Lin Jun waited in the spore-choked cavern for his unwelcome guest.

Meanwhile, changes were unfolding on the fifth floor.

The rift where the Dragonkin and the giant rat had first emerged had stopped producing monsters for some time now.

Worse, it was becoming unstable.

The air around it warped faintly, as though it might expand further.

The sight made Lin Jun’s heart pound.

He knew nothing about space-related phenomena, but this was definitely dangerous.

The last thing he wanted was his fifth floor becoming a broken pocket of shattered space—or riddled with permanent rifts that anyone could stroll through.

But there was nothing he could do about it.

For now, the Dragonkin was the more immediate problem.

It was here!

Through [Mana Perception], Lin Jun watched it dig to the edge.

Crack—

The rock wall split, and a claw burst through.

A moment later, the Dragonkin’s head pushed in, molten-gold eyes scanning the chamber.

Waiting for it was the Knight Puji, backed by six tentacle cannons swollen with energy, trembling on the verge of firing.

Surprise!

Six fungal cannons, tripled in power, detonated point-blank into the Dragonkin’s face.

Headshot!

The cavern roared as explosions shook the walls.

The ceiling caved in, boulders raining down to bury the Dragonkin.

A third of the chamber collapsed before finally stabilizing.

Lin Jun hadn’t cared. Against a Dragonkin, cave-ins were the least of his worries.

But it wasn’t over.

The rubble burst apart.

The Dragonkin leapt free, but didn’t charge.

Instead, it streaked around the cavern at shocking speed, before halting in a corner.

It looked utterly battered.

Its face was bloodied, most scales shattered, one horn snapped clean off.

Perhaps dazed from the blow, it crouched low, growling warily instead of rushing in.

Lin Jun was surprised.

Before, its dragon-like features had been masked by heavy scales and horns. Now, with much of that broken, its face resembled a human’s more than a dragon’s.

But that didn’t matter.

The important thing was, it was hesitating.

His six cannons were one-use only, shattered from recoil after firing.

His real weapon was the hallucinogenic spores.

Even with dragon blood, high resistance didn’t mean immunity. Given time…

But the Dragonkin moved again.

Its body blurred into an afterimage, circling him, closing in cautiously.

Clearly, it was hurting. No more reckless charges like against the giant rat.

Fine by Lin Jun. Straight-line assaults were harder to react to anyway.

The moment it drew close, the Knight trembled.

[Infrasound Attack LV6]

The Dragonkin’s innards shuddered. Its motion stuttered, and it crashed straight into the rock wall.

Lin Jun followed with another fungal blast, collapsing more of the cave on top of it.

The beauty of infrasound—it ignored defenses, shaking the body from within.

Even at only level 6, the confined cavern and his symbiotic crystal boosted it enough to disrupt a Dragonkin’s rhythm.

It clawed free again, slower this time.

But it didn’t pause—charged straight at him.

[Infrasound Attack LV6]

[Evade LV7]

The sonic blow staggered it just enough for Lin Jun to dodge.

But it had learned. It hadn’t charged full speed.

This time, it adjusted mid-lunge and swung around, rushing again between sonic pulses.

Such sharp instincts!

Its claw slashed—

The Knight Puji bent low, then sprang!

[Assault Leap LV5]

The talons grazed past.

Not clean enough—

A gouge marred the Knight’s shell, nearly piercing through.

This wasn’t going well.

Where were the spores’ effects? After all it had breathed in, nothing yet?

The Dragonkin seemed to sense its advantage, lips pulling into a shark-toothed grin.

It crouched and sprang again.

But mid-leap, its limbs tangled. It tumbled across the floor.

Lin Jun hadn’t done a thing. His next infrasound wasn’t even ready.

In fact, he felt weak too, mycelium sagging.

A new status flickered on his panel:

[Dragon’s Might (All attributes -50%)]

!!!

What the hell!?

Scanning the fifth floor, Lin Jun froze.

The unstable rift—had widened.

A massive claw, five meters long, hooked its edge. The surrounding space buckled violently.

“GROOOAAARRR—!”

The roar that followed shook the entire floor.

Lin Jun’s true body, buried deep, didn’t hear it directly—but the status effect proved he wasn’t spared.

That claw’s owner was no “dragon-beast” or “sub-dragon.”

It was a true dragon.

And from the size of that talon, it could never squeeze through—unless it tore the rift wider.

Don’t you dare!

Can’t every damn disaster stop landing on me!?

Lin Jun shuddered under Dragon’s Might. Across from him, the Dragonkin fared worse—

It dug a hole and stuck its upper body in the ground, ostrich-style.

The claw tugged, trying to rend the rift wider.

But arcs of lightning flared, lashing the talon, blasting away scales.

The dragon roared in pain, recoiling.

Still, before withdrawing, it bellowed one last furious roar toward Lin Jun’s floor.

Then the lightning wove around the rift, cinching it shut, smaller and smaller until—gone.

Where it had been, the staircase between the fourth and fifth floor stood pristine, as if nothing had happened.

Only long after did Lin Jun’s debuff fade.

The Dragonkin, still half-buried, lay motionless.

The Knight Puji stumped over and kicked it out of the ground.

It hit the wall and slumped.

Finally, the spores had taken effect.

Unbelievable. Dragon’s Might had actually helped!

The Knight marched up and stomped down.

This wasn’t just stomping. This was [Trample LV3].

Thirty furious stomps later, its health finally dropped low enough.

Lin Jun sprinkled parasitic spores over it.

Soon it would be his puppet—a precious trump card.

At last, he relaxed, free to examine its status.

He’d only skimmed its basics before, between traps and combat.

Now, scrolling deeper, rows of LV8s and LV9s made him giddy.

But the joy faded fast.

Three entries stood out.

[Innate Talent: Blood of the Ancient Dragon (All attributes +20%)]

[Mark of Vengeance (Upon death, transfers to killer; caster can track and deal bonus damage to them)]

[Title: Offspring of the Ancient Dragon (Main attributes +50%)]

Thinking of that claw just now…

Could he cancel the fusion, maybe?