The sky above Dragon Horn Fort was dyed in two colors: half was the orange-red of the sunset, and half was the deep blue of magical power.
Beneath the city walls, the remains of Puchis covered the earth.
The high-intensity fighting had blasted every inch of the land to pieces, and naturally, the fungal mat was not spared.
Layers of charred fungal bodies were stacked upon each other; some were still emitting faint green smoke, while others had already been trampled into a mess of mud by the soldiers of both sides.
Another wave of Puchis surged forward.
They rolled over the corpses, tentacles waving, their round bodies continuously and nimbly dodging through the rain of arrows and magic. However, under the near-saturated volume of attacks, only a few could charge beneath the city walls to self-destruct.
The eastern section of the city wall had collapsed at one corner.
Outside that gap lay a Giant Puchi with only half its body remaining. Its tentacles still maintained a posture of reaching upward, but it had already been corroded into a golden-yellow hue, crumbling into powder at a slight touch. New Puchis were attempting to squeeze in through that crack, only to be stabbed back one by one by the blades of the defenders.
"Watch the sky, they're coming again!" someone shouted.
In the sky, a group of Flying Puchis were flapping their wings and lunging toward the city walls. The archers at high vantage points prioritized dealing with these raiders, but the effect was not very good.
[Combat Intuition], [Flight Mastery], [Evasion]
These Puchis nimbly darted up and down, dodging the majority of the attacks.
At the top of the fortress, the Demon-kin adjutant currently in charge of command, Feng Yi, stood at the edge.
He drew his bow and notched an arrow, his movements as smooth as flowing water.
The moment the bowstring was pulled to its limit, the air around the arrow began to twist and rotate, emitting a sharp, piercing hum.
Release.
The arrow transformed into a violent gale in midair. It spun and roared, sweeping up all the incoming Flying Puchis. Wings were torn, and mycelia were shredded; after a single arrow, they plummeted to the ground one after another.
The arrow's momentum did not subside as it continued forward, crashing into a shelter used by the Mushroom Fortress soldiers below.
The shelter was originally a slope built from giant stones. Several soldiers hiding behind it were controlling their Puchis for the charge.
The moment the storm struck, the giant stones exploded. Those behind only had time to let out a single scream before being swallowed by the violent airflow, ending up either dead or heavily injured.
After firing the arrow, Feng Yi quickly dropped into a prone position.
Two Resonance Cannons struck almost simultaneously.
The first flew past the edge of the wall, crashing into the sky behind and exploding into a ball of blinding white light. The second boomed solidly against the city wall. That section of rune-reinforced wall vibrated violently, and exploding gravel rained down, with several pieces even hitting him on the back.
The surrounding mana gradually calmed. The city wall was still there, the runes barely managing to function.
He stood up and looked at the white expanse of the Puchi army outside the city; a new wave was already surging forward.
It's never-ending. We simply can't kill them all!
The high-intensity combat continued day and night. Both the military supplies and the mana reserves within Dragon Horn Fort were being rapidly consumed.
Not only that, but aside from conventional combat, there were those endless little tricks.
"Lord Feng Yi, those Puchis are digging their way over from underground again!"
"Stop them! We cannot let the fungal mat touch the defensive runes again!" Feng Yi immediately organized a group of Earth-system spellcasters to go beneath Dragon Horn Fort.
When the Puchis first dug tunnels, the defenders were still waiting to laugh at them.
What kind of place was Dragon Horn Fort?
It was a fortress maintained by the Demon-kin for centuries. Its city defense system was so complete that it ranked among the top in the entire Empire's Northern Territory.
The protective runes underground were just as tight as those on the surface; it was impossible to break in just by digging a few holes.
However, those Puchis did not launch a direct attack. Instead, they spread the mycelium through the tunnels.
When the mycelium touched the outer defensive runes, it actually relied on its mana collection ability to directly steal Dragon Horn Fort's mana reserves.
The mana consumption became abnormal. By the time they found the source of the problem, one-third of the reserved mana had already been eaten for nothing, nearly making Feng Yi faint from anger.
Deep beneath Dragon Horn Fort, in the lowermost circular basement.
The room was not large, and the ceiling was covered in runes. The crystal ball in the center was emitting a deep blue glow.
