This Dungeon Grew Mushrooms - Chapter 582

Hungry.

So hungry…!

Ever since the last time it tried to seize the massive energy source on that ship radiating an enticing aura, only to be accidentally dragged into that endless white fog, Qis realized that it had been getting hungry more and more easily.

Food that once could satisfy it now only managed to suppress the hunger for a brief moment.

Once that fleeting satisfaction faded, an even more ferocious emptiness surged back, doubling in intensity and gnawing at its mind.

It devoured every living thing within that pale fog. After breaking free, driven by hunger, it swept through the surrounding sea.

Schools of fish, sea beasts, even the rotting wood and rusted metal inside sunken shipwrecks.

When everything that could move or couldn’t move, alive or dead, had been consumed, the starving Qis even began gnawing on the hard rocks of the seabed, squeezing out what little pitiful energy they contained.

But stones cannot fill a stomach.

On the sea’s surface, ships that carried the scent of food had grown fewer and fewer, until recently they disappeared altogether.

It was hungry again…

Hunger burned like fire, yet it had not completely destroyed the intelligence Qis took pride in.

It remembered that to the north lay its former home, now occupied by mushrooms. It could not return there.

In fact, the temperature there now was something even Qis found hard to endure.

Qis had once fantasized that if all the mushrooms froze to death in the north, that would be wonderful.

But that faint hope was quickly crushed when it discovered traces of fungus carpets along the southern shores as well.

Mushrooms to the north, mushrooms to the south. Fortunately, between these two zones of death, there remained a long stretch of “clean” coastline.

Of course, it also remembered that besides those mushrooms, there existed other beings in this world that could pose a lethal threat to it.

Like the sword-wielding one it encountered in the dungeon, and the one in the northern river that siphoned away its blood.

Thus, even though hunger was driving it to the brink of madness, it still suppressed its instincts and did not rashly step onto land, exposing itself to the sight of those terrifying existences.

In the end, it set its sights on the port.

Qis did not understand the complex wars and occupations between races and nations on the continent, but after observing for some time, it determined that the port was an isolated place.

Devour everything inside, then immediately retreat back into the safety of the deep sea. That should let it last a while longer without starving.

But why?

Why were there mushrooms here too?

The instant the eye-beast spotted that puji, Qis’s heart began to tremble instinctively.

Mushrooms… they truly intended not to let it go. Even after it had fled to such a distant place.

It remembered that before, puji had boarded ships and patrolled these waters back and forth, searching for its traces.

That time, it had barely escaped, hiding in the deepest trench, shivering in fear.

Could it be… that this time, it would fall here?

No. No. No.

It was different now.

That white fog had plunged it into endless hunger, but it had also granted it new power.

Newer, more numerous, stronger insects were being bred from its fleshy tumors.

It roared these “advancements” to itself again and again, using its newfound strength to muster courage and fight the deep-rooted fear of mushrooms in its heart.

At last, the madness driven by extreme hunger, mixed with humiliation and hatred, overwhelmed its instinct to retreat.

Attack.

Crush it.

Devour this flesh before more mushrooms arrive.

…

Not only the six-clawed insects that tore the mage apart, but a massive wave of insects of various shapes, all equally terrifying in speed, poured out from the shattered gate tunnel.

Their carapaces scraped together with a teeth-grating sound, compound eyes flashing crimson as they surged toward Thirteen.

To Moya and Stinky Fish, this sight was nothing short of utter annihilation.

“F—!”

Moya’s scream came out warped with terror.

In desperation, the succubus grabbed Stinky Fish by the back of his collar with one hand, and with the other scooped up Thirteen in a panic. Using every ounce of strength she had, she bolted back the way they came.

“Why? Why aren’t they eating those ready-made routed soldiers?! Why are they chasing us?!” Moya screamed as she ran, on the verge of a breakdown, tears nearly spraying out.

“Shut up! Save your breath!” Stinky Fish roared hoarsely as he was jolted around. At the same time, he reached into the tattered leather pouch at his waist, pulled out several round objects, and hurled them backward without even looking.

Pff! Pff pff!

The spheres hit the ground and exploded, releasing thick, choking gray-green smoke that instantly blocked vision, trying to buy them some escape time.

However, the insects charged straight through the smoke without hesitation, continuing their pursuit.

