The situation I had feared while climbing the floors came to pass: meeting a dryad of the same species as Wolfsbane. I knew very well how formidable Wolfsbane was from experiencing it firsthand. When he’s on our side, he’s reassuring, but as an enemy, he’s too much to handle.

Moreover, unlike our Wolfsbane, who still carried a boyish air, this opponent appeared to be a fully grown adult. His equipment was also more ornate. It was nice seeing our kid’s future look, but the future meant that other guy was likely more capable, right?

Earlier, Papyrus said he had succeeded just once in mixing the blessing of the World Tree into a modified Monkshood… I think that one time was with that guy.

“This is truly an unprecedented event in history. A sleeping dryad waking up again on its own power. And of all things, an unprepared toxic herb dryad. This is a crisis. We need to call for help.”

As Papyrus hurriedly tried to run off somewhere, the big Wolfsbane raised his staff. I knew from watching our Wolfsbane beside me—that was an attack stance.

I urgently called Daisy, and she extended a vine, wrapping it around Papyrus’s waist and pulling him back. Black water was bubbling up from where Papyrus had been heading. That guy uses the same skill too.

“Ah, no! If you recklessly spray poison like that, the seeds stored here will be in danger!”

Papyrus, dragged over to us, broke out in a cold sweat and shouted at the big Wolfsbane. He turned and pushed our shoulders toward the entrance, speaking urgently.

“Even you with feet, please leave this place quickly. If we close this greenhouse now, we can protect the seeds outside for the time being. Convey this situation to the humans in the alchemy tower instead.”

“That won’t do…”

The staff of the great aconite pointed at us. Why do these kids love throwing the first punch so much?

The intense scent of smoke that wafted every time a crisis was turned around brushed against my nose. In an instant, Mesquite from the artifact raised a shield and stood in front. The great aconite flinched in surprise and stepped back.

Around that time, the acacia curse effects lingering on Daisy and Mesquite’s weapons, fortunately, disappeared.

“Ah… no, what is this…! Didn’t you say you were a dryad? That… isn’t that a druid’s terrarium artifact?”

Next, pointing at my brightly glowing artifact, as if the elder was about to burst out, Papyrus asked in a surprised voice.

No, no matter how I look, I don’t look like a dryad, do I? It’s not like I have flowers attached somewhere on my body. I didn’t exactly try hard to hide it, but you just fell for it too easily.

“Humans cannot be here!”

I silently pointed at the great aconite. Asking me to request help from humans? I’m probably the only lifeline here. Papyrus groaned, looking back and forth between the great aconite and me.

“Humans aren’t allowed… The seed repository must be operated to minimize human contact…”

He muttered in a very small voice. He didn’t seem intent on stopping us much. The aconite who had once ruined an entire region. If that great aconite ran wild, the plants that couldn’t escape, as he said, wouldn’t survive. Even if they were the same poisonous herbs, they couldn’t overcome the power a dryad wields.

“That’s cowardly.”

The great aconite lifted her hood with a swish and looked at Mesquite. His fluffy, cotton-candy-like violet hair swayed gently.

The elder, who popped out next, looked around, furrowed his brow greatly, and pulled me.

“How did you end up in such a dangerous place? It’s all poisonous herbs out there! You could get your skin badly irritated just by touching them—how can you be so defenseless?”

The only bare skin was my face, but the elder, checking everywhere, seemed overly fussy. Still, being worried about by the elder felt nice, so I stayed quiet and let him be. His frantic expression was quite a sight.

“This is a duel among members of the same species vying for the throne. If another dryad intervenes, they cannot be recognized as king.”

The great aconite spoke, chewing on each word, and glared at our aconite. Wait, when did this become a succession battle for the throne? It was you, the bigger one, who attacked first out of the blue.

“Hmm, so you’re also an improved variety of Monkshood? I didn’t expect there to be another one.”

“What? Another creature that defies the natural order of the World Tree?”

At the words of Mesquite and Elder, the large Wolfsbane lifted his chin.

“Hmph, from now on, the Reforma Monkshood Dryad will be unique—ending with me alone. How laughable that you dare to covet my noble position.”

He pointed his staff at our Wolfsbane. It seemed like a summons for our Wolfsbane to step forward immediately.

“A duel for the throne of the Forest King? If so, it’s only fitting that members of the same species fight each other.”

Mesquite glanced back at Wolfsbane and spoke. Our Elder was making a huge fuss about following a butterfly to find his own wild species, and yet here, Wolfsbane had unexpectedly encountered his counterpart.

The Forest… Thinking back to what Mesquite had said in Romgato’s lab, if Monkshood were to place that large Monkshood in the forest, he would indeed become stronger. According to Papyrus, it seemed these two were the only improved Monkshood varieties that had become Dryads.

“So… my master, Jae. What will you do? Will you let them compete for the Forest King’s throne here?”

I’d greet the chance for our Wolfsbane’s evolution with open arms. But isn’t the situation a bit ambiguous? If Papyrus were to use his tricks and summon the people from the Alchemy Tower…

I looked at Papyrus, who was silently quiet. He was hiding behind the smaller Daisy, glancing furtively toward the entrance. I couldn’t let him escape.

“Daisy, keep that Dryad from running away.”

“Yes! I’ll hold him tight!”

