Tsuna looked up at the Enhanced Species—Stone Golem—that had just missed crushing him with a fatal blow.
That kind of destructive force… I couldn't possibly take it head-on. But its speed is still lacking.
He began analyzing the creature's capabilities.
Its overwhelming strength could easily compensate for its slow speed—especially in the confined space of this cavern. Its enormous size further restricted movement, turning the entire battlefield into its own domain. Within such a narrow space, that destructive power was like a live bomb, one that could explode at any given moment.
The rock composing its body can only be damaged by first-class weapons. But what if I attack from the inside?
Breaking through that hardened exterior would be difficult—but if he struck from within…
Flames of Sun and Cloud burst to life around him. The seeds he had fired earlier suddenly sprouted, vines shooting outward and wrapping swiftly around the Stone Golem's body. The living plants grew at an astonishing rate, tearing open cracks from within the monster's stony shell.
Sun accelerated the plants' growth. Cloud allowed them to propagate endlessly—and even devour energy to expand themselves faster.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Root after root coiled tightly around the Enhanced Species, binding it completely. The rocky armor of its body began to crumble under the crushing pressure of the vines.
"GAAAAH!"
The Stone Golem let out an ear-splitting wail, thrashing violently, but no matter how it struggled—no matter how many vines it tore apart—new ones immediately grew back, twining even tighter than before.
"Wood overcomes earth, you idiot."
Anything made of stone was powerless before the force of rapidly growing roots.
"Now… let's see if this encounter of ours was really just a coincidence."
Tsuna's eyes sharpened as he stared at the immobilized monster.
Purple flames ignited along the vines, spreading rapidly. The harder the roots constricted, the brighter the violet fire burned, until the entire formation resembled a colossal tree wreathed in purple flame. Each branch blazed like it bore leaves of living fire.
The creature trapped within the burning tree shattered apart, its form disintegrating into fragments. At the center, a massive Magic Stone remained—but even that had gone fragile and translucent, like candy that had been melted and left to harden again.
Tsuna approached slowly.
A normal Magic Stone… nothing unusual about it. Was I just being paranoid?
He glanced around. A temporary barrier—nearly invisible to the naked eye—had been erected around him since the battle began. Yet there had been no signal, no external interference, no trace of intrusion.
So it really was nothing after all, he thought, lowering his guard.
After all, finding an Enhanced Species in the Dungeon wasn't anything extraordinary.
Tsuna exhaled softly, shook his head, and turned to leave—
Thud!
The instant he moved, three tendrils burst from behind and pierced through his body.
A grotesque fetus, hidden within the shattered Magic Stone, launched itself out and latched onto Tsuna's back.
But a heartbeat later—splat!—the fetus hit the ground hard.
"???"
The deformed creature froze, utterly stunned, its consciousness ending in that moment.
Tsuna stepped casually to the side, unscathed, his expression calm.
Just as I thought.
To avoid detection, they hid this thing inside the Magic Stone. So the Enhanced Species really was targeting me specifically… Those bastards' craftsmanship is impressive—embedding a Spirit Embryo within a monster like that.
But how did they make it focus on me? My face has never been exposed to the public. There's no way they know what I look like.
He frowned.
If they did, they'd have plastered my face all over Orario long ago, instead of wasting time using Enhanced Species as assassins.
Then, a sudden realization struck him.
Wait… that's it! They don't need to know my face. They only have to make sure the Enhanced Species avoids attacking anyone whose face they've seen before.
That way, even without recognizing me directly, they could still isolate and pinpoint me.
Still, a deeper question lingered.
But how did they even create and control an Enhanced Species like that?
Spirit Embryos of the Corrupted Spirits had a strong parasitic influence on monsters. Once a monster was infected, it would be strengthened—what one might call a "lesser corruption." Its form would begin evolving toward that of a true Corrupted Spirit.
Enhanced Species, on the other hand, were Dungeon monsters that devoured the Magic Stones of their own kind. Only those that consumed enough would undergo mutation, developing the trait of Cannibalism. Such creatures would devour anything—even their own allies.
To nurture one of these monsters… and then implant a Spirit Embryo within it? That was beyond strange—it was unnatural.
Two parasitic entities, both capable of corrupting and consuming others—how could they possibly coexist?
A double negative turning positive? That doesn't make sense.
Curiosity sparked in his mind. A tiny Memory Worm quietly crept from his hand, sliding into the Spirit Embryo's head to search its memories—to uncover how the Corrupted Spirits had managed this.
Snap!
The moment the worm entered, the fetus's head swelled grotesquely—then burst apart with a sharp pop, splitting into three dripping chunks.
Tsuna blinked, momentarily stunned, then smirked.
So that's it. No wonder my barrier didn't detect any signal. The fetus was rigged with an external control system. The moment I tried probing its core memories, the self-destruct protocol triggered.
"Tch tch… To think a Spirit would go this far to guard its secrets. Should I feel honored?" he muttered dryly.
Being treated as a high-risk target was, in its own way, a compliment. But it also meant he'd lost the perfect chance to study this strange "negative meets negative" fusion directly.
Still, Tsuna couldn't shake the sense that a certain coincidence had played a role in bringing these two corrupting forces together.
Snap!
Space rippled beside him as the Space Rabbit appeared, swiftly sealing the remains—the charred tree and the Spirit Embryo's fragments—before storing them into the Alternate Dimension.
Even if the Spirit Embryo was completely destroyed, Tsuna could still reverse-engineer the remnants to study how this form had been achieved.
It would just take… a little more time.