Mushroom Lord in the Underground City

Chapter 471 - 461: White Wall

The church’s ships continued to patrol the battlefield from a great distance, cautiously maintaining their distance to avoid being drawn into the chaos on the battlefield.

At the bow, magic power continuously gathered onto Sofia’s gloves, coalescing into magical arrows. The vibrations of the bowstring were uninterrupted, and each tremor sent a silver arrow streaking across the sky, traversing great distances to target the Demonic forces on the battlefield.

This terrifying long-range strike capability, coupled with the Ocean Staff’s exceptional maritime mobility granted to the ships, was Priest Samuel’s main reason for ultimately agreeing to investigate.

Sofia’s sneak attack was remarkable, disabling the arm of a Palace Level demon and killing a Diamond Level vampire on the spot.

But this did not cause the demon forces to lose their fighting spirit; their counterattacks remained fierce.

Especially that Palace Level demon, whose strength far surpassed ordinary.

Sofia’s initial surprise arrow was the only one that wounded him, while subsequent arrows directed at him were either shattered with a punch or intercepted mid-air by intense cold.

After several unsuccessful attempts, Sofia decisively shifted her target, redirecting the deadly silver arrows to other demon officers and key spellcasting units.

With each flash of silver light, a member of the demon forces on the distant frontline would lose combat ability.

Aside from Priest Samuel applying a complete set of beneficial magic on Sofia before the battle commenced, most could only act as spectators now.

This ultra-long-range sniping was a stage belonging solely to the Hero.

Bella propped her hands on the ship’s rail, squinted her eyes slightly, silver light subtly emanating from them as she strained to gaze at the distant, blurred, and chaotic battlefield, unable to resist saying: "These bugs give me a terrible feeling."

In her special vision, all Chis and their creations, whether Six Claw, Evil Eye, or large tentacles, appeared in a purely untainted black.

Just the sight alone made Bella feel a chill.

At the bow, Sofia, still fixated on the distant battlefield, inserted during her moments of drawing the bow: "These creatures called Chis seem to be under some form of spiritual control. Is there a mage behind the scenes manipulating them to attack the Demonic forces?"

In Sofia’s view, all Chis displayed a status named Spiritual Control.

"Not a mage," Priest Samuel explained, "they are controlled by the ’heart.’ Their internal relationship is more akin to a swarm. It is a special demon that constantly devours and plunders to grow its population."

Bella, upon hearing this, turned back worriedly to ask: "If it eats more and keeps expanding... wouldn’t it become very dangerous?"

This didn’t worry Samuel much:

"Don’t worry, these bugs aren’t new, and in hundreds of years, Chis have only become truly large-scale three times."

"Once, they appeared in the Dwarves’ Molten Fire Dungeon. After assessing the cost of eliminating them, the Dwarves chose to seal the dungeon entrance."

"Unable to breach the dungeon’s rules, Chis, within the ten years of being sealed, devoured everything inside except the Elemental Spirits, and ultimately died massively from lack of food."

"When the seal was lifted, the dwarf army easily swept the few individuals who survived by hibernation, even the Heart of Chis became their trophy, still held in the dwarves’ treasury today."

"Another time occurred deep in the Demon Empire, where Vampire Emperor Mortis personally intervened, led an elite army, wielding the Divine Artifact, to eliminate them."

"Didn’t you mention three times?" Bella curiously asked, "What about the other time?"

"Three hundred years ago, Chis attacked the ship Hero Link was on," Samuel said no more.

Then, he shifted back to Bella’s original concern: "It is indeed dangerous, but its harmful scope remains limited. Not to mention ’heart’ as its fatal weakness, just the ability to control the entire swarm spiritually is formidable but also shackling. Even if Chis is extraordinarily gifted in the spiritual realm, the scale of swarm it can maintain has a limit; according to past records, typically ranging from thousands to ten thousand, even when grown, it’s only a regional hazard. Given its current position, it impacts the Demonic forces more."

"Moreover," Samuel’s gaze returned to those distant demon warships, feeling the energy waves that desperately tried to conceal but still emitted like a lighthouse in darkness, "such vast energy, regardless of what it is, it’s best not to allow it to be successfully shipped to the Demonic forces’ frontline. The frontline situation is already difficult enough..."

