To think the Mist could be cracked without ever dealing with the core NPC!
Lin Jun's relief force had been all ready to move out, but Inanna and No. 4 came out on their own.
They had even stumbled onto a brand-new way to clear the Mist.
What he couldn't tell was whether it came down to wrecking the scene, or to killing off large numbers of the small fry, or both.
A pity that this method clearly wouldn't work for anyone other than No. 4.
And this time, No. 4 getting out probably had as much to do with outside circumstances as with its own efforts to tear the place apart.
This wave of the Mist surging ashore had been driven back by the multiple defensive lines Lin Jun had set up. Only one group had been lost inside it, and the other squads had suffered casualties at worst. Once those squads cleared their Mist scenes, the Mist that had pushed deep inland was cut off from its source. Rootless now, it would disperse on its own even if left alone.
No. 4 and Inanna had been at the very edge of this Mist surge to begin with. No. 4 had indeed hastened the Mist's collapse, but even if it hadn't gone around crushing everything, even if it had only shielded Inanna and stalled for time, the Mist here would have faded by itself in half a day or so.
The way it looked now, to a mist illusion the Mist was something like a consumable resource. Rampant destruction simply burned through it faster. What Lin Jun wasn't sure of was this: when the Mist hadn't been cut off from its source, could destruction like No. 4's drain a mist illusion that kept replenishing itself as thoroughly as it had this time?
If it could, then No. 4 wouldn't need to relocate east at all. It could just sit on the border and help hold the Mist back.
Conveniently, the magic density near the Mist ran especially high, so the magic the fungal mat harvested rose right along with it. Perfect for feeding [Leviathan]. No. 4 was still nowhere near its limit.
Besides the fact that rampant destruction could burn through the Mist faster, Lin Jun had noticed another thing: the scene No. 4 and the others had run into. Setting aside the two soulless Element Lords, which didn't count as living things, that stretch of Mist had held only No. 4 and Inanna.
And yet what they had encountered was a completely unfamiliar scene.
In fact it wasn't just Inanna. The Mushroom Fortress squads posted along the ocean defense line to cut off the Mist had nearly all run into something similar.
All sorts of unconnected scenes. Some squads had even met strange races they'd never so much as heard of.
This was nothing like what all the Mist data Lin Jun had been collecting led him to expect.
In fact, Lin Jun had never once seen the "normal" mist illusion those records described.
He couldn't tell whether the Mist at this stage had changed, or whether the problem lay with him again.
Thankfully, while the scenes varied, that didn't mean the danger had grown.
The proof was that the vast majority of squads had made it out this time.
In any case, the Mist's first wave had been successfully held off.
It would rebound later, of course, but the Mushroom Fortress squads now had real combat experience, and they would surely handle the next one more deftly.
And in the stretch before the Mist's second wave, the soldiers who had fought so hard naturally deserved a good rest.
The most delicious Puchi wine and fresh meat were hauled to the front by the pack-mule Puchis. The handful of squads with vampires among them got an extra ration besides: Blood Jade Wine, which in the Empire had already been bid up to a thousand gold a jar.
The squad at the very southern end of the coastline received just such a crate of Blood Jade Wine.
A pot sat over the split cap of a Dragon's Breath Puchi, and the steady flames lit every face with a warm glow.
Leaning against a supply crate the pack-mule Puchis had just delivered was Erich, a vampire fungal-folk. Rare for the Mushroom Fortress, he hadn't been strung up on alarm-bell duty. His legs were stretched out, boot soles toward the pot.
He'd just finished his third cup of Blood Jade Wine. The delicious red liquid slid down his throat and loosened him from head to toe.
"Back in the Empire I wouldn't have dared even dream of days like this," he muttered, his gaze sweeping over the small mountain of supply crates piled in the center of camp.
Meat, Puchi wine, fresh Knight Puchis, and his own private ration of Blood Jade Wine, all stacked neatly there, lids off, free for the taking. Nothing like the Empire, where he could only watch the high nobles enjoy their Blood Jade Wine while he himself managed a single cup once every half a year, and an inferior one at that, far worse than the one in his hand now.
The half-demon sitting across from him held his hands out over the fire and marveled at something else. "Knight Puchis really are something! One Knight Puchi fights better than I do! And here I am commanding three of them! If you gave me twenty, wouldn't the Mist be a walk in the park?"
"Honestly, the Mist's not all that," a human said, tossing his empty cup to the ground with a hearty laugh. "Had us scared stiff before the fight, but once we actually went in, didn't it pop the moment you poked it?"
In this operation to hold back the Mist they hadn't lost a single man. They'd lost only a few Puchis. And that had begun to swell the squad members' confidence.
Their captain, though, clearly still had his head on straight.
"Don't go getting cocky!" The captain looked up at them, his expression stern. "The Ash Squad, remember them? They were every bit as good as us, and this time every last one of them was lost in the Mist. We just got lucky and drew an easier scene. There's no telling how the next one goes! Don't let your arrogance get you killed in a spot you could've walked out of alive."
A few of the members admitted their fault rather sheepishly, and the cheerful mood turned briefly awkward.
The half-demon from before changed the subject at just the right moment. "Speaking of which, the Empire wouldn't sneak an attack on us under cover of the Mist, would it? We're at the very south. If the Empire comes at us, we'll be the first to catch it!"
"What's there to be scared of? Worst case, you die and turn into a Puchi. Then you can go try out that legendary Puchi hot-spring massage." A human soldier raised his cup over his head without a care and waggled it at the sky. "Praise the Fungus Lord, I fear nothing."
The vampire Erich laughed and dismissed the idea. "Come off it. The Mist pushed in all at once, and the Empire doesn't have as many Knight Puchis backing them up the way we do. I'd guess the whole west is being ravaged by the Mist right now! Forget attacking us. I suspect that once this Mist recedes, our Mushroom Fortress might even march on them first!"
"It'd be nice if the war ended sooner."
"Right? The Empire should've surrendered ages ago. How could they ever stand against the Fungus Lord?"
Under the night sky the squad chatted on and off, their laughter rising and falling.
Erich tipped his head back and drained his fourth jar of Blood Jade Wine. A drop of the bright-red liquid slid from the corner of his mouth. He wiped it with his thumb and pushed it back into his mouth. Just as he rose to grab a fifth, he froze.
His gaze went past the Puchi hot pot, past the supplies stacked at the camp's edge, and came to rest on the heavy darkness to the south.
There seemed to be nothing out there, yet Erich found himself instinctively certain that something was coming.
"Erich, what's wrong?" The captain, who hadn't joined in the indulging, had noticed the change in his expression.
"I'm not sure..." Erich narrowed his eyes to slits, crimson swirling in their depths. After a long moment his voice shot up, carrying a trace of fright. "Stop eating, quick, get your own Puchis on you! The reserve Puchis too, hurry and link up! The Mist, the Mist is back!"
"The Mist?!" The half-drunk members jolted awake at once.
Before anyone could question it, the Fungus Lord's alarm went off in their minds as well!
Cups smashed on the ground, chairs were kicked over, and the soldiers scrambled in a panic toward the Puchis they had charging, as fast as they could.
But by the time they'd finally readied themselves, they saw no Mist bearing down on them from the sea.
"It's not from the sea!" Erich roared across the fungal net. "To the south! From the Empire's direction!"
Every eye turned south at once.
At the far end of the night, a gray-white fog was churning, pressing down on them as if to blot out the sky.
Someone couldn't help but mutter, "Why would it come from over there?"
Whoosh.
For the second time in a single day, the Mist swallowed this encampment.
(End of Chapter)
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