Chapter 651: Mushroom

When he opened his eyes again, the scarlet reflected in his pupils had already vanished.

He exhaled a long breath, turned his head toward the Twilight Church behind him, and in his eyes formed one complex, illusory symbol after another; wave after wave of massive information streams materialized out of thin air, merged with the wind, and surged toward every corner of the port.

The surrounding light seemed to dim a bit, yet on close inspection nothing had really changed.

Silently, a simulated Mysterious Secret Realm spread over the entire Mihir Port, completely isolating it from the outside world; even information could not be exchanged.

This change was highly concealed, hard for those inside the Mysterious Secret Realm to notice, especially warriors and hunters whose spiritual intuition was weak and who were not adept at divination or prophecy.

Having finished, Lei Ke Dun raised his hand, patted Tu Ba Ge, and chuckled, "Your turn—let those spores grow faster."

"Let's go, let's go," Tu Ba Ge said excitedly, nodding, and pulled from his pouch the pre‑prepared Hermit Card and a Life Holy Emblem etched with wheat, flowers and spring symbols.

Lei Ke Dun nodded, extended his right hand in a phantom grip, and strands of Radiance materialized, swiftly piercing the Hermit Card, granting the Profane Card tangible power.

Tu Ba Ge held the Hermit Card, infused it with spirit while shaking it; his body instantly became ethereal, breaking into countless strands of massive pure knowledge that rushed toward the spore‑tainted people in the port.

On the plaza outside the Twilight Church, a red and a white figure appeared one after the other.

One wore full silver armor, stood nearly three meters tall, wielded a broad sword, and beneath a silvery helmet could be seen a pair of dark‑green, sharp eyes.

The other, just over two meters tall, draped in a dark‑red robe embroidered with intricate patterns, was a mature man with pronounced features, ash‑yellow eyebrows, and flaming red hair.

On the plaza, everyone tacitly ignored the suddenly appearing duo, continuing their actions and speech as if they hadn't noticed them at all, or perhaps had noticed but remained utterly indifferent.

The mature middle‑aged man in the dark‑red robe lifted his gaze to the sky, stared calmly for a second, then murmured softly:

"I sense the scent of 'Hidden'."

The three‑meter‑tall giant in full silver armor, wielding the broad sword, fixed his dark‑green eyes toward Lei Ke Dun's direction; the surrounding hallucinations and mental influences seemed hardly effective on him.

He let out a cold snort, drove the broad sword into the ground, and the blade instantly brightened, turning silver‑white, as if solidified radiance; a pure, holy dawn instantly filled the plaza, dispelling the surrounding hallucinations and mind‑affecting forces.

The dawn‑like radiance tried to expand further, but a dim, lingering shadow curtain blocked it, preventing any further advance.

On the plaza, those who had just been chatting and walking were suddenly startled, their eyes stinging from the sudden burst of dawn light, making it hard to keep them open.

Before they could comprehend what happened, a wailing gale swirled rapidly, like an invisible giant hand, pulling them and thrusting them into the Twilight Church ahead of the plaza.

Lei Ke Dun's figure stood out in the dawn light; he looked at the two towering Fusak individuals before him, smiled lightly, and said:

"A 'Silver Knight', a 'Weather Mage'—does the Fusak Empire value a tiny port so much?"

No one answered Lei Ke Dun's question; the one in full silver armor, the 'Silver Knight', melted at once, turning into a pool of flowing silver metal that surged toward Lei Ke Dun like a viscous, heavy mercury, completely engulfing his figure.

The 'Weather Mage' in the dark‑red robe ignited instantly, becoming a mass of crimson‑white flame that coalesced into a long spear, charging at the surrounding shadow curtain.

The viscous heavy mercury wrapped Lei Ke Dun into a massive silver‑white cocoon, leaving no gap; the 'Silver Knight' seemed intent on suffocating Lei Ke Dun while restricting his movement.

The next instant, strands of Radiance surged from the silver‑white cocoon, their illusory forms; the massive, terrifying Information Flood rushed and intercepted the flaming spear heading toward the sky's shadow curtain.

The crimson‑white flaming spear became hard to move amid the countless Radiance formed by converging information, and even the flickering flames dimmed considerably.

Surrounding information quickly converged, forming an illusory light sphere like a cage, firmly imprisoning the crimson‑white flame.

Within the pure information flood, dawn‑like radiance erupted, like silver‑white blades, slicing the Radiance formed by the information flood into pieces.

