Chapter 143: Garrek’s Revenge

Chapter 143: Chapter 143: Garrek’s Revenge

The delicious scent of charred domain meats and sweet grilled spirit corn was shattered as the central nexus’s main teleportation portal flared with a brilliant, violent flash of azure light.

Seven heavily armored figures zoned into the platform, their heavy iron boots clattering loudly against the stone. At the head of the party stood a tall man with a scarred jaw and sneering eyes, his plate mail bearing the faded crest of an imperial merchant syndicate. His gaze locked instantly onto Rowan’s Enchanted Straw Hat and the spread of glowing A-grade produce resting on the campfire table.

"It’s them! Draw your weapons!" Garrek shouted, his voice echoing across the quiet central plaza.

Rowan paused mid-bite, holding a skewer of grilled corn. He blinked in genuine puzzle. He had always kept a low profile—tending his domain, harvesting his crops, and climbing the tower step-by-step without ever crossing paths with rival guilds.

"Who even are you?" Rowan asked, setting his skewer down calmly. "I don’t think we’ve ever met."

Garrek’s face flushed with pure fury as he unsheathed a heavy steel broadsword. "You don’t even know my name, do you? Before your little farm popped up, my merchant family controlled thirty percent of the empire’s high-tier agricultural trade! We supplied the academies, the aristocrats, the high-level guilds!" Garrek spat onto the pristine marble floor. "Then Eden International hit the market. Ultra-pure produce, 95%+ mana purity, sold at prices that completely gutted us! You bankrupted my business in less than six months!"

He took a heavy step forward, his six mercenaries fanning out into a tactical ambush formation around Squad 07’s campsite. "I was forced to sell my warehouses, abandon my status, and drag my boots back into this wretched tower just to make a living! But then I heard the famous ’Gardener of Eden’ was climbing Floor 8."

Garrek grinned maliciously, pointing his blade directly at Rowan’s chest. "It’s simple math. As long as I take you and your squad out right here, the source of Eden International dies with you. My business can go back to normal, and I’ll take every high-grade item in your inventory."

Caelen slowly placed his teacup down, his grip tightening around the leather-wrapped hilt of the Edge of the First Warden. Next to him, Barney let out a long, exhausted sigh as he picked up his vanguard shield.

Rowan adjusted the brim of his hat, his relaxed expression hardening into a cool, unimpressed stare as he rested his hand on the Hoe of the World-Tiller. "So let me get this straight... You interrupted our lunch because you couldn’t handle fair market competition?"

Princess Lyra set her wooden bowl down with a quiet, sharp clatter. Standing up slowly, she reached for the silver clasp of her heavy traveling cloak and let the fabric drape down over the back of her bench. Beneath the dusty mantle, her pristine, sun-blazoned plate armor gleamed in the campfire light, bearing the unmistakable crest of the Imperial Royal Family.

"Stand down," Lyra commanded, her voice ringing across the marble platform with absolute, unyielding authority. Her longsword rasped smoothly as she drew it, the blade instantly bathed in a blinding, golden aura. "I am Princess Lyra. Attack this squad, and you are committing high treason against the crown. Lower your weapons, or suffer the full weight of imperial law."

For a brief second, the six mercenaries hesitated, their boots catching on the stone as they recognized the royal crest. But Garrek’s eyes were bloodshot, completely consumed by desperation and ruin. A manic, hysterical laugh ripped from his throat as he gripped his broadsword tighter.

"Princess?" Garrek sneered, his voice cracking with madness. "The Empire didn’t save my family when our debts piled sky-high! The crown didn’t care when Eden International wiped us out! Out here in the tower, titles are just worthless metal and pretty words. Nobody leaves this floor to tell the tale—kill them all!"

Blinded by rage, Garrek lunged forward, leading his crew in a desperate, full-scale offensive across the nexus floor.

Rowan didn’t even flinch. He picked up the Hoe of the World-Tiller and tapped its wooden shaft against the stone floor with a dry chuckle. "Treason aside, you really picked the worst time to interrupt our lunch."

Squad 07 moved with terrifying, battle-tested synchronization. Before the mercenaries could even bridge the gap, Barney slammed his vanguard shield into the stone, unleashing a concussive shockwave that halted the enemy frontline mid-stride. Caelen surged past him, the Edge of the First Warden whistling through the air in a heavy arc that shattered two mercenaries’ blade guards in a single, effortless parry.

From the backline, Mirei instantly notched three arrows with icy precision, while Seraphina readied volatile combat alchemical compounds. Side-by-side with Princess Lyra’s radiant gold aura, Rowan stepped to the front, ready to show Garrek exactly why the Gardener of Eden dominated both the market and the tower. 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂

Garrek barely had time to raise his sword before Squad 07’s battle-tested rhythm completely crushed his reckless charge. Mirei pinned the frontline mercenaries to the stone with twin frost arrows, their frozen ankles providing the exact angle Caelen needed to sweep the Edge of the First Warden through their defenses in a single, devastating arc. Lyra’s golden aura flashed like a rising sun, blinding the enemy backline spellcasters while Seraphina shattered a paralyzing alchemical flask right in their midst.

Rowan barely needed to expend mana; a simple flick of the Hoe of the World-Tiller sent localized stone pillars erupting beneath their feet, shattering their formation instantly. Within less than a minute, the entire desperate band lay motionless on the cold nexus floor. No survivors.

Without a word, Rowan stepped past the fallen ambushers. Channeling his Gardener of Eden authority, he manipulated the stone beneath the corpses, forming a moving slate of rock that dragged Garrek and his crew straight across the western boundary into the Fire Quadrant. The oppressive sulfurous heat swallowed the bodies instantly, the superheated air and drifting embers reducing their remains to fine, scattered ash within seconds.

Caelen clicked his tongue disdainfully as the final trail of smoke dissolved into the distant volcanic haze. He sheathed his massive greatsword with a heavy metallic clack. "These guys weren’t even worth much. Their equipment is basically worthless to us—outdated imperial steel and chipped enchantments."

"A desperate man makes cheap preparations," Lyra noted coolly, flicking a single stray droplet off her longsword before returning it to its scabbard. "He traded what was left of his family’s name for a fool’s gamble."

Barney grunted, picking up a rag to wipe down his vanguard shield. "Wasted good energy, and interrupted a perfectly good barbecue."

Rowan adjusted the brim of his Enchanted Straw Hat and rested his hoe back over his shoulder, totally unbothered. He walked back to the campfire, taking his seat as if the interruption had been nothing more than a stray breeze. "Well, the trash is cleared out. Let’s finish up our lunch and let our food settle. Once we’re rested, the Wind Quadrant is all that stands between us and Floor 9."