Red Dragon Monster Hunter Template.

By the time the mind flayers in the cave noticed something was wrong, it was already too late.

The dense fungi covered almost every corner of the cave, whether it was the ground, walls or ceiling, you could see those inconspicuous mycelia.

A terrible disease broke out, and almost all the slaves controlled by the mind flayers began to cough violently, their body temperature rose sharply, and they also suffered from severe septicemia.

The weakest of the underground goblins were the first to fall. They died in droves, their bodies rotting and oozing pus within just a few minutes, covered with colorful mycelium.

Soon, even the stronger Stoneblind Barbarians could not hold on any longer and collapsed to the ground.

Following closely behind, the more robust War Lizardmen, Broadclaws, and Brain Eaters also fell one after another. In the end, even the long-lived Drow Elves and Grey Dwarves were caught in a painful struggle.

In just a few hours, the entire cave was filled with corpses, and slender mycelium grew rampantly around these corpses, gradually weaving a colorful carpet.

Even the mind flayers couldn't escape the fate of being infected.

Ordinary fungus spores certainly couldn't do this, since the slime on the Mind Flayer's surface is a natural bactericide and bacteriostatic agent that can effectively resist external infections.

The blood flowing through their bodies is not ordinary blood, but a salty brine-like liquid that is inherently unsuitable for fungal growth.

However, the fungus released by Viherzaku is a terrifying creation, modified by Thor's Mad Dragon Curse and mixed with a large number of strange fungi from the Monster Hunter world.

These fungi can even survive in a completely waterless, temperature-high volcano with temperatures reaching thousands of degrees Celsius, so why would they care about a mere layer of disinfectant and hydrochloric acid?

Unlike those who become slaves to the mind flayers, the fungus that parasitizes the mind flayers simply drains their nutrients and energy, weakening them without immediately taking their lives.

When these octopus-headed creatures could no longer hold on and collapsed in their dwellings and laboratories, Viherzaku, covered in corpses, calmly strode over.

…………

Heavy footsteps echoed through the deathly silent cave. He easily broke through the psionic siphon trap in the front hall, stepped over the furry corpse of the mind-eating monster, and entered the central stone chamber.

This is a spacious, oval-shaped space. The ground has sunk into a pit nearly 10 meters deep, filled with murky, salty, thick, viscous brine that glows with a dark purple fluorescence.

In the center of the pool floats a strange object, nearly 6 meters in diameter, resembling a brain. Its exposed "skin" is covered with numerous grooves and depressions, and dense, purplish-blue nerve bundles, like octopus tentacles, extend outwards, occasionally creating ripples in the water.

Some tadpole-like creatures swam in the pool, and the corpses of various intelligent beings could be seen beside the pool. Their heads had holes cut open, and their brains were already empty. Among them were even other Mind Flayers.

This is the mastermind behind the Mind Flayer.

It is said that it was originally created by a high-ranking mind flayer—also known as a soul eater, a being with six tentacles on its chin—who, after breaking away from its original clan, created a brain pool in a new stronghold and sacrificed itself.

At that time, it was still very small and needed to rely on pre-prepared slaves as the carriers for the first batch of juvenile mind flayers (that is, the tadpoles swimming in the pool) to create its first subordinates.

Afterward, these mind flayers will provide the main brain with a continuous supply of intelligent life forms as food, and when they are too injured or about to die of old age, they will return to this brain pool.

In this way, the entire mainframe continued to grow and expand, and its spiritual energy became stronger and stronger, until the nearby resources were no longer sufficient to support its continued growth. Then, it would split off Soul Eaters to establish new clans.

Its social structure is quite similar to that of bees and ants.

What Viherzaku saw at this moment was a small Mind Flayer mastermind that had already reached a preliminary stage of maturity. The psionic energy it emitted was enough to cover a radius of three kilometers.

Waves of psychological shock surged toward Viherzaku like a tidal wave, but unfortunately, the mycelium growing rampant throughout the cave had already built a preliminary mycelial network.

When the faint spiritual power of billions of tiny creatures connects with each other and empowers Viherzaku, although it is still not enough to contend with the main brain, it is more than enough to defend against its mental attacks.

Aside from mental attacks, the Mind Flayer's mastermind has almost no other means of attack, and it cannot even leave the brain pool. Once it leaves the brine, its entire body will quickly die.

This is probably why the Mind Flayers, despite seemingly being far stronger than the Geese Yankees, are still relentlessly hunted down by them.

A few elite Gith Yankees, capable of ignoring mind attacks, could storm the Mind Flayer's central incubation chamber and deliver a fatal blow to the mainframe with their silver swords.

Seeing that its last resistance was futile, the writhing brain tissue in the pool simply gave up the attack and used psionic energy to transmit a message.

"A bizarre existence, a true dragon never seen before, you win."

"Tell me! What do you want? Knowledge, wealth, or some secret unknown to others? I'll give you anything I possess, just in exchange for my life."

Viherzaku slowly shook his head, the corpses covering his body emitting thick miasma, and he spoke in a hoarse voice.

