Raided The God’S Warehouse [EN]: Chapter 140

Having left the crawling Lizardman behind, Se-un turned towards the Curse Rafflesia.

Since he was planning to burn the corpse flower anyway, he could just take care of the crawling Lizardmen at the same time.

“You really grew it to be disgustingly big.”

The corpse flower Se-un had seen in books was generally about 2 meters [6.5 feet] in diameter. However, the corpse flower writhing before his eyes was so enormous that a single petal was 2 meters [6.5 feet] long.

Was it the difference between a naturally grown corpse flower and one artificially grown by providing corpses?

The writhing petals resembled the skin of a beast rather than a plant.

‘Fire would be good.’

The books Se-un had read all said to incinerate the corpse flower with fire to destroy it.

The important thing was to completely burn the pile of corpses where the corpse flower was rooted.

Remembering that, Se-un prepared his magic.

– Due to the mysteries of the Black Tower, the power of ‘Inferno’ is enhanced.

Whoosh!

The black flames, imbued with the mysteries of the Black Tower, erupted forth.

The flames, burning the Lizardmen obstructing the path, soon engulfed the Curse Rafflesia perched atop the pile of corpses.

The writhing of the petals quickened, and the roots moved as if in pain.

And…….

“Kieeeee!!”

From the black hole in the center of the flower, a shriek so sharp that it was hard to believe it came from a plant rang out.

It was a sound reminiscent of the scream of a mandrake [a plant from folklore whose roots scream when pulled from the ground, potentially causing death], a plant that could kill with its scream alone.

The scream was not just a cry of pain.

The sharp shriek created a pressure that extinguished the surrounding flames entirely.

A situation Se-un had not anticipated.

In the first place, the 2-meter [6.5 feet] Curse Rafflesia described in the books did not possess such an ability.

And its struggle did not end there.

“Kishit! S, save me!”

“Kyaaaaak!”

The roots of the corpse flower, blackened by the flames, flailed in the air and then grabbed the ankles of the Lizardmen crawling on the ground.

No, it was beyond simply grabbing; they pierced through the tough scales and burrowed into their skin.

Gulp, gulp!

“Kshhh!”

The corpse flower began to greedily suck the Lizardmen’s blood.

The roots contracted and expanded, delivering the viscous green blood to its master.

The more it did so, the more the petals of the corpse flower swelled.

The swollen petals rapidly increased in size, soon becoming large enough to completely cover the pile of corpses.

“Kieeeeeeek!!”

The corpse flower let out another horrifying shriek.

The ear-splitting screech, which even scattered the clouds in the sky, was enough to make Se-un cover his ears.

If there were Orcs on this floor, they too would have realized the corpse flower’s presence because of this sound.

But by then, it would already be too late.

The corpse flower had already surpassed the level of a simple plant.

At this point, it was on par with, or even stronger than, the boss monsters of the swamp that Se-un knew.

– Due to the mysteries of the Black Tower, the power of ‘Fire Cannon’ is enhanced.

KWAH-KWANG!!

A blast of high-temperature flames struck the corpse flower.

Even if it had grown, he judged that it would still be vulnerable to fire as it was a plant, so he unleashed an even stronger magic.

If Inferno was a flamethrower, Fire Cannon was a cannon made of flames.

The high-temperature heat, accompanied by physical impact, exploded, and black smoke billowed out.

Bang, KWA-GWA-GWANG!!

Yet, Se-un’s magic did not stop.

He fired five Fire Cannons into the black smoke.

The damp swamp could not even absorb the vibrations, causing ripples, and the hardened mud cracked like drought-stricken earth due to the heat.

The corpse flower’s screams were no longer heard.

Se-un stopped his magic and caught his breath to check the corpse flower’s condition.

Thanks to the hot air, the smoke quickly dissipated.

And what was visible inside was…….

“Could it be, it blocked it?”

It was a wall of hardened mud.

