Removing the traps installed on the 4th floor wasn’t tricky. David used the professional guides and tips and tricks given by Locksmiths, Assassins, and other Players who’d created videos about how to deactivate traps or trigger them safely if deactivating wasn’t a secure option.

Zayn watched David’s precise movements and meticulous actions with a hint of surprise.

‘To think that this brute has a delicate side to him.’

He expected David to charge through the traps and trigger them, blowing everyone into shreds, but that was not the case.

They reached the entrance to the 5th floor, the Boss Room, without losing a single member.

A flight of stairs led up to the 5th floor, however, a massive gate blocked the path as they reached the top. The gate was made from massive dark oak wood. It was covered in thick vines, moss, and various flowers. The vibrant colors and vigor within the plant life attracted everyone’s attention. It felt like the gate was alive.

Zayn saw Natalia and Blake shudder at the sight of the massive gate. He smiled lightly, his attention pulling to the gate’s center. Contrary to the vigorous and vibrant plant life covering the rest of the gate, the center of the gate looked different. The plants circling the center were wilted, the once-vigorous moss pitch-black. An ominous black mist oozed from the tiny gap in the massive dark oak gate.

Zany stepped forward and reached out to touch the black mist.

“Don’t!” Natalia screamed instinctively. She sensed something was wrong with the black mist and tried to warn Zayn, but his hand had already disappeared.

He smiled at Natalia, who stared at him shock-shelled.

‘Are you insane?’ That was what Zayn read from her expression, however, he kept smiling as the black mist spread out.

His energy was drained as the black mist expanded. It exploded outward and covered the entire gate within seconds. The plant life surrounding the massive gate wilted rapidly.

A mere moment later, thunderous cracking noises resounded through the room. The dead plant life crumbled and fell to the ground, followed by debris and dust.

The massive gate began to move. It creaked loudly as it opened, revealing the hallway to the Dungeon Boss.

There was not a single plant in the hallway, no weeds, no grass, no roots…nothing. The hallway was plastered with cobblestone, and spots with black substances spread everywhere. The black mist from the gate oozed out of the black substances like smoke.

“Your hand!”

Natalia’s scream resounded through the hallway. Blake squealed aloud when she glanced at Zayn’s hand, and Melanie followed with a scream.

Even David stared at his hand for a while, a deep frown covering his face.

The black hue dispersed after the massive gate opened, but the damage was already done. Zayn’s right hand was dark blue, wrinkled, and drained of life and nutrition. His Energy Pool had also been emptied.

He retrieved a Common Energy Potion with his left hand and removed the cork one-handedly. He emptied the potion in one big gulp and stared at Natalia. Her eyes still quivered, but she understood what Zayn wanted from her.

She cast Healing Light on his arm.

“We should cripple a Herculean Wolf and drag it to the Corrosion Smog to open the gate in our next raid,” Zayn joked lightly.

“Right…the sacrifice…” David mumbled, recalling something from the professionals’ guides. The information about the Boss Room had been excluded from the Dungeon Raid Guides, but their final advice was related to a ‘sacrifice.’

“Corrosion Smog…I expected that the Dungeon Boss of the Tower of Nature would be related to nature, but why does it feel like I’m mistaken about that?” Melanie asked, her eyes still lingering on Zayn’s corroded hand. Natalie had to cast Healing Light five times before Zayn’s hand regained its former appearance.

His hand looked a bit skinnier, but there was no major difference. The corrosion's aftereffect was only temporary. Nonetheless, Zayn kept note of the corrosion and how it would affect his combat prowess.

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“Corrosion Smog is extremely dangerous. If you breathe it in, your senses will deteriorate within minutes. The effect will last an hour if it’s only a small amount. Breathe in too much Corrosion Smog, and your health will deteriorate rapidly. You will die a painful death,” Zayn explained.

“If you come in contact with Corrosion Smog, your body's nutrients, energy, and lifeforce will be drained rapidly. The good thing is that we don’t have to be too worried about this,” The corner of Zayn’s lips curled upward.

A sinister smile blossomed.

The others stepped back when they saw his face. Something big was about to happen.

**

Ten minutes passed since the massive dark oak gate revealed the hallway to the Dungeon Boss, but the group entered the hallway only now.

