Chapter 93: Chapter 93 Mutated Fungi

“We can’t destroy them recklessly,” Sylas said calmly. “Crushing them releases more mist. Fire doesn’t work. Wind doesn’t work. Space doesn’t work.”

Shuan frowned. “If we uproot the entire section of road?”

“And release all the mist at once?” Sedin replied. “That might flood the entire area.”

Serena stared at the thin purple threads in the soil.

“If this is mycelium… then damaging one part might trigger the rest.”

Gio looked down the road again. The mist stretched forward endlessly.

“Then how do we stop it?”

Sylas slowly crouched down.

He extended his hand, stopping just before touching the soil.

“It produces mist upward,” he said softly. “But it doesn’t move.”

Everyone looked at him.

“The mist doesn’t drift with wind. It doesn’t get absorbed. It doesn’t burn.” His gaze sharpened slightly. “It’s stable.”

Major Kyle narrowed his eyes.

“You’re thinking?”

“It might not be gas.”

Those words made everyone’s expression change.

“Not gas?” Drew repeated.

Sylas stood up slowly.

“It behaves like a field.”

Serena’s brows twitched.

“A field?”

Sylas looked at the thin purple threads underground.

“It may be energy-based. Not ordinary poison.”

Gio’s expression turned serious.

“Meaning?”

“Meaning attacking it like smoke might be useless,” Sylas replied calmly. “We might need to cut off its energy flow.”

Shuan glanced at the exposed soil.

“The network.”

Sylas nodded slightly.

“Yes.”

Major Kyle looked around at everyone.

“Suggestions?”

Silence.

Then Serena raised her hand slightly.

“My plant ability… I can sense plant life.”

Everyone turned toward her.

“But this isn’t exactly a plant,” she continued. “Still… I can try to connect to it.”

“That’s risky,” Dylan immediately said.

Serena gave a small smile.

“We’re already standing in front of a deadly mist.”

Major Kyle considered for a few seconds.

“Don’t force it,” he said finally. “If you feel anything wrong, pull back immediately.”

Serena nodded.

She stepped closer to the boundary and knelt down carefully.

The others instinctively moved slightly behind her, ready to react.

Serena closed her eyes.

Green energy slowly flowed out from her palms, thin and gentle like vines of light. The energy seeped into the soil at the very edge where the mist barely touched. Everyone watched breathlessly, and for a moment, nothing happened. Then Serena’s brows furrowed, and her fingers trembled slightly.

“What do you feel?” Gio asked softly.

Serena didn’t answer immediately. Her lips parted slowly.

“It’s…”

Her expression turned strange.

“It’s alive.”

Everyone stiffened.

“Alive?” Kheto repeated.

“Yes,” Serena whispered. “But not like a tree. Not like grass. It feels… cold.”

The green energy around her hand flickered slightly.

“It’s dense,” she continued. “Like countless threads intertwined together. They’re connected… all of them. Spreading forward… and backward.”

“How far?” Major Kyle asked.

Serena’s face paled slightly.

“I can’t sense the end.”

A wave of tension swept through the group.

“It stretches far beyond this section.”

Sylas’ gaze darkened slightly. “Can you locate a central point?” he asked.

Serena focused harder. Her breathing became heavier. Suddenly, her body trembled.

“Serena!” Leo immediately moved closer, light gathering in his palm, ready to heal.

Serena gasped sharply and pulled her hand away. The green energy snapped back into her body, and she stumbled slightly.

Leo supported her. “Are you okay?” Leo asked worriedly.

Serena nodded weakly.

“It reacted,” she said.

“Reacted?” Dylan frowned.

“When I tried to trace deeper… something pushed back,” Serena said.

The air became colder, and Gio’s expression stiffened.

“It’s aware?”

Sylas’ eyes narrowed.

“Or defensive.”

Major Kyle clenched his jaw.

“So the network can sense interference.”

Serena took a deep breath and stood upright again.

“I couldn’t reach a core. But… there is a concentration.”

“Where?” Shuan asked immediately.

She pointed forward into the thicker portion of mist.

“About three hundred meters ahead.”

Everyone turned to look. Three hundred meters inside the mist.

“So we need to enter,” Drew muttered.

“No,” Major Kyle said firmly. “We don’t rush blindly.”

He looked at Sylas. Sylas understood immediately.

“I’ll go,” Sylas said calmly as he stepped forward.

“Are you certain?” Major Kyle asked Sylas.

Sylas nodded.

“If the mist really behaves like an energy field, then ordinary elemental defense won’t work.” His gaze shifted toward the rolling purple haze ahead. “But space is different.”

Gio’s eyes sharpened. “You’re going to isolate yourself?”

“Yes.”

Serena’s fingers tightened slightly. “If it reacts violently…”

“I’ll retreat.” Sylas said, his tone was steady.

