At the bottom of the Divine Tree Dungeon's spiral structure, space rippled like water, and two figures quietly emerged.
It was Iros, along with one of his students, Seldan. This elf mage had firmly stood with Iros from the beginning, and he had contributed to spreading "Madness" in the dungeon earlier.
After emerging, Iros didn't rush to act but stood still, lost in thought.
He wasn't pondering that Puffshroom—it was merely a special magical pet altered by some unknown existence. Dealing with it directly ensured information wouldn't leak.
What he was considering was the Divine Tree itself's condition.
Before leaving that space, he had carefully inspected part of the Divine Tree's trunk. Some of the ancient bark had already begun showing those dark red veins.
The Divine Tree supported the entire dungeon's spatial structure. With so many monsters full of "Madness" energy dying on this land, their lingering souls would continuously cause contamination. Even the Divine Tree itself couldn't completely immune to this erosion.
Once the Divine Tree was completely eroded, he could implement the next step of his plan.
However...
The Divine Tree's erosion rate was far slower than he'd expected. According to his initial calculations, the erosion should be nearing completion by now, with success almost at hand.
But reality was that current progress appeared to be only about two-thirds complete.
Where exactly had things gone wrong?
Guard Captain Eko had been successfully trapped by him in that isolated space—originally a good move to weaken Elf King Aurel's support.
But with progress now falling behind by such a large margin, it gave the other side more reaction time, undoubtedly adding variables.
However, Iros wasn't anxious.
Plans encountering unexpected situations was normal. He had sufficient ability to handle it calmly.
Regarding the Elf King, he would go personally, using already-prepared excuses to maneuver—he only needed to stall a bit longer.
As for the Divine Tree's side...
Without direct royal intervention, theoretically no one could free Eko and Salian trapped within. But to be safe, he still left Seldan behind to handle any accidents.
Actually, the safest approach would naturally be to directly kill both Eko and Salian, eliminating all future troubles.
But seizing power had never been his ultimate goal—it was merely a starting point!
After controlling the elven race, they had to leave Ishildorin, this comfortable cage.
Facing humans, demons, and dwarves—whether through cooperation or warfare—the elven race's future would need the strength of excellent individuals like Eko and Salian.
As for whether they'd choose to cooperate afterward, Iros wasn't worried.
Right now, it was just a difference in chosen paths.
When the dust settled, for the overall future of the elven race, he believed that even if harboring resentment, they would ultimately compromise.
Meanwhile, on the other side.
That old bastard really struck hard!
[Minion Control] was severed. Since the creep hadn't yet been laid in that area, even if the Scout Puffshroom revived later, control couldn't be temporarily re-established.
To be fair, judging solely from what Iros had explained, Lin Jun actually agreed with some of his viewpoints in his heart.
Facing that continuously spreading mist that devoured everything, yet choosing to close the country and cower in the forest?
Put nicely, it was clinging to a corner; put harshly, it was sitting around waiting for death!
However, agreement didn't mean he would support him. The old man's words, between every line, revealed one concept—sacrifice.
For the elven race's future, some elves could be sacrificed, so naturally other races were even more disposable to sacrifice in his eyes!
As for Puffshrooms?
Not to mention them—they'd probably be treated as dangerous creatures and not allowed on the Ark.
When sacrifice was destined to be unavoidable, Lin Jun hoped he was the one holding the decision-making power, not waiting for others to decide his fate.
Of course, all these deductions were built on the foundation that everything Iros said was true.
But in reality, so many black information cubes existed in that space, and Iros himself admitted he couldn't decode them all. Lin Jun felt he'd most likely only pieced together his conclusions based on some smaller fragmentary information.
What the truth actually was still had enormous questions.
Lin Jun planned to figure it out himself.
The problem now was: how to get back?
When Iros borrowed the Divine Tree Dungeon's teleportation authority, he used abyss magic. Lin Jun knew a bit of that too!
Whether it would succeed or not, he had to at least try.
But now beneath the Divine Tree Dungeon, elves were everywhere, or else there were areas that hadn't been cleared and were full of maddened monsters.
Should he send out Dylan Two again?
Lin Jun thought of a more suitable candidate.
Gripping the exquisite longbow named "Lightwing" in hand, with a specially enhanced Backpack Puffshroom loaded with arrows on his back.
This former Ark Organization member, Diamond-tier elf ranger—Pelagel—whom Lin Jun had spent over a week reasoning with and appealing to emotionally, ultimately causing him to repent and turn from darkness to light, accepted this arduous task!
Finally able to serve the boss!
Pelagel's heart was filled with excitement and devotion!
For the boss's great cause, he was willing to dedicate everything!
His only regret was that even now, he still hadn't fully grasped what that "great cause" actually entailed.
Pelagel was also worthy of being an elite ranger. After passing through the rift to the Divine Tree Dungeon, even though only Diamond-tier, his speed moving through the forest was no less than that half-demon from before.
And for this mission, Pelagel had an advantage the half-demon couldn't match!
He didn't need to hide. He could openly head toward the lower levels without worrying about being detected by elves other than Iros.
At this moment, the elves' only enemies were those monsters fallen into madness. As long as one wasn't covered in horrifying red veins and fallen into Madness, no one would be on guard.
Of course, to avoid running head-on into Iros who might be heading up, Lin Jun still instructed Pelagel to avoid the "safe passages" the elves had cleared as much as possible, instead flanking through side routes.
Lin Jun also wasn't worried about Pelagel possibly exposing anything. Preparations in this regard had been made long ago.
Basic [Camouflage LV8] made Pelagel look no different from ordinary elf rangers. As long as he didn't fall into a near-death state, he wouldn't reveal abnormalities.
And [Self-Destruct LV9] could ensure that before abnormalities were exposed, he would completely annihilate all possibly remaining traces.
This guy didn't really count as truly one of his own anyway. Even if lost, Lin Jun wouldn't feel the slightest heartache.
Meanwhile, to protect his pets from possible coming dangers, two powerful Puffshrooms began gestating on the creep beneath the Elf Forest...
(End of Chapter)
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