Chapter 326: Phantom Shadow and the Struggle

"Tally, is there something in the shadows?"

"Nope, the attack didn't come from the shadows."

Tally replied.

With her current mastery of shadow and darkness, no matter how powerful the opponent, she could still clearly tell that much difference.

"Another trap?"

Ona cast 【Eye Demon Observation】 again, but still found nothing.

*Slap! *

Another sound of something tearing through the air.

The spell shield of the Star Spirit person, Hayley, was struck, and with a crack split open into a large gap.

And she herself, whether from the impact or for some other reason, once again tumbled into Rod's arms.

Rod instinctively held her waist; the feel was soft and yielding, unlike Tally's taut, fleshy-less form.

This time her collar was even wider.

A pair of pale-blue, semi-translucent mounds pressed against Rod's chest, the existence of a grand northern hemisphere clearly visible.

"."

Sure enough, an exhibitionist.

Rod's gaze shifted upward and met her icy stare.

"Enjoying the view?"

Her slightly darker lips formed the shape of those three words, but made no sound.

The two of them were inches apart.

Rod could clearly smell her scent—a herbal fragrance with a hint of mint.

Something delivered right to my door, no reason not to take a bite.

The hand around her waist tightened its hold a little more, and gradually began to drift downward.

Just as it was about to touch her buttocks.

Hayley frowned.

She shoved him away.

But she was immediately pulled back by Rod, once again crashing into his arms.

"What are you doing!"

The Star Spirit mage's face instantly showed annoyance.

You, a mere future servant of mine, how dare you be so bold as to touch me?! Can't tell who's the master and who's the servant anymore!

Just as she was about to scold him.

She saw an invisible impact strike the very spot she had just been about to retreat to, blasting the rock on the ground and sending shards flying.

"Careful."

Rod said with a smile.

"Hmph!" The Star Spirit person in his arms still shoved him away roughly, looking thoroughly displeased, not seeming to be faking it.

"."

I did you a favor, so why are you angry?

Wasn't it you who was seducing me just now? The moment I respond, you get angry instead?

Starting to not really understand Star Spirit women.

Hum—

The sound of magical resonance rang out.

Ona had finished casting; a silver mirror appeared in her hand, and a layer of magical circuitry emerged on its surface.

Then light flared forth.

【Domain of Revelation】.

It could cause all living beings and objects within a certain range to become visible.

Compared to dispelling invisibility, it was a higher-level spell, and the silver mirror serving as its vessel also shimmered with an unusual brilliance.

As the light swept across the wide space.

On a raised platform in the distance, a two-meter-tall, dark-yellow four-legged creature was revealed.

Legs as thick as an elephant's, a torso bearing a fanged maw as wide as a pair of shoulders, brown wart-like growths clustered on either side, and three or four pink, slender tentacles waving menacingly in midair.

Its skin looked more like that of a plant, covered in fuzz and mucus, the damp wart-like growths also densely packed with mushroom caps and mycelia.

When the light faded.

This terrifying monster also vanished once more into invisibility.

"Ugh, that's seriously disgusting."

Rod frowned.

"What is that? It looks like some kind of fungal creature."

Hayley looked toward Noah.

The dopey mushroom-person dopily shook his head, indicating he had no idea.

Ona thought for a moment, then said:

"Phantom Mushroom—this is a cosmic creature born with advanced invisibility; even ordinary dispel-invisibility spells can't see through it, and when it lingers in one place for a long time, it also spreads perception-hindering spores."

"A cosmic creature? Why would there be a cosmic creature here?"

"Perhaps it wandered up from somewhere, perhaps someone summoned it, or maybe there's a rift to another plane inside this cavern."

This was not good news.

Rod suddenly twisted his body and reached out into empty air with a violent grab.

A sticky, squishy sensation transmitted clearly into his palm.

Everyone was startled by his sudden move, but they knew he must have caught something.

"I didn't even notice it."

Hailey's gaze toward Rod's eyes grew brighter and brighter.

"A mage's sense leans more toward detection, while a warrior's is more like intuition. In this respect we can't compare, let alone when that person is Rod."

Ona said with a smile.

Rod manipulated the slime Blackie to solidify into a pitch-black slime sword.

He swung a slash toward the direction of the attack.

The slime mucus on the blade shot out, splashing in great patches across the rock wall to the side.

A massive figure over two meters tall was caught by the black mucus.

Sizzle—

Blackie exerted the corrosive effect of the mucus.

White smoke rose from both the rock wall and the invisible form wrapped in the mucus, as if being burned.

"The attack carries the power of mid seventh-tier, but the defense isn't much."

"After all, most of their function is spent on stealth."

Hailey lit up her spell, and a burst of magic blasted forth, smashing the phantom mushroom into pieces.

The group checked the area.

After confirming there were no other enemies, they pressed onward once more.

Only the appearance of the cosmic creature made them more alert.

As they pressed deeper.

The Light spell on the cave ceiling seemed to be wrapped by darkness, its brightness reduced by at least half.

White mist seeped upward through the cracks between the rocks.

The strange white mist, carrying a faint sulfurous smell, compressed their perception once again by a notch.

"Very close now."

The mushroom-man Noah spoke up.

He pointed to the right side of the fork ahead. "If I'm not mistaken, the source of the spores is just ahead."

Just as he said that.

A humanoid creature over three meters tall walked out from the other fork.

It was a sturdy mushroom-man wrapped in ancient tree bark.

He glared viciously at the group.

"Forbidden! Passage!"

He swung a massive fist and smashed a small crater into the rocky ground.

"Will this ever end!"

The Star Spirit Hailey was getting a little angry.

She raised her staff, intending to fire off something powerful to finish off this fellow.

"Hold on."

Ona stopped her. "This is a mushroom-king of the Mycelium Clan. I've seen him before."

"What? He's acting like he's gone mad."

"Maybe he's gotten high. Tell me, Mr. Noah — what does it take for you mushroom-men to regain your senses after inhaling hallucinogenic spores?"

She tried some clarity spells, but the spores were a peculiar thing and actually had no effect.

Noah froze for a moment, having wanted to ask, "Why would you want to be clear-headed?"

But the situation seemed a bit tense right now, so he could only speak plainly: "Male battle mushroom-men like to wrestle; the taste of defeat will bring them back to their senses."

Rod laughed.

"Then it has to be me."

Everyone already had confidence in his strength and wasn't worried.

But the mushroom-king was not. Seeing Rod assume a stance to wrestle him, he couldn't help but laugh contemptuously.

"Weak human, you dare to face me?!"

"Cut the nonsense, or are you afraid?"

Rod tapped the 【Tremor Soul Blade】 to activate its taunt ability.

Sure enough.

The mushroom-king roared and assumed the same wrestling stance.

The next instant, one large and one small figure collided.

A shudder ran through them both, even shaking the spores and dust off their bodies!

(End of this chapter)