Before anyone could argue further, space energy gathered around his body. Space energy wrapped around his body layer by layer until a faint distortion encased his figure. The air around him blurred, and it was as if he was standing slightly out of sync with the world. The space barrier this time was far stronger than the previous ones.

Major Kyle observed carefully. Even he could feel it the pressure of space.

Sylas lifted his hand gently. The purple mist in front of him parted slightly.

“The barrier will keep a separate layer of space between me and the mist,” Sylas said calmly.

“Be careful.” Shuan said.

Sylas nodded and stepped forward.

The moment he crossed into the purple mist, the world turned quiet.

The purple mist pressed in from all directions, thick and oppressive. But it never touched him. The space barrier separated him from it entirely.

The mist brushed against the barrier like fog against glass.

Inside the mist, Sylas walked forward steadily.

The visibility inside was worse than he expected. The road beneath his feet was barely visible through the thick purple glow.

After a while, Sylas saw a darker mass ahead. It was stationary and massive.

Sylas’ gaze sharpened.

The source!

He continued forward.

Suddenly… a thin strand of purple vapor shot toward him like a whip, and it struck the spatial barrier.

Tsssss…

A faint sizzling sound echoed. The space barrier rippled slightly. Sylas stopped and narrowed his eyes.

’So, it attacks intruders,’ Sylas thought.

More strands emerged from the mist, thin but sharp, lashing toward him from different angles.

They struck the barrier repeatedly.

Tss… Tss… Tss…

The space barrier around Sylas trembled faintly.

Sylas raised his hand slowly. The air in front of him distorted sharply.

A small spatial blade rushed out. The incoming purple strands bent unnaturally and snapped apart before touching him.

Then, the mist thickened further, and the ground trembled.

Crack.

The asphalt beneath his feet split open, and from the cracks, thick purple tendrils burst upward. Unlike the vapor strands, these were physical, covered in faintly glowing veins. They stabbed toward Sylas from below.

Sylas leaped lightly, and the tendrils slammed into the space barrier.

Bang!

Sylas’ body inside the space barrier jolted from the impact. The tendrils recoiled slightly.

Sylas landed lightly a few steps away. His eyes locked onto the dark mass ahead, and he extended his palm.

A thin crescent-shaped compressed spatial blade condensed in his palm, and it sliced forward silently.

The slash reached the massive fungal body. The crescent carved into its surface, splitting several thick fungal layers apart. Dark purple fluid oozed out, and the entire mist shuddered.

Outside, everyone felt it.

“The mist just fluctuated!” Drew exclaimed.

Inside, a deafening screech echoed. It wasn’t sound but vibration. The entire fungal mass pulsated grotesquely, and countless tendrils erupted from the ground around Sylas.

Dozens… No! Hundreds…

They surged like a tidal wave. Sylas’ expression didn’t change. The barrier around him intensified. Multiple spatial layers overlapped tightly around his body.

The tendrils crashed against him from every direction.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The impact distorted the air violently.

Cracks formed briefly along the spatial barrier but sealed instantly.

Sylas’ breathing grew slightly heavier. It was strong, stronger than he anticipated.

This wasn’t just a cluster of fungi. It was an evolved organism with defensive instinct and offensive capability.

The tendrils suddenly changed direction mid-air, wrapping around the spatial barrier and constricting tightly. The pressure increased.

Sylas narrowed his eyes.

“Are you trying to crush the barrier?” He uttered.

The tendrils tightened further.

Crack…

A thin fracture line appeared across one layer of space barrier. Sylas immediately reinforced the space barrier.

Another spatial blade formed, larger this time. It was a compressed sphere.

The surrounding mist warped as it condensed, and Sylas thrust his hand forward.

The sphere shot directly into the center of the fungal mass.

BOOM.

Half of its body caved inward, and purple fluid sprayed outward in all directions, instantly vaporizing into thicker mist.

The entire highway shook.

Outside, the mist around the group thinned slightly.

Serena’s eyes widened.

“It’s weakening!”

Inside, the fungal mass writhed violently, and its tendrils lashed around in frenzy.

Several pierced through the spatial barrier’s outermost layer, but it couldn’t pierced through all the layers.

Sylas’eyes flashed cold. Several spatial blades condensed, and he sent out attacking the tendrils.

Slash!

They were severed cleanly. The severed pieces fell and dissolved into vapor. The fungal core pulsed violently now. The mist no longer hung stable.

It surged wildly and uncontrollably. Sylas stepped forward again. He wouldn’t give it time to recover.

But suddenly… A heavy pressure descended fom above.

He looked up.

The entire mist layer overhead condensed into a massive purple dome. It pressed downward like a collapsing ceiling. Even inside the spatial barrier, he felt it.

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