Chapter 270: The Overgrown Ruins(4)

A masked woman swiftly moved backwards, narrowly dodging a sudden vine that erupted right in front of her.

Whoosh!

The sharp vine tore through the air right where her body had been only a moment ago.

Seraphina let out a cold breath, her blue eyes remaining fixed on the monster standing before her.

It was a large creature made entirely of thick vines, twisted roots, and sharp thorns. At first glance, it looked similar to the Thornlings they had fought until now, but the difference was that it was almost twice Seraphina’s height, its entire body covered in layers of tangled vines that constantly shifted and moved.

Large thorns protruded from its limbs, while several long vines extended from its body like additional arms.

Deep within its chest was a faint green glow, which was most likely the monster’s weak spot.

Seraphina had been trying to strike it ever since the battle began.

The two of them were currently inside an enclosed chamber.

They had entered through a large stone doorway, leading them into the Dungeon Boss area... and the moment they stepped inside, the monster reacted immediately and attacked without any warning.

Seraphina took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm her breathing, and tightening her grip around the dagger, she shot towards the monster.

The creature let out a strange screech, sending sharp vines straight flying in her direction.

Seraphina raised her dagger and swiftly struck it from the side, cutting through part of the vine and barely redirecting its trajectory.

Using the opening, she accelerated forward, closing the distance and appearing directly before the massive creature, her eyes focused on the glowing green core within its chest.

But she missed something.

The vines she had previously avoided—which had passed behind her—immediately turned around before sharply coming straight towards her back.

"...!"

Seraphina’s eyes snapped wide, and she immediately turned her head, only to see another vine approaching her from behind.

But before either of the vines could reach her—

Her vision suddenly blurred.

The monster and the vines disappeared from her vision, and in their place... two dark crimson eyes stared directly into hers.

"Still want to fight it...?" Lucian asked in an emotionless voice, causing her body to tremble slightly under that terrifying gaze.

For a moment, she simply remained silent.

Then—

"..."

She turned her head away, not knowing what to say.

Lucian stared at her for a few seconds, then, letting out a soft sigh, he let her out of his arms and turned around.

’Put the restrictions again.’

[Ding!~]

[Attempting to restrict the host’s stats... Complete.]

[Your Strength has been restricted to F rank.]

[Your Agility has been restricted to F rank.]

.

.

[Your Stamina has been restricted to F rank.]

He had previously immediately removed the restrictions on his body after noticing his mother almost getting attacked, but now that she was safe once again, he once again locked his strength to F rank.

"Lu..."

Seraphina stopped herself as she saw him confidently run towards that monster. Though worried, as she knew she couldn’t do much against this creature, she reminded herself that her son wasn’t like her.

So eventually, she let out another cold exhale and kept silent, continuing to watch as her son moved towards the enormous monster.

The Ruin Guardian... the E-Rank Dungeon Boss.

One of its vines suddenly lashed towards his legs, trying to bind him...

Lucian leaped, letting it pass beneath him. And as he descended, another vine emerged.

He stepped forward and cleanly severed the vines with his sword.

But instead of stopping, another vine shot towards him, making him dodge the attack by tilting his body before piercing into the vine.

Lucian held the sword in one hand as he continuously attacked the creature’s vines, cutting through them whenever they came within range.

And strangely, the Ruin Guardian didn’t make a single sound no matter how many vines were severed, which made one thing certain.

’It doesn’t seem to have any sensation of pain.’ Lucian mused inwardly, still not breaking his movement as he continued dodging all of them and cutting them at the same time.

And after a few minutes of playing with its thorned vines...

Flames burst beneath his feet.

The ground beneath him fractured, and his body shot upward, twisting through the vines coming at him, and he landed directly on the creature’s chest.

Steadying himself, his eyes locked onto the glowing green core, and shifting his wrist, Lucian rotated the sword before driving it straight downward.

STAB!

The blade pierced directly into its chest.

"Creeeeeeee...!!!"

The Guardian let out a resounding screech as its vines shook violently, all of them sharply tearing through the air at once, converging directly towards Lucian.

"Suddenly violent, huh."

Lucian glanced at the countless vines rushing towards him.

Instead of moving away, however, he calmly stored the sword in his Inventory, the sudden disappearance of it making the creature even more frantic.

Its vines twisted wildly, attacking from every possible direction, but before it could recover or launch another proper attack—

"Let’s see what that green light is."

Lucian shoved his hand directly into its chest, and the moment his fingers touched something hard and strangely cold... he frowned.

"Lucian! Look behind...!"

Seraphina’s eyes widened, and she immediately rushed towards him.

Several vines were already approaching from behind.

But before they could reach him—

Shrkk!

Lucian suddenly pulled his hand out, the sound of tearing branches echoing loudly through the chamber as he ripped apart the vines surrounding the core.

The green light immediately began dispersing, and at the same time... the Guardian’s massive body went completely still, collapsing onto the ground with a heavy thud.

Lucian stared at it for a few seconds, and seeing it really was dead, he jumped off its body and landed on the ground.

The moment his feet touched the floor—

Seraphina appeared before him, and without a word, she suddenly wrapped both her arms around him, pulling him into a tight embrace.

"Mom...?" Lucian lowered his head, seeing her face buried against his chest.

Then slowly, she raised her head, her masked face staring at him.

"Please... stop scaring me all of a sudden. I t-though it almost attacked y-you—"

"You do know I won’t get hurt by just that, right?"

Lucian tried to reassure her.

