This dungeon has mushrooms growing on it.

Chapter 191, Question 190: Excuse Me
"Didn't you say..." Fifteen stopped, looking around at the desolate, barren cave before her, her voice tinged with confusion, "that the deeper levels of the Amethyst Dungeon are teeming with dangerous monsters?"

This was the third cave they had passed through since entering the deeper areas.

As far as the eye can see, there are only jagged, gray rock walls and gravel and dust covering the ground.

Forget about the ferocious monsters I had imagined, I couldn't even find moss or anything like that.

"It used to be quite vibrant," the swordsman replied without turning his head.

"how long ago?"

"Uh..." The Sword Saint paused, seemingly searching for a vague point in his memory, "About twenty years ago?"

Fifteen fell silent; the outdated information from twenty years ago was meaningless...

Inanna stared at her feet without speaking, sensing... something like mycelium beneath the rock strata...

The thought of mycelium made her patient again.

She had a hard time enduring the effort of walking down from the first floor.

I wish I could become a little puffy and lie on the fungal carpet, that feeling of being integrated into the fungal network, carefree and only feeling at ease.

It's okay if you haven't experienced it, but once you have, going back to that feeling of being alone, detached from the mushroom net, is truly terrifying.

However, the mycelium underfoot seemed to be buried quite deep, making it difficult to perceive.

She couldn't help but turn to look at Aiding, only to find that the latter's eyes were fixed straight ahead, as if he hadn't noticed anything.

……

At the other end of the cave, in the place where the Qis Rift is located, a battle for the survival of their homeland is underway.

This time, Keith became the defender.

Countless Qis of various shapes and sizes crowded the cave, clinging tightly to the rugged rock walls and natural shelters, forming a flesh and blood barrier, and fighting hard to resist the attack of the Puji army.

Having dealt with these Puji for over half a month, Qisi knew all too well what kind of creatures they were and was determined not to let them seize control of the rift.

Otherwise, even its own stronghold will face the risk of destruction.

Fortunately, having the advantage of terrain gave Keith a chance to catch his breath.

Evil Eye floated close to the rock wall above the passage, raising its altitude to the maximum to avoid being injured by the massive explosion of the heavy armor.

At the same time, the petrification rays projected vertically downwards prevent the heavily armored Pokémon from providing cover for other Pokémon.

The other Keith units took the opportunity to focus their fire on the heavily armored Puji who were not accompanied by other Puji. With this tactic, Keith managed to contain the surging offensive near the entrance of the passage.

At the same time, the frigid terrain is also quite disadvantageous to the Puji. Although the Puji are all equipped with [Cold Resistance LV7] and will not be frozen, they cannot cope with the icy ground.

Those smooth, short legs are very easy to slip on the ice. You have to be careful just to move forward, and when you fire the mushroom cannon, you will spin around and slide backward due to the recoil.

In contrast, the kiss's sharp claws can easily pierce the ice surface, grip the ground firmly, and move and strike on the ice with ease, making full use of its agility advantage.

The battle thus descended into a brutal stalemate of attrition, with both sides relentlessly grinding low-level cannon fodder into the meat grinder-like passage.

Besides the mutual attrition, another contest is taking place on the battlefield—the fight for corpses.

Whether it was the remains of Qisi or Puji, as soon as they fell, figures would pounce on them, dragging them away and quickly disappearing behind their respective camps, leaving the other side with no recyclable resources.

Therefore, despite the fierce battle having lasted for a long time, there was no scene of corpses piled up like mountains in the passage; the passage was only covered with scattered mycelium and purple blood.

At one point, the Puji suddenly stopped attacking and left!
But this was not a defeat, but an orderly retreat, so Keith did not attempt to pursue.

Ultimately, it's already giving it its all just to hold the rift... Moreover, what unsettles Keith is that at the beginning of the battle, it discovered some beings in Puji's group who could provide [magic shields]. Although they were very fragile and were easily pierced by [petrification rays], the implications behind this terrified Keith.

If it could, it would like to close the rift now, but unfortunately, that's not something it can control...

However, what it didn't know was that the reason the Puji left was simply because they discovered that others were coming!

In a passage connected to the Rift Cave, an Eye Worm floats silently, with a dozen or so Chis below protecting it.

One unit attacks from the front to draw enemy fire, while another unit launches a surprise attack from behind, ultimately creating a pincer movement.

After suffering a few losses at Puji's hands, Qisi learned his lesson.

Even with the battle lines at the front so fiercely fought, it still left reconnaissance troops in other passages to prevent surprise attacks.

However, this time it didn't find Puji, but a group of... creatures that looked a bit like demons.

From afar, before it could even get a clear look, all the Qis, including the ocellus, lost contact in an instant.

A new threat!

……

"Finally, we've encountered a monster! I thought they'd all disappeared! But... why is this blood purple? What kind of strange creature is this?" Fifteen crouched down and curiously poked at the still-warm corpse of Qis on the ground with his sword sheath.

The mage Guge stared at the pool of viscous, syrup-like purple blood, his brows furrowed, his lips moving silently a few times, but in the end he said nothing.

Inanna, standing to the side, was more focused on another question: "It's invisible! Uncle Elwayne, how did you spot it from so far away?" Her eyes widened with curiosity.

"It's qi..." Fifteen was about to answer when the Sword Saint next to him delivered a precise side kick to his buttocks, sending him flying to the side.

“It’s ‘Qi Sensing,’ little one.” Elwayn withdrew his foot and said with a smile, “It allows you to directly sense the presence around you. The stronger the Qi, the more noticeable the target becomes. So, little Inanna, do you want to learn?”

Inanna thought for a moment, then shook her head: "Never mind, Father said that most people can't learn your moves, Uncle Elwayne, and besides..."

She gently raised her slender hand, and the moisture in the air instantly condensed.

A water python, as thick as a bowl and entirely blue, hissed as it took shape, coiling gracefully around her, its head held high as it looked around warily.

It doesn't matter if Inanna doesn't find the enemy; the elemental spirits have their own unique enemy-finding techniques!
"Tsk, I almost forgot, you also have this outrageous thing..."

The group continued deeper into the passage. Fifteen, who had been rubbing his buttocks and muttering complaints, suddenly fell silent, tensed up, and the water snakes on Inanna's body went into battle mode.

The view at the end of the passage suddenly opened up, but the sight that came into view made everyone's hearts skip a beat.

Ahead, a massive, menacing army of Qis stood like a silent reef, countless cold gazes fixed upon them, filled with undisguised hostility.

Further away, several bloated, clumsy worms were wriggling, greedily devouring the last remaining corpses of Qis and Puji on the battlefield, making nauseating sucking sounds.

Above all of this, a gigantic evil eye silently floated, radiating a unique sense of oppression befitting a behemoth.

But what is most striking is the enormous spatial rift in the center of the cave.

“It really is Qisi…” the old mage Gug’s voice rang out in a deep tone, with a hint of understanding, “No wonder the areas we passed through before were like dead zones, devoid of any life.”

"Chis? What's that?" Fifteen stared intently at the terrifying swarm of insects ahead, gripping the hilt of his sword tightly.

“A kind of monster that inhabits the frigid lands of the far north,” Guge explained quickly. “Theoretically, humans would never see one in their entire lives. This is the first time I’ve ever seen one with my own eyes… I never imagined that a rift could connect to such a distant place!”

"Alright, alright, let's continue the explanation later," the Sword Saint rubbed his nose; the smell in this cave was truly unpleasant. "Let's get through quickly!"

As he spoke, he flicked his wrist, and the longsword at his waist was drawn, its blade gleaming with a layer of condensed and pure magical light.

(End of this chapter)