Dungeon King: The Hidden Ruler-Chapter 44: [Roots of Dominion 3] - Breath of the Roots

The tunnel narrowed behind them, like the roots were swallowing the path. Raven didn’t look back.

The talisman around his neck pulsed once—not with light, but with pressure. A gentle reminder: he was no longer in the world above.

Duskrunner materialized first, his growl low and alert. Then came the Phantom Seer, emerging with a flicker of shadow and bone, its head tilting unnaturally toward the walls.

"Stay close," Raven muttered, stepping into the open.

The tunnel spat them out into a vast subterranean cavern. Not a chamber—a full cathedral of stone and roots, older than maps, older than memory.

Light poured from the ceiling in threads, not from the sky, but from massive vines suspended like chandeliers. Each pulse of light felt biological. Rhythmic. Like the breath of a sleeping giant.

Below, ruins crumbled in slow motion. Broken stairways jutted from the ground at impossible angles. Bone-carved totems leaned against dead pavilions. And from the roots that crawled along every wall, a dark haze leaked into the air—not quite smoke, not mist. Something heavier. Like ash that remembered.

Duskrunner growled low.

"I know," Raven said. "Eyes open."

They barely made it past the first broken archway when the sentinels appeared.

Twisted tree-soldiers stepped out from the far pillars—their limbs wrapped in ceremonial bindings, bark-armor cracked and fused with bone. Chains of root and vine dragged behind them like forgotten oaths.

—Spitegrowth Sentinels—

Mob Type: Elite Minion

Role: Hybrid Defender / Interrupter

Abilities:

Twinroot Shielding: Sentinels pair-bond during combat. One absorbs damage while the other mirrors incoming attacks, halving the effectiveness of illusions and flanks.

Ritual Drag: Unleashes chained roots to pull scattered enemies into proximity.

Decay Ward: A self-heal if the battle goes longer than 30 seconds.

Raven gave a short whistle.

Duskrunner lunged left. Phantom Seer flickered and vanished right. Raven darted forward, chain whipping from his sleeve.

The fight was sharp and mean.

Each sentinel fought with synchronized movements, one absorbing damage with bark-thick defense while the other mirrored the Seer’s attacks just half a second too late. Illusions collided. Duskrunner roared, taking one to the ground. Raven’s chain lashed across the throat of the second, yanking it into the Seer’s waiting claws.

It ended in silence.

"First blood," Raven murmured.

They moved again.

The path opened into a sunken trial chamber—circular, half-flooded by tangled roots. The floor was carved with ancient lines, some still glowing faintly with residual ritual magic. Faded banners hung above, etched with symbols of growth, ascension, and something older: judgment.

Raven barely stepped onto the ring when a ripple passed through the vines.

The Acolyte stepped out first. Hooded, face covered in bark, its staff blooming with fungal rot. Behind it, a massive Husk Beast—shaped like a bear, but with bark-plate and bone-tusks jutting from its back.

—Fungal Acolyte—

Mob Type: Ritual Caster

Role: Control Support / Delayer

Abilities:

Rootbind Pulse: Roots spiral from staff to root players in place for 2.5 seconds.

Spore Slow: Spores reduce attack speed and cooldown recovery.

Fungal Veil: Teleports short distances when threatened, leaving behind a slowing cloud.

—Husk Beast—

Mob Type: Mini-Elite

Role: Brute Enforcer

Abilities:

Thorn Slam: Area knockback with high physical damage.

Pulsegut Bellow: Short stun followed by a defense buff.

Vine-Leech Hide: Heals a portion of damage taken if the attacker is snared.

"Split them," Raven ordered.

Duskrunner charged the beast, claws digging into the moss-covered stone. The Seer swept left, illusions fragmenting like smoke.

The Acolyte raised its staff.

Green energy surged through the chamber. Roots rose in thick spirals, threatening to cage them in place. Raven ducked left, launched a chain at the staff—but the Acolyte vanished, reappearing beside the beast.

The fight dragged longer.

Not because of strength, but attrition.

Every time the Acolyte cast, the chamber slowed—as if time itself grew roots. Duskrunner howled, cornered briefly. Raven pulled him free with a whip-snap chain, only to find the Seer disrupted by the beast’s slam.

But eventually, their coordination cracked the ritual.

The beast fell first, spine pierced by illusions. The Acolyte followed, its staff exploding in a burst of corrupted spores.

Silence returned.

Then the floor shifted.

Roots in the center of the arena coiled upward, spiraling together. Bark ground against bone. A shape began to rise—massive, armored, deliberate. Like a tree carved into the shape of a knight.

Its head clicked into place. A mask of layered bark. Hollow eye sockets. Its arms ended in blunt limbs, sword and shield.

—Ironbark Seneschal—

Mid Boss Type: Area Damage, Healer

Role: Trial Warden / Escalating Punisher

Abilities:

Growth Denial Slam: Increases in damage and arena coverage with each stack. Caps at five. Must be interrupted.

Ascension Growth: Buffs its own regeneration and strips all external effects from players (buffs, shields, heals).

Quadrant Lock: Splits arena into sectors, reducing maneuverability.

Compost Judgment: Delivers fatal AoE if five stacks are reached.

It did not roar.

It spoke.