But Seraphina’s voice immediately became slightly colder.

"Doesn’t matter."

She suddenly grabbed his cheeks, pulling his face towards hers, making sure he wasn’t looking at anything else.

"Stop making me worry."

The temperature around her seemed to drop slightly, her voice coming out sharper as her eyes narrowed beneath her mask, clearly annoyed by his lack of self-care.

And that dark, irritated tone made Lucian unconsciously smile.

"Fine, fine... I’ll try."

"I want a pro—"

Before she could complete her sentence, Lucian placed a finger over her lips—or rather, the surface of the mask where her lips were.

"I can’t promise that," Lucian said calmly.

Because he was sure he wouldn’t be able to keep himself from hurting himself, especially after gaining his regeneration powers.

According to Valentina, it would be an absolute waste to let go of such an absolute racial advantage.

"..."

Seraphina wanted to retort, but his unexpected action made her freeze for a moment.

After a few seconds, she quietly moved away, not saying anything... though she was still annoyed by his answer.

"I don’t like you getting hurt."

Lucian glanced at her and let out a small smile.

"Me too."

Seraphina’s eyes narrowed, knowing that he was talking about her.

He had been doing everything to make sure she didn’t get even a small scratch, and meanwhile, she couldn’t even do anything when he ran towards the monsters with no care for his own safety.

Eventually, she shifted her attention away from it, turning towards the object Lucian had pulled from the monster’s core.

"...?"

She silently tilted her head in confusion, seeing something she hadn’t expected to find inside a monster.

Instead of the bright green core they had seen before, now, in Lucian’s hand was a... bell.

A worn-down bell rested in his palm which, despite looking so old, still possessed a faint lustre.

"Why was this inside the monster’s chest?" Lucian muttered with a frown, wondering how this thing had kept the monster alive.

He examined it from different angles, but couldn’t find anything extraordinary.

[Bell of the Hollow Garden]

Rank: E Rank

Rarity: Uncommon

Description:

An ancient object that has become the core of a dungeon monster. Its origins and the reason behind its transformation remain unknown. A faint, lingering presence can be sensed within it, though its nature cannot be determined.

— — —

"Huh."

Lucian didn’t know what to make of it.

There didn’t seem to be anything particularly special about it, so for the time being, he decided to keep it in his Inventory—though not before letting his mother examine it for some time as well.

After looking around the room for some time and finding nothing special, they eventually gave up.

Storing the Dungeon Boss’s corpse and its core inside his Inventory, the two of them finally made their way out of the room.

But the moment they stepped outside—

They were immediately greeted by multiple Thornlings, filling the surroundings and waiting for them, their small bodies blending into the green, moss-covered stones and surrounding vegetation.

"How did they all get in here?" Lucian muttered, confused by the sudden number of creatures before them.

Seraphina’s body also tensed, her hand tightening around her dagger as she cautiously observed the creatures, and something immediately caught her attention.

There were only Thornlings... there wasn’t even a single Ruin Crawler or other plant-type monster.

"That creature’s last screech..." she spoke quietly.

"Oh, that..."

Lucian’s eyes lit up in realisation.

But once again, there was one thing to consider about this dungeon.

Just like the dungeon they had entered with Isaac’s group before... wasn’t this dungeon a little too difficult for a group of F-Rankers?

Lucian didn’t want to brag—even if he’d love to—but he seriously doubted whether any E-Ranker could have defeated that Dungeon Boss, which could heal its vines almost endlessly and didn’t even react after getting its vines severed.

It was almost as if...

’It’s almost like someone is trying to sabotage us.’ Lucian mused in amusement.

[...]

Not that he cared, since he would only get many more monster corpses, letting him earn even more skills and attributes... and unfortunately, memories too.

Lucian shifted his gaze away from the monsters, seeing them not attacking immediately.

He turned towards Seraphina and tilted his head.

"Do you want to try again?" he asked quietly.

Seraphina’s body immediately stiffened.

There was a brief silence.

"...No."

Her answer came out in a low voice, a clear trace of embarrassment in her tone.

"Hm... you should’ve listened earlier as well, then."

"Ugh... I didn’t know the monster would be that strong...?"

She tried to defend herself, but even she knew how weak that excuse sounded now.

Thinking about it again, perhaps it had been a little stupid to expect herself to defeat a creature that was an entire rank above her.

Lucian couldn’t help but chuckle, knowing that she was grumbling beneath that mask hiding her expression, which he was sure was adorable.

"Just back me up for now."

"Hm."

Hearing that, Lucian shifted his stance, and his figure shot towards the nearest Thornling, which didn’t even know what was happening before a spear was stabbed straight into its chest, killing it instantly.

Pulling it out, Lucian swirled it before slicing another monster, then deflecting a few thorn-filled vines coming towards him.

’Spear?’

Seraphina stabbed a monster, briefly glancing at the new weapon he was using.

She had always seen him use only swords until now, so seeing him suddenly bring out a spear was unexpected.

More importantly... he looked strangely efficient with it, as if he had learned to use the weapon as well.

She couldn’t help but be surpr—

"Mom, focus."

Lucian’s words snapped her out of her thoughts.

’Idiot.’

She silently cursed herself for letting her thoughts stray during a fight.

Her fingers tightened around her dagger as she moved swiftly, stepping to the side of the creature’s attack and driving her dagger directly into its body, killing it.

While she fought—

Unknowingly... thin frost began to appear over her fingers, slowly spreading through the dagger.