novelnext Chapter 566 - 556: What Are You Doing, Hero?
Chapter 566 - 556: What Are You Doing, Hero?
Louisa, holding a crimson greatsword, stood majestically in the center of the battlefield’s waters, surrounded by swirling currents and the brilliance of magic power that had yet to settle.
Beneath, the wreckage of Iron Jaw’s headless and one-armed corpse had sunk to the bottom, leaving only strands of dark green venom intertwined with bright red blood.
Although the boss had set sights on her, she still had to finish the current matters at hand.
She tightened her face, stretched out a hand, and gripped the void!
Blood accelerated out of Iron Jaw’s corpse, all converging into Louisa’s palm, forming a blood ball.
At this moment, in the Fungal Network, cheers from the soldiers erupted.
"The Marshal is invincible!"
"Did you see? That layer of blood armor! Even the space rift couldn’t tear it apart!"
"The Marshal is unbeatable in battle!"
However, in the eyes of the remaining Snake-man Mercenaries, what they saw was another scene, one of terror.
Their own captain was slain by the blood-race female commander as if she were a Demon God, and even the blood became the opponent’s weapon.
Around them, those half-demon soldiers bore sharp fangs yet remained silent.
This silence thoroughly shattered the scant courage left in the Snake-men.
The captain, their strongest palace-level leader, was brutally crushed in a single battle by the serious blood race, without any room to struggle.
Even the last resort only managed to trap the opponent for a short while.
The disparity in power was despairingly vast.
The backbone, reduced to a headless corpse beneath the water.
Resistance? Glory? They were merely mercenaries.
When the first Snake-man let his weapon slip from his trembling claws, the others finally realized, one by one, they too laid down their weapons, lowering their heads or averting their gaze, not daring to meet the enemy’s eyes again.
Not all resisted; a few Snake-men’s eyes burned with anger and resentment, not only refusing to drop their weapons but gripping them tighter.
However, these few Snake-men were pinned down by their companions before they could charge.
Louisa waved her hand, leaving the matter of handling the prisoners to her subordinates.
Soon, Pukis’ tentacles entwined them.
The Snake-men curled up, placing their hopes for survival on the enemy’s mercy.
Luckily, Lin Jun truly was a benevolent mushroom, something they would come to know in the future.
Louisa returned within the army ranks, and with a thought, the A Level Demon Crystals embedded in her armor dimmed one by one.
As the magic power supply ceased, the blood-colored crystal armor covering her body shattered and fell away. The soft barbs extending all over her body also retracted to their original short and sturdy form with Little Pig’s low humming sound.
Then, a series of subtle crisp sounds echoed.
No need to reach out and touch them, the cracked Demon Crystals dissolved into crystal powder, softly dispersing into the surrounding currents, disappearing without a trace.
The reason the Demon Crystal armor could unleash such power lies in making the Demon Crystals operate beyond overload, gathering far more magic power than usual, thus enhancing both the armor and the wearer’s power.
The principle is similar to Lin Jun’s previous use of Demon Crystal self-destruction, though the technical difficulty differs significantly.
Though the fight with Iron Jaw didn’t last long, these A Level Demon Crystals were far from reaching the limit of their use.
But there’s no such thing as "use half now and save the rest for next time" with Demon Crystal armor.
Once the Demon Crystal is activated to overload, even stopping midway, the process of starting and stopping alone is enough to completely destroy the Demon Crystal.
Although both are A Level Demon Crystals, comparing the cost is roughly equivalent to consuming an S-Class Demon Crystal capable of carrying a Knight Puki.
An extravagant splurge indeed.
As for using full S-Class Demon Crystals?
They could be used if one were willing to empty their coffers, but it’s hard to justify the expense.
On the other hand, Tanaka wasn’t having an easy time either.
...
Along a narrow path.
A flash of white light, and the Mushroom Race youth froze, expression blank. Tanaka seized the moment to turn and run at full speed.
Yet he hadn’t gotten far before Ming shook his head, his gaze refocusing.
Although he had completely forgotten why he was here, the orders repeatedly sent through the Fungal Network by Senior Norris were crystal clear: Capture that fleeing human!
Obedience, almost engraved into Ming’s being as a natural instinct.
The boss often praised him as "the most obedient good child."
In his understanding, in the boss’s absence, he should follow Senior Norris’ instructions.
Seeing the fingers almost reach the opponent’s clothes, Tanaka turned back with another [Memory Erasure].
Ming paused again, falling into a brief void.
It wasn’t that Tanaka was soft-hearted, reluctant to harm the youthful-looking Ming, but rather...
"Damn this physical immunity! Does this world play fair? What kind of monsters are these?"
Not to mention killing, he couldn’t even knock the opponent unconscious.
He could only utilize quick flashing to erase the opponent’s recent memories when nearly caught.
Tanaka could also erase long-term memories and even specific event memories, but those required more precise operations, unsuitable for use in combat.
In the cycle of chase and pursuit, Tanaka stumbled and dashed out of the narrow path.
