Mushroom Lord in the Underground City-Chapter 350 - 342: A Struggle to the Death

If a ranking were to be made about the threat levels various professions pose to Lin Jun, in his opinion, spies and assassins undoubtedly sit at the bottom, being almost "harmless to humans and animals"!

These professions often sacrifice overall combat capability and endurance for the sake of extreme disguise skills and instant explosive output.

This makes them no different than mere pieces of cake when faced with Puki.

Especially since Lin Jun can directly peek at their attributes panel, knowing exactly what trump cards they hold, which significantly decreases their threat level.

In contrast, those who specialize in spells are much more troublesome.

At the very least, Lin Jun cannot accurately determine which spells the opponent has mastered based solely on the magic level marked on the panel.

Therefore, when the assassin Miro abruptly realized that he had been silently and invisibly surrounded by countless Pukis, all struggle was too late.

The instant the explosion sound thundered, within the Duke’s Mansion, Eric, who was in the study deliberating logistics management, immediately halted what he was doing and first confirmed Inanna’s safety. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Only then did he lead people quickly to the scene.

"It seems to have triggered a ’Explosive Magic Array’ arranged at the edge of the woods, and the intruder died on the spot," the leader of the manor guard reported in a deep voice.

The remaining items on Miro’s body were soon collected: several poisoned daggers, a shattered potion bottle, a protective pendant with attribute bonuses, a magic gemstone that can instantly summon thick fog, and... several vividly beautiful dream flowers.

His identity as a wanted criminal and assassin was also quickly verified.

Even more disturbing, investigators found footprints belonging to another person who had fled hastily nearby.

Unfortunately, this set of footprints eerily ended at a certain point, and all clues were thus severed.

Eric’s face was grim as he swiftly increased manpower to fully strengthen the Duke’s Mansion’s defense level, while personally heading to the warehouse to tally inventory.

Nearly half of the beautiful dream flowers had mysteriously disappeared without a trace!

This matter is riddled with doubts.

Unclear about how it was done, but the word "mole" surfaced in Eric’s mind.

Moreover, why the beautiful dream flowers?

Eric plans to select only those he can fully trust to ensure the young lady’s safety and then use the instruments in the mansion to check Inanna’s status.

To avoid a situation where the young lady doesn’t even realize she’s been affected!

Thinking of the worst possible scenario, Eric uncharacteristically whispered a prayer: "Lord of Light Ikezion, please, do not let the lady suffer the same tragedy as your wife!"

...

A simple frame-up, full of inconsistencies!

But it’s okay, as a means to confuse the audience, it’s enough.

As for the Vampire Viscount who fled in panic, he was easily captured by Edin, who had laid in ambush in advance, alongside the Pukis.

Giving someone like Edin, the Master of Illusion, plenty of preparation time, silently subduing a mentally disturbed vampire was not a difficult task.

Having captured another vampire, Lin Jun could finally experiment with his long-pondered question, "What happens when a photosynthesis vampire is exposed to sunlight?"

...

Inside the Duke’s Mansion.

Inanna leaned by the window, watching the suddenly busy guards below, whose vigilance was obviously heightened, with a hint of worry on her little face: "Boss, does this mean it will be inconvenient to get beautiful dream flowers from the warehouse later?"

"No matter, we don’t need them anymore!"

Yes, we don’t need them anymore!

[Spiritual Guidance LV7]

The proficiency is finally filled, completing the critical advancement.

Lin Jun was already impatient to smash through that hard "turtle shell" on tonight’s "date"!

And if even LV7 couldn’t break through the eggshell, reaching LV8 in the short term was clearly impossible, not even consuming all the remaining beautiful dream flowers in the warehouse would suffice.

So, the remaining beautiful dream flowers were no longer important.

Listening to the boss envisioning the wonderful scene tonight in his mind, Inanna only felt an indescribable sense of security enveloping her entire being.

In fact, ever since the secret fungal mat network was successfully laid out in the vicinity of the Duke’s Mansion, this pervasive sense of security had never left her.

Even upon learning that a professional assassin had targeted her, not the slightest ripple of fear stirred in her heart.