The eye-beasts in the sky were using magic perception to lock onto their position.

The insects were already faster than Moya. The only reason they hadn’t been caught yet was because the initial distance between them had been fairly large.

But that gap was steadily closing.

In her panic, Moya plunged headfirst into a narrow crevice between two mountains.

Behind them, the claws of the nearest insect nearly hooked Stinky Fish’s tattered leather boot dangling in midair.

Beyond the crevice lay a canyon. But the moment they entered, their hearts truly sank to the bottom.

It was a dead end, visible at a glance.

Once the insects broke through the entrance, or came in from above, they would be finished.

“So… this is how I die? Being eaten by bugs?” Moya slumped against the cold, smooth rock wall, listening to the increasingly loud scraping of carapaces outside, despair flooding her.

She had imagined many possible endings for herself. Perhaps dying under a human blade, perhaps being executed by her superiors after a failed mission, or even growing old in some lightless demon outpost.

But being devoured by a swarm of starving sea insects was far beyond even her worst nightmares.

“Getting eaten isn’t that bad,” Stinky Fish said calmly.

Plenty of his goblin kin ended up becoming rations mid-battle. Being eaten by insects wasn’t an unacceptable way to die.

“I’m not done living yet! My peak demon life, my glory and riches…”

As for Thirteen, it was thinking about slipping away from above while the insects ate these two.

A faint sound, so light it was almost negligible, came from a narrow crack in the rock wall nearby.

Moya and Stinky Fish turned instinctively, only to see a fist-sized slime slowly squeezing out of the crevice.

This seemed to be a natural magic-rich area where slimes could form.

And at that very moment, the scalp-numbing noise at the canyon entrance abruptly faded away without warning.

They gave up?

Why?

Moya and Stinky Fish stared at each other, faces filled with dazed disbelief at having survived. They could not understand why the ferocious insects had abandoned the chase at the final moment.

But understanding wasn’t necessary for the overwhelming joy to hit them.

“Hah… hahaha! Hahahahaha!” Moya suddenly jumped up, throwing her arms around Stinky Fish and Thirteen, laughing hysterically. “I told you! How could we be that unlucky! The heavens won’t end me! They won’t end me! Hahahaha!”

Smack.

Crushed in the middle with its mushroom cap deformed, Thirteen lashed out with a tentacle without hesitation, breaking free from the suffocating embrace and retreating a few steps away.

…

At the same time, outside the canyon.

The insect swarm under Qis’s control was fleeing at full speed, even faster than during the pursuit, without looking back.

At first, when the mushroom began to flee in panic, Qis truly felt a hunter’s thrill.

The roles had reversed. It seemed to hold an absolute advantage.

But the longer it chased, the more a familiar sensation welled up from the depths of its memory.

Every encounter with mushrooms, hadn’t each one ended with it falling into a deadly trap just when victory seemed within reach?

When the puji finally stumbled into a dead end surrounded by sheer cliffs, Qis’s vigilance instantly spiked to its maximum.

A trap.

Without hesitation, it ordered one eye-beast to push magic perception to the limit, even at the risk of death from overuse, piercing through the thick rock layers to scan the canyon’s interior.

The feedback made Qis’s heart shudder violently.

Behind the rock layers were densely packed clusters of magic.

A trap. It was indeed a trap.

Without a second thought, Qis[‘Chiss’] ordered the insects to retreat.

At the same time, an indescribable satisfaction mixed with lingering fear rose within its consciousness.

This time, it had finally seen through the mushrooms’ scheme and pulled back at the very edge of disaster.

Though it failed to kill that scouting puji, its main swarm remained intact.

More importantly, the mushrooms had spent so long playing this chase-and-escape game to lure it.

During that time, its other insects left behind in the port ruins had not been idle, gathering as much food as possible.

The original plan had been to strip the port completely bare. But now it was clear that risking a battle with mushrooms potentially lying in ambush just to eat the last scraps hiding in corners was not a wise choice.

Once the pursuing insects had all returned, Qis decisively commanded a full retreat into the sea.

Behind them, only the port remained, engulfed in roaring flames and thick smoke.

This small strategic victory over the mushrooms brought Qis’s starving heart a satisfaction even greater than the emergency food it had obtained.

One day, mushrooms would fall before its power and intellect.