In the centre of it all hovered Aether. The void dragon looked ridiculously pleased with himself, chest puffed out and wings spread wide as he maintained the singularity with apparent ease.
"Master!" Aether called out cheerfully, as if he were a child showing off a new trick. "Are you watching? Is this not magnificent?"
"Magnificent is one word for it," Arthur called back, still bracing against the current. "Overkill is another!"
The plant creature made a last desperate lunge away from the pull, stretching one vine toward a sturdy tree just beyond the effect radius. For a moment, it seemed it might anchor itself—until the vine snapped with an audible twang.
With what Arthur could swear was a plaintive wail, the plant tumbled backward through the air, spinning end over end toward the singularity's core.
Just as the plant neared the fifty-meter zone, the singularity began to destabilise. The five seconds were nearly up. The black sphere pulsed, contracted, then expanded slightly before winking out of existence with a thunderous implosion.
Everything that had been held in its gravitational grip suddenly dropped. The remains of the tree guardians—now little more than compressed wooden balls—thudded to the ground. Rocks, soil, and debris rained down in a circular pattern.
And the plant creature, caught in the final moment of release, was flung like a catapult projectile directly toward Arthur.
"You've got to be kidding me," Arthur managed before teleporting three meters to the left.
The plant crashed into the spot where he'd been standing, bounced once with a squashy sound, then lay still, its root-legs twitching feebly.
Aether descended from above, landing beside Arthur with the distinctive swagger of someone enormously pleased with themselves.
"Did I do well, Master?" the dragon asked, smoke curling from his nostrils.
Arthur stared at the devastation—a perfectly circular crater twenty meters wide where the singularity had been, three elite-rank guardians reduced to compressed wooden spheres, and a half-conscious plant creature that had, until recently, been firmly rooted to the ground.
"Aether," Arthur said slowly, "when exactly were you planning to tell me you could create BLACK HOLES?"
The void dragon tilted his head, genuinely confused. "Was I supposed to? I thought you knew. I am a void dragon, after all."
Arthur pinched the bridge of his nose, fighting both exasperation and the urge to laugh. "Next time, maybe warn me?"
"Of course, Master," Aether agreed cheerfully, before adding, "Though I must say, your teleportation was impressively quick. You almost looked scared!"
"I wasn't scared," Arthur lied, walking toward the downed plant creature. "I was... strategically repositioning."
Aether made a sound suspiciously like a dragon's version of a snicker.
The plant slowly rose up, its root-legs trembling with effort as it righted itself.
Though battered and broken in several places, the creature was remarkably resilient. Its central bud quivered, opening further to reveal more of the glowing crystal within.
[Pollen Bloom (Legendary-Boss)]
Details: A sentient plant that evolved alongside the Verdant Maw's mysteries. Its pollen contains psychoactive compounds that hijack neural connections, turning victims into puppets. The crystal at its core amplifies its control abilities across vast distances. It's intelligent, territorial, and has been known to command entire sections of forest through its puppet creatures. Its pollen is most dangerous at close range due to its high concentration.
More light poured from the bloom's core, bathing the clearing in pulsating waves. The plant was clearly desperate, channeling everything it had into one last mental assault.
"It's trying to control us," Arthur observed, maintaining his spatial shield. "Too bad it picked the wrong opponents."
"It's not running anymore," Arthur noted, drawing his blade. "It's planning something."
As if responding to his words, the bloom fully opened, petals extending to reveal the crystal in all its glory. The light intensified tenfold, and the ground beneath the plant began to crack and splinter.
He teleported directly in front of the plant, blade already in motion. The Pollen Bloom reacted with surprising speed, one vine whipping toward his face while another stabbed at his legs.
Arthur's blade caught the first vine, severing it cleanly. He dodged the second attack with a casual sidestep, then drove his sword directly toward the crystal core.
The Pollen Bloom shuddered, its entire form contracting to protect the core. Petals snapped shut around Arthur's blade, trapping it.
The Pollen Bloom shuddered, its entire form contracting to protect the core. Petals snapped shut around Arthur's blade, trapping it.
"Wrong move," Arthur whispered.
He didn't waste a second on hesitation. Power surged through his arms into the katana as he activated one of his rare skills.
The blade ignited instantly, wreathed in crimson flames that crawled hungrily across the plant's petals. The Pollen Bloom released a high-pitched keening as fire seared its flesh, but it didn't retreat.
Instead, it attacked.
Three vines shot toward Arthur simultaneously—one aiming for his throat, one for his eyes, and the third sweeping low to knock him off balance. The plant was fighting with desperate intelligence now, no longer fleeing but committed to eliminating the threat.
Arthur's eyes narrowed. "Shadow Bind!"
Darkness pooled beneath the plant, stretching and twisting unnaturally. In an instant, shadow tendrils erupted from the ground, wrapping around the plant's vines and root-legs, freezing it mid-attack.
Arthur felt his mana reserves draining rapidly as the plant struggled against his hold. The creature was strong and fighting the binding with everything it had.
'I can't keep it for long,' he realised, as he felt his hold slowly slipping.
Arthur tightened his grip on the still-burning katana and launched himself forward in a blur of motion. His blade traced a perfect arc toward the partially exposed crystal core.
Just as his katana was about to connect cleanly with the crystal, his Shadow Bind shattered. And the plant burst free with a surge of desperate strength.
The plant twisted violently, nearly avoiding the strike entirely but not quite.