The Pukis were right by her side, and the boss constantly watched over her.

She was no longer facing this world alone.

There was nothing to fear anymore!

However, compared to the matter of someone wanting to assassinate her, another issue troubled Inanna more.

It was those Puki Masters, those people whose faces were covered with luminescent white mycelium, deeply symbiotic with the Pukis and the Fungal Mat.

She envied their status, even to the point of jealousy!

That feeling of being closely connected with the mycelium, becoming an extension of it!

Deep down, she longed to merge with those warm strands of mycelium, gaining a complete sense of belonging and connection.

Unfortunately, when she tentatively brought up this idea, the boss rejected it without hesitation.

She understood; this was largely because her identity as the Duke’s Daughter was too sensitive and might invite unforeseen trouble.

But understanding aside, the feeling of being excluded, the unwillingness when watching others possess what she desperately wanted... still silently spread in her heart.

...

Meanwhile, in the Crimson Tower.

Evil Mage Margas coughed violently, his pale fingers tremblingly pointing to two huge magic arrays on the floor, complex to the point of dizziness and constantly emanating a dense aura of darkness.

"Sir, this... cough cough... this is... cough... the solution I found." His voice was weak and hoarse, as if speaking each word drained his remaining life force.

Sigmund’s cold gaze swept across the two arrays, his voice devoid of emotion: "Continue."

"The one on the left," Margas barely suppressed his coughing, pointing to the array with more sinister patterns, its center seemingly a vortex swallowing light, "it can forcibly open a trap on the outer barrier of your dream, directly leading to the bottom layer of the Abyss. Once that entity touches it, the power of the Abyss will utterly destroy it!"

"And the cost?" Sigmund knew all Abyss Magic came with inherent issues.

Indeed, Margas spoke with a hint of fear: "The Abyss... is unknown and filled with horror. This trap synchronously harms both you and your enemy. Though the ritual will prepare numerous slaves as stand-ins to bear the backlash for you, after all, it’s performed within your consciousness domain... the leaking Abyss aura is extremely dangerous as well..."

"Just give me the conclusion," Sigmund impatiently interrupted.

"There’s a thirty percent chance... you and your opponent will share mutual destruction..."

"What about the remaining seventy percent?"

"With the rest... naturally, your consciousness gets damaged but can be slowly nursed back to health. Whereas your opponent’s spirit will be completely torn apart and annihilated by the Abyss, never to exist again!"

Sigmund nodded expressionlessly, turning his gaze to another relatively "calm" but equally intricately patterned magic array: "And what about this one?"

"This is the relatively... safer method. It can forcibly tear your soul, cutting off the connection with the ’Strange Dream’ at the cost of sacrificing part of the soul."

Sigmund let out a disdainful snort.

Though not a specialized mage in the Soul Domain, as a High Tier Vampire, he naturally knew a lot about souls.

Tearing the soul? Easier said than done!

If he truly did that, the consequences would not be merely a permanent decline in strength.

His sanity might suffer, becoming neurotic or paranoid, which would be relatively mild—seriously, he might become a hollow shell without self-identity, there were precedents.

Among the Dukes, one even turned mad because of this...

Moreover, this was purely a cowardly escape.

The damn opponent who pushed him into such a dire situation would remain unscathed.

Such a weak, borderline self-destructive plan for survival was something Sigmund could never accept!

In contrast, although the first plan was extremely risky, almost betting his life, it could genuinely destroy the enemy, more aligned with his character.

"Prepare the captives!" Sigmund made his decision.

After Margas left, Sigmund summoned his adjutant and whispered, "If anything happens to me tonight, kill Margas!"

Then, he adjusted the military deployment around the Crimson Tower to guard against Duke Alama, who had recently been restless.

Once everything was arranged, he returned alone, silently gazing at the immense Abyss Magic Array that would soon carry his fate.

Crimson light flickered in his pupils.

"To think I’ve been forced to bet my life..." his low murmur echoed in the empty hall, "It’s really a pity, not knowing who you are till now, and afterward... there may be no chance to find out..."