Clash

The first wave of probing attacks began.

The swiftly moving Lizardman warriors charged at the very front. While running across the ice surface, some Lizardmen with acute hearing could even hear the sounds of Puchis digging and chiseling beneath the ice, though these sounds quickly disappeared.

The temperature of this ice surface, frozen by magic, was much lower than the surrounding environment.

Beneath the ice surface, the frozen area was still continuously expanding.

Those Puchis that approached first were trapped by the spreading ice. Although not dead, they couldn't move.

On the ice surface, the Lizardmen fired arrows and magic toward the two defensive positions.

The dwarven camp, even if only temporarily erected, possessed a defensive capability that was absolutely not low.

Arrows fell with ding-dong sounds onto the steel bunkers hardened by runes, completely unable to harm the dwarves behind them.

Magic blasting onto them had some effect, but using these highly cost-effective bunkers to consume the limited mana of the Demon-kin mages was obviously exactly what the dwarves wanted to see.

And when the first Lizardman crossed the river surface and wanted to approach the dwarven camp, a Gale Trap rune hidden on the ground blew this unlucky guy into the sky. Upon landing, he triggered another Mana Burst Trap, blowing him to pieces so dead he couldn't be any deader.

Subsequently, even if guys possessing both strength and luck jumped into the bunkers, what awaited them were the axes and hammers the dwarves had prepared long ago.

Obviously, if one wanted to attack the dwarven bunkers, they either had to use siege-level magic items, or they could only honestly clear all the traps before launching a large-scale attack.

Compared to the dwarves' steel bunkers, the Mushroom Fortress's mushroom camp next door looked much easier to deal with.

The covers built from rough giant stones found who-knows-where showed no traces of enhancement runes; every strike would knock off a large amount of crushed stone.

The giant mushroom trees nearby responsible for providing concealment were even more fragile; two Mana Bursts aimed at the roots could blow them down.

The only slight trouble was the hallucinogenic spores emitted by the mushroom trees, but when a gale blew most of the spores away, everything was no longer a problem.

Clearly, comparing the two, the Mushroom Fortress looked more like a soft persimmon.

However, when the Lizardmen truly got close, rolling waves of Puchis surged out from the camp, quickly drowning them out.

After suffering setbacks on both sides, the Lizardmen temporarily retreated.

Eugene wore an indifferent expression. This round was originally just a probing attack, and now he had roughly figured out the tactics of both sides.

With an order from Eugene, heavily armored Horned Demon warriors drove herds of goblins into the battlefield.

Originally, those captives were meant to be used here, but the captives had already been consumed on the way. Now they could only settle for the next best thing and use cannon-fodder goblins instead.

The goblins also knew their situation, but retreating meant certain death by the Horned Demons' blades, while advancing might allow them to survive if they were lucky.

At the cost of a massive number of goblins, the Horned Demons braved the crushed stones and magic thrown from the dwarven positions and finally charged to close quarters.

A Horned Demon leaped into the air, its tall body actually jumping nearly ten meters high, instantly crossing over several steel plates and landing inside the camp.

Two dwarves at the landing point had just thought to counterattack, but were sent flying by a windmill swing of the Horned Demon's spiked club.

However, in the next moment, a giant axe struck out.

The Horned Demon only attacked without defending, swinging the spiked club backhanded.

"You're not strong enough!"

Bador took this blow solidly. Even the armor on his shoulder dented inward, but his body didn't move a single inch, let alone being sent flying.

And opposite him, the Horned Demon was cleaved diagonally from the shoulder to the waist.

The upper half fell to the ground, leaving only the blood-spurting lower half still standing, not falling for a moment.

However, this was only the beginning. More heavy armored Horned Demons mixed with goblins charged into the positions and began engaging in close-quarters slaughter with the dwarves.

Amidst the chaos, some strange points were inevitably overlooked by people.

For example, warriors lying on the ground dying were dragged little by little into nearby holes by some invisible things...

Even though the battle was fierce, the ground wasn't piled full of corpses and wounded...

Or perhaps, while the two sides were fighting, after a certain swing of a weapon, a Puchi corpse or something would appear in front of them...

