Inside Dragon's Roar Valley, the warriors who'd returned with Alama nearly all bore light injuries.
As for the heavily wounded—they hadn't managed to withdraw together. That rabid dog Veralith had still left behind quite a few soldiers.
But in everyone's eyes shone a bit more light than before departure.
The arrival of reinforcements gave these warriors, who'd thought death certain, a sliver of hope.
Duke Alama's gaze swept over this peculiar relief force—Puchi Handlers. This was his first time seeing them in person.
He'd also watched most of their combat. Though there were quite a few puzzling aspects, like who was controlling those obviously much stronger Puchi, overall he was still surprised by this new army's combat capability.
Suppressing his inner amazement, he strode quickly toward the man at the very front of the Puchi Handler troops who looked like the commander.
"Thank you for extending aid in this situation. I am Alama Saint Clair." His voice was hoarse from weakness but still carried authority. "Are you the commander of this force?"
The adjutant instinctively straightened his spine, but a trace of barely noticeable awkwardness crossed his face. He'd just opened his mouth: "I'm only..."
Before he finished, a clear, even somewhat proud young woman's voice came from behind him, from that tallest heavy-armor Puchi: "I'm the commander!"
Under Alama and Lorenzo's astonished gazes, that heavy-armor Puchi's hard mushroom cap edge was pushed open a crack by a pale hand. Then a head poked out.
Pink long hair flowed like a waterfall from the cap edge down, nearly touching the Puchi's hard belly.
Inanna still had some mycelium smudged on her face. Her jade-green eyes sparkled with a mix of excitement and "praise me" light as she looked down at her father from her high position.
"Old man!" She declared loudly, as if she'd just achieved an epic victory. "I came to save you!"
Time seemed to freeze in this moment.
Lorenzo was first to react: "Grand-niece? You-you-you-you—how did you end up running here?"
Then he turned his head, wanting to say something to Alama, but the latter was already not in a state to listen.
The expression on Alama's face went from initial seriousness, to shock upon recognizing his daughter, to bewilderment after confirmation. Finally, all emotions like the sea before a storm were replaced by suppressed fury.
He stared blankly at his daughter—the daughter he'd thought was still safely in the rear—now appearing in this mountain of corpses and sea of blood, this desperate place that could be annihilated at any moment?!
The scene Inanna had imagined of her father moved to tears, hugging her legs and thanking her profusely, didn't appear.
"Inanna... how—are—you—here?!"
...
In the crowd, a soldier covered in blood slightly widened his eyes at Inanna's exposed head.
Then he naturally stepped back a few paces, silently separating from the reorganizing crowd, moving toward a corner in the valley where damaged equipment was piled and temporarily unoccupied.
Though military discipline under Veralith's command was chaotic, she herself truly wasn't a brainless fool like Eleanor.
In the earlier melee at the valley entrance, despite being caught off-guard by Lin Jun's invisible self-destruct Puchi and failing to successfully stop Alama from receiving reinforcements, she still managed in an extremely short time to successfully wedge in a nail using battlefield chaos.
[Race: Shapeshifter]
[Level: LV42]
However, what the spy didn't know was that a knight Puchi had also separated from the troops and been following behind him all along.
In the corner shadows, the spy vigilantly looked around. After confirming no one was watching, his hand quickly reached into the tattered uniform's lining, fingertips touching a short-range communication device—
A completely transparent yet tough mycelial tentacle suddenly shot out from behind him, tightly wrapping around his mouth, strangling any possible cry in his throat.
Squelch—!
Immediately followed by several muffled sounds of blades penetrating flesh. Several other sharp-tipped tentacles pierced through his chest.
The shapeshifter's body violently convulsed. His throat could only emit muffled "mm-mm" sounds. He tried to activate his talent to change form and break free or counterattack, but the fatal wounds had already drained all his strength.
The disguise peeled away like fading paint, revealing the gray, defeated true form beneath. He collapsed softly to the ground, lifeless.
Several more Puchi walked into this corner and surrounded him. When the Puchi dispersed, aside from some bloodstains, not a trace of excess evidence remained.
It was only because the valley currently had just sporadic creep, with underground network passages still being urgently excavated—otherwise making a shapeshifter disappear wouldn't even require transporting a corpse.
