With the construct destroyed, the Mushroom Fortress's offensive temporarily halted.
After a brief moment of rejoicing, Feng Yi looked toward the empty east, worry in his eyes.
Dean knew what he was thinking and explained: "I encountered an ambush. It was only at the level of harassment, but I was afraid something might happen to Dragon Horn Fort, so I hurried over ahead of them. Looking at it now, they truly wanted to delay me."
Feng Yi took a deep breath and laid bare the true situation within the city, one by one.
The mana reserves had hit rock bottom. Nearly half of the defensive runes had been rendered useless by the recent round of oscillations, and the condition of the remaining ones wasn't much better.
"Lord Patriarch, Dragon Horn Fort cannot hold out any longer." His voice was kept very low, carrying a tone of persuasion. "Lead everyone to retreat while we still can."
Dean shook his head.
"The west has already fallen," he said. "A large number of soldiers under Eugene's command have defected to the Mushroom Fortress, gathering massive momentum. Once they converge with Louisa's main force, we will have no chance left."
Feng Yi froze. How could things over there have progressed so quickly?
"Th-then what should we do?"
Dean didn't answer immediately. Instead, he raised his hand. A ring on his finger glowed faintly, and an almost invisible ripple spread outward, enveloping the two of them. The clamor and shouts of slaughter on the city wall instantly faded away—a soundproofing barrier.
"In order to defeat us with minimal losses, Louisa will not easily allow the remaining half of our main force to enter Dragon Horn Fort, especially since I am here now too."
"She will definitely dispatch a portion of her troops to intercept and annihilate them halfway, or perhaps even go personally. And that moment... will be our only chance."
"Chance?" Feng Yi's face was full of incomprehension. "Even if we take the opportunity to rout the portion of enemy forces besieging us, if the remaining half of our main force is wiped out, we remnants will still ultimately face defeat."
Dean reached out and placed a hand on Feng Yi's shoulder, leading him to the edge of the city wall and pointing toward the Mushroom Fortress camp in the distance.
There, a splash of bright red was exceptionally eye-catching.
A Puchi wearing a red cape was sitting on the mushroom cap of an Otaku Puchi. Its tentacles rested casually, looking as if it were basking in the sun, yet also as if it were surveying the entire battlefield—the Marshal Puchi.
"That is the 'Boss' the parasitized individuals speak of."
Feng Yi's expression froze instantly.
"That?!" His mouth hung open. His gaze darted back and forth between that perfectly round red-caped Puchi and Dean several times, his voice even changing pitch.
He had always thought that thing was a mascot of the Mushroom Fortress, or some sort of morale-boosting decoration.
But then, he worriedly said: "Lord Patriarch, you... how can you be sure? If it's fake, then..."
Dean ignored his shock. Instead, he abruptly changed the subject: "Feng Yi, if you were parasitized by that mycelium, would you betray us?"
Feng Yi's face instantly flushed red, as if he had been slapped in public. "Lord Patriarch, do you doubt my honor as a Demon-kin?"
"No." Dean smiled and patted his shoulder. "I do not doubt you. I believe you would not betray us."
He paused, his gaze falling once more upon that splash of bright red in the distance.
"Similarly, not all the Demon-kin who surrendered to the Mushroom Fortress have betrayed us. There are always those willing to bear the infamy to secure a path of survival for our race."
Feng Yi was stunned for a moment, then suddenly understood.
"Lord Patriarch, you mean...?"
Dean nodded. "According to the information passed back, that Marshal Puchi is indeed their Boss. When I flew over earlier, I used an artifact to sense it. All the characteristics, including the mana fluctuations, match perfectly. That is indeed the Boss of the Mushroom Fortress, the Marshal Puchi!"
Feng Yi was still somewhat worried: "But what if..."
"There aren't many choices left," Dean interrupted him. "If we really run, probably only a few elites will make it out alive. As the Patriarch, how could I make such a choice?"
He turned around, putting his back to that bright red, and looked at Feng Yi.
"So, believe in those clansmen."
***
"Little Pig, do you think he'll take the bait?" The Marshal Puchi extended a tentacle and straightened the bright red cape behind its back, making it flutter more conspicuously in the wind.