Lin Jun controlled the invisible Puchis to wholeheartedly provide medical protection for his dwarven allies.

At the same time, based on the spirit of Mushroomitarianism, Lin Jun didn't let the wounded Demon-kin off either.

As the Boss of the Mushroom Fortress, Lin Jun placed almost all his attention on the dwarven positions, while the Mushroom Fortress's own positions were fully entrusted to Little Pig to command.

Eugene targeted more mages specifically at the Mushroom Fortress's positions. Facing swarms of Puchis, large-scale area-of-effect magical attacks often had miraculous results.

However, the exits of the underground networks everywhere also made the mages hesitate for fear of collateral damage.

The fate of that guy earlier, who charged too far ahead and was surrounded by Puchis drilling out from holes, was still vivid in their minds.

The other mages had to slow their pace. Under the escort of other soldiers, they cleared the hole entrances and advanced slowly.

And during this period, they also had to be careful of those immensely powerful Resonance Cannons in the Mushroom Fortress positions.

Almost no mage could block a Resonance Cannon relying on their own power. Fortunately, before the Resonance Cannon fired, the commotion caused by the convergence of massive amounts of mana was very obvious, allowing them to prepare to dodge in advance.

Up until now, most of the casualties among the mages weren't killed directly by the Resonance Cannons.

Rather, they were forced to move quickly under the threat of the Resonance Cannons, and subsequently accidentally fell into Puchi encirclements, resulting in casualties.

However, the battle line was still gradually closing in on the crude stone walls of the Mushroom Fortress positions.

...

"Quick, quick! The Resonance Cannon is about to fire, you guys shoot tentacles at his feet, keep him rooted in place!"

"Damn it, One-Eye, where are the Puchis you're in charge of? Why didn't they attack together?"

"They got taken out! An earth mage pushed the soil and crushed my hidden ones to death!"

"They're getting closer and closer, do we prepare for close combat?"

The Puchi Masters picked up their weapons. Even though the enemy was closing in, no one chose to drill into the holes to retreat. Because Marshal Louisa hadn't issued a transfer order, leaving one's post without permission would not only turn one into a mushroom puppet but also cancel death compensation and make one the laughingstock of everyone after tea and meals.

Moreover, the Ministry of Truth had said that for those truly loyal to the Mushroom Fortress and the Boss, even after death...

"We're here, brothers!"

Accompanied by voices in the mycelial network, a dense swarm of Puchis flew rapidly across the sky.

They weren't controlled by Lin Jun, but were the second-generation Mushroom Tribe members after Mushroom Ascension!

Some of them were members of the Church of Mushroom from the United Kingdom, and some were local deceased members of the Mushroom Fortress.

Possessing Puchi bodies and independent souls, they could still command Puchis while simultaneously integrating perfectly into Puchi combat formations. They were the most suitable for commanding highly mobile units like the flying Puchis.

This was the first time Will, who was just a farmer when he was alive, had been on a battlefield. Even though he had trained hard in flying and commanding beforehand, at this moment, facing the chaotic battlefield below, he still appeared extremely nervous and harbored a trace of instinctive fear.

Relying entirely on firm faith, he pushed his mushroom cap forward and charged.

But this also made his actions lose their proper methods. Upon seeing the enemy, he subconsciously led the Puchis and charged over.

That mage also noticed Will's Puchi squad. Raising his hand, a Gale spell blew the Puchis scattering in all directions.

The wind blade closely following behind cleaved Will in two, immediately ending his life right there.

Poof—

Will abruptly jumped up from a mycelial cocoon, the scene of his recent death seemingly still vivid before his eyes.

After finally managing to calm down, he finally noticed an extra piece of information in his consciousness.

[Will]

[This Round's Battle Record: 0]

[Evaluation: D-]

Looking at this lowest evaluation, Will was somewhat embarrassed.

Turning around, a new squad of flying Puchis had already connected under his command.

Beside him were several other Mushroom Converts who, like him, had been taken out for various reasons not long after deploying.

I can't lose face again this time—Will on his second playthrough thought to himself.

(End of Chapter)