“W-Why are you doing this! I’m a Dryad specialized in records—I have no combat power! If you treat me so roughly, I’ll snap like a dry twig! I’m a Dryad more valuable than hundreds of books!”

“If you go out and call people, it’ll be trouble, right?”

“This place is not meant for humans! So you leaving is the rule here…”

Mesquite clicked her lance and drew it with a sound. That alone was enough, but it seemed to be a great threat to Papyrus, who clamped his mouth shut.

“Master Jae… let me handle this on my own. I don’t want to lose my throne…”

Wolfsbane adjusted his large glasses and shuffled forward. Seeing this, the large Wolfsbane smirked with one corner of his mouth raised.

“That’s how you should come out.”

The large Wolfsbane extended the hand not holding his staff and wiggled his fingers one by one. At that moment, an unpleasant humming vibration swept through the surroundings, just like before.

Papyrus now clung to Daisy’s stem as if it were a lifeline and spoke in a voice overflowing with despair.

“Ah… It won’t be easy. According to the history of this seed repository… this place is inside the artifact of the improved monkshood. To suppress poison with a stronger poison, the entire area was sealed within the artifact.”

Why are you only saying that now!

Soon after, the plants inside began to wither rapidly, and a puddle of black water started to pool on the floor. Just like the swamp of death where we first encountered the monkshood. The damp, sticky air, the vines hanging like disheveled hair—the dreadful place was being recreated.

“Ah… No! The precious seeds…!”

Papyrus stomped his feet pitifully and cried out.

Elder hastily pulled me to a spot where the floor was still intact, clicking his tongue. We all remembered—the sight from that day.

“If the others help even a little in the fight, you lose.”

Great Wolfsbane spoke to our Wolfsbane in a slow, amused voice.

What a dirty trick! Fighting inside your own artifact—how is that a fair fight?!

Even if the same species means the same natural battlefield is created, one side gets to fight in optimal conditions. As much as our Daisy struggled against White Daisy, Wolfsbane won’t have it easy either.

“Do you know how the winner of a poison vs. poison duel is decided? The stronger poison survives.”

Wolfsbane gripped his staff tightly at those words. The dandelion in full bloom on his staff folded its petals, converting itself into an offensive form. The child glanced at me once, then wore a resolute expression.

“No… That’s not what makes poison scary.”

He was already losing in voice volume—could our Wolfsbane really manage? We retreated far away to avoid getting caught in the battle where all sorts of deadly poison debuffs would fly back and forth.

With poison puddles everywhere, nowhere was truly safe. We’d used up all the panacea Dandelion gave us, and now Wolfsbane, who could remove debuffs, had to focus on the fight. There was really no way out.

Great Wolfsbane raised his staff, and a cluster of purple light bloomed from the flower dangling on it—a light reminiscent of the moths that had tormented us. Our Wolfsbane raised his staff in response, refusing to be outdone. The true mirror match had begun.

But this was inside Great Wolfsbane’s artifact—a space where all debuff attacks were nullified against him. Just like with the Cannabis Dryad, if poison doesn’t work on the one with high resistance, then… Does our Wolfsbane have stronger resistance than that dryad?

From the floor, black water of unknown origin gushed up like hot spring water, and dreadful blue-purple moths flew all around.

Mesquite erected sand walls, and Elder used the power of the ruby ring to cast a barrier, barely reducing the poison’s influence around us.

Every time he heard the fizzling sound of the moth-light group crashing against the wall and shattering, Papyrus’s expression grew darker. Daisy endured with her high vitality, Mesquite with her resistance, and Elder with his recovery, but he, who was neither a dryad nor possessed his own combat prowess with Marlon, looked extremely strained.

In truth, the most endangered person was me, an ordinary human, yet I was less affected than Papyrus. I was curious about what it felt like to be hit by a poison debuff, but I didn’t particularly want to step forward and confirm it.

Beyond Elder’s transparent barrier, I could see our Wolfsbane clutching his chest and gasping for air.

Oh no! Even though our kid had grown, it seemed he still wasn’t strong enough to withstand the poison of the Great Wolfsbane.

When he was a child, Wolfsbane had been a crybaby and coward, but once he became an attack type, he boasted terrifying power. Having only ever seen him devastate everything around him, I was bewildered to see him in such a crisis. It felt like he had run into the biggest wall he could ever encounter.

All I could do was focus my soul connection on Wolfsbane, shifting the team’s main role to him to boost his attack power.

But since the opponent was immune to Wolfsbane’s only weapon—the poison debuff—there was no solution from the start. Still, Wolfsbane kept showcasing all his skills and attacking him relentlessly.

If he had switched to a support recovery type and dispelled the debuffs, it should have worked, but for some reason, Wolfsbane didn’t do that. He just silently kept emitting more moth-light groups and a mysterious, fine, blue-violet powder.

As the floor grew increasingly filled with poison pools, turning into a quagmire, I had to jump onto a desk cluttered with tools to barely avoid stepping into them.

The scary thing about the poison debuff was its stacking. Even Elder, who could use powerful healing, eventually succumbed to the dot damage exceeding his healing capacity, because the mounting damage intensified over time like a mountain, making it the most fearsome opponent to face.

Right now, Wolfsbane wasn’t struggling because he didn’t know how to fight properly; rather, he was enduring the accumulating debuffs to an almost reckless degree while spewing poison. What on earth was he thinking?