Gardener of Eden

Chapter 190: Chapter 190: Floor 11- The Sunless Canopy

Leaving behind the cleansed subterranean vaults of the Keystone Citadel, Squad 07 stepped into the spatial transit elevator and initiated the ascent. The floor indicator flared brightly before settling onto a new designation: Floor 11 — The Sunless Canopy.

When the spatial portal dissolved, the crisp, artificial air of the city vanished, replaced by an oppressive, suffocating humidity. There were no paved plazas or illuminated domes here. Above them stretched an endless, interlocking ceiling of colossal, iron-bark trees whose metallic leaves blocked out all ambient light, casting the floor into a perpetual, pitch-black twilight.

Floor 11 was infamous among ascending guilds as a high-fatattrition trial zone—a dense, sprawling labyrinth of razor-sharp petrified vegetation, mana-dampening fog, and hyper-aggressive subterranean predators that hunted by sound. But as Squad 07 stepped onto the damp, root-tangled floor, it was immediately clear that Rueben’s frantic retreat had made the floor infinitely more treacherous.

In his desperate flight upward toward Floor 12, the wounded Rot-Weaver had breached his emergency bio-vials, seeding the forest floor with unstable necrotic spores. The native flora and fauna had mutated into crazed, weeping monstrosities; massive Iron-Spire Treants with oozing, purple-veined bark groaned in the darkness, while swarms of Corrupted Bramble-Stalkers lurked in the canopy, dripping acidic bile onto the paths below.

”He was bleeding necrotic mana with every step he took,” Seraphina said softly, her Crucible of Eternal Transmutation glowing with a subtle amber light as it sampled the thick atmosphere. ”The airborne spores are designed to decay organic tissue and cause core disorientation within minutes of inhalation.”

”Good thing we’re running on Eden’s baseline,” Barney grinned, casually rolling his shoulders.

Without needing a command, Seraphina flicked her wrist, tossing four shimmering amber pills to her teammates. ”Sustainment pills distilled from this morning’s Sun-Gilded Jade Avocado and Sun-Crystalline Eden Apple. It will completely immunize our meridians against the floor’s dampening fog and spore decay for six hours.”

As the team swallowed the pills, a warm, protective barrier of uncorrupted vitality settled over their lungs and mana channels.

”Mirei,” Rowan murmured, adjusting the brim of his Enchanted Straw Hat. ”Clear the canopy.”

Mirei didn’t even look up. She plucked the translucent string of the Breeze-Striker Longbow, releasing three wind-bound arrows into the pitch-black foliage above. Three muffled screeches echoed through the trees as three Corrupted Bramble-Stalkers were pinned to the iron-bark branches before they could drop their acidic payload.

”Path clear, seventy yards out,” Mirei reported smoothly, drawing another volley.

”Front line, open a highway,” Rowan ordered.

Caelen stepped forward, the broad blade of the Edge of the First Warden igniting with a blinding, silvery guardian radiance. A fifty-foot Iron-Spire Treant mutated by Rueben’s rot lurched out of the shadows, swinging a club-like arm of razor-sharp metallic roots. Caelen shifted his weight, his broad shoulders locking into place as he brought the greatsword around in a devastating, arc-cleaving sweep.

SLASH!

The silvery arc sheared through three feet of petrified ironwood like warm butter, bisecting the massive tree monster in a single stroke before it could even utter a roar.

Before the falling timber could block their path, Barney surged past Caelen, driving the Hammer of the Sunken Bastion directly into the ground ahead.

BOOM!

A localized kinetic shockwave flattened the remaining tangled roots, shattering the petrified brambles and clearing a twenty-foot-wide paved avenue straight through the heart of the dark jungle.

Where other guilds took days carefully navigating the treacherous, trap-laden twists of Floor 11, Squad 07 pushed forward like an unstoppable, golden battering ram.

