This time it really was a free pickup!
The original owner, Elven King Auriel, was dead. That made it ownerless!
Besides, Lin Jun taking it was far more justified than the murderer who had just killed Auriel!
Lin Jun had taken a risk. If things went wrong, mixing in elven lands would become very difficult from now on.
But it was a divine artifact!
Not some skill or equipment, a genuine divine artifact on the same level as the Sun Stone!
His half Sun Stone alone ensured that even if his fungal mat was destroyed, he would never run out of mana.
Though the exact effects of the Heartwood of Genesis were unclear, it was obviously life-related. It couldn’t possibly be bad!
And now it lay right within reach of a Puchi’s tentacles. How could Lin Jun not try?
Still, it wasn’t that easy.
While Ilos was distracted by Eko, Lin Jun sneaked out to grab it, only to be spotted.
“You will not!”
Just as the staff was about to be dragged underground, Ilos maintained the fire wall while shooting vines at blinding speed to seize the staff’s end!
Dual casting again!
This old guy’s panel definitely didn’t have Dual Casting listed!
To minimize presence, only one specially made Puchi had come out. Now locked in a tug-of-war with the vines, it was clearly losing.
The Puchi tried slicing the vines with tentacle blades but could only leave wounds, not sever them.
In moments, half the staff was pulled back.
But there weren’t only the Puchi and Ilos in the field.
Leaving aside the confused rangers in the distance who didn’t know whether to help or mediate, Eko’s sole goal was to kill Ilos. A single wall of fire couldn’t stop him.
His blades whipped up a storm of wind, carving an eight-meter gap through the flames in an instant. One burst of speed later, he was in front of Ilos, blade slashing down!
BOOM!
A point-blank flame explosion blasted both apart. Ilos’s robe shield protected him, though the magic patterns dimmed. Eko emerged scorched but unaffected; he only regretted not splitting the traitor in half.
Ilos’s shield protected himself but not the extended vines.
The explosion shattered them. The thief in the hole naturally tried dragging the staff down again.
Ilos had no choice but to repeat the trick, wrapping the staff’s end with new vines before it vanished completely.
But this time he didn’t even manage to pull. Eko’s relentless assault was already upon him.
Ilos was forced to parry Eko’s storm while splitting focus to protect the vine link.
He made one last attempt. “Eko! There’s been a misunderstanding! First let me retrieve the artifact! The elven race needs it!”
“Misunderstanding? Why is His Majesty dead and not you?!” Eko saw only the murderer of the king.
Hampered by protecting the vine, Ilos grew increasingly battered under Eko’s onslaught. He knew he couldn’t keep this up.
Seizing an opening, Ilos used his robe’s remaining shield to block Eko’s downward slash while pouring everything into the vine, trying to yank the artifact free in one go.
But Lin Jun, seeing the Puchi about to be pulled out with the staff, decisively ordered it to self-destruct!
BOOM!
In the deafening explosion, the already damaged vines shattered. The Heartwood of Genesis was flung high by the blast, arcing through the air before plummeting into the massive spiral of the dungeon.
Ilos felt a surge in his chest and nearly spat blood.
He couldn’t understand. In his perception, the thief in the hole was clearly weak; so weak he shouldn’t have noticed it at all even while distracted by Eko.
How could something so feeble produce such a powerful explosion?
Ilos wanted to chase the artifact, but Eko’s blade was already at his throat.
His robe was temporarily depleted. He didn’t dare block an elven curved blade with flesh alone and could only turn to defend.
He was truly furious now.
The original plan: seize the Heartwood, use Auriel’s sacrifice as cover, combine it with abyssal magic to fully control the Sacred Tree and thus the entire forest.
Then smoothly take over elven power, install Ark members in key positions, use the monitoring array to eliminate final opposition, and complete consolidation.
Finally release Eko, Salian, and the others. By then, no matter their choice, they would be powerless to affect the big picture.
Everything had been on the verge of success, yet problems kept cropping up!
Eko’s unexpected escape meant taking over the elves would be far harder. Control of the Sacred Tree was now critical.
And that thief who came out of nowhere had blasted the Heartwood into the dungeon!
Though he had left a tracking mark on it, the situation had veered wildly off course.
“Eko, I will explain everything later. But now, let me retrieve the artifact! The elven race needs it!” Ilos made one last plea.
The reply was a cold flash of steel.
Ilos laughed in fury. “Fine! Then die here!”
Without the artifact tying him down and with his robe depleted, Ilos could finally go all out. Under the overwhelming pressure of dual casting, the tide turned instantly. Eko fell into disadvantage.
…
Meanwhile, the Heartwood fell like a broken stick, bouncing off the spiral edges, never landing on any floor, and finally dropped to the very bottom.
Half a minute later, Pelagel, who appeared in the center, picked up the undamaged staff and respectfully offered it to the Puchi on his head.
Truth be told, Lin Jun was a bit surprised to actually get the divine artifact.
He had only self-destructed to destroy evidence; he hadn’t expected to blast the staff down.
No, this was the artifact having a spirit and choosing its master!
Still, Lin Jun quickly noticed the magic trace attached to it. After a few attempts, he realized he couldn’t remove it quickly. He had to get the artifact to safety fast!
The problem now: this was the lowest level, while the rift entrance was on the fourth.
The fungal mat at the entrance had been mostly destroyed by the two’s battle fallout, but Lin Jun’s vision was far-reaching; he could still observe the situation.
Eko seemed to be losing. It was unclear how long he could hold.
But that time definitely wasn’t enough for Lin Jun to climb up and escape home.
He ran through several possibilities: guiding nearby ranger forces, or somehow signaling other elves to interfere with Ilos.
But either it was too slow or too uncontrollable.
Take the nearest rangers. When Ilos came down, without knowing the full story, even with Salian testifying, would they listen to the Chief or to Salian?
They might even be swayed by Ilos to come after him instead!
Too much uncertainty. No way to safely get the artifact home.
Finally, Lin Jun brought the artifact back into the abyssal space beneath the Sacred Tree.
There were information blocks there; the terrain was more favorable to him.
At the same time, on the fungal mat that had spread to the fourteenth floor, Puchis began popping up one after another.
They skirted the main elven forces and rushed toward the lowest level.
Naturally, most were killed by animated giant trees along the way, but some always reached the end through their comrades’ sacrifices!
Dead Puchis spread the mat further. Freed slots birthed new Puchis that continued the journey.
In a short time, the fifteenth floor was connected by a fungal mat paved with sacrifice!
(End of Chapter)
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