The Gray Dwarves had described the place so vividly, making it sound downright sinister. Yet once they passed through the narrow rock fissure, the view suddenly opened up, revealing an entirely different scene.
Glowing mushrooms, fireflies, inverted stalactites, scattered glimmers of light, transparent pools of water—and Mushroom People and Little Stone Spirits beating each other senseless.
The air smelled clean and fresh, like something out of a fairy tale.
The tense atmosphere vanished in an instant. The Dragon Hatchlings let out breaths, and the claws they had readied for battle relaxed.
"What a nice place."
Moqi muttered, "It'd be great if we could make it our secret turf."
The scene ahead was chaotic. Another round of fighting had just ended, and several Stone Sprites rolled out, stopping at Moqi's feet. They scrambled up, ignored everything else, and began hacking wildly at his clawed toes.
"They've got some strength."
Moqi bared his teeth and swept them flying with one claw. "Still, these little things are having quite a lively fight. Seems like it has nothing to do with us. What do we do now?"
Ferrum observed for a moment and confirmed that both sides—whether Stone Sprites or Mushroom People—were charging toward the center of the battlefield, fighting over the rock orb wrapped in mycelium.
"Ferrum."
In Tas had noticed it too. He raised his head in indication. "Is that Iron Grease hanging from the mycelium what you were looking for?"
Before setting out, Ferrum had already explained the purpose of this trip. Moqi had been unable to keep his mouth shut and had even recounted how they had first caught mushrooms, though he had omitted some details.
Things like imitating mushroom noises had long since slipped his mind.
"Then that must be the Mushroom People's fungal bed."
Moqi scratched the scales beneath his jaw. "Pull out the mycelium, scrape off the Iron Grease, and today will count as a huge haul. Pretty easy, too."
"That rock orb is unusual as well. It seems to possess a spirit. With so many holes in it, it's probably the Stone Sprites' nest. The mycelium wrapped around it, so that's why they ended up fighting in a tangled mess."
In Tas spoke quietly as he paced and observed, noticing more details. "There are many traces on the ground."
Moqi followed his gaze and saw a shallow groove in the fungal carpet. The groove extended upward, winding all the way down from a patch of shadow high in the cavern.
"These were pressed out."
In Tas said, "The rock orb wasn't originally here. It rolled down from above and smashed into the Mushroom People's fungal bed."
As he described it, he climbed to the roof of the cavern. His tail and membranous wings hung down as he walked upside down overhead. After training with Ferrum for so long, In Tas was capable of this much.
He found the starting point of the trail. His eyes flickered as he searched around, examined the surroundings, and sniffed softly for a while before returning to Ferrum's side.
"A section of the rock wall above collapsed."
In Tas told Ferrum, "There are many old traces there. It should have been where the Stone Sprites originally built their nest. There's no scent of other creatures, so it doesn't seem to have been caused by outside interference. The rock likely loosened over time, and the stone orb rolled free, landing right in the Mushroom People's territory."
Then the Thunderclap Dragon walked to the front and lowered himself, drawing close to the bright brown mycelium on the ground. The filaments curled faintly beneath his hooked toes, winding around the Dragon Hatchling's claws.
"The mycelium has no self-awareness, but it has the tendency to spread and cling."
In Tas retreated. "Once the rock orb fell and stopped, the mycelium burrowed through those holes. That was how they became entangled."
"The Gray Dwarves said they'd been hearing strange, terrifying sounds for the past month. That was probably the two races at war, except the layers upon layers of rock walls changed the tone."
Having laid out every detail, the Thunderclap Dragon said, "The Nurturer was right. There was no major disaster below."
"Impressive."
Moqi praised him. "That makes things even easier. We just need to cut the rock orb open. Chrome Dragons are best at that. Then we scrape all the Iron Grease off the mycelium, and the job's done."
"We can't cut it open."
In Tas shook his head. "Didn't you say the Mushroom People can't live without their fungal bed? I think these Stone Sprites are the same. Cutting it apart would be the same as wiping out all their life force."
"Wiping them out? Then I'll be the exterminator."
Moqi's eyes gleamed. He did not care in the slightest. "What does it have to do with us whether they live or die?"
"Indeed, we can't cut it open."
