Gardener of Eden

Chapter 129: Chapter 129: Frost Troll

The cold wind whistled through the narrow obsidian corridor as Mirei suddenly halted, her ears twitching beneath her thermal hood. She drew a wind-infused arrow in a single fluid motion, her sharp eyes scanning the swirling whiteout behind them.

”They didn’t take the warning,” Mirei reported softly, her voice barely a whisper against the arctic gale. ”The scout ran straight to their captain. Six heavy signatures are pushing through the snow, closing the gap fast.”

Before Squad 07 could take another ten paces, heavy, aggressive boots crunched against the slick ice floor. Emerging from the blinding frost wall came a fully geared squad clad in spiked iron plate and heavy bear furs. At their head was a towering warrior bearing the crimson crest of the Iron Vanguard Guild on his broadsword—his face twisted in a mixture of arrogance and bitter greed.

”Hold it right there!” the leader barked, his voice echoing off the sheer ice walls. ”You freeloaders swept in at the last minute, stole the Rank 1 credit, and walked off with the entire Frost King Set while the rest of us bled for that boss! Hand over the Level 18 core and the armor, or we take it off your corpses. You’re pinned in a bottleneck.”

Barney stepped forward, rolling his broad shoulders as the newly acquired blue-plated armor gleamed under his cloak. ”Funny. I thought the system awarded rank based on actual combat output, not who complained the loudest.”

”We’ve got two mages locked on your rear guard,” the rival captain sneered, raising his blade as his spellcasters began chanting high-tier fire incantations behind him. ”You don’t have room to maneuver.”

Rowan casually stepped to the front of Squad 07, adjusting the brim of his Enchanted Straw Hat with a cool, unbothered smirk. He rested his trusty hoe comfortably over his shoulder, his sharp eyes rapidly analyzing the structural geometry of the narrow icy canyon and the massive, unstable overhang resting directly above the rival squad’s heads.

”Pinned?” Rowan murmured smoothly, his core mana thrumming with the newly unlocked Founder’s Resonance. ”In a subterranean trench full of unrefined permafrost mana? You really didn’t check who you were trailing, did you?”

With a swift, deliberate motion, Rowan struck the iron butt of his hoe deep into the obsidian floor. Channeling his Gardener of Eden authority, he didn’t target the adventurers directly—instead, he sent a warm wave of domain mana surging upward into the frozen ceiling roots above them.

Thick, frost-resistant vines exploded through the overhead ice with a deafening CRACK. The sudden rapid expansion thrashed the structural foundation of the massive ice overhang, sending thousands of pounds of compacted snow and dense permafrost avalanching downward in an instant.

The spellcasters’ chants were instantly cut short by a colossal THUD.

When the cloud of powdery white snow cleared, the entire Iron Vanguard squad was completely immobilized—buried up to their necks in a massive, dense snowpack, leaving only six stunned heads poking out of the drift.

Rowan walked up to the trapped captain, tapping the flat side of his hoe gently against the man’s frozen helmet. ”Consider it a free lesson in environmental awareness. Take your time digging out.”

Without missing a beat, Squad 07 turned and slipped smoothly back into the quiet whiteout, leaving their pursuers frozen in place as they pushed into the lower depths of Floor Seven.

The deeper Squad 07 descended into the Glacial Trench, the more oppressive the atmosphere became. The smooth obsidian pathways gave way to jagged, treacherous ice shelves suspended over pitch-black abysses, and the ambient temperature plummeted far past anything they had faced near the entrance.

The squad knew that if the environment didn’t take their lives, the roaming beasts on the floor eventually would.

Beyond the razor-thin visibility line of their localized whiteout, the dark was uncomfortably alive. It was no longer just isolated packs of wolves or scattered yetis; monstrous, apex forms stalked the permafrost cliffs above them.

Glacial Wyrms slithered through subterranean ice fissures, multi-eyed Frost Stalkers lurked within translucent walls, and massive territorial behemoths made the obsidian floor vibrate with every heavy stride. The sheer density of high-tier predators made it glaringly obvious why Floor Seven earned its reputation as a meat grinder for reckless adventurer guilds.

