Chapter 317: Fungal Spores

Seeing the Blood Lion Demon observing the situation warily while fighting, it seemed ready to flee at any moment. But Donald wouldn’t give it that chance. As he confronted the Blood Lion Demon, he gave a signal to Carlisle and the other man standing by, who immediately understood what to do.

The Blood Lion Demon, about to leave the battlefield to strike when the opportunity arose, suddenly felt a heavy pressure on itself. It turned out that the hybrid dark elf mage on the other side had unleashed a series of negative spells designed to slow and restrict movement—such as Earth Bind, Withered Limbs, Slow Spell, and Gravity Spell—along with an ice storm. The harsh cold further reduced the Blood Lion Demon’s agility.

Although as a golden demon, it had strong resistance to spells below level four, the combined effect of so many spells still achieved the desired outcome. Coupled with the ice storm’s effects, which included physical attacks, the Blood Lion Demon’s speed was reduced by nearly half. Now, not only could Donald, with his skill, catch up to it, but even an ordinary silver swordsman could easily target it and attack effectively.

“Roar—”
The Blood Lion Demon roared in fury, trying to break free from the spells. Unfortunately, Donald also retracted his Moon Rings and playfully cast a level-five spell, Frost Mist, using a super-magical technique called divine power casting. This instantly nullified the Blood Lion Demon’s advantages as a golden demon, trapping it in the icy mist where it couldn’t escape. Then, through the mist, Donald continued to strike the severely weakened demon with more spells.

Their first coordinated effort felt as if they had fought side by side many times before. Carlisle and the others had no chance to intervene.

In just a few moments, Donald, who had cast three powerful spells in a row, stopped. By then, there was no sound left in the icy mist. The Blood Lion Demon had first been hit by two high-level spells, nearly costing it half its life, and then struck by Donald’s natural spell, Thunder Call, killing it instantly.

Receiving a surge of natural energy from eliminating the golden demon, Donald stored the entire corpse of the Blood Lion Demon and then turned his gaze toward the other two groups.

After the three golden demons were held back, the rest of the demon army continued to charge forward. These demons also knew wisely that getting involved in a fight between golden-tier powerhouses would not end well for them, so they pushed forward with all their might.

To them, human souls are an exquisite delicacy and the strongest form of currency in the abyss. The precious soul gems obtained by the mages in the main world are actually currency created by demons. On the other side of the city walls, there are thorny magic vines, ancient guardians, as well as four layers of defenses consisting of the walls and soldiers—so even if the demons attack, it won’t be easy to take them down in a short time. Thus, Donald is quite confident about the fortress, but what concerns him most are his teachers fighting against the other two Golden Demons and the unseen mastermind behind them. With the assistance of Jelm, a silver mage skilled in curses and dark magic, Donald was able to deal with the demon leader, the Blood Lion Demon, relatively easily. However, dealing with the other two Golden Demons wasn’t so straightforward. With Messel, things were somewhat better—whether it was the experienced old mage skilled in combat spells or the agile halfling assassins adept at striking from the shadows, both knew exactly how to control the pace of battle. The Berserker Demon, though appearing more ferocious and stronger, would surely be defeated and killed if it lost its mind and went berserk. As for the silver mages and half-giant warriors, the situation was more tense. Although Chris and the others were powerful spellcasters far surpassing ordinary silver mages, Flo Demon, though the weakest among the three Golden Demon leaders, was the most cunning in its human-like form. Flo Demon resembled a hybrid of a large human and an eagle, with strong limbs, sharp claws, and a beak, preferring to dive from the air to inflict maximum damage. Its agility was only slightly inferior to that of the Blood Lion Demon, and during battles, this Golden Flo Demon would often soar into the air to attack with its claws. If not for the half-giant axe-wielding warriors acting as heavy shields in front, the mages would likely be overwhelmed. After all, Flo Demon, being naturally capable of flying, was far more agile than human mages’ flying skills. The mages, being smart, chose not to use flight spells in battle despite being pressured on the ground, as it would undoubtedly expose their weaknesses and lead to faster deaths. In response, Kelthas had to summon his ultimate ability, the Fire Phoenix, to compensate for their disadvantage in the air.

Fortunately, despite their advantage in physical combat strength, the Frostmaw’s fanaticism for battle often led them to engage in close-quarters fights with their enemies. This meant that Kaelthas and the others were not overly disadvantaged.

Currently, the five of them were having a tough time fighting against the Golden Frostmaw, but they hadn’t shown any signs of defeat yet, with the battle remaining stale.

Donald nodded at Carlisle, who promptly said, “Jerm, go help Axe and the others. It’s enough if Carlisle and I hold things down here!”

The half-drow mage nodded under his cloak without responding and rushed straight toward Chris and the others.

Although Frostmaw relied mainly on physical combat, it was simply their preference. Unlike the Blood Lion Demons, Frostmaw also possessed remarkable magical abilities, mastering many powerful offensive and supportive spells.

With another Silver Mage joining the fight, the Golden Frostmaw sensed trouble and quickly cast Blasphemy and Ear-splitting Screech—the latter being a innate supernatural ability that served as a area attack—severing Chris and his group’s siege.

If not for Jerm, who was born in the Shadowlands and knew demons better, he would have already cast defensive spells to protect himself from the screech, allowing him to repel the Frostmaw. Otherwise, the creature might have escaped to join its minions and other Golden Demons.

Realizing it couldn’t escape, the Frostmaw suddenly trembled and unleashed its racial ability—spore emission.

Seeing this, Jerm quickly shouted, “Be careful! It’s releasing spores—make sure they don’t get on you!”

As soon as the half-drow mage gave the warning, a gray mist-like attack erupted from the creature’s dirty, gray-feathered body. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be spores slightly larger than dust.

These spores could penetrate any exposed skin they touched and begin growing inside other creatures, causing continuous damage. Soon, the victim’s entire body would be covered in vines. Without immediate use of divine spells and magic such as Blessing, Poison Neutralization, Disease Removal, or holy water for treatment, permanent damage would occur, requiring a Wish spell or a Gold-tier healing spell to recover!

It is an extremely disgusting and terrifying ability that any flesh-and-blood creature would detest deeply. It is precisely because of these parasitic spores’ unique traits that the Flo Demon has become the lord of the 222nd layer of the Abyss and the favorite demon species of the Fungal Lady Zugmoi.