Chapter 332: Rift

Una reacted swiftly, raising her hand to launch a magic missile propelled by the magic stone in her grip.

A pale blue magic missile, trailing a luminous wake, crossed the stone gate and struck the rock wall of the entrance passage, shattering both the stone and the wall together.

Tearing!

As the magic stone shattered, the Golden Flesh-Woven Crown that should have appeared did not materialize.

Instead, the deep pink fragments embedded themselves in the wall, writhing and spreading like living things.

Then a black-purple rift tore open within the fragments, and a damp, foul-smelling wind surged toward them.

"An interdimensional rift."

Said the Star Spirit, Hali.

"Be advised, something is tearing at the space barrier—even at the cost of destroying the Crown."

Said the Bunnykin, Una, gravely.

Sharon's action had severed the soul link between Scarlett and the Crown, preserving Scarlett's life, but she could do nothing for the other half of the soul already absorbed.

Given the cosmic entity, the Phantom Fungus, they encountered earlier in the passage, even half the soul energy within the Golden Flesh-Woven Crown could still open a rift.

The magic stone was meant to seal both the rift and its opening mechanism.

But now it was clear something intended to smuggle itself onto this continent through this means.

While the rift was still incomplete.

The four mages chanted in sequence.

Hali cast 【Interdimensional Protection Bubble】 and 【Interdimensional Resistance】 on everyone, shielding them from the complex negative natural effects of the interdimensional space.

Demia cast 【Gap Domain】, a zone that drastically weakened cross-dimensional spells and abilities.

Sharon had expended too much magic and mental energy during the earlier ritual and could not cast a powerful spell.

She barely managed to cast a single 【Teleport Seal】, and Luo De shoved her behind him.

The 【Teleport Seal】's effect was weak, but the rift's expansion immediately slowed significantly.

But only slowed.

The last to complete her casting was Una.

She had prepared an eighth-level spell none of the others could cast: 【Spatial Lock】.

Invisible magical vibrations roared forward, striking the edge of the rift, forcing the black-purple tear to shrink rapidly.

Even the damp, stinking wind was kept at bay.

"Sorry, I'm not skilled with non-psychic spells—only about 70% of normal effectiveness."

"Should be enough. The rift is contracting."

Hali observed for a moment.

The effects of 【Spatial Lock】 and 【Teleport Seal】 were unmistakable; the unstable planar currents had calmed, and the entire rift continued shrinking—it would likely close completely in moments.

"Something slipped out!"

Luo De suddenly barked.

His hand split into a pure black longsword, flinging a vast spray of black Slime slime like spilled ink to the side.

But the slime didn't land on anything—instead, a barely noticeable cluster of spores hovered in midair for half a second.

"Not an invisible Phantom Fungus. Something else. It spores."

Luo De warned.

The spore cluster fixed on him, rapidly spreading and swelling to fill the entire passage in multicolored waves, charging straight at them.

Sharon turned pale, stepping in front of him, gritting her teeth to cast a spell to defend him.

Why is a mage blocking for a Spiritual Warrior?

"You just rest."

He yanked her behind him, his arm blurring as 【Sacrificial Blade】 drew itself.

A massive pink-purple crescent of flame—【Heart Flame Affix】 + 【Wrathful Hatefire】—roared toward the charging spore cluster.

Sizzling—

The spore cluster was burned away by nearly half, recoiling in shock.

Luo De pressed forward, wielding his golden sword wreathed in roaring flames, chasing the enemy.

Una had to maintain 【Spatial Lock】, striving to seal it as quickly as possible, so she couldn't move.

But with Luo De as the frontline distraction, the mages behind could now cast again.

After a brief incantation:

Demia's 【Sandstorm】 whipped up Hali's 【Firebrand】, forming a yellow sandstorm laced with explosive fireballs.

Luo De's attacks yielded little against the spore-form enemy; the terrain was too open, making it impossible to replicate the previous tactic that sealed the Fungus Noah.

He decisively stepped aside, letting the wider-area spells take over.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Orange-red fireballs erupted continuously within the yellow curtain.

High-pitched, furious screams followed.

The multicolored spores clustered together, forming a strange humanoid shape, then used its solidified body to endure two direct hits from 【Firebrand】, bursting straight out of the sandstorm.

It was a humanoid creature over four meters tall, composed of rotting fungi and twisted tumors, its entire body layered with withered, bark-like fungal filaments.

Its limbs resembled massive tree roots, covered in rough bark and sharp fungal spines.

Its head was grotesquely large, sprouting several twisted, tentacle-like fungal filaments.

At this moment, the filament layer was densely pockmarked with tiny blood spots and exploded craters—clearly damage from magical grit and explosions.

Green pus oozed from the wounds, emitting a suffocating stench.

Interestingly, the cosmic being's chest bore a black-smoking blood hole—not caused by any of them.

The creature ignored the mages entirely, its coppery eyes glaring fiercely at Luo De.

It chattered incoherently.

Luo De, gripping 【Tremor Soul Blade】, instantly understood its words:

——"Dog of Luo Si, you won't ruin my master's plans."

Luo Si?

Luo De remembered her—the powerful entity worshipped by the Dark Elves of the Dread Field.

The spider leg piercing the sky from Yun Chen still burned vividly in his memory.

Clearly, this being's faction was hostile to Luo Si.

Then why did it mistake me for Luo Si's follower?

"Fungal Warrior Gorgon?"

Una, holding a long staff adorned with pink crystal ornaments, continued casting as she exclaimed in surprise.

"Gorgon? The loyal enforcer of Fungus Lady Zugmoy?"

Sharon frowned.

"What's that?"

Luo De asked.

Why did it sound like some well-known figure?

"You don't know Fungus Lady Zugmoy?"

"No."

"Well, of course not. You're a Spiritual Warrior—you wouldn't bother reading the Gem City Magic Daily."

Sharon, focusing on restoring her magic, said:

"Beyond cosmic races like Dread Beasts, interdimensional space hosts unique, singular species—each one an entire lineage, unlike any other cosmic entity, and thus they have their own names: like Fungus Lady Zugmoy, and the Fungal Warrior Gorgon before you."

Luo De froze.

The word "singular" echoed in his mind.

A thought clicked into place.

He grinned.

He felt pleased.

The Spiritual War Soul needed a singular physical reference—not to invent a new species, but to hunt these named cosmic beings and replace them with the Spiritual War Soul!

(End of Chapter)