“Retreated? They… just retreated like that?”
On the city wall, a soot-covered soldier leaned against the battlements, staring in disbelief at the snakefolk forces disappearing in the distance.
The next second, a wave of ecstatic cheers swept the entire wall.
“We survived! We won!”
“Hahaha! What kind of demons are these? All bark!”
“See that? My self-destruct Puchi blew a snakefolk’s tail wide open!”
Everyone cheered. The Puchi masters were the most excited; others had far less sense of participation, and frankly, they preferred it that way.
Angela leaned against the cold brick wall and let out a long breath.
Only when her taut nerves finally relaxed did she notice her sword hand was still trembling slightly.
Not long ago, she had been prepared to die; she had no interest in experiencing life as a slave.
To be alive now…
“Puchi masters… are pretty useful,” she murmured.
Of course, “useful” referred to the potential of the profession itself, not the rabble under her command.
These first-time-combat Puchi masters had perfectly embodied “rookie.”
No tactical awareness, no discipline; once engaged, pure chaos.
Today’s victory relied entirely on the Puchis’ inherent annoyingness.
Not just the Puchi masters; even the archers and crossbowmen on the wall had performed poorly.
From the snakefolk corpses, fewer than twenty had died to arrows. Friendly-fire Puchi kills were far more numerous.
Yet despite such messy coordination, they had repelled what had seemed an invincible snakefolk force!
This proved the immense potential of the Puchi master class.
Angela thought: if the snakefolk had ignored everything and prioritized killing the Puchi masters, it might have been smarter.
But clearly, even they hadn’t fully understood Puchi masters’ traits, let alone the enemy.
Anyway, they had survived!
For now…
“These Puchis… any way to replenish them?” Viscount Knight’s voice pulled Angela back to reality.
The lord was clearly already thinking about future defense. Half their Puchis gone left him very insecure.
Angela and the other commander exchanged glances. They had no idea!
The original Puchi master commander had deserted.
In the end, they called several Puchi squad leaders to discuss.
“Feed monster corpses to the fungal mat in the Puchi Dungeon; Puchis grow.”
“We can’t get back to the dungeon now!”
“What about the mat inside the city?”
“Probably not… I heard Puchi gestation mainly depends on ambient mana. Surface concentration isn’t enough…”
“Feed more corpses?”
“Where are we getting monster corpses? Risk running into demons to hunt now?”
“Did anyone say they have to be monster corpses…?”
The group talked back and forth, then fell silent simultaneously, gazes turning to the snakefolk corpses outside the city.
Using enemy dead to breed their own forces; the idea felt perfectly natural. No one had the slightest psychological burden.
Not only snakefolk corpses but every scrap of fallen Puchi was carefully collected and spread evenly over the city’s fungal mat.
The few fallen wingfolk and defenders killed by magic or thrown spears on the wall were buried elsewhere in the city.
Without Lin Jun accelerating with mana, decomposition was slow.
Angela and the viscount checked several times a day.
Fortunately, no other demon forces appeared nearby in the following days.
Day one: fine mycelium quietly covered the corpses like spiderwebs. Mushrooms began sprouting around the mat.
Day two: mushroom clusters visibly increased, even including a few tempting “delicious mushrooms.” Left untouched by day, two fearless beastman soldiers secretly picked them at night for a snack.
Day three: change finally came. Amid the half-decomposed corpse pile, the first newborn Puchi poked out its round body. Around it, more half-formed Puchi shapes emerged from the mat.
When a Puchi master successfully linked mentally with the newborn, everyone present let out a collective sigh of relief.
In the days after, newborn Puchis sprouted like bamboo after rain.
Before the corpses were fully consumed, losses were not only replaced but slightly exceeded.
Combat strength restored, the hearts that had hung for days finally settled.
They didn’t know that, purely in terms of mana, decomposing a hundred-plus snakefolk couldn’t produce over three thousand Puchis. The shortfall had naturally been subsidized by Lin Jun.
No helping it. Goldvalley City was the Puchi masters’ debut. The prettier the record, the more attention they’d get later.
Mana-wise, Lin Jun took the loss as buying skill proficiency.
A few days later, another demon group arrived outside Goldvalley City, but fewer than the snakefolk.
After a probing attack that left dozens of corpses, they quickly withdrew.
For a long time after, no demons bothered Goldvalley City. Instead, humans came in droves.
Goldvalley had held because of Puchi masters. Nearby towns without them fell one after another to small demon detachments.
With every captured settlement, some survivors escaped. Many made their way to Goldvalley City.
Refugees and routed soldiers poured in.
Their arrival added little real combat strength but worsened the already strained food reserves.
Goldvalley City also became a bigger target.
Birdman scouts recently spotted many demon scouts lurking nearby.
The previous two times, Goldvalley had been left alone not because they were stronger.
Those enemies could have taken the city if they pressed hard. They withdrew only because it wasn’t worth the cost.
But now, with massive refugee influx, Goldvalley City’s “value” in demon eyes was rapidly rising.
Angela realized it probably wouldn’t be long before the city became a target worth the demons’ full effort.
“The worst case,” her voice was low as she swept her gaze over everyone present, “is several demon forces attacking at once.”
In the meeting hall, besides Viscount Knight and her fellow thousand-man commander colleague, a new face had joined: Baron Morton.
He had broken out wounded from his fallen territory, his troops nearly annihilated, but his diamond-tier strength let him survive.
“We need more Puchi masters,” the viscount said.
Angela reminded, “We tried symbiosis earlier. Success rate isn’t as high as in the dungeon, but it works. Problem is we have no more corpses to breed Puchis.”
The viscount’s finger slowly moved across the map, finally stopping at a mark west of Goldvalley City.
Cape Valor, a small port that once traded heavily with Goldvalley.
“It fell a few days ago,” Baron Morton reminded. His territory was nearby; he knew the area’s fall well.
Viscount Knight slowly shook his head. “Precisely because it fell, we must send people.”
“Viscount, you mean…” Angela vaguely guessed but still found it hard to believe.
“We need corpses,” Viscount Knight’s voice was terrifyingly calm. “More corpses.”
Baron Morton shot to his feet. “You’re insane? Those are human remains! You want to use them to…”
“They’re already dead!” the viscount suddenly raised his voice. “But we’re still alive! All those people in the city want to live! Without enough Puchis, we can’t hold the next attack! Then everyone dies!”
Baron Morton opened his mouth, but ultimately sat back down without retorting.
Viscount Knight looked at everyone present, voice calm again. “Round trip at least two days… Who will go?”
…
Meanwhile, a large ship sailed slowly along the coastline.
(End of Chapter)
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