Little Pig tilted her head up, looking at the vague figures on the wall of Dragon Horn Fort, and said, "The Demon-kin don't have many choices left. I don't know Dean personally, but if it were me, I'd risk it all on one throw."
She paused, then looked at the Marshal Puchi again. "But Boss, is it really okay for you to personally act as bait?"
The Marshal Puchi waved its tentacles. "Alas, for the prosperity and flourishing of the Mushroom Garden, taking a little risk is necessary. Don't worry, I have the ability to protect myself!"
Little Pig nodded, but the thought in her heart—that the Marshal Puchi wasn't the Boss's true body—was further confirmed. However, she wasn't going to tell anyone about it anyway.
Just as Dean anticipated, Louisa indeed split off a unit of troops.
After nightfall, several squads quietly disappeared into the darkness from the edge of the Mushroom Fortress camp. They bypassed Dragon Horn Fort's field of vision and stealthily headed northeast—where the other half of the Demon-kin's main force was en route.
Despite numerous attempts to cover their tracks, the Demon-kin's inside agents still managed to pass the information out through special channels.
To conceal the traces of splitting the forces, the attack on Dragon Horn Fort was even fiercer than in the preceding days. A new wave of Puchis surged out from the camp, densely covering the field of vision, the sound of their pu-ji cries shaking the heavens.
That momentum looked as if it wanted to swallow the entire fortress in one gulp.
But in Dean's eyes, those grand and mighty charges were merely a curtain used to cover up the truth.
He turned around and looked at the Demon-kin elites behind him, asking, "Are you prepared?"
Feng Yi was the first to answer. "Lord Patriarch, we have all made our resolve!"
Dean nodded, saying no more.
When yet another Mushroom Fortress attack was repelled, Dean leaped down from the city wall.
In that instant, the magic patterns on his body lit up simultaneously. Thousands of lines spread from his chest to his limbs, the blazing light piercing through his flesh and skin, making him look like a piece of refined iron just pulled from a furnace.
Then, his entire person transformed into a massive fireball. Trailing a blinding tail of flame, he dove toward the retreating Mushroom Fortress troops.
[Flame Dragon Breath LV10]
BOOM!!!
At the moment of impact, only that single streak of white light remained between heaven and earth.
The ground trembled violently, the walls of Dragon Horn Fort shook, and gravel rustled down from the battlements. The shockwave swept across the entire battlefield, overturning, tearing apart, and burning to ash entire swaths of the retreating Mushroom Fortress soldiers and Puchis.
Flames surged in all directions. Wherever they passed, fungal bodies were burned to ashes, and the frozen earth melted into magma.
Following that, the main gates of Dragon Horn Fort were thrown open.
Feng Yi charged at the very front.
He didn't roar, he didn't shout. He simply stared fixedly at that eye-catching bright red in the distant Mushroom Fortress camp, gripping the bow in his hand tightly, running madly with his head down.
Behind him, the Demon-kin elites surged out like a tide, stepping over the still-burning earth, over the remains of Puchis, over the corpses of their companions.
No one looked back.
They all knew what they had to do.
In the distance, the Marshal Puchi straightened its mushroom body, stepping on the throne, the cape behind it flapping noisily in the wind.
Facing this charging decapitation squad, the Marshal Puchi raised its four tentacles.
Countless Puchis swarmed out frantically from underground tunnels, instantly clashing with Feng Yi and the other Demon-kin.
At the same time, Louisa, who had long since activated her Blood Crystal Armor, descended from the sky. Trailing a bloody shadow, her giant sword slashed down upon Dean's burning gauntlets.
Little Pig's scarlet pupils stared at Dean. Licking her fangs, she mocked, "Demon-kin, if you want an audience with the Boss, you have to submit an application first!"
"So you saw through it!" Dean smiled. There was no panic in his eyes, only a will to fight, ready to risk everything. The Flame Dragon Breath on his body surged up once more, forcing Little Pig to take two steps back. "Excellent. I'd like to see if you can stop me with that antique armor!"
Watching the slowly drooping cape, Lin Jun quietly cast a Breeze spell on it.
(End of Chapter)
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