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.

Sylas’ breathing slowed.

The spatial barrier around him rippled violently as the purple dome compressed further.

Crack…

A faint fracture line appeared again across one outer layer. The air groaned.

Outside, Gio staggered half a step back.

“The mist above him just condensed!”

Major Kyle’s jaw tightened. He could feel the pressure even from this distance. It was suffocating.

Serena clenched her fists. “It’s concentrating everything on him…”

Inside the dome, Sylas stood unmoving. The purple energy pressed downward, distorting the space barrier inch by inch, and the ground beneath him began to sink. The fungal mass ahead pulsed rapidly, as if feeding the dome continuously.

Sylas closed his eyes briefly. Then, he extended both hands outward. Space energy surged violently from his body. This time, he did not simply reinforce the barrier. He expanded it. The space barrier around him spread outward rapidly, pushing against the descending dome.

Two forces collided. The air twisted violently where they met, and the pressure intensified.

Crack… crack… crack…

Fractures spread across several layers of the barrier, but at the same time, the dome’s surface began to warp.

Sylas’ eyes snapped open. His gaze turned ice-cold.

“Collapse,” he muttered softly.

The expanded spatial field suddenly reversed direction, and instead of pushing outward, it folded inward.

But not toward him; it was toward the source. The purple dome above trembled violently. The fungal mass ahead convulsed, and the pressure shifted. The dome began sinking, not downward but inward toward the core.

From the outside, everyone saw it clearly.

The massive purple dome twisted like a whirlpool and began spiraling toward a single point deep inside the mist.

Drew’s mouth fell open.

“He’s pulling it in!”

Inside, Sylas thrust his right hand forward. Space compressed violently around the fungal mass. The purple dome shrank rapidly. The tendrils on the ground thrashed wildly in desperation. They shot toward him again, hundreds of them, in a final frenzy.

Sylas did not retreat. He stepped forward instead. Several spatial blades formed simultaneously around him and shot outward in every direction.

Slash! Slash! Slash!

The tendrils were sliced apart mid-air. Dark purple fluid sprayed and evaporated before it touched him. The dome overhead shrank further. The fungal body cracked audibly.

Boom!

A section of its upper layer exploded under the pressure of spatial compression.

Sylas advanced again.

The space around the core twisted unnaturally, folding over itself. The fungal mass trembled violently. A piercing vibration filled the air.

Then… from within the ruptured layers, something emerged. A thicker stalk rose from the center of the mass.

At its tip was a pulsating, glowing purple node. Brighter and denser than the rest.

Sylas’ gaze sharpened.

That was the heart. The true source that was feeding the entire network underground. The node pulsed rapidly as if aware of the danger.

Suddenly, a violent shockwave erupted from it.

Bang!

The spatial barrier around Sylas shook violently. Even several inner layers rippled from the force. The shockwave blasted outward, and for a brief second, the mist near the edge fluctuated again.

Outside, Major Kyle took another step forward.

“That pulse…”

Serena swallowed. “It’s fighting back.”

Inside, Sylas steadied himself.

His boots dug slightly into the cracked asphalt beneath him. The fungal node pulsed again. This time, several thick roots burst out from its base, drilling into the ground. The road around them cracked in spiderweb patterns.

Sylas narrowed his eyes. It was drawing more energy from the underground network. He could feel it now. The threads beneath the road were channeling everything toward the core.

Fine. Then he would sever it completely. Sylas raised his left hand. Instead of forming blades, he began shaping something different. The air around his palm distorted heavily. It was not a blade but a circular distortion.

A ring of compressed space.

The ring expanded slowly, humming faintly. The node sensed the danger, and the tendrils near it thickened and hardened, forming a defensive cocoon around the glowing heart.

Sylas thrust his hand forward.

The spatial ring shot out and expanded as it flew. The moment it reached the cocoon, it tightened.

Like a noose, the thick tendrils were crushed instantly, and their hardened surface crumpled inward. The glowing node shrieked in violent vibration, and cracks appeared across its surface.

But it did not shatter; instead, it released another pulse. This one was sharper and more focused. The pulse slammed directly into Sylas’ barrier.

