Chapter 450, Section 449: The Battle of Dragon Roar Valley (Part 1)
Outside the valley, several demons squatted on a patch of fungal carpet, troubled by their new task—clearing the fungal carpet.
A mage raised his staff, from which bursts of flame erupted, the scorching heat forcing his companions to take two steps back.
The flames continued to scorch for a few seconds. When the spell ended, everyone rushed forward to check the result.
It's not to say it has no effect at all, but it's definitely a case of doing twice the work for half the result.
Only the part of the fungal carpet that was directly scorched by the center of the flame turned black, while the area around the edge of the flame only turned slightly yellow, and it still looked very vigorous.
Even more frustratingly, the creep showed absolutely no sign of igniting; once the spell stopped, not even a spark remained.
Prior to this, they had also tried contaminating the land with potent toxins, but the results were equally unsatisfactory.
"Nothing works! How am I supposed to get rid of this damn fungal carpet? I can't just use a shovel, can I?!"
"This is outrageous! Those poisons and flames would have killed me several times over, how come these mycelia are even harder to kill than me?" A soldier poked the still tough, charred edge of the mycelial carpet with his scabbard, his tone full of disbelief.
"Stop complaining. Everyone has weaknesses. Use your brains and think about it," the team leader scolded, frowning.
"What about the other groups? Have they made any progress?"
Several demons craned their necks to look around and saw another area far away where the cleanup team was also gathered together. There were no signs of a large-scale operation, so they were obviously facing the same problem.
Just when all the demons were at their wits' end, a half-demon rode up on a camel, bringing with him a method that the other teams had figured out: "Use fire!"
“We’ve tried magical fire, but it didn’t work!” the squad leader immediately retorted.
"Don't use magical flames!" the half-demon messenger emphasized, taking a bundle of prepared torches from the camel's back and distributing them. "Use these, ordinary torches, they'll get hot if you get too close!"
They took the torch with some skepticism, lit it, and tried to approach the fungal carpet.
Sure enough, when the seemingly ordinary flames approached, although the fungal carpet still could not be ignited, the mycelium within the contact area withered and died rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye. The effect was far more direct and effective than magical flames!
Looking at the vast expanse of fungal carpet that needed cleaning, the demon soldiers finally showed expressions of relief, even though the workload was still enormous.
At least they found a viable starting point!
Lin Jun breathed a sigh of relief, finally figuring out the "weakness" of her fungal carpet in time.
It has too many resistances, although these resistances are weakened because the mycelium itself does not have any properties, but they are still far superior to those of ordinary plants.
Killing a small patch of fungal carpet is not difficult; the challenge lies in large-scale cleanup.
Without Lin Jun's cooperation in draining the magic power, Xiao Xi's subordinates probably wouldn't have been able to cut through the fungal carpet on the surface outside the valley.
As for the underground mycelium network... let's just pretend it doesn't exist. If we make things any more difficult for Xiao Xi, he'll just give up, and Lin Jun will be dumbfounded.
...
The demons' actions naturally attracted the attention of Alama and Lorenzo in the valley.
To find out what the other party intended, they brought in Warren, the adjutant who was more familiar with the Pujishi system, and... Inanna.
Regardless of Alama's inner thoughts, this daughter, who can indirectly command thousands of Puji through the Knight Puji and can hold "rituals" on the creep to massively generate Puji, is now undoubtedly the most authoritative "authority" in the valley regarding the power of Puji.
Inanna carried her knight as they walked along, and the soldiers they encountered along the way all bowed respectfully or greeted her warmly. She had already gained considerable prestige in the army.
Only Alama still habitually places her under the identity of a "daughter" who needs protection.
Once the two had arrived, Alama first asked his adjutant Warren, "Warren, based on your understanding of the Puji Masters, what do you think is the purpose of the Demon Clan's actions outside?"
Although the adjutant Warren was not a Puji Master himself, he was chosen by the butler Eric to assist Inanna, and his understanding of Puji Masters far exceeded that of ordinary people.