Inside the crystal, nearly a hundred red light dots were moving slowly. Those were the positions of the Puchis detected by the scouting crystal.
At the entrance of the basement, an armored Demon-kin turned around and swept his gaze across the room.
The mages had already stood at their respective casting positions. Several fully armed guards stood by the door, swords and shields in hand, their expressions tense.
"Get ready. I am about to close the outer protection. The duration is still three minutes."
No one answered; there were only a few sounds of heavy breathing.
He pulled open the door and slipped out. The heavy iron door closed behind him with a dull thud.
In the next moment, the defensive runes on the ceiling dimmed.
The mages did not hesitate, beginning their casting almost simultaneously.
Earthy yellow mana flowed from their palms, seeping into the rocks beneath their feet and spreading in all directions.
Beneath the earth, the soil began to surge.
Those digging Puchis were crushed and pulverized one by one, buried alive underground.
However, at almost the same time they were attacked, the burrowing Puchis also turned their direction, drilling toward this basement!
Soon, without needing the detection crystal, the guards could directly hear the buzzing sound of the drilling Puchis.
"They're here!"
The moment the first Puchi drilled through, a guard's sword had already cleaved down. That round thing was sliced through the middle, having no time to even self-destruct.
Then came the second, and the third.
Most were killed instantly, but there were also those that proactively self-destructed before being hit.
However, the guards were wearing enchanted armor; they could withstand one or two explosions.
Yet, despite the thorough preparation, one Puchi still managed to drill through the gap between a guard's legs.
Its tentacles waved frantically, sweeping across a mage who was in the middle of casting. The mage's abdomen was sliced open. He let out a scream and slumped down limply.
Almost at the same instant, another guard's sword split the mushroom cap of that Puchi.
The three minutes were up.
The runes on the ceiling lit up again. Those flowing glimmers filled the air once more, shrouding the entire basement in protection.
The last Puchi was hacked down to the ground.
The room was a mess.
This batch of underground Puchis had been mostly cleared out. Even if they weren't all killed, the dug-out tunnels had all been destroyed. It would take another half a day to dig through next time.
On the Demon-kin's side, two guards were heavily injured, and one mage was dead.
The faces of the crowd were numb; they seemed accustomed to such casualties. They silently pried the magic cores from the deceased.
The medic took over the wounded. The first thing he did was not to bandage the wounds, but to pick up a thin, sharp blade and begin cutting the wounds open.
With every cut, he carefully checked the depths of the wound for any residual spores to prevent parasitism.
***
Outside the city, in the Mushroom Fortress camp.
Watching Dragon Horn Fort, which still stood tall after a week of offensive, Lin Jun couldn't help but sigh: Their fighting will is truly strong. It feels like they are on a completely different level compared to little Norris's side! Traitors are hard to find here, too.
It wasn't that no Demon-kin had been successfully parasitized, but unlike Cold Bay Fort where they drove the parasitized to the front lines, most parasitized Demon-kin proactively chose to die in battle to let their companions recover their magic cores.
Even Lin Jun's attempts to communicate and persuade them through reason and emotion in the mycelial network weren't of much use.
Little Pig nodded: "It's normal. After all, the Demon-kin are few in number. Under Dean's leadership, these Demon-kin in the Empire place great importance on honor and the collective of the race. In terms of unity, they naturally cannot be compared to other demon races."
"The number of Vampires isn't very large either."
"It's different. Vampires care more about power and pleasure. Before the Blood Jade Wine appeared, the avenues of pleasure for Vampires were scarce, to the point that most Vampires would have unique little hobbies. Just like that Count and servant in Cold Bay Fort—the Count likely knew the servant hated him, yet deliberately pretended not to know and kept him as a personal valet just to better torment the other's state of mind. He just didn't expect you to have something like the Peerless Flavor Mushroom, Boss."
Saying this, Little Pig gave a light laugh, as if mocking that Count's self-importance.
"Keeping an enemy by your side who cannot complete their revenge? So that's how it is!" Lin Jun suddenly understood, feeling that he had benefited greatly from this knowledge.
Little Pig soon returned to official business: "The siege constructs will arrive tomorrow. Those things move too slowly. I just hope the effect they demonstrate isn't too disappointing."
"Don't worry. If the effect isn't good, I'll go back and cut the funding for Mark and the others!"
(End of Chapter)
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