Mushroom Lord in the Underground City

Chapter 458 - 449: The Weakness of the Mycelial Mat

Outside the valley, a few members of the Demon Race squatted on a patch of fungal mat, troubled by the newly assigned task—eliminating the fungal mat.

A Mage raised a magic staff, and flames surged forth from its tip, the scorching heat forcing the companions around to take two steps back involuntarily.

The flame continued to scorch for a few seconds, and once the spell ended, everyone hurried forward to check the results.

It can’t be said to have no effect, but it is truly half the effort for double the result.

Only the parts of the fungal mat directly burned by the center of the flame turned charred, while the areas at the edges of the flame merely turned slightly yellow and still appeared to be thriving with life force.

More frustratingly, the fungal mat showed no signs of being ignited; once the spell stopped, not even a spark remained.

Before this, they had also tried using strong toxins to contaminate the land, and the results were similarly unsatisfactory.

"This doesn’t work, that doesn’t work! How on earth can we clear away these damned fungal mats? We can’t just shovel them away?!"

"It’s absurd! Those poisons and flames were enough to kill me several times over, yet these mycelium are harder to kill than I am?" a soldier remarked, poking at the tough, charred edge of the fungal mat with a knife sheath, his tone filled with incredulity.

"Stop just complaining, there must be a weakness, use your brains and think." the squad leader scolded, frowning.

"What about the other teams? Have they made any progress?"

Several members of the Demon Race craned their necks to look and saw another team responsible for clearing another area gathered together without signs of large-scale action, clearly encountering the same difficulties.

Just as all the demons were at their wit’s end, a Half-demon rode swiftly on a mount, bringing the method other squads had discovered: "Use fire!"

"We tried magical fire, it didn’t work!" the squad leader immediately retorted.

"Don’t use magical fire!" the messenger Half-demon emphasized, while distributing prepared torches taken from the mount’s back, "Use these, ordinary torches, get close and it burns hot!"

They doubtingly took the torches, lit them, and attempted to approach the fungal mat.

Indeed, although ordinary fire couldn’t ignite the fungal mat, the mycelium within contact range quickly withered and died at a visible speed, far more directly and effectively than magical fire!

Looking at the large patch of fungal mats needing to be cleared, although the workload remained enormous, the faces of the Demon Race soldiers finally showed relief.

At least they had found a feasible starting point!

Lin Jun also breathed a sigh of relief, finally timely timing to come up with the "weakness" of his fungal mat.

The resistances on his body were too many, although these resistances weakened due to the intrinsic lack of attributes in the mycelium, they still far exceed the ordinary vegetation.

Killing a small patch of fungal mat isn’t difficult; the challenge lies in large-scale clearing.

Without Lin Jun proactively cooperating to drain magic power, those guys under Small West might actually never truly clear the fungal mat on the surface outside the valley.

As for the underground fungal mycelium network... consider it non-existent, adding difficulty for Small West might make him directly abandon Lin Jun which would be silly.

...

The movements of the Demon Race naturally caught the attention of Alama and Lorenzo inside the valley.

To understand the opponent’s intentions, they summoned Deputy Warren, who was more familiar with the Puki Master system, as well as... Inanna.

No matter what Alama felt inside, this daughter who could indirectly command thousands of Puki through Knight Puki, and hold "rituals" on the fungal mat to mass-breed Puki, was undoubtedly the most authoritative in the valley regarding Puki power.

Inanna walked in holding her Knight Puki, greeting soldiers along the way who respectfully saluted or warmly greeted her, her reputation within the army had grown significantly.

Only Alama still habitually placed her in the role of the "daughter" who needed protection.

Once the two were together, Alama first asked the Deputy Warren, "Warren, with your understanding of Puki Masters, what do you believe the purpose of the Demon Race’s actions outside is?"

Although Deputy Warren himself was not a Puki Master, being selected by Butler Eric to assist Inanna meant his understanding of Puki Masters far exceeded ordinary people.

