Gardener of Eden

Chapter 148: Chapter 148: The Elemental Paragon (2)

Roaring in primal agony from its shattered aquatic limb, the titan thrashed violently, attempting to overwhelm the squad with its three remaining hands. The massive titan mobilized its Earth, Fire, and Wind limbs simultaneously in a desperate bid to crush the invaders before its core collapsed.

Squad 07 didn’t flinch. Moving with absolute, practiced synchronization, the vanguard moved to pin down the monster’s weapons.

The titan’s massive Earth hand—a titanic fist of petrified basalt—slammed downward to crush the backline. Rowan stepped directly into its shadow, driving the Hoe of the World-Tiller deep into the mosaic floor. Green domain mana flared as thick, petrified root lattices erupted from the bedrock, wrapping around the stony fist like living steel cables and anchoring it immovably to the ground.

At the same moment, the Fire hand swept forward, blazing with molten magma and radiating suffocating heat. Barney bellowed a battle cry, planting his heavy boots into the stone and slamming his vanguard shield against the fiery limb. The kinetic impact shook the arena, but Barney held firm, forcing his barrier against the molten arm and pinning it against the earth with pure physical grit.

To the right, the Wind hand whipped through the air, gathering compressed gale-forces to tear through their ranks. Caelen vaulted upward, intercepting the swirling atmospheric limb mid-air. Grasping the Edge of the First Warden with both hands, he brought the massive greatsword down like a guillotine, driving the Wind hand into the stone floor and pinning it under the sheer weight of his Level 20 physical authority.

With all three of its remaining hands pinned and held in a ironclad lock, the Amalgamated Elemental Paragon was left completely defenceless. At the center of its chest, the hyper-dense, four-fold elemental core pulsed erratically, completely exposed to the open air.

”Now!” Rowan called out, holding the earth limb pinned under his domain roots.

Princess Lyra leaped forward first, her golden royal aura bursting around her longsword like a blinding sun. With a fluid, terrifyingly precise thrust, she drove her light-engulfed blade deep into the center of the exposed core, cracking its outer crystalline matrix.

Following immediately behind Lyra’s strike, Mirei drew her bowstring back to its limit, loading a trio of heavily concentrated frost shafts. With a sharp exhale, she released the volley straight into the glowing fracture.

The frost shafts punched directly through the core’s center, freezing the internal elemental mana before shattering the heart of the titan into millions of sparkling, effervescent shards.

The fractured core dissolved into a cascading shower of brilliant, multicolored particles as the colossal titan collapsed into harmless light.

A resonant gong echoed across the pocket dimension, and glowing golden text materialized directly in front of the victorious squad:

[Congratulations!]

[Participating members have successfully defeated the Amalgamated Elemental Paragon.]

[Trial Cleared: The Four-Fold Synthesis]

A surge of warm, ancient energy flooded through each member’s soul, permanently elevating their intrinsic elemental foundations:

Rowan: Base Earth Affinity increased.

Barney: Base Fire Affinity increased.

Seraphina: Base Water Affinity increased.

Mirei: Base Wind Affinity increased.

Caelen: Base Wind Affinity increased.

Princess Lyra: Base Divine Affinity increased.

Before they could even catch their breath, a second golden prompt flared brightly, bestowing their earned honorific:

[New Title Acquired: Champion of Paragon]

The ethereal sea surrounding the arena began to shift as six ancient stone pedestals erupted from the mosaic floor. Each pedestal held an array of weapons, armor, and specialized relics wrapped in radiant A-Grade aura. Above the altars, a crimson countdown timer appeared in the air, ticking down second by second.

[A-Grade Crucible Treasury Access Opened] [Selection Window: 05:00] [Condition: Each participating member may select exactly one A-Grade item.]

”Five minutes on the clock!” Caelen said, eyeing the glowing pedestals with a competitive grin. ”Let’s make every second count.”