They evaded the black substances that released corrosive smog with vigilant steps and cautiously moved onward.

Zayn channeled energy through his body. His energy was rapidly drained, but he ignored the sensation and strode ahead. The ground beneath him vibrated ever so slightly, loosening the plastered cobblestone underneath.

David stared at Zayn in confusion, and Melanie traveled ahead with a bright smile. She was excited to see the true extent of Zayn’s plan.

They moved forward until they arrived in a large hall that ranged more than a hundred meters in length and width. The hall was more than ten meters high, and standing at the entrance was enough to inscribe a weird feeling of danger deep inside their hearts.

The presence in the hall was gloomy despite the lights illuminating the surroundings. Just like the hallway, the large hall was plastered with ordinary cobblestones. There was no plant life. However, Zayn and the others could see large puddles of liquified Corrosion Smog and dozens of corpses. A wide variety of skeletons entered Zayn’s view. Some were larger, while others were small.

Near the back of the hall, trunks of deceased Common Demonic Treants, Vinean Wolves, and Vile Pixies were piled up.

Then they finally saw her, the Dungeon Boss. The outlines of a woman sitting atop the pile of dead Common Demonic Treants, Vinean Wolves, and Vile Pixies entered their sight. Tremendous amounts of energy course through her body as she releases various substances onto the dead bodies.

Corrosive smog shrouded her entirely. She controlled it easily as if it were part of her. A simple gesture was enough to spread the deadly smog alongside the walls, dying the cold cobblestone black. The lights in the hall flickered, and the ominous sensation that spread throughout the entire room intensified.

Blake shuddered underneath her robe. Her legs were about to cave in when Zayn reached out to her.

“Show some willpower, will you?” He said lightly, though his expression was dead-serious.

The Dungeon Boss turned around, but she didn’t step away from the pile of corpses. Instead, she smiled at the guests and gestured to them to step closer.

As she gestured to them, the entrance behind them changed. Corrosive smog filled the room, leaving no escape path for the five Players. Natalia panicked slightly, but Melanie flicked her forehead lightly before turning back to face the Dungeon Boss.

“This is slightly different from what I expected,” David mumbled, and the others nodded in unison.

The Dungeon Boss ought to be a living testament to the beauty of nature. Her skin was supposed to be the color of sun-dappled bark, adorned with delicate patterns resembling leaves' intricate veins. Her eyes should have been a luminescent shade of moss green, reflecting the wisdom accumulated over centuries.

Cascading locks of leaf-like hair framed her face with an eternal grace.

At least, that was what it was supposed to be like…what a Dryad ought to look like.

However, the Dungeon Boss was the opposite. She was a living testament to the Cycle of Life…the end of the cycle, to be precise. Her skin was dark and rotten, adorned with crude patterns and purple liquid that covered her body like veins. Her eyes were dark and pitch-black, resembling the emptiness of death and what awaited them.

The Dungeon Boss was a Tainted Dryad, an ordinary Dryad that fell victim to the cruelty of nature and the desire to escape her fate.

Zayn knew little about the Dungeon Boss’s lore but recalled that the Grandmagus, the owner of the Tower of Nature, underwent various experiments over decades. The Tainted Dryad was a failed product of his experiments, and he discarded her. However, the Tainted Dryad survived against all odds. She struggled to overcome all the obstacles that had been thrown at her…and she survived.

She attained powerful traits and managed to claim the Tower of Nature. Her last desire was to corrode the Tower of Nature and break it apart, eradicating the Grandmagus’ last remnants by devouring everything he stood for.

That was a decent plan, and Zayn would have supported it if not because Forgotten Lands was still a game. Well, no, Even if Forgotten Lands was real…leaving the Tainted Dryad alone was undoubtedly one of the worst possible ideas. Zayn didn’t want to be responsible for the deaths of millions of innocent lives, after all.

Tainted Dryads were brutal and vicious even though they looked fragile and more-or-less harmless.

“How much longer do we have to wait, Zayn? I’m starting to feel a bit restless…” Natalia asked, her legs quivering as the corrosive smog crept closer from behind.

“Take a deep breath and stay patient,” Zayn said lightly while his energy pool was about to be sucked dry.

The tremors underneath the cobbled floor stopped suddenly, and the corner of Zayn’s lip curled upward.

“I’m ready to rumble!”