The beetle's compound eyes saw the many Demonized Creatures appear, and it caught the familiar scent on them. It immediately understood its situation.
It made a swift decision and let out a shriek. The half-incubated "eggs" across the Fungal Mat all burst open. The half-formed creatures inside gave off a sharp sizzle the moment they touched the air, releasing great clouds of white mist as they melted into murky yellow viscous fluid that the Fungal Mat absorbed.
After absorbing the fluid from over a hundred eggs, the Fungal Mat suddenly swelled, as though a huge amount of water had been pumped beneath a lawn.
Then fungal threads grew around the beetle, slipping through the gaps in its shell and piercing its body, feeding the fluid back into it.
"Slosh, slosh..."
The Fungal Mat slowly shriveled and returned to normal, while the beetle's abdomen swelled again. However, it was not as round as before. Clearly, something had been lost in the process and could not be fully recovered.
At such a critical moment, the beetle had no mind to care about that. It let out another hissing cry, its abdomen rumbling as it expelled new "eggs."
These "eggs" differed greatly from the previous ones. They were larger, each about the size of a washbasin. Their shells were still translucent membranes, but they were stained blood-red, filled with a savage, bloody aura.
More than thirty Blood-colored Eggs rolled across the Fungal Mat, found suitable positions, and began to incubate. A series of popping sounds rang out as new life prepared to be born.
Naturally, the many attacking Demonized Beasts would not sit by and let this happen. They swiftly launched an assault, rushing toward the Fungal Mat with howls, ready to destroy everything.
The swarm overhead reacted, flying toward the beasts in