The battle still had not ended, and the demon named Hess exhibited frightfully strong prowess; even though his right arm was severely damaged by the silver arrow, he still forcedly killed the last Evil Eye amidst a struggle with the Tou Chi Beast, and constrained the enormous tentacle creature tightly on the ice with fierce cold.

However, as Sofia, like a Death God, marked one demon officer and spellcaster after another for sniping, the resistance of the demon side rapidly disintegrated.

Ship wreckage seemed just a matter of time.

Bella, who had been strenuously watching the battlefield, suddenly furrowed her brows, her tone confused: "Strange... are we moving away? Why do I feel like the ship’s silhouette is becoming more blurred?"

A response came from the Captain of the Guard steering at the rear: "The course is stable and hasn’t deviated."

"Then why..."

Before Bella could finish her sentence, Priest Samuel’s face changed, and he rushed to the ship’s side: "It’s not the distance—it’s fog! There’s fog on the sea!"

The fog was initially very faint, and if not for the outlines of distant Demon Race warships as reference, the subtle change in light would have been nearly undetectable.

Before anyone could react, Samuel swiftly raised his right hand, gathering a basic Lighting Technique light sphere in his palm instantly.

"It’s too bright!" The light sphere emitted an almost blinding orange-yellow light, forcing Bella to turn away and close her eyes, "What are you doing, priest?!"

However, Samuel, who was bathed in the intense light he had created, had a face full of dread.

He was more than aware that the magic power he just used was only the standard amount for a Lighting Technique!

This only meant one thing.

"It’s a mist!" he almost shouted, "Quick! Turn east at maximum speed!"

The Captain of the Guard hesitated not at all, forcefully rotating the wheel to its limit. With the Divine Power blessing of the Ocean Staff, the entire ship turned east without hesitation, leaving the unfinished battle behind.

Only then did everyone see that on the western horizon, an endless dense wall of pure white fog was rapidly approaching, soon engulfing Chis and the Demon Race fleet engaged in battle.

"How is that possible?" Sofia stared at the world-devouring white vastness in disbelief, "This is the coastal waters near the continent! If the mist appears here, then what of the archipelago?"

Samuel focused intently on the wall of fog, quickly deducing that with its spreading speed, it was unlikely they would escape!

Before being devoured by the dense mist, he raised his magic staff, forgoing protective spells for himself and others, and concentrated all his magic and spirit into layers of radiant blessings on Sofia.

Simultaneously, he quickly instructed: "Hero! The fog during its expansion is extraordinary and can be repelled! A temporary core will form inside, I will attempt to handle it! Until then, under no circumstances should you let your guard down, and do not trust..."

The dense fog swept in.

"Samuel!" Sofia instinctively stepped forward, reaching out for the spot where the old priest had been standing, only to grasp at emptiness.

She looked around, her voice distinctly clear in the deathly silence: "Bella? Captain of the Guard? Everyone?!"

Wherever she looked, there was only endless pure white; the ship, companions, sound of waves—all seemed wiped away by this eerie mist.

This was her first time being engulfed by the mist; previously, she had only hunted a few Lost Souls at its edges.

Instinctively wanting to explore forward, she recalled Priest Samuel’s last warning and forcibly suppressed the anxiety and unease within her, stopping her advance, instead raising her longbow halfway, with a taut silver arrow ready but unyielding, wary of any movement around.

Time passed slowly in the absolute silence and unknown, feeling like centuries, yet likely just a fleeting moment.

Finally, the suffocatingly dense fog seemed to dissipate slightly.

Once the view gradually cleared, Sofia’s pupils shrank suddenly, her face filled with disbelief.

She found herself not on the deck, but instead in a small room about ten square meters!

A soft but unfamiliar bed, a nightstand with an alarm clock beside it, and a desk against the wall with a blank-screened computer, with several colorful-covered books scattered around.

Everything in this layout and these items carried a distant yet familiar sense of strangeness.

Almost stumbling, she rushed to the window, abruptly yanking open the curtains.

Outside, the mist still lingered but had thinned enough for her to see the view compared to before when nothing was visible even at close range.

Familiar red-brick architecture, narrow streets, distant and faint outlines of onion-domed churches...

"Saint Petersburg... Am I... back?" (Chapter continues before four o’clock)