Rowan bypassed the shimmering array of A-Grade broadswords, enchanted longbows, and elemental grimoires displayed on his pedestal. To anyone else, the glittering armaments were the obvious prize, but his Gardener of Eden perception caught a faint, ancient pulse of life emanating from a small, obsidian-and-glass stasis vessel at the far edge of the display.

Inside, suspended in a silent amber field, rested a dark, rounded seed: a Preserved Ancient Avocado Core.

According to the Tower’s records, the avocado fruit had been completely extinct in the outer world for over 120 years following the Great Collapse. For more than a century, this single, pristine specimen had remained locked in temporal stasis within the Crucible’s vaults, preserved until a climber with the rightful domain authority arrived to claim it.

Rowan didn’t hesitate. He reached out and pressed his palm against the stasis glass.

[Item Selected: Preserved Core of the Lost Canopy (A-Grade Botanical Specimen)]

The moment the selection finalized, the glass dissolved, and the heavy, petrified core dropped into his palm. Rowan’s newly heightened Earth affinity and Gardener of Eden authority immediately reached out to the dormant seed.

Through his connection to the earth, he felt the tiny, stubborn ember of ancient life lingering deep inside the shell, just waiting for fertile soil and domain-infused water to wake it up.

”An... avocado seed?” Mirei blinked in utter bewilderment, looking over from her own pedestal where she was inspecting an A-Grade, gale-woven quiver. ”Rowan, you had access to top-tier A-grade gear, and you chose extinct produce?”

”Not just produce,” Rowan chuckled softly, carefully slipping the stasis container into his spatial inventory. ”An extinct legendary crop. With my domain, this seed is worth more than a dozen masterwork weapons.”

”Can’t argue with the Gardener,” Caelen said with a grin, slinging his newly selected A-Grade sword belt over his shoulder as the five-minute selection timer reached zero. ”Just make sure we get the first batch when you harvest them.”

With all six items claimed, the treasury pedestals sank back into the mosaic floor, and the ancient pocket dimension began to hum as the final portal to Floor 9 opened before them.

***

Stepping up to the looming, ominous threshold of the Ninth Floor, Rowan paused. The raw, oppressive mana radiating from the heavy stone archway was palpable—a stark warning that the upcoming floor represented a massive jump in lethality. Instead of stepping through, he turned back toward the central nexus waystone and called a quick squad huddle.

”We’re taking the transport down to the Fifth Floor,” Rowan announced, adjusting the brim of his Enchanted Straw Hat. ”Our week-long tower stay permit isn’t up yet, but pushing onto Floor 9 right now is an unnecessary gamble. We need time to consolidate our Level 20 stats, master our boosted affinities, and let our equipment catch up.”

He met Princess Lyra’s eyes with a steady, protective gaze. ”With royal blood in our ranks, I’m not taking high-risk gambits for the sake of pride. We return to The Crossroads Citadel, clear out their local bounty board, and grind safely without risking injury or worse.”

Princess Lyra let out a quiet sigh of relief, a warm, genuine smile touching her lips. ”A pragmatic commander who values his team’s lives over reckless glory is a rare find, Rowan. I completely support your decision. The Empire can wait a few more days for our Ninth Floor conquest.”

”Works for me,” Caelen chuckled, resting his hand on his newly tuned sword belt. ”The Citadel’s guild hall always has a massive backlog of high-paying contracts. It’ll give us plenty of live-fire practice to get used to our new Wind affinity boosts.”

Activating the central transport circle, Squad 07 descended the tower’s interior, emerging into the vibrant, bustling hub of The Crossroads Citadel. The contrast was immediate—the heavy, suffocating elemental pressure of the upper floors gave way to the lively sounds of merchant stalls, guild recruiters, and iron anvils echoing through the stone streets.

Over the following days, the squad operated with surgical efficiency. As an elite Level 20 party bearing the Champion of Paragon title, 5th-floor quests were smooth and manageable. They systematically purged beast dens in the outer trade canyons, escorted high-value merchant convoys, and suppressed rogue dungeon breaches, earning widespread acclaim and substantial coin without placing anyone in real jeopardy.