After observing for a moment, he answered, "Sir, it seems the Demon Race intends to clear the fungal mat to cut off our Puki supply source. Miss Inanna’s... rituals are powerful, but I assume they can’t create Puki out of thin air, they ultimately need to consume magic power. I suspect the Demon Race wants to cut off the channel the fungal mat uses to absorb magic power from the external environment."

"What does the fungal mat typically rely on to gather magic power?" Alama asked persistently.

"Mainly sunlight, energy-rich corpses, or special environments with dense magic power like some Underground Cities." Warren listed the foundational knowledge that had been discovered as early as the mushroom field planting stage.

"Sunlight..." Alama looked up at the valley, shaded by towering mountain walls with faint light; obviously, relying on sunlight wasn’t feasible here.

Lorenzo continued, "What about the corpses of the Demon Race left behind from previous battles? How many Puki can the fungal mat produce from them?"

However, Deputy Warren could only indicate he was unable to estimate such a precise number with regret.

At this moment, Inanna suddenly spoke up: "Relying on those corpses, like before, the defense intensity can sustain for at most half an hour."

"How do you..." Alama instinctively wanted to ask his daughter how she knew this but, considering the defense system of Puki was almost entirely led by her, he swallowed the question, turning instead to seriously ponder, "So many corpses, yet only enough for half an hour..."

After reconfirming with Inanna, he turned and left, needing to reorganize some defenses based on this result.

Actually, saying half an hour might be generous.

Given the current incomplete fungal mat coverage in the valley, virtually zero sunlight, and environmental magic power being disrupted by unknown interference, just those Goblin corpses alone could at most breed a few hundred disposable Puki.

This number might barely hold for ten minutes in the previous battle intensity of attacks and defenses.

Moreover, many Puki were hurriedly bred by Lin Jun at the cost of his own magic power, adding significant consumption.

The "half hour" Inanna provided was a result of Lin Jun secretly subsidizing magic power through the underground fungal mycelium network.

...

As the last rays of sunlight vanished over the horizon, three differently colored moons again hung high in the night sky.

Indeed, Sigmund, who was somewhat pressed for time, returned once more.

The entrance to the valley was again engulfed by a sea of Puki, but this time, Sigmund’s army was clearly prepared.

The Demon Race’s mage unit had changed tactics; they no longer hurled individual lightning arrows or fireball techniques, instead opting to chant area-effective spells like wall of fire and wall creation, altering the battlefield with sustained magic.

Though the power and duration of these spells were diminished in the valley’s chaotic magical environment, the effect was indeed considerably better than before.

At the same time, the Demon Race’s ground forces focused on clearing those scattered Puki continually emerging from crevices and caverns, maintaining a tight formation and responding orderly.

As a result, though the Demon Race’s advance was not easy, it managed to proceed steadily without suffering major casualties and excessive depletion.

When the anticipated half-hour passed and no new Puki fell from the cliff, the wave of Puki visibly thinning, Sigmund’s lips finally curled into a smile.

Clearly, his informant had not misled him; cutting off the fungal mat had deprived the valley of a steady magic power supply, unable to produce those damnable Puki.

"All troops, attack!" He decisively issued the final order.

Repressed for long, the Demon Race soldiers unleashed a resounding roar, launching a fierce assault on the last human-held position.

The sounds of metal clashing, spells exploding, and cries and screams instantly reverberated through the valley, a life-and-death battle concerning survival unfolded on schedule.

Naturally, Sigmund remained vigilant, reserving part of his elite forces to guard the retreat passage while closely monitoring the fungal mat on the cliff.

Should there be any signs of large-scale Puki regeneration, this unit would immediately sound the alarm and fully destroy it, preventing the humans from luring them into a trap.

Sigmund’s gaze traversed the chaos of the battlefield, locking onto a familiar figure in the opposing human line, muttering to himself, "It’s been delayed far too long... it’s time to bring an end to all this."