“My master is very interested in Mind Flayers. Come with me; he wants to see you.”

Upon hearing this, the Mind Flayer's main brain paused for a moment, carefully examining the true dragon before it with its mental power—a dragon that, even by the Mind Flayer's standards of aesthetics, appeared terrifying and bizarre.

The opponent was undoubtedly extremely powerful. Its spore-spreading ability, capable of silently annihilating an entire clan, was enough to dominate the entire Underdark.

Yet, even such a powerful being has a master? Is it Psloffer, or Zul'gomoi?

If it's the former, that's fine; if it's the latter, perhaps death is the best outcome.

The Mind Flayer's main brain twitched slightly, and the nerve tissue extending from its body gently patted the water's surface, tentatively speaking.

"Is it indispensable? You know, my size is too large to leave the brain pool, and I may not be able to sustain a long journey."

Perhaps we have an even better option: how about a Soul Eater capable of unlocking a new brain pool?

Chapter 426 Soul-Eating Monster

Mind Flayers are creatures with an extremely strict hierarchy. The existence of the Mind Master is above everything else, and anything can be sacrificed for it, including its own kind.

Faced with the other party's proposal, Viherzaku did not make a decision immediately. His pupils, with tiny fungal hyphae wriggling, quietly stared at the massive brain tissue in front of him, as if he were deep in thought.

In reality, its consciousness had already been reporting to its great master through the invisible psychic link.

This attitude made the Mind Flayer's mastermind feel uneasy. In the next instant, a vast consciousness descended from nowhere, causing a surging and overwhelming pressure to surge throughout the entire stone chamber.

The Mind Flayer's main brain felt as if the creature before it had transformed into a dragon at this moment, its originally silent and gloomy aura suddenly becoming noisy and domineering.

The mycelium attached to its body also became excited and kept twisting its body upwards, rising like flames.

An incredibly powerful surge of spiritual energy erupted from the strange dragon, completely sweeping away the spiritual energy field that originally belonged to the Mind Flayer's main brain, and then transforming it into a surging tide that swept it back in the opposite direction.

This sudden change startled the Mind Flayer's mastermind, who assumed the other party was dissatisfied with its proposal and was about to take forceful action.

This made it extremely alert, putting all its mental abilities into a state of high alert. Although it probably had no chance of winning in the current situation, it was determined to die rather than fall into the hands of the evil demon lord.

However, after a long while, the expected attack did not arrive.

The strange dragon before him raised its head high, looking down at him with its pupils covered in dazzling mycelium, as if it were examining some insignificant object.

This simple action made the Mind Flayer's mastermind feel an extreme arrogance, and it felt a little uncomfortable. However, the situation was beyond its control, so it ultimately dared not retaliate.

Perceiving the world through the senses of Viherzaku via a mental connection is entirely different from the experience of controlling small to medium-sized creatures.

This fungus, combined with other organisms, possesses an extremely rich sensory experience, with sight, hearing, smell, and touch all intertwined, allowing one to perceive the splendor and diversity of the world from a unique perspective.

After a brief experience, Thor refocused his attention on the brain polymer in front of him and began to speak.

"The Mind Flayer's main brain? What an ugly creature, a polymer of rotten flesh, disgusting."

"I've heard you have a Soul Eater here, hurry up and show it to me!"

This arrogant attitude and tone enraged the Mind Flayer's mastermind, whose countless furrows of thought flashed with visible light as it roared furiously.

"Watch your attitude! I just don't want to engage in pointless fighting, not because I'm afraid of you."

Look at yourself, what right do you have to call me disgusting?

Thor glanced at his current body, long and thin, covered with dried corpses and wriggling mycelium. It was certainly not aesthetically pleasing, but that was by no means a reason for the other party to talk back to him.

Its colorful pupils suddenly opened, and its immense spiritual power instantly transformed into sharp spikes, piercing towards the Mind Flayer's main brain in front of it.

The Mind Flayer's main brain, which had been on guard all along, quickly set up layers of spiritual energy defenses in front of it, only to find that the opponent's attack power was unexpectedly strong, and was clearly vastly different from when they first met.

Layers of force fields were mercilessly torn apart, as if the entire brain was about to be split in two. The intense pain triggered spasms, causing the grayish-white brain matter to fluctuate violently like slapped tofu.

Thor controlled Viherzaku's body to step forward, dipping the tip of its long tail into the purple-glowing brine in the brain pool. Immediately, a large number of fungi spread wildly in all directions, like ink being dropped into clear water.

"Who gave you the courage to speak to me like that, you lowly, spineless creature!"

Learn to respect and obey beings stronger than yourself. This is just a small lesson; remember it! There will be no next time!

The colorful mycelium shimmers with a dreamlike luster, like the legendary colors of stars.

Soon they covered the entire surface of the brain pool, embedding their roots and spores deep into the swimming tadpoles and the huge mass of brain tissue, quietly lying dormant.