”Visibility is down to five meters,” Mirei warned, her fingers locked tight around her bowstring as her eyes darted toward a sudden, skittering shadow overhead. ”The frost fog is thickening, and whatever is on that high ridge has been mirroring our movement for the past two hundred yards.”

”Let them mirror,” Barney grunted, adjusting the helm of his newly acquired Frost King Armor. The blue-plated armor thrummed with a heavy, crystalline radiance, completely insulating him from the sub-zero dampener while boosting his defense. ”Any beast that leaps into our perimeter gets a face full of steel.”

”Stay disciplined,” Caelen cautioned, his hand resting firmly on the hilt of Edge of the First Warden. ”The predators at this depth hunt in synchronized packs. The moment one draws our attention, two more will try to collapse our rear.”

”Which is exactly why we aren’t going to play their game,” Rowan said smoothly.

He adjusted the brim of his Enchanted Straw Hat and tapped the iron butt of his trusty hoe lightly against the permafrost. Channeling his Gardener of Eden authority downward, he sent warm, imperceptible pulses of domain mana humming through the subterranean stone. Rather than relying on sight through the blinding blizzard, Rowan mapped out the precise thermal signatures of the ice roots and the dense clusters of hungry beasts prowling in the gloom.

A cool, calculating smirk crossed his face. ”We don’t need to kill every monster in the Glacial Trench to clear it. Stick to my tempo, keep your mana reserves high, and let me read the ground. We’re carving a straight line through this floor.”

The heavy whiteout ruptured as a towering silhouette tore through the blizzard at terrifying speed. The snow beneath their boots vibrated with rapid, bone-shattering footfalls. Squad 07 snapped into their tight defensive perimeter in a heartbeat—Barney stepping to the front with his glowing tower shield, Caelen and Lyra flanking low, Mirei drawing her bow to full tension, and Seraphina unholstering a belt of battle potions.

Emerging from the fog was no ordinary roaming beast, but the terrifying apex ruler of Floor Seven.

[Floor Boss Identified]

Name: Kragor, the Rime-Scourge

Title: Apex Sovereign of the Glacial Trench

Level: 17 (Peak Tier 2)

Type: Giant / Frost Troll Monarch

Boss Overview & Traits

Permafrost Hide: Thick mottled blue skin encrusted with ancient glacial plates and obsidian ice spines, reducing physical piercing damage and completely negating frost-based magic.

Glacial Obsidian Cleavers: Dual-wields twin single-handed axes of dense black ice, capable of sundering steel armor and applying stacking frostbite debuffs with every strike.

Chasm Shatter: Leaps immense distances before plunging both axes into the obsidian floor, triggering a shockwave of jagged ice spikes that stagger nearby combatants.

Blood Burning (30% HP Trigger): His monster core overheats, causing his icy blue blood to violently boil into ruby flames. Instantly doubles movement and attack speed, rapidly stitches open wounds, and unlocks a relentless, fire-and-ice whirlwind attack.

Standing nearly fifteen feet tall, Kragor possessed mottled blue skin encrusted with thick plates of ancient permafrost armor and jagged black ice spikes along his spine. In his massive, frost-caked hands, he dual-wielded a pair of brutal twin one-handed axes forged from glacial obsidian.

With a deafening roar that shook loose stalactites overhead, Kragor leaped into the air, bringing both axes down in a cross-cleave aimed straight for the center of the formation.

”Brace!” Barney yelled. Positioning himself beneath the shadow of the falling titan, he slammed his shield upward. CLANG! The twin axes crashed into Barney’s tower shield with terrifying force. The newly equipped Frost King Armor Set thrummed with deep blue runes, absorbing the massive kinetic impact and keeping Barney anchored firm in the ice while Kragor’s brutal assault stalled.

”Flank left!” Caelen commanded, stepping past Barney’s shoulder. Edge of the First Warden blazed with dense kinetic mana, carving a deep gash along the troll’s ribs, while Lyra’s radiant sword scorched through its icy hide on the right. Mirei pinned the monster’s knees with wind-piercing arrows, preventing it from stepping back.