Crack!

A deeper fracture line appeared, reaching into the second layer. Sylas’ breathing grew heavier now. He immediately reinforced the damaged layers, but the energy drain was evident.

The node glowed brighter, veins across its surface lighting up intensely.

The underground threads beneath it began writhing violently. If he allowed it to charge further, it might unleash something far worse.

Sylas clenched his fist, and the ring tightened further.

The cocoon shattered completely, and the fragments disintegrated into vapor. The node was exposed fully now. Without hesitation, Sylas extended both hands forward.

The space between his palms began collapsing inward rapidly. A compressed sphere formed once again. Larger and denser than before. The surrounding mist bent unnaturally toward it, sucked by the distortion.

The fungal node trembled violently, and the entire highway shook from the strain of forces colliding.

Sylas thrust forward.

The compressed sphere shot directly into the exposed heart. For a split second, time seemed to freeze.

Then…

BOOOOM!

Not an explosion of fire, not a sound, but space imploding inward violently. The node caved in on itself. Deep cracks split across its surface. Purple light leaked out in violent flashes. The tendrils around it shriveled instantly.

The underground network convulsed.

Sylas did not stop. He stepped forward and extended his right hand again. Another spatial blade formed.

Sharp and thin.

He swung it downward.

Slash!

The blade sliced cleanly through the cracked node. A high-pitched vibration tore through the air. The glowing heart split into two halves. For one brief moment, both halves continued pulsing weakly… then the light flickered. It slowly dimmed and died.

The purple mist around him stopped moving, the tendrils froze mid-writhe, and the oppressive pressure vanished completely.

Outside the mist, the group saw it clearly. The swirling purple haze that covered the highway began thinning rapidly. Like fog under a rising sun.

Gio exhaled sharply. “It’s dispersing…”

Serena’s shoulders slumped in relief. Major Kyle did not relax yet. He kept his eyes fixed on the center. Inside, Sylas stood still for several seconds more. Watching and waiting. The split node collapsed into blackened fragments. The thick stalk shrank rapidly, withering into brittle residue. The underground threads beneath the road turned gray as they lost their glow.

They crumbled.

The purple mist above dissipated further, revealing the cracked asphalt underneath.

Within less than a minute, the entire stretch of road before him was clear. Only the remains of shriveled fungal mass lay scattered.

Sylas slowly lowered his hands. The layered spatial barrier flickered once, then dissolved. Fresh air rushed against his face. He turned and began walking back toward the group. Behind him, the once dense purple field had completely vanished.

Drew let out a low whistle.

“You actually did it…”

Leo immediately approached him. “Are you injured?” he asked.

Sylas shook his head lightly.

“Just drained.”

Serena stepped closer, her gaze shifting past him toward the road.

“It’s completely dead…”

Shuan walked a few meters forward and crouched down near the cracked ground.

The purple threads beneath the asphalt were no longer glowing.

They crumbled to dust at the slightest touch.

Major Kyle approached Sylas.

“Is the core destroyed?”

“Yes,” Sylas replied calmly. “The heart was channeling energy from the underground network. Once it split, the rest lost stability.”

Gio looked down the now-clear highway.

“So the entire field was being sustained by that one core?”

Sylas nodded slightly.

“It was centralized.”

Dylan scratched his head.

“If there’s one…”

“…there could be more,” Sedin finished quietly.

The atmosphere turned serious again.

Major Kyle looked ahead.

The highway stretched forward, now visible far into the distance. Clear for now.

“Check the perimeter. Confirm there are no remaining concentrations,” Major Kyle ordered.

The group moved efficiently.

Gio sent a controlled gust of wind down the highway. This time, it moved freely without resistance.

Serena knelt again briefly near the soil, extending a cautious strand of green energy.

She inhaled lightly.

“It’s dead,” she confirmed. “The network is gone.”

Sylas observed it once again. His expression remained calm, but his eyes were distant.

That organism… It was no random mutation. It had structure, defense, energy accumulation, and centralized core control.

And most importantly there was no energy stone.

No energy stone once again.

A high-level mutated fungi without energy stone. Sylas narrowed his eyes.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep