In the Abyss Void beneath the Divine Tree.
Gurgle—
“I’m so hungry… is there really nothing to eat here?” the companion complained in despair, while Salyan, lying on the ground, had a thought flash through his mind: there really was a plump puji wandering in the dark.
But this was clearly not the time to mention it.
After a long rest, the three of them had finally barely recovered from the mental shock of those chaotic information floods.
Salyan climbed to his feet and walked toward another medium-sized information block in the distance.
Behind him, another mage spoke tiredly, “I say… stop torturing yourselves. We’ve been at this so long and all we’ve got are fragmented scenes. There’s no useful info. With just the three of us, trying to find a way out in this sea of blocks is a fool’s errand. Besides, who can even guarantee there’s a way out in here?”
The mage who had been knocked unconscious earlier still felt the aftereffects and had lost hope after gaining nothing.
Salyan understood the logic in his words, but still replied, “We have to try.”
Eko, the captain of the guards, didn’t bother to answer. He cast a slightly disdainful look and turned toward another information block.
The silent response left the mage a little embarrassed, and he couldn’t help but say, “Even if we did find a method, so what? Teacher needed so much preparation to start a teleport. We don’t have any ritual materials. You’re not actually naive enough to think touching the right block will teleport us straight out, are you?”
Salyan ignored him and reached toward the block in front of him.
Just as his fingertip was about to touch the block’s surface, the surrounding space rippled like waves!
When the three looked up again, they found themselves staring at a brilliant sunset.
“We’re out! Nice work, Salyan!” Eko was the first to react, shouting in excitement.
Salyan looked bewildered. “No… I haven’t—”
But Eko had no time to listen. Like an arrow, he shot off toward the encampment. “Time’s tight! You two get moving too!”
Before the words fell, his figure had already vanished into the dusk.
Eko’s full-speed run was far beyond what the other two could match.
Salyan quickly scanned the area, scooped up the crooked-hat puji that had been teleported out with them, and sprinted as hard as he could—he had to find his sister immediately!
The last mage gaped, awkward and unsure what to say, and finally hurriedly followed.
When Eko reached the camp first, the elven rangers were in chaos because the sunlight-gathering barrier had suddenly shut off and their temporary commander Serdan had gone missing.
But the commotion subsided the moment Eko appeared.
He found a trusted subordinate, asked a few quick questions, and immediately ordered the rangers to withdraw to the surface in an orderly fashion, instructing that if Serdan was found he was to be detained at once.
He offered no explanation and no one asked.
Eko did not disclose Iros’s rebellion here, to avoid causing panic and disrupting the retreat.
Having arranged that, Eko set off alone again, using his superlative speed to head for the dungeon exit—he wanted to rip a few holes in that bastard Iros’s body!
Two minutes after Eko left, Salyan arrived at the camp.
However, just as the ranger force began to retreat in order, an unexpected attack struck them out of the blue!
…
The elves had left, but Lin Jun did not exit that space.
First, it simply wasn’t the right time to go out.
Better to wait until the elven ranger unit had retreated and then let Pelagel return with captives.
As for the puji, it stayed here! At least Lin Jun wanted to finish reading the information blocks in this area, and then see if there was any chance to seize more permissions.
Although this dungeon had a legitimate administrator—named Esogar, judging by the dungeon’s title—that admin likely possessed far more complete control than Lin Jun, a rookie in the industry.
But since the administrator seemed to be napping, Lin Jun adopted a simple “found is earned” attitude and dug harder through the Divine Tree’s awareness interface for other possible switches.
He had no intention of getting too involved in the elves’ internal quarrels.
Only… the Divine Tree’s bark seemed to be reddening?
At one moment the tree’s panel changed.
【Status: Dormant, Frenzied】
Lin Jun: …
Sleeping and going mad?
Before long, Lin Jun saw exactly how a sleeping Divine Tree goes mad.
The forest… came to life!
…
An elven ranger was nimbly moving among the giant tree branches, trying to cross the woods quickly.
But the surrounding branches writhed like thrashing tentacles, wildly lashing and entangling him.
The ranger’s curved blade flashed silver, cutting every incoming branch.
No matter where he put his feet, attacks came unceasingly.
As his stamina and energy drained, at one critical moment he failed to notice a thin branch beneath his foot; his ankle was instantly bound tight!
At the brink of disaster, a druid rushed forward, using nature magic to calm and dispel the surrounding branches, rescuing the severely wounded comrade.
They had just escaped when the branches broke free again, raging and attacking anew.
Similar scenes played out all over the forest at the same time.
“Stay away from the trees—don’t remain up there! Down here in the clearing!” the elven commander shouted through amplification magic.
Red veins crawled from the roots and spread quickly across the giant trees, and the withdrawing rangers were struck by the sudden onslaught, suffering heavy losses in an instant.
It wasn’t that the rangers were careless—the attack was totally unforeseen.
These giant trees were not migratory trees; they should not have had such branch-control capabilities, nor could they be infected with frenzy!
After losing over twenty people, the elves, led by the commander, quickly cleared a zone and constructed a temporary defensive line against the rocks.
After that, although roots occasionally burst from the ground, they could no longer inflict new casualties against the prepared elven formation.
To be fair, the activated giant trees weren’t especially powerful individuals.
They lacked combat techniques and relied on massive size and surprise assaults to inflict losses.
Once activated they could move slowly, but far from being as swift or dangerous as migratory trees.
A silver-tier ranger could, given time, fight down a single tree through hit-and-run tactics.
The problem was there were giant trees everywhere!
While elite fighters might charge and dash their way out, the elven ranger units were trapped.
The commanders didn’t even let the troops try a breakout.
Logistics couldn’t be relied upon now.
Arrows and potions remained for the moment, but an active offensive would exhaust them within a level or two.
The commander didn’t know the situation elsewhere and dared not act rashly.
So only a few experts were sent to scout while the main force held a defensible position.
And from the scouts’ reports it was clear this had been the right decision.
Fifteen, fourteen, thirteen—some elven experts even reached the twelfth level and encountered nothing but activated giant trees!
From that they guessed the entire dungeon might have mutated.
Worst-case scenario…
The elven command had no answers; for now they could only hold fast and await aid.
What they did not yet know was that the mutation extended beyond the dungeon’s giant trees—the entire elven forest was now plunged into massive turmoil!