After observing for a moment, he replied, "My lord, it seems that the demons intend to cut off our Puji's source of replenishment by clearing away the creep. Miss Inanna's... ritual, though powerful, cannot create Puji out of thin air; it ultimately requires the consumption of magic power. I suspect that the demons want to cut off the creep's channel for drawing magic power from the external environment."
"What does the creep usually rely on to collect magic?" Alama pressed.
"Mainly sunlight, energy-rich corpses, or special environments with abundant magic, like certain dungeons," Warren listed, citing basic knowledge already discovered during the mushroom cultivation stage.
“Sunlight…” Alama looked up at the valley, which was dark and blocked by towering mountain walls. It was clear that sunlight could not be relied upon here.
Lorenzo then asked, "What about the demon corpses left behind in the previous battle? How many Puji can the creep produce?"
However, even with such a precise number, Lieutenant Warren could only helplessly admit that it was difficult to estimate.
Just then, Inanna suddenly spoke up and replied, "With those corpses, the previous level of defense could only last for half an hour at most."
"How did you..." Alama instinctively wanted to ask her daughter how she knew, but remembering that she was almost entirely in charge of Puji's defense system, she swallowed her question and began to think seriously, "So many corpses, and they were only enough to hold out for half an hour..."
He confirmed with Inanna again before turning and leaving, as some defenses needed to be rearranged based on the results.
In fact, half an hour is too much to say.
Given the current state of the valley—the fungal carpet is incomplete, sunlight is almost nonexistent, and environmental magic is being disturbed by unknown factors—it's already the limit that the goblin corpses can barely spawn a few hundred cannon fodder poopi.
This number of troops would probably not have lasted even ten minutes in the previous intense offensive and defensive battles.
Moreover, many of the Puji were created by Lin Jun at the cost of expending her own magic power, which was a huge drain on her resources.
The "half an hour" that Inanna gave was already the result of Lin Jun secretly subsidizing it with magic through the underground mycelium network.
...
As the last rays of dawn disappeared below the horizon, three different colored moons once again hung high in the night sky.
As expected, Sigismund, already in a bit of a rush, launched another attack.
The valley entrance was once again submerged by the surging sea, but this time, Sigismund's army was clearly prepared.
The demonic mage forces changed their tactics; instead of unleashing single-shot lightning bolts or fireballs, they began casting area-of-effect spells like Fire Wall and Wall-Making spells, which altered the terrain or provided sustained damage.
Although the power and duration of these spells were weakened by the chaotic demonic environment within the valley, they were still much more effective than before.
Meanwhile, the demonic ground forces focused on clearing out the scattered sporadic creatures emerging from rock crevices and burrows, maintaining a tight formation and responding in an orderly manner.
In this way, although the demons' advance was not easy, they were able to move forward steadily without suffering major casualties or excessive consumption.
When the expected half hour had passed, and no more new splashes fell from the rock face, and the splashing waves in the valley visibly thinned out, Sigismund's lips finally curled into a smile.
Clearly, his roommate hadn't lied to him. After the creep was cut off, the valley lacked a continuous supply of magic and could no longer produce those damned Puji.
"All troops, attack!" He issued the order for a general offensive without hesitation.
The demon soldiers, who had been suppressing their anger for so long, let out a deafening roar and launched a fierce attack on the last stronghold held by humanity.
The sounds of metal clashing, spells exploding, and screams echoed through the valley, as the life-or-death battle for survival unfolded as scheduled.
Of course, Sigismund did not let his guard down. He still reserved a portion of his elite forces to guard the retreat route and kept a close watch on the fungal carpet on the rock face.
Once any signs of the Puji resuming mass production are detected, the force will immediately raise the alarm and launch a full-scale attack to prevent it from being a trap set by the humans.
Sigismund's gaze swept across the battlefield, locking onto a familiar figure in the opposing human ranks. He muttered to himself, "It's been too long... It's time to put an end to all of this."
(End of this chapter)
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