At this moment, the Mind Flayer's main brain felt only despair, being completely crushed in its most proficient area of ​​psionic energy, to the point that it couldn't even self-destruct.

At this point, his body was completely out of control, and a large number of his psionic circuits were severed by the fungus, so he could not even unleash one-tenth of his full strength.

But precisely because of this, it was even less willing to die. It's better to live a miserable life than to die. Even the Fungal Lady has followers, doesn't she?

After accepting reality, the last bit of pride in his heart was instantly discarded. He endured the intense pain and once again activated his spiritual energy, speaking in a humble tone.

"You are right, powerful dragon! I was too ungrateful."

I will create the Soul Eater you wish to see right away. This will take a little time, so please be patient.

It's unclear what the Mind Flayer's mastermind did; perhaps it was some kind of magic, or perhaps some kind of pheromone at work.

In short, as soon as it finished speaking, the tadpole-like Mind-Stealing Demon larvae in the brain pool became excited and active, and began to ferociously kill each other.

The tadpoles kept biting and devouring each other, and the fluids they expelled bloomed into silvery-white blood flowers in the brain pool.

Before long, only one tadpole remained in the brain pool. After devouring the corpses of all its companions, it became even more ferocious and strong, eager to leap into the brine.

However, it was not yet fully developed. Under the indulgence of the Mind Flayer's main brain, this ferocious creature quickly turned its gaze to the only living thing in the brain pool.

It began to pounce and tear at the grayish-white brain tissue. With the infusion of a large amount of flesh and blood rich in spiritual energy and nutrients, its entire body began to develop rapidly.

Once the tadpole had fully matured, the Mind Flayer's main brain unleashed a burst of spiritual energy to forcefully push it away. Its wounds began to close and heal, but its size had shrunk slightly.

"This is the cub of the Soul Eater. All we need to do is find it a suitable host of a higher intelligent life form so that it can completely transform into its full form."

Thor turned his head slightly stiffly and looked around the hall outside the stone chamber.

All the creatures enslaved by the mind flayers were wiped out during the Viherzaku invasion; apart from the mind flayers themselves, not a single living being remained.

However, a fully developed Mind Flayer cannot serve as a host again.

Their brains have long been hollowed out and replaced, lacking the necessary neurons to connect to the body and the organic matter to reshape the body; at best, they can only be used as food.

Let's wait a little while then; the Red Emperor's will still prevails even in the deepest, darkest regions.

He didn't need to do it himself; all he needed to do was issue an order, and someone would naturally send the right creature to this deep underground world.

Chapter 427 Ambush

Just as Thor witnessed the birth of the Soul Eater through Viherzaku's eyes, the struggle for the Crown of Rainbow Scales in the North was slowly coming to an end.

Deep within an unnamed, wild forest, a figure clad in black robes and the remains of a giant dragon with withered tissue lurked silently together.

Within Drogosa's skull, the green soul fire flickered incessantly, while a ghostly blue negative energy spread outwards along the joints, as if wrapping the skeleton in a transparent layer of flesh and blood.

The surrounding vegetation had long since withered from its scent, and the fertile, dark brown earth was gradually turning into a barren, grayish-white.

However, due to a layer of hazy mist, the place still appears as an ordinary scene from the outside.

True dragons, with their long lifespans, are often extremely patient when necessary, while dragon liches, who have long since perished, can sleep for decades or even centuries to pass the time.

The months of waiting did not cause Drogosa's cold soul to grow the slightest impatience, but for some uncertain reason, he still couldn't help but shake his soul and speak.

Are you sure those colorful scaled reptiles will definitely pass through here?

I don't want to get bogged down in a long chase because of faulty intelligence, and if that alerts the one in the volcano..."

At this point, a hint of apprehension crept into Drogosa's "gaze".

As one of Tiamat's former lovers, this dragon lich has a wealth of experience and knowledge.

Even so, it had never encountered an anomaly like the Red Emperor before.

The Red Emperor's life trajectory was hardly a secret to many forces—in just a few decades, while still a teenager, he became the undisputed absolute hegemon of the North.

What's even more astonishing is its enormous body, which is over 120 meters long. Even many ancient dragons would find it hard to match. It's truly a mystery how it grew to such a size.

If this thing only had a huge body, that would be fine. After all, some ocean behemoths, astral whales, and Leviathans can reach or even exceed this size.

But the Red Emperor not only possesses a colossal physique, but also terrifying strength to match, seemingly inexhaustible reserves of magic power, extraordinary flight speed, and countless spell-like abilities.

With such a configuration, he is practically unkillable in the material world, and all factions almost unanimously believe that he is destined to become a god.

Therefore, when he heard that Tiamat's successor was the Red Emperor, Drogosa immediately thought of running away and had no intention of resisting.

But then the news spread that the Red Emperor would use the Crown of Rainbow Scales to replace the Five-Headed Dragon Queen and elect a successor, causing a great stir throughout the Northlands, and Drogosa began to have different thoughts.

If we can't deal with the Red Emperor who lives in the Doomsday Volcano, surely we can deal with you colorful scaled reptiles?