This Dungeon Grew Mushrooms

The air wall had never been a problem for a Hero—this time was no exception.

Though trying to stuff a tentacle through the ring was pretty tight.

And once separated from Inanna, the Binding Ring began radiating intense heat, nearly scorching the tentacle through.

After passing through that invisible boundary, Lin Jun could only return the increasingly hot Binding Ring back into Inanna’s hand.

Inanna’s brief pause drew the attention of a few dwarf warriors, but they were clearly unaware of the air wall’s existence. They merely assumed the human had let her puji try on the ring out of momentary curiosity, and soon looked away.

On the return trip, the atmosphere was completely different from before.

The biggest change came from Bardo.

This dwarven war hero carried his massive hammer on his shoulder and strode near Inanna, his voice booming.

“Hey! Pink-hair! I misjudged you earlier!” He admitted it outright. “Standing in front of that monster without retreating a single step—that wasn’t just because of your weird talent! If you didn’t have real backbone, you’d’ve been scared stiff already!”

He slammed his thick chest armor with a loud clang. “I, Bardo, only acknowledge one kind of person—someone who ties their life to their belt and fights the enemy face-to-face! You? Not bad!”

Inanna didn’t feel she needed his approval, but since it was praise, she could only nod along politely.

Along the way, Bardo started recounting his past battles again, though without that earlier competitive edge. It felt more like sharing stories now.

He also began asking in detail about the Battle of Dragonroar Valley—not questioning merits anymore, but discussing tactics and choices made in desperate situations.

Inanna talked about how her father and the puji handled things. Bardo reacted with confusion at times, praise at others. All in all, the exchange was fairly pleasant.

However, when the group finally returned to the surface…

…

“You cannot take the Binding Ring with you.”

The Deepfurnace Clan Patriarch, having learned the full story from General Duvalin, blocked Inanna as she was about to board the carriage.

Ronan, the delegation’s chief steward who had been waiting topside, immediately stepped forward.

“Clan Patriarch of Deepfurnace, what does this mean? The Fire Elemental Lord has already been sealed, the threat of the Moltenfire Dungeon resolved—we’ve fulfilled our agreement!”

The Deepfurnace Patriarch’s gaze settled on Inanna—or rather, on the dark red, flowing-patterned ring on her finger.

“What was agreed upon was an exchange of the ‘method of sealing’ in return for Lady Inanna’s assistance in controlling the dungeon’s elementals, allowing our forces to reach the Fire Elemental Lord safely. The agreement never stated that Lady Inanna would be permitted to take the Fire Elemental Lord itself, along with the crucial magical artifact binding it.”

Ronan argued back, “But it never said she couldn’t take it either.”

“No means no.”

The patriarch knew full well that he was being unreasonable, but in the face of tangible benefits, a little loss of face meant nothing.

It wasn’t that he feared humanity growing stronger if Inanna obtained the Fire Elemental Lord.

Humanity was already in such a state that gaining a bit more strength—and drawing more of the Empire’s attention—would actually benefit the dwarves.

The real issue was that this concerned the interests of the dwarves, especially the Deepfurnace Clan.

The Fire Elemental Lord represented far more than just a powerful combatant. In fact, even if left within the dungeon, it could never truly become a dwarven weapon.

What the dwarves wanted was to use the sealed Fire Elemental Lord to exert control over the countless elementals within the dungeon!

Only then could they use those cheap enslavement rings to drive large numbers of low-tier elementals to mine, transport dungeon resources—or even treat the elementals themselves as resources.

Without a lord’s dominion, those elementals wouldn’t become assets at all, but wild monsters that interfered with excavation.

“This Binding Ring must remain. Its ownership has always belonged to the Mountains.”

The Deepfurnace Patriarch refused to yield. After hesitating briefly, General Duvalin still stepped in behind him.

Faced with this situation, Lin Jun discussed countermeasures with the Sword Saint and Inanna through the mycelial network.

Once something reached Pink puji’s hands, it was basically already in Lin Jun’s mouth.

And now someone wanted to pry food out of his mouth?

Dream on.

Still, whether to argue reasonably or resort to violence was under internal discussion.

Before a decision was reached, a massive hammer slammed down onto the stone tiles in front of the Deepfurnace Patriarch and General Duvalin.

Boom!!!

Stone shattered and flew. If Duvalin hadn’t reacted quickly—twisting aside and shielding the old patriarch with his armguard—the sharp fragments would have drawn blood.

“Bardo, what are you doing?!” Duvalin shouted in shock and anger.

“What am I doing?” Bardo yanked his hammer from the crater and rested it on his shoulder, eyes blazing. “I’m upholding justice!”

He pointed the hammer straight at Inanna.

“I saw it with my own eyes—she didn’t back down a single step in front of that thing, and in the end, she took it down! By mountain rules, whoever brings down the monster alone gets everything it owns!”

He spat fiercely toward the Deepfurnace Patriarch and the clan members behind him.

“And now? She just wants to take a lousy ring, and you cowards who hid in the back—never even smelled the lava—dare to jump out and steal her spoils! Do you have any damn shame left?!”

The Deepfurnace Patriarch’s face turned iron-blue. His white beard trembled as he slammed his black iron staff heavily into the ground.

“Idiot! You have no idea how important the Binding Ring is to the dwarves! This is not your place to speak!”

“Not my place?” Bardo laughed as if he’d heard the greatest joke.

“What I hate most are bastards like you—playing politics, barking orders, too scared to even smell the battlefield’s blood! Stealing the honor warriors earned with their lives—this is exactly my damn business!”

Before the words even finished, his already massive body swelled again. Muscles bulged, armor groaning as it strained, a violent aura exploding outward like a storm.

He had directly activated his bloodline power and entered combat state.

“Today I want to see whether you spineless bastards actually dare to stop me!”

He cursed as he raised his hammer, clearly intent on smashing a path through by force.

“Brute! Fool!” The Deepfurnace Patriarch trembled with rage, pointing at Bardo but momentarily unable to say more.

He never expected the first one to oppose him would be one of their own!

General Duvalin’s expression was just as grim, but he still led the dwarven soldiers to raise axes and shields, forming up defensively.

Lin Jun hadn’t yet decided how to handle things—but Bardo had already kicked things off for him.

That made things simple.

The Sword Saint’s tentacle curled around his sword hilt. The Knight puji’s form began to fade, while within the delegation, an unremarkable soldier quietly cast spells. Several layered illusions overlapped over Inanna—if chaos broke out, her true body could be concealed immediately.

And what truly shocked the dwarves was that they heard the Fire Elemental Lord’s frenzied, excited voice once more.

“Hahahaha! Are we killing these dwarves? It’s about time! Should’ve burned these filthy insects to death long ago!”

Flames surged from the Binding Ring on Inanna’s finger as the Fire Elemental Lord’s power slowly spilled out. The surrounding temperature rose sharply.

Faced with this horrifying sight, some clan members stumbled back in fear, eventually turning and fleeing.

The Deepfurnace Patriarch didn’t flee, but in the steadily rising heat, his aged body was clearly faltering.

As for General Duvalin—

Fight the Fire Elemental Lord?

And Bardo was on the other side!

He cursed both the patriarch and Bardo repeatedly in his heart, but in this situation, he could only grit his teeth and stand firm.

The clash didn’t erupt immediately.

Lin Jun wanted the dwarves to retreat of their own accord, while Duvalin, bearing the clan’s dignity, stubbornly held the line.

Just as Bardo finally lost patience and was about to swing first—

A messenger from the Dwarven King came running in a panic, drenched in sweat, shouting to halt both sides locked in deadly tension.