Bringing up the rear, Rowan walked calmly through the shattered forest path. Every time a patch of deep, necrotic spore-soil threatened to release its toxic gas, Rowan tapped the Hoe of the World-Tiller against the earth, unleashing [Breath of Eden - Lv. 5]. Ripples of golden light washed across the ground, instantly neutralizing the spores, purifying the soil, and leaving behind a trail of vibrant, uncorrupted moss in their wake.

Within less than two hours of entering Floor 11—a floor that typically stalled average climbing teams for over a week—the dark, suffocating canopy began to thin. Ahead of them stood the massive, ancient stone archway marking the floor transit portal leading directly to Floor 12.

Mirei landed lightly beside Rowan, her bow held ready. ”Floor 11 is traversed. No cult survivors left behind us.”

”And the trail ahead?” Rowan asked, looking toward the glowing blue portal of Floor 12.

Seraphina’s crucible chimed with a sharp, resonant ring. ”The dark mana signature on the other side is erratic and leaking heavily. Rueben is inside the Floor 12 necrotic sanctuary right now, completely oblivious that we’ve cleared every single barrier between us and him.”

Rowan adjusted the brim of his Enchanted Straw Hat, a cold, unshakeable smirk settling onto his face as Squad 07 gathered around the final portal.

”Floor 11 is cleared,” Rowan said softly, his golden-amber eyes fixed on the portal. ”It’s time to pay the Rot-Weaver a visit.”

***

The spatial portal did not dissolve with its usual clean, azure brilliance. Instead, the light warped and curdled, flickering into a sickening, bruised purple before spitting Squad 07 out onto the floor of Floor 12 — The Blighted Veins.

The moment their boots touched the ground, an acrid, bone-melting stench hit them like a physical blow.

There was no sky, no dome, and no natural stone. The entire floor was a cavernous subterranean abyss where ancient, towering rock formations had been completely dissolved by dark alchemy, turning into weeping sloughs of black, necrotic tar. The ground beneath their feet was a spongy, rotting mass of dead vegetation and liquefied earth, bubbling violently as pockets of pressurized, purple miasma erupted into the stagnant air.

All around them lay stark, horrifying evidence of Rueben’s desperate retreat.

To their left, the skeletal remains of a massive Floor 12 apex guardian—a fifty-foot stone-scaled drake—lay half-submerged in a pool of glowing, acidic sludge. Its flesh hadn’t just been torn away; it had been melted down to the marrow, its stolen core energy drained away to feed the wounded Rot-Weaver’s failing body. To their right, ancient ley-line crystals that once radiated pure elemental earth mana were now black, cracked, and weeping toxic bile, their vibrant pulses reduced to a sickening, erratic twitch.

”This entire floor is rotting from the inside out,” Caelen said, his voice grim behind his breathing guard. The silvery guardian light radiating from the Edge of the First Warden hissed sharply as ambient acidic fog drifted against the blade.

Before the airborne necrotic spores could touch the team, the yellowed parchment sheets of Arthur’s anti-corruption talismans snapped taut at Rowan’s waist. A brilliant, dome-shaped barrier of warm golden ward-fire flared into existence, instantly incinerating the airborne spores into harmless white dust upon contact.

At the same time, Seraphina’s Crucible of Eternal Transmutation spun at breakneck speed above her palm. Its bronze-and-crystal rings hummed with a high-pitched, melodic chime, creating an inverted spatial vortex that actively sucked in the thickest clouds of purple miasma, compressing the foul toxins into inert gray pebbles that dropped uselessly into the mire.

”The toxicity levels here are a hundred times higher than Oakhaven,” Seraphina reported, her sharp eyes tracing the dark, pulsating veins of corruption running through the cavern walls. ”Rueben didn’t just hide here—he hooked his shattered mana core directly into Floor 12’s primary ley-line junction. He’s draining the floor’s life force to keep himself alive, and in return, his rotting blood is corrupting the entire floor’s ecosystem.”