At the center of the trap, Rowan tapped his trusty hoe against the obsidian floor, channeling domain mana to bind Kragor’s feet with thorned vines. Squad 07’s mechanical perfection tore through the boss’s massive health pool with relentless precision.

Within minutes, Kragor’s health bar plunged past the crucial thirty-percent mark.

Suddenly, the troll’s pupils shrunk into pinpoint crimson specks. The air around him hissed violently as his thick, blue blood began to visibly boil beneath his skin, unleashing his terrifying innate boss mechanic: [Blood Burning].

Vaporizing steam erupted from Kragor’s flesh as his veins flared with a raging, ruby flame. His movement speed doubled instantly, his wounds stitching together as his eyes glowed with mindless frenzy. Raising his twin axes, he unleashed a blinding, crimson-streaked whirlwind of steel straight toward the party.

The crimson whirlwind struck Barney’s shield like a freight train. Even with the Frost King Armor absorbing the kinetic shock, the sheer velocity of the [Blood Burning] strike blew past his center of gravity. Sparks and pulverized ice exploded as Barney staggered backward, his boots skidding hard across the slick obsidian floor as he fought to regain his balance.

Before Kragor could press the advantage, Caelen and Princess Lyra crossed paths behind their vanguard with fluid precision.

CLANG! CLANG!

Caelen brought Edge of the First Warden up in a sharp, upward diagonal parry, his kinetic mana bursting to redirect the left obsidian axe away from Barney’s exposed flank. Simultaneously, Lyra lunged beneath the arc of the second axe, her radiant longsword flaring with intense holy light to meet the blood-red blade head-on. The combined impact sent a blinding shockwave of heat and frost scattering across the trench, stalling the berserk troll’s momentum just long enough.

”Appreciated!” Barney growled, digging his boots deep into the permafrost. Flexing his core, he slammed his shield back into position with a heavy thud, locking his posture firm once more.

At the center of the formation, Rowan tilted the brim of his Enchanted Straw Hat, his sharp eyes catching the critical flaw in Kragor’s frenzy. The boiling blood had hyper-accelerated the troll’s speed, but its wild axes left its core entirely unguarded.

Mirei’s wind-infused arrow whistled through the howling blizzard with terrifying precision, slamming directly into the back of Kragor’s right knee joint. The razor-sharp tip shattered the permafrost encasing the monster’s tendon, snapping the heavy leg backward. The colossal troll bellowed in pain as his massive frame buckled under its own momentum, crashing heavily onto one knee and causing both Glacial Obsidian Cleavers to bite uselessly into the black ice floor.

”Now, Seraphina!” Rowan shouted, adjusting the brim of his Enchanted Straw Hat.

Seraphina snatched two crimson-tinted crystal flasks from her alchemical pouch, winding up and hurling them straight at the staggered behemoth. The pressurized Incendiary Elixirs struck Kragor squarely across his chest and neck, shattering on impact and releasing a roaring inferno of hyper-concentrated flame.

The magical fire interacted violently with the boss’s active [Blood Burning] trait. Instead of quenching the blaze, Kragor’s boiling, ruby-hued blood acted as a volatile accelerant. The extreme thermal shock tore through the troll’s defenses—his blue, frost-encrusted hide cracked, sizzled, and violently ignited. Horrific shrieks echoed through the cavern as the raging flames consumed his flesh from the outside in, rapidly burning his skin, muscle, and boiling blood into brittle, smoking carbon.

The giant thrashed blindly for a few agonizing seconds, fully engulfed in a pillar of black smoke and searing crimson fire, before his roars died out into a raspy hiss.

Caelen and Princess Lyra didn’t even need to swing their blades again. The compounding thermal damage obliterated the troll’s remaining health pool. With a low crunch, Kragor’s charred, carbonized form fractured under its own weight, crumbling into a pile of blackened ash before dissolving into a massive vortex of sparkling blue mana motes.

The raging blizzard died down to a gentle breeze as the apex threat of Floor Seven was permanently eradicated. Rowan stepped smoothly through the smoldering embers, resting his trusty hoe against his shoulder with a cool, satisfied smirk.