Upon closer inspection, the roots of the corpse flower were visible sporadically through the mud wall.

Before the Fire Cannons struck, the corpse flower had used its roots to scoop up mud and create a wall.

Turning around, he saw that the roots, as well as the flower, were drenched in swamp mud, enduring the surrounding heat.

It was hard to see it as a simple survival instinct.

It wasn’t just the size that had grown beyond common sense. The plant had developed the intelligence to use mud to block flames.

‘I could report this to the school later.’

There are many plants that instinctively move to kill enemies or defend themselves.

However, a plant exhibiting intelligent behavior like the corpse flower he was seeing now, using mud to block fire, had not yet been discovered.

Besides the guilds related to combat, there are also places like the Adventurer Guild or the school that crave knowledge of monsters, so if he reports the current situation to them, he could see a pretty interesting reaction.

Whirlick!

Dozens of roots lashed out at Se-un like whips.

The roots, which were only the size of forearms when he first saw them, were now as thick as a person’s torso.

The pressure he felt was incomparable to when the Lizardmen had surrounded him.

– Through inner energy, the fourth stance of the Blood Wolf Sword Style, Blood Wolf’s Roar (血狼咆哮) [Xuelang Paoxiao], is enhanced.

– According to the mysteries of the Violet Cloud Divine Art, heat is added to the martial art.

The method of evading the attack was the same.

As the sword energy containing heat scattered in all directions, even the thickest whips lost their vitality and were cut off.

Using that gap, Se-un ran forward.

Sensing Se-un’s approach, the corpse flower shrieked grotesquely and extended its roots.

‘Fire won’t work anymore.’

Its defense using mud showed a stronger resistance to fire than he had expected.

The hardened mud had excellent defensive power against physical attacks, as well as electricity and wind magic.

However, it was also impossible to gradually remove the roots with a sword.

Slash.

Swish-

The roots Se-un cut off regrew with astonishing recovery.

At least, if he cauterized the cut surface with an attack imbued with yang energy [positive, active energy in Taoist philosophy], it would no longer grow, but as time passed, more roots were emerging from below the corpse flower.

It meant that the corpse flower was still growing.

There was nothing to gain by pointlessly cutting off roots and wasting time.

– The constellation, ‘Serpent Who Encircles Jealousy,’ wonders why you are not using their authority.

Se-un smiled lightly at Leviathan’s message.

The only reason Se-un didn’t use the Authority of Jealousy was that the enemy wasn’t strong enough to warrant taking the time to deal with.

The corpse flower had clearly deviated far from the level Se-un knew, but in the end, it was still just a corpse flower.

– The Treasure Vault of Greed has been opened.

[ Chilling Blade, Almas ]

– The beloved sword used by Turpin, the Archbishop of Reims, one of Charlemagne’s Twelve Paladins [legendary knights in French epic cycles]. It is said that the blade is made of ice and emits cold air.

The blade of Durendal turned chillingly cold.

Perhaps because Durendal was also the sword of Roland, one of Charlemagne’s Twelve Paladins, and their origins were the same? Mammon’s treasure seemed to be manifesting its power even more strongly than usual.

Whirly-whirlick!

Hundreds of roots surged around Se-un.

Whether it had extended its roots beneath the swamp to prepare for a surprise attack, it wasn’t just a simple frontal attack but an all-around attack that covered the sides and the rear.

It was filled with the determination to never let go of the enemy who dared to attack it.

Slash-

However, the corpse flower’s roots still couldn’t reach Se-un.

As the ice blade rotated in a circle, the roots that were rushing in from all directions froze solid along with the swamp.

No matter how much mud was smeared on the roots, they couldn’t block the cold air.

Tap!

Se-un stepped on the end of the frozen roots and leaped up.

He could see the monster raising a wall of mud with its smaller roots to block Se-un’s attack once again.

Certainly, if he had fired flames again, he wouldn’t have been able to penetrate that wall.

