Mushroom Lord in the Underground City

The clash and backlash on the mental level seemed long, but in reality, it only lasted a few seconds.

Puki looked in confusion at the soldier who had suddenly grabbed its tentacle, then fell straight to the ground, not moving. The mycelium tentacle curled up involuntarily.

It had indeed chosen quite a few toxin skills from the Mushroom Lord, but it hadn’t even used them just now!

How did this person die just like that?

Puki wasn’t clear about the matters of the soul and only felt like it had been framed.

It looked around nervously, fortunately finding that no one had noticed this spot yet.

Puki made a swift decision, seizing the moment when no one was watching, it dashed away on its short legs, its agile figure quickly disappearing around the corner.

Not long after it left, someone finally discovered the "soldier" lying on the ground.

When people gathered around, the disguise magic on the corpse slowly faded away, revealing the true appearance of the Enchanting Demon beneath.

The soldiers who gathered whispered among themselves, but the focus of their discussion was not on this Enchanting Demon spy itself.

After all, they had seen all sorts of strange infiltrators during this time.

From parasitic demons that could crawl into a brain to control the host, to Shapeshifters, Shadow Demons... Compared to those, Enchanting Demons were already quite conventional.

What truly puzzled them was who had silently dealt with this spy but did not come forward to claim credit.

There were no traces of a struggle or any bodies of comrades who perished together...

...

However, the culprit, or rather, the self-proclaimed culprit Puki, was at this moment dashing with its two short legs, "puki-puki", racing back to Shi Wu’s temporary dwelling.

Just arriving at the doorstep, it bumped into Shi Wu’s leg as he was returning from outside.

"What are you so flustered about?" Shi Wu casually pulled out a telepathy stone he carried with him and skillfully placed it on one of Puki’s mycelium tentacles.

Since this little guy had earnestly stated, "Casually touching the mushroom cap is disrespectful to the Mushroom Race," he had changed to this contact method.

"Who, who’s flustered! That day when we barged through a sea of enemies slashing and killing galore, I wasn’t even flustered then!" Puki’s mushroom cap wobbled back and forth, its short legs unconsciously scraping on the ground, "It’s just that... I ran just a tad bit faster!"

Shi Wu suspiciously stared at Puki for a moment, but ultimately didn’t say much.

The sudden burst of enhanced spores from Puki that day indeed saved the day, though he ended up vomiting and purging afterward, discovering that he’d been poisoned by three different toxins simultaneously—but still, it was that sudden strength that allowed him to escape Xenophon’s lethal pursuit.

Had he been forced to use the distress signal then, even if by chance they could escape, it would inevitably cost the supporting troops dearly. This favor, Shi Wu kept it in his heart.

Although shortly after returning, Shi Wu got sick from various poisons, overall, he still owed Puki a favor.

It was precisely these shared battle experiences that made him genuinely acknowledge this noisy little Puki.

Initially, when he brought back Puki, his sole intent was to let his master and the bishop study this peculiar intelligent demon.

Now, although the research would still continue, if anyone intended to dissect this little guy, Shi Wu would undoubtedly be the first to oppose.

However, to truly research Puki, it would have to wait until after the war.

Shi Wu had just come out of the command post. He keenly sensed that his master and the bishop seemed to have something to discuss, so he took the initiative to leave.

Walking on the way back to his residence, he couldn’t help but feel puzzled, what kind of matter would require even him to shy away?

But this doubt was quickly replaced by another emotion.

Thinking back to his master’s gradually recovering complexion after obtaining Moonlight, Shi Wu was still filled with hope.

His master’s injuries were nothing more than a result of an ambush by the insidious Blood Race Prince, who dared to sacrifice the Abyss Beast to succeed.

He always believed that his master was the strongest on this continent.

As long as he could recover to peak condition, no Blood Race Prince, no Demon Race Commander would be his match!

He could definitely relieve the predicament of Three Mountains City!

...

In the command room, the Sword Saint Elvyn gazed at Moonlight cradled on his knees, his fingertips gently stroking the flowing moon patterns on the scabbard, his eyes full of reminiscence.

Under the dual effect of Moonlight’s pure moonlight and the sacred purification of Archbishop Ditas, even the insidious blood toxin of the Blood Race Prince was gradually dissipating.

Although his body still felt weak, Elvyn could sense that he was not far from regaining his peak strength.

However, unlike the pure confidence of his disciple Shi Wu, the Sword Saint and the Archbishop were both keenly aware that the disadvantage on the battlefield was not something he could singlehandedly overturn.

"If you were to face Visarius head-to-head, what are your chances?" Ditas’s voice was particularly clear in the silent room.

Elvyn pondered for a moment, "If one-on-one, 60-40, I have a 60 percent chance."

This answer did not bring comfort to the Archbishop.

A 60-40 chance meant the power gap between the two sides wasn’t that large and could easily be influenced by other variables, and on the battlefield, the biggest variable was naturally the soldiers on both sides.

Currently, in terms of military power, the odds were indeed against them. If not for relying on the solid city defenses of Three Mountains City, they would have likely already fallen.

Unless Visarius suddenly lost his mind and proactively entered the city to duel with the Sword Saint, any battle would occur outside the city, surrounded by the Demon Race army.

And they all knew that the Old Bat who had lived for centuries wouldn’t adhere to any knightly spirit but would undoubtedly choose the most secure siege tactics.

Moreover, the crisis was not limited to this.

The more worrying issue was Duke Brunus’s stance.

Duke Brunus was also currently in Three Mountains City, but the fact that the two quietly excluded him showed a problem.

During the time when Demon Race spies were most rampant, the number of Demon Race spies arrested near Brunus’s dwelling was several times that of other areas, plus the previous impressions, it’s hard not to harbor doubts.

Although they couldn’t directly mark him as a traitor, caution was necessary.

In fact, the two thought Brunus was most likely wavering, because if he had truly rebelled, taking advantage of the Sword Saint’s grave injury to coordinate inside and out, Three Mountains City would have fallen already.

Seeming to have made a certain decision, Ditas sighed heavily, pulling out a vial filled with black mist from his robe: "There is one other way... we can shield you against the Demon Race army."

Elvyn looked at the vial exuding a strong dark aura in Ditas’s hand, a trace of disgust flashing in his eyes: "Is this okay? Isn’t it a complete violation of the teachings?"

"If people have the freedom to live, faith can continue, and I’ll bear all the sins alone."

In the Archbishop’s eyes, the Sword Saint caught a trace of unprecedented despair.

Ditas lowered his voice, revealing a long-buried secret: "The God of Light... hasn’t delivered an oracle for a century. It’s laughable that as an Archbishop, I’ve never heard the voice of the God since I took office, and I can’t even be sure if He has abandoned us."

At this, even Elvyn’s face changed, incredulously saying: "But didn’t you successfully summon the Hero?"

"Yes... aside from dealing with the threat of the Demon Race, the main purpose of summoning the Hero was to confirm whether the God was still there." Ditas’s voice was full of bitterness, "Yet even at such a crucial moment, none of the Priests present heard the words of God. I can’t imagine what kind of situation this is."

Or perhaps Ditas dared not speculate.

A long silence spread between the two.

Finally, the Archbishop put the vial away again, speaking with determination: "Seek the opportunity for a decisive battle, for the survival of humanity, I’ll help remove any obstacles and create a chance for you to face Visarius alone."