The invisible Radiance kept flowing, unaffected by the attack; several 'Silver Knights' who excel only at frontal combat found it hard to threaten an angel capable of switching between normal and Information Flood states.

On the ground, the 'Silver Knight' whose entire body was concealed beneath silver armor watched the flame grow weak under the Information Flood siege, sighed abruptly, grasped his sword hilt, knelt on one knee, and prayed devoutly: "Symbol of strength and glory, great God of Knights."

"You are the ruler of war, the protector of guns, the twilight of all things."

"Devout believers pray to you, praying for the power of twilight, praying for the power to slay enemies."

As the giant's verses were recited, certain traits of this 'Silver Knight' were awakened; the silver armor began to show twilight hues, gradually coalescing into a great sword forged from orange‑red twilight radiance.

In an instant, the great sword of orange‑red twilight radiance emerged from the swirling Information Flood in midair, plunging deep into the flood.

A scent of decay and rot burst forth instantly; even the information was disturbed, descending into chaotic, uncontrollable collapse.

Taking advantage of the brief chaos, the crimson‑white flame burst from the Information Flood, fell to the ground, and re‑coalesced into the figure clad in the dark‑red robe.

In the sealed dock area of Mihir Port, the Fusak Assault Force that descended from an airship was temporarily stationed here, gathering supplies and preparing for the subsequent entry into the ancient forest.

On the second floor of a tavern converted from a dock warehouse, a middle‑aged commander wearing many medals frowned at the window, gazing at the quiet night sky; ever since the mysterious gaze that disturbed him that afternoon, he had felt uneasy.

He had once been the youngest general of the Fusak, now the most renowned Fusak general, La Mi Ke · Wei Er Te, neither of the Einhorn family nor a high‑born Fusak noble; his rise to 'War Bishop' owed more to his own strength and wisdom.

Years of battlefield experience taught him not to overlook any dangerous omen, even though this place was sufficiently safe, being the Fusak's safest colony on the southern continent.

Yet intuition and reason told him all worries were unnecessary; here not only were well‑equipped troops and powerful extraordinaires, but also angels who usually existed only in church scriptures were stationed.

After a moment of hesitation, La Mi Ke · Wei Er Te gave a self‑deprecating laugh and whispered:

"With Prince Snarlna present, nothing abnormal will occur; flawless weather itself is proof."

He paused two seconds, then, somewhat belatedly, wondered, "Is today unusually quiet?"

Recalling something, he spread his will and spirit outward, linking himself with his troops into a single whole.

The next instant, an abnormal flush rose on his face, his body involuntarily manifested a physiological reaction, and thoughts in his mind were nearly overwhelmed by desire.

Those voices he knew so well now turned in his mind into streams of either high‑pitched or low‑murmured gasps, both painful and pleasurable, impossible to resist or control.

"Dammit," La Mi Ke · Wei Er Te muttered with his remaining sanity, attempting to sever the link established by the 'Mind Communication'.

The next second, a rabbit dressed in a tailcoat, wearing a bow tie and holding a playing card, appeared in his room.

His attention, uncontrollably, was drawn to the suddenly appearing Tu Ba Ge, watching the bright red eyes conjure one complex, illusory symbol after another.

The thought 'Oh no' flashed in La Mi Ke · Wei Er Te's mind, and he suddenly froze in place.

Using the Profane Card temporarily empowered by Lei Ke Dun, Tu Ba Ge poured a massive amount of tangled, useless knowledge into La Mi Ke · Wei Er Te's mind, and via the 'Mind Communication' he had established, transmitted this effect to every soldier under his command.

Buzz—buzz—like countless noisy engines roaring, echoing in their minds; for a moment, La Mi Ke · Wei Er Te and every soldier under him were frozen there, unable even to think.

The sudden turn of events made the soldiers who had been struggling to clear the suddenly appearing mushrooms freeze; white, thread‑like mycelium wrapped and bound them, dragging them to places beneath beds, in corners, behind doors, under curtains—spots where mushroom clusters were hidden.

Tu Ba Ge glanced at the briefly dazed La Mi Ke · Wei Er Te, and with his free paw retrieved a black‑green seed from his fur, infused it with spirit, and casually scattered it onto the floor.

The seed sprouted the instant it touched the ground, spreading rapidly; within moments it grew into a vast carpet of vines as thick as a baby's forearm, some bearing sharp barbs, others broad palm‑shaped leaves, completely burying La Mi Ke · Wei Er Te's figure.

(End of Chapter)