...
On the other side, Inanna's touching reunion with her old man hadn't ended yet, just moved from public view indoors.
"Do you know what kind of place this is? A death ground! A desperate situation! What are you running here for? Looking for death?!" Alama's voice trembled slightly from forcibly suppressed fury. Veins throbbed on his forehead as he glared at his clueless daughter before him.
"What looking for death! I told you, I came to save you!" Inanna unyieldingly lifted her head, jade-green eyes full of stubbornness.
"Save me? When did I ever need you to save me? When did I ever ask you for aid?! You actually... you actually dare..." Alama's chest heaved violently with anger. The following words were almost squeezed out through clenched teeth. For a moment he couldn't find appropriate words to express his current shock and rage.
Lorenzo was seeing Alama rendered nearly speechless with anger for the first time. He stood awkwardly between them, face plastered with a stiff smile, futilely trying to mediate: "Well... let's talk nicely. Grand-niece also has filial intentions..."
Alama suddenly turned to look at Lorenzo, as if grasping at a lifeline. He grabbed his arm tightly with force that made Lorenzo grimace: "Now! Lorenzo, there's still time now! You take her, immediately cross the valley, return to Oath City!"
Before Lorenzo could answer, Inanna shouted first: "I'm not leaving! I said I came to save you, so I came to save you! You can't control my actions!"
Having said that, Inanna angrily turned and left. Two knight Puchi also closely followed behind Inanna, puchi-puchi-ing away together.
Alama roared at his daughter's retreating back but only got gradually departing footsteps as response. He seemed drained of strength, his tall frame slightly hunching.
Lorenzo sighed, stepped forward and patted his old friend's tense shoulder: "Ah, alright alright, calm down first. Things being as they are, let's think again about how we can guarantee grand-niece's safety in this hellhole."
...
Inanna, having finally reunited with her father only to receive a thorough scolding, returned to the Puchi Handler stationed area full of grievance and anger.
The adjutant very sensibly didn't let anyone come disturb her.
Staying alone in the temporarily arranged corner, after the initial anger gradually faded, a trace of barely noticeable fear crept into her heart.
She recalled the earlier brutal battle. Large numbers of Puchi had died horribly. Puchi Handlers had also suffered considerable casualties. In the end they could only retreat into the valley in disarray.
Now few Puchi remained. Outside was a powerful demon legion. Father stubbornly refused to leave... were they really going to be trapped here to death?
She hugged a knight Puchi in her arms, as if only this way could she absorb a trace of security. With a bit of uncertainty, she asked softly: "Boss, do you think... can we really save Father?"
"Little Pink, oh Little Pink," Lin Jun's characteristic voice—always carrying a lazy, teasing tone no matter when—rang in her mind. "You've just spent too little time in the Mushroom Garden. Do you know what the first commandment of the Mushroom Garden is?"
Inanna blankly shook her head, completely unaware there were any commandments.
"That is—absolutely never question the boss!" Lin Jun didn't know of any commandments either, but if he said there were, there would be from now on. "Remember that time we performed at the temporary camp outside Mute Wind Town?"
"I remember!" Inanna's eyes lit up.
"We'll do it again!"
"Mm!" Inanna immediately understood Lin Jun's plan and nodded heavily. Much of the gloom in her heart was dispelled. "Boss, you're really the best!"
"After all, it's to save your father!" Lin Jun's tone sounded very magnanimous. "However, afterward there might be a little 'favor' that needs your assistance. We'll talk about that when the time comes."
"Mm-hmm! Okay!"
...
When Alama and Lorenzo had discussed inside the stone chamber for half the day yet still couldn't find a reliable plan and walked outside with faces full of exhaustion and gravity, they were stunned by the scene before them.
They saw large numbers of soldiers and Puchi Handlers all gathered together, standing on tiptoes, craning their necks, curiously watching something.
In the central clearing amid the crowd, Inanna held that knight Puchi with an expression both awkward and determined, as if performing some ancient prayer ritual, dancing with peculiar rhythm, full of primitive charm.
Even more astonishing—on the small patch of creep beneath her feet, Puchi embryos were continuously emerging at a speed visible to the naked eye!
(End of Chapter)
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