Then he encountered the over four-meter-tall Jida.
Ming realized he couldn’t handle this human shortly after encountering him, but Norris insisted Ming continue the pursuit, intending to use Ming to pinpoint Tanaka’s general location.
Jida couldn’t fit into the narrow path but could block the exit!
"What...what is this?"
Tanaka tried [Memory Erasure] on Jida.
A flash of white light, and Jida had no reaction.
Even Norris just "saw" Tanaka raise a finger at him, without realizing what white light there was.
Norris in Jida relies on the sense-sharing with the reconnaissance Puki on its head to understand the outside world, and Puki doesn’t rely on eyes to observe the world.
Looking at this Jida with panels all over its body, Tanaka realized something was wrong and turned to escape.
[Gravity Field]
Tanaka’s foot twisted, and he fell to the ground.
The next second, a sharp-tipped tentacle pierced through his right leg, then tightly entangled him.
Tanaka immediately fell to the ground, being slowly dragged backward by the tentacle.
No matter how he struggled, he was unable to break free.
Meanwhile, Ming chased over from the narrow path, seeing no hope left.
Snap!
On Jiro’s fox face, the fur on one corner of his mouth was thinning, but he was unaware.
"I’ve passed through this corridor, where should I go next?" came Tanaka’s inquiry beside him.
Jiro fell into silence.
The other party’s perception range was astonishingly large. The previous attempts to guide Tanaka to change the exit location were quickly detected and intercepted.
Clearly, they were close to the core region, but success was always just out of reach.
He didn’t have infinite chances; each short simulation cost him a small amount of time in real life.
If he couldn’t find a way out promptly, he would eventually face an unavoidable dead end.
Time quietly advanced, accompanied by the clapping sounds, and more and more fox fur accumulated on the ground.
When the fallen silver-white fur nearly buried the surface of his boots, Jiro, with bloodshot eyes, finally seized that fleeting opportunity.
Under his guidance, Tanaka took a massive curved route.
This time, he finally arrived at the core region before interception could occur.
[Hero, restriction lifted]
Similar to Pujie Dungeon, this place also had a powerful guardian at the core.
However, the Water Elemental Lord meant to guard here was nowhere to be seen, leaving only a huge imprisoning magic ring sunk at the bottom.
With no obstacles, Tanaka skimmed past the core and placed his prepared item against the center seal.
Crack!
The seal developed a small breach, and it continued to expand.
Yet in the next moment, a tentacle flashed past Tanaka’s eyes.
His right hand tightly gripping the tool, along with half of his forearm, disappeared from sight.
Lin Jun manipulated Knight Puki, wrapped the severed hand with a tentacle, examining the strange plate-like object in hand, filled with suspicion.
The Yellow-covered Book, to show loyalty, had long revealed many secrets of the Demon King.
Six seals were told to Lin Jun, five revealed by it, the remaining one even it didn’t know.
Lin Jun originally thought this matter had little to do with him. Given the current situation, apart from the Yellow-covered Book, those truly capable of unsealing seemed unwilling to release the Demon King.
Unexpectedly, there actually was someone trying to release the Demon King!
Moreover...
Lin Jun looked at this guy he had once met in the Archipelago.
Are you not the Hero?
Desperately trying to release the Demon King, are you brain-damaged?
Has the story taken a wrong turn?
Could it be that kind of scenario... release then defeat, and you can return home?
But I’ve never heard that a Hero can return home!
Lin Jun, now, is filled with confusion.
Moreover, this Tanaka too, able to utilize secret passages, with good luck, appeared at the closest point to the center, at the furthest possible timing relative to Knight Puki.
Otherwise, given the speed comparison between both parties, Lin Jun could never allow him to touch the seal.
Anyway, Lin Jun could never agree to the release of such a beyond-spec existence as the Demon King.
The seal is slightly damaged but still barely operational.
The knight’s tentacle extended, instantly wrapping the powerless Tanaka.
Being a Hero as well, Lin Jun initially didn’t intend to engage too early, but since this guy got into his mushroom hat, there’s no reason to let him go!
Parasite, interrogate, then decide based on circumstances whether to execute or recruit him.
[Memory Erasure] This skill looks quite useful...
Just as Lin Jun thought so, Tanaka’s figure blurred and disappeared!
Leaving only a few magic items slowly sinking in the water.
Hm?
What is this ability? Teleportation? Or an illusion stand-in?
"Little Pig!" Lin Jun immediately communicated through the Fungal Network, "Lead the troops out of the Underground City! Find the ship the Snake-man came on!"
The leader’s slightly angry order made Louisa not dare to delay even for a moment, leading the team straight out of Tide Sanctuary.
Upon leaving the relatively stable sanctuary area, the frenzied magic turbulence and the regrouping fog monsters swept in, causing the first casualties during the rapid advance of the troops.
Louisa turned a blind eye to this as she broke through the sea surface first.
However, on the vast ocean, except for the endless distant fog, there was nothing else.