Mushroom Lord in the Underground City

Chapter 497 - 487: Arrival

Mortis raised his hand to gently caress the wound on the side of his neck, the sting from his fingertips making him secretly grit his teeth.

Wisps of black mist entwined around the edges of the wound, constantly hindering its self-healing.

"Werewolf..." he muttered to himself, with suppressed anger in his voice.

Scarlet energy quickly flowed from his fingertips, forming a delicate blood armor over the wound, concealing the hideous claw marks.

Mortis didn’t give the Sword Saint a second chance to get up. He raised his hand and pressed the air, and countless Blood Crystal Spears descended.

After doing this, Mortis turned to Visarius, his tone so calm it revealed no trace of emotion: "I’ll leave the finishing touches to you."

Visarius bowed deeply: "As you command, Your Majesty."

Although Mortis remained composed, as he merged his form into the blood curtain, the surging blood-red sky retreated into the distance at a frightening speed, faster than when it came.

Watching the blood curtain fade away, Visarius speculated whether something had happened at the rear.

After all, the Emperor had already personally come to the battlefield. Even if he didn’t personally deal with the remaining barrier defenses of Three Mountains City, he should quickly conclude matters on Xenophon’s side.

This hurried departure indicated something unknown had occurred.

However, since the Emperor hadn’t explicitly mentioned it, he naturally refrained from asking further.

After all, the unfavorable situation in this battle forced the Emperor to personally intervene to resolve it, which was, in fact, a failure of his duty as the overall commander.

After the blood curtain retreated from the horizon, the first thing Visarius did was search for the Sword Saint’s corpse within the forest of Blood Crystal Spears.

This human’s strongest warrior was even mightier than he had anticipated. If it weren’t for his strategic reserve, it was unclear if even with two lives, he could emerge victorious.

Or rather, the likelihood of his defeat was very high.

Even if he could win by luck, the complete depletion of his "Blood of Kin" would have been a terrible loss for him personally.

In the middle of the weaponized forest, he found the Sword Saint’s remains—a shattered skeleton?!

He immediately summoned blood bats as a precaution, only checking the bones after ensuring safety. Repeated examinations finally confirmed it was indeed the Sword Saint.

"The Emperor’s attack... even capable of this kind of flesh-corroding effect?"

In his memory, he had never seen the Emperor manifest an ability like this.

But on second thought, given the Emperor’s suspicious nature, withholding something was plausible.

After all, besides this, there was no more reasonable explanation.

There were no mycelia present near the corpse.

Furthermore, while aware that the Fungal Mat could decompose corpses, such decomposition usually took two or three days. Naturally, the Prince didn’t consider the Puki’s direction.

Regardless, confirming the Sword Saint’s death dispelled Visarius’s last bit of concern.

Though parts of the human remnant forces were stubbornly resisting by retreating into Three Mountains City, with the Sword Saint dead and the remaining werewolf-like warriors close to annihilation, the fall of this isolated city was only a matter of time.

Now, he only needed to wait for good news from Xenophon’s side. Even simply repelling the human reinforcements would drive the last of the desperate defending troops, having exhausted all tricks, into despair.

"My Prince," Ern approached, dragging a bloodstained cape. The wound had stopped bleeding thanks to the influence of the blood curtain, "Should we proceed with a direct assault on the city, or first bolster the interception troops?"

Visarius scrutinized this loyal subordinate.

Though unable to secure the rear camp, Ern’s handling when he temporarily assumed command during Visarius’s "death" was commendable.

This courage and capability were worth nurturing; the only lack was strength, which wasn’t a difficult issue to resolve.

By comparison...

His gaze swept past Ern to Brunus in the distance, who was supplying himself with a healing potion, with a hint of mockery flickering across his lips.

This human traitor had been beaten to a pulp by Xenophon before surrendering, and would have been routed altogether if not for the Sword Saint’s timely rescue.

Despite possessing strength, he lacked both decisiveness and strategy...

Hmph... that description seemed very familiar.

Visarius couldn’t help but picture Eleanor in his mind...

At least Eleanor knew how to tame blood beasts, which made her marginally better than this wastrel.

On the other hand, if it weren’t for individuals like him, persuading defection wouldn’t be so easily achieved.

Of course, he wouldn’t break his promise—Brunus’s territory would remain intact.

Yet in the Empire, where the strong devour the weak, someone with neither power nor the cunning to safeguard land, population, or wealth—

Visarius could almost envision this individual’s future struggles, surrounded by wolves, potentially providing him with considerable amusement.

He looked towards Ern: "I’ll assign some people to you. First, let’s handle those in the rear camp..."

Boom—

The ground shook violently, and smoke rose from the west forest in the distance.

The Prince squinted his crimson eyes, the unfinished order hanging on his lips.

...

Blood Race camp, a certain warehouse.

Stored here were the most basic, yet also the most urgently needed, Healing Potions and Magic Potions.

Faced with the pervasive attacks of the Puki Army, Ern concentrated the remaining defense forces on several key warehouses, this being one of them.

At this moment, No. 1 Puki was leading a group of Mushroom Race minions and ordinary Pukis assigned by the Mushroom Lord in a fierce battle against the defenders.

Other areas had already been destroyed, and its strength barely sufficed to capture this last one.

Yet it had a bad premonition.

In the Mushroom Race’s perception, No. 2 and its group were nearby as well...

Indeed, as they broke through the final defensive line, even having a minion self-destruct, finally storming into the warehouse, they saw No. 2 Puki leisurely pouring a Magic Potion on its mushroom cap.

Not far away, a chubby Drilling Puki model was emanating a scorching aura, evidently having just finished an underground assault.

"No. 2!" No. 1 Puki’s mycelia instantly went taut. "How dare you steal my victory?"

No. 2 Puki slowly put down the empty potion bottle, elegantly spreading the unfinished blue potion over its mushroom cap: "Big Brother, didn’t we agree everyone would rely on their own abilities? I meticulously planned the surprise attack on this warehouse."

"You clearly snuck in to reap the rewards while I was holding off the main force defenders!" No. 1 Puki’s tentacles angrily slapped the ground.

Just then, the ground’s shaking occurred.

No. 1 and No. 2 stopped their argument, puzzled as they explored their surroundings with perception.

Suddenly, No. 5 Puki turned and dashed towards an underground hole, shouting in the Fungal Network while running: "From above!"

The Pukis lifted their mushroom caps, only to see a shadow descending like a meteor.

The next moment, the Pukis, the potions, and even the warehouse were utterly destroyed in the massive impact.

Her skin riddled with web-like cracks, the rage within her throat emanated a beast-like roar.

At that moment, she was like a burning flame, igniting everything along the way, burning it to ashes.

In her blurred consciousness, she sensed she was close to her destination.

But what was her purpose there?

She had forgotten, or perhaps she had never known.

She was just following the guidance, heading all the way towards Three Mountains City.