And the moment he fell below, hundreds of roots would spring up like snakes, constricting and squeezing Se-un’s body to suck out his nutrients.

But this attack was different.

Crack!

Se-un raised his sword vertically and slashed.

Then, sharp ice pillars resembling ice blades shot up from the swamp.

The mud wall that the corpse flower had scooped up was pierced so easily that the monster wriggled its petals in what seemed like panic, but this was just the beginning.

Crack-crack-crack!!

Sharp ice pillars shot up in succession.

They weren’t just pillars that cut something off, but ice pillars with a chilling cold that froze everything they touched.

The roots were cut off and frozen repeatedly.

The pile of corpses on the ground couldn’t serve as a shield.

Perhaps because it was so desperate, the corpse flower abandoned itself, the pile of corpses that had nurtured it until now, and tried to raise its roots to escape, but the frozen roots held it in place.

The ice pillars, which rose higher and higher as he moved forward, eventually reached below the corpse flower.

“Kieeeeee.”

Thud.

Before it could even finish its scream, it was trapped in a giant ice pillar.

At the same time, the roots that had been wriggling in all directions to protect the main body stopped moving and fell onto the swamp.

Indeed, Mammon’s artifact.

It had subdued the abnormally grown, beyond common sense, corpse flower with a single attack.

– Hidden quest, ‘Lizardmen’s Scheme,’ has been completed.

– Hidden quest, ‘Overgrowth,’ has been completed.

– Additional points are awarded for the trial ‘Crossing the Swamp.’

As expected, it was a hidden quest.

He didn’t know how this would affect the next trial, but so what? He would figure out a solution when the time came.

He was just doing the best he could in the present.

Crack!

Se-un swung his sword and collected a portion of the frozen corpse flower petals, storing them in his subspace pocket.

He intended to use this as evidence if he ever had the opportunity to report to the school.

There were many things Se-un didn’t know among the information that existed in the Adventurer Guild or the school.

When he encountered difficulties while climbing the tower, he might need to borrow their help using this as an excuse.

Of course, the remaining parts were…….

– ‘Curse Rafflesia’ has been devoured.

– Absorbing nutrients increases all stats by 5.

Went into Beelzebub’s mouth.

He wondered if any remaining roots or seeds would cause it to reoccur, but seeing it devour even a single speck of ash or ice, he didn’t seem to need to worry about that.

‘Then now…….’

The Lizardmen’s scheme had completely collapsed.

As soon as the Curse Rafflesia disappeared, the surrounding toxicity was buried in the swamp and gradually disappeared.

Thanks to the swamp’s characteristics, the toxicity would quickly sink deep underground, so it would soon return to its original environment.

‘Which way should I go?’

He was momentarily troubled.

Of course, if he continued a little further, the green swamp would end, and the 11th floor’s trial would be over, but…….

If there was a Curse Rafflesia, wouldn’t it be possible to find the magical beasts that the Orcs were raising on the 10th floor?

The 48 hours was not a long time for an average player to barely escape the green swamp, but if he utilized Superspeed, he could reach the opposite side with plenty of time to spare.

Even if it was a magical beast, it would still be immature at this time, so it might be better to deal with it now rather than facing it on a higher floor.

Just as Se-un was deep in thought…….

Thud.

A faint presence was felt from a blind spot.

‘I should have cleared all the monsters around here?’

Could it be that the Lizardmen had arrived after hearing the commotion?

It was faster to move than to worry.

Utilizing Superspeed, Se-un lightly ran across the swamp and arrived behind a rotten tree with a broken trunk from the battle with the corpse flower.

He immediately took out Durendal and pointed the tip of the sword towards the place where the presence was felt.

“Hic! N, no! I’m not an enemy! I, I’m not bad! Please save me!”

“What?”

A dwarf, about the height of Se-un’s waist, was startled and begging for his life while sitting on his butt.