"Foreign organisms identified. Growth, shallow. Purpose, irrelevant."

Its eyes pulsed once—dull green, like sap curdled in age.

"Rite of the root will proceed. Observation unnecessary. Resistance... immaterial."

A sudden vine snapped from beneath Raven’s feet, slapping a brand across his chest. Not damage. A mark.

Ascension Growth.

The system chimed in his UI—his buffs and his armor bonuses greyed out. No shield. No haste. Nothing external.

"Tch. What an annoying skill effect," Raven muttered to himself before barking new commands to his team. "Ascension Growth... boosts recovery but shuts down all outside buffs and heals. We’re on our own for this."

He took a step back, scanning the arena and saw that the buff also gave a healing over time effect to the Ironbark Seneschal.

"Duskrunner, hold back on Alpha’s Wrath. You won’t stack anything like this."

The wolf gave a low growl but fell into a prowling stance.

"Seer, you’re still clean. Disrupt its patterns. Buy us time."

Phantom Seer shimmered and phased sideways, echoing laughter trailing in its wake.

But mid-phase, something went wrong.

A jutting root surged upward—precise, unnatural. It clipped the Seer mid-materialization, causing his form to flicker violently. For a split second, the illusionary armor distorted into chaos—multiple limbs out of sync, mask half-formed.

The shadows bent... but not fast enough this time.

He landed in a crouch, off-balance, one claw dragging deep into the moss-lined stone.

"Damage received," the Seer rasped, voice laced with static. Then it vanished again, regaining tempo—but not arrogance.

Raven exhaled, adjusting his grip.

"Mask’s dead. No resonance. I’m running cold."

He moved to intercept—but too late. The Seneschal slammed the ground with both arms.

Growth Denial Slam – Stack 1

Raven flipped backward, barely escaping the blast radius. Roots exploded upward in a grid, carving the arena into four glowing sectors.

"Move zones," he snapped.

Duskrunner jumped instantly. Phantom Seer shimmered and slid.

Raven stepped right.

The boss turned toward him.

Before it spoke, the roots flared. freēwēbηovel.c૦m

Without warning, a cluster of thick vines shot from the floor, circling Raven’s boots and wrists. He jumped—late. One tendril lashed across his leg as he twisted free.

[Player HP: -12%]

He landed in a crouch, teeth gritted. His Dominion Chain nearly misfired mid-gesture. He reset, exhaled sharp.

"Right. Not just my summons under threat, huh."

"This chamber remembers better contenders. You are compost."

And then it came.

Raven narrowed his eyes, watching as the Ironbark Seneschal raised both arms again, the ritual growing louder with each slam.

"Every slam is a countdown," he muttered. "If it hits five, we’re done. Someone has to interrupt it. Every time we hit it mid-cast, it resets."

He glanced around. All three sectors were pulsing with area-of-effect energy, thorns stabbing up through the stone like jagged teeth.

The boss raised its arms again, slamming them down with a heavy crack—another wave of roots burst upward, flooding the arena with another round of spiraling AoEs. The ground shook under Raven’s boots.

Growth Denial Slam – Stack 2

Feels more heavy than the first slam. None of them could reach the Seneschal safely.

Duskrunner leapt for cover—too late. A stray vine snagged his hind leg mid-air, dragging him back toward the center as the Seneschal raised its arms again.

"Shit—!" Raven snapped his chain forward, wrapping it around the wolf’s flank and yanking hard.

A burst of bark-shrapnel exploded just behind them as the slam hit.

Duskrunner skidded out of the blast zone, limping.

[Companion HP: 78%]

The Seneschal’s gaze followed the movement. Its head tilted.

Raven cursed under his breath.

"Too close. Fall back, buddy. No mistakes from here on out."

"We’re boxed in," he hissed. "Two stacks already. Just a matter of time before we’re toast."

A faint memory blinked through his head—Phantom Seer.

"Wait. Haunting Mirage."

His eyes snapped to the Seer. "Seer! Haunting Mirage—now! Trick it! Make it see those Sentinels again."

"Of course, Sir," The Phantom Seer answered before shimmered violently, shadows flaring across the sector.

Illusions bloomed like infected thoughts—twisted echoes of the Spitegrowth Sentinels rising from the floor.

The Seneschal paused. Its mask tilted. Then it turned and swung.

The attack struck nothing but smoke.

Raven didn’t waste the opening.

He spun his chain in a tight circle, faster, faster, until it buzzed in the air. His gaze locked onto the boss’s chest, where a dull green glow pulsed deep within the bark plating.

"Let’s see if you can bleed."

He hurled the chain straight into the center of the Ironbark Seneschal’s chest in a lightning speed.

The impact connected. Hard.

The Seneschal reeled back, vines snapping violently in all directions like pain signals firing through a nervous system. For the first time, its stance broke. It stumbled a full step, bark cracking across its torso. The green glow pulsed erratically.

Its arms faltered.

The ground shuddered beneath them as part of the arena’s quadrant cracked inward—one of the growth sectors collapsing into raw rootwork. The Seneschal twisted, recalibrating.

[Growth Denial Stack Progress Reset → 0]

Raven’s eyes widened.

"It worked... We rattled it."

But even as he said it, the glow steadied. The boss straightened.

This wasn’t over.

Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m