain Immunity】
【Ground Shrinking LV7】
The blade-whip buried deep into the earth with a piercing whistle. Before the humming ceased, Fifteen's figure had already become a ghostly afterimage, descending behind the knight with sword light in an instant.
What kind of ridiculous skill was that?
Lin Jun couldn't comprehend his movement trajectory at all.
In that brief moment, the knight could only barely manage to move the dragon scale shield to his front.
*Slash—!*
Three mycelium tendrils on the left side snapped on contact, flying away like cut rubber bands.
Simultaneously, a deep sword mark was viciously carved into the dragon scales.
Are you kidding me?
Ancient dragon scales!
And he could cut through them!?
Lin Jun had repeatedly tested this—ordinary blades and even powerful crossbows couldn't leave the slightest mark on its surface.
Yet in its first real battle, it had acquired this hideous scar!
In other words, without this shield, Knight Puffshroom would have already been cleaved in two.
This guy's seriously strong!
Lin Jun marveled at Fifteen's fierce counterattack, while Fifteen's eyes also held barely concealed surprise!
"What kind of shield is this that could block that!?"
Fifteen flicked his wrist to attack again, but Knight Puffshroom suddenly launched away, dodging the follow-up slash.
Mid-air, the knight swiftly curled its body, the crimson cloak instantly wrapping into a rolling sphere, using the momentum to retreat at full speed, completely escaping the range of the subsequent sword energy.
【Assault Launch LV6】
【Rolling Charge LV7】
"Don't run!"
While pursuing, Fifteen reached for the pouch at his waist, wanting to take out a healing potion to recover.
However, his fingertips only touched cold, wet liquid and sharp glass fragments—glass bottles were too fragile against subsonic attacks.
At this point, even without healing potions, he couldn't retreat.
Fifteen's eyes sharpened, his 【Phantom Steps】 pushed to the limit as he doggedly pursued Knight Puffshroom's rolling retreat.
Most puffshrooms couldn't keep up with their speed, only scattered landmine puffshrooms jumped out at Lin Jun's command.
But forget injuring Fifteen—they barely hindered his advance.
Without leading him back toward the puffshroom army, since the surprise attack and decisive strike had failed, it was time to decisively switch to Plan B!
The knight led Fifteen charging toward the cavern, destination—the Happy Little House of the Yellow Book!
But Lin Jun immediately regretted entering the cave.
Regretted wearing this flashy but cumbersome cloak.
The cloak caught on a protruding rock, jerking Knight Puffshroom to a sudden halt.
Fifteen seized the opportunity, sending a sword wind slashing forward.
*Clang—*
Another fresh mark appeared on the dragon scale shield, making Lin Jun's heart nearly shatter—this was his strongest shield!
Abandoning the cloak, the knight simply stopped rolling, relying on launches to leap up and down through the tunnel before escaping into the secret passage.
"A trap?"
Fifteen wasn't stupid; he had vaguely sensed this devious puffshroom's intent, but didn't give up.
So close, just a little more and he could have cut it down!
As long as he could sever it before it reached its destination!
Ahead lay the aura of numerous monsters—he could clearly sense he was charging headfirst into the center of a carefully woven net.
But—
The distance was enough!
【Ground Shrinking LV7】
【Slipstream Jet LV5】
Fifteen and the knight used their skills almost simultaneously.
With his god's-eye view, Lin Jun could immediately react to Fifteen's attacks from behind even while controlling Knight Puffshroom's escape.
The emergency escape skill worked, but not completely.
The ice-cold blade barely grazed past Knight Puffshroom's waist and abdomen, failing to achieve Fifteen's intended bisection.
The knight was cleanly sliced from both legs up through half the torso!
But this was enough!
This was the knight's escape route!
The severed remains traced an arc through the air, caught by an elite puffshroom and seamlessly stuffed into a pre-dug burrow.
Fifteen's second slash that followed closely only cut the elite puffshroom at the tunnel entrance to pieces, but failed to catch the knight.
And where Fifteen now stood was the center of the Happy House.
This feeling of relentless pursuit, coming so close, yet having the opponent slip away at the final moment...
This frustration made Fifteen grit his teeth.
What was worse, the other three puffshrooms in the room were now wiggling their bodies in unison before him, full of mocking intent.
"You little..."
*BOOM—!!!!*
The puffshrooms in all eight crude stone pillars self-destructed simultaneously. The entire cavern seemed savagely crushed by some giant beast, rubble pouring down like a violent storm, instantly swallowing Fifteen's sword-dancing figure completely!
Only the pendant at his neck flashed with a glimmer of light at the final moment...
...
Lin Jun, controlling the battle throughout, manipulated the half-bodied Knight Puffshroom in the burrow to retreat while using detection skills to scan the Happy House location.
A certain humanoid life form was frantically digging through the rubble.
As expected, not dead. Lin Jun wasn't surprised at all.
This level of trap could at most deal with someone of Little Pig's diamond-rank caliber—killing a LV60+ existence was quite impossible.
Though Lin Jun never intended to kill him anyway.
Lin Jun had been prepared for Knight Puffshroom to sacrifice itself here, but now it seemed... complete victory.
The knight wasn't dead, so that human's attention wouldn't shift away from it for now.
For Lin Jun, one more layer of disguise meant one more layer of safety.
And now, as the victor, before Fifteen dug himself out, Lin Jun should go collect his spoils of war!
—
At the fifth floor stairway entrance, the final light barrier ultimately dissolved into scattered starlight in the cold air under the puffshroom cannons' relentless bombardment.
By now, apart from a few severely wounded, no one else remained at the bottom of the stairs.
Unable to wait for Fifteen, and despite slim hopes, Solarin still organized a breakout, taking everyone still capable of moving to attempt breaking through the blockade and retreating to the upper floor.
In this situation, however cruel, they could no longer bring the severely wounded.
*Puff puff—*
*Puff puff—*
Little puffshroom feet stepped into the stairway. For some reason, they didn't use the cannons to kill the remaining few from a distance.
The blinded church warrior dropped his shield, gripping with both hands, swinging based on feel.
Unfortunately, being a first-time blind person with insufficient experience, even though the puffshroom didn't dodge, he still missed.
Mycelium tendrils wrapped around him, quickly dragging the warrior into the ocean of puffshrooms where he vanished without a trace.
"Ha... haha..."
An adventurer with a broken leg drew his carry knife.
At this moment, he recalled those terrifying rumors about adventurers who disappeared on the fifth floor.
Rather than being swallowed alive into the swamp by puffshrooms, better to...
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