Ferrum shook his head as well. "Do you remember the Nurturer's lord lessons? The Iron Grease in the fungal bed can be produced repeatedly, and the Stone Sprites look like they can be subdued too. All of that is very useful to me. I don't want to be an exterminator. I want to be a conqueror."
"Well said." In Tas nodded with great seriousness.
"Oh no."
Moqi froze. "How did you praise him faster than I did?"
Ferrum looked at the rock orb in the center, a faintly thoughtful expression appearing on his face.
"If there are no living creatures left, the underground space won't be fun anymore."
Ferrum added, "Even if we could turn it into a secret turf, it would be meaningless."
"Then what do we do? We can't exactly untangle the rock orb and the mycelium, can we? Those roots are wound into cracks in the stone. It's a ball of tangled thread, with a thousand ends and ten thousand strands."
Moqi grumbled, "Even if we wanted to help them out of this predicament, we couldn't do it. Nobody could."
In Tas fell silent as well. His observations were meticulous, but precisely because of that, he understood how thorny the situation was. If they could not simply cut it apart cleanly, resolving the rock orb's entanglement would be extremely difficult.
"If nobody can do it, then we should try even more."
Ferrum was eager to give it a try. He stepped forward. "Come help."
Only then did the uninvited guests who had intruded into the underground space finally reveal their "towering" forms.
The Little Stone Spirits and Mushroom People across the field were stunned rigid by the sudden appearance of these monsters. They all stopped fighting, raised their heads, and watched blankly as the dragons passed through the center of the battlefield, forgetting to continue their battle for a moment.
Ferrum lowered his head toward the rock orb covered in mycelium.
The rock orb was only about the size of a Kobold. In Tas had said it was the Stone Sprites' nest, but that was probably wrong. It was more like the creation pool of the Little Stone Spirits.
Neither Mushroom People nor Little Stone Spirits could reproduce on their own. Their populations depended on the mycelium and the rock orb that served as a creation pool.
But at that moment, the rock orb was completely covered in mycelium, like a hopelessly tangled ball of thread.
Ferrum blinked. His vertical pupils expanded and contracted, finally narrowing into tiny needlepoints. Facing the countless tangled strands, he examined them patiently, as though appraising a rare treasure.
The mycelium resembled the blood vessels of a living body. Some were inconsequential, mere connections formed for clinging, while others were the main arteries sustaining the fungal bed's life.
The survival of their race was at stake, so the Mushroom People would not allow the Stone Sprites to come near and cut at it no matter what.
After a long while, Ferrum slowly raised his claw. Like a seasoned seamster, yet also like a butcher dismembering prey, he began to cut.
The tips of his claws gleamed with sharpness. With only the slightest tremor, one thin strand snapped in response.
As the first cut fell, Ferrum's foreclaws began moving rapidly. Like five straight, unsheathed daggers, they extended and withdrew, their edges flashing as an elegant dance unfolded at his fingertips.
With perfect precision, he cut only the connections that absolutely had to be severed. Then he peeled them away and guided them aside, freeing the mycelium tangled within the holes of the stone one strand at a time.
Every cut Ferrum made skillfully avoided every vital point. He neither damaged the Mushroom People's main fungal-bed arteries nor harmed the Creation Rock Orb upon which the Stone Sprites' lives depended.
The sight was so miraculous that even Moqi and In Tas, Chrome Dragons renowned from birth for precision and sharpness, nearly stared themselves dumb.
The Little Stone Spirits and Mushroom People were equally dumbstruck, but they quickly grew restless, erupting into great confusion.
To these two races, dragons were utterly unfamiliar. With their intelligence, it was difficult for them to understand what those monsters were doing in such a short time.
To protect their fungal bed and mother pool, the Mushroom People and Stone Sprites stopped fighting each other. Instead, they fully assembled and charged the dragons together, launching an all-out attack without regard for their lives.
As the Stone Sprites made the ground rattle and the Mushroom People struck out sparks with clangs, Moqi cautiously took a step back. "That number... might be a little too much."
Ferrum remained calm and unhurried, his gaze fixed straight ahead. "I need some time. Keep them farther away. Don't disturb me."
"Understood."
In Tas immediately crouched into a waiting stance, assuming a battle posture as incandescent arcs of electricity flashed across his body.
Moqi bared his fangs. "The exterminator is here!"
He charged forward in great strides, sweeping his tail to clear the fan-shaped space before him. Then he leapt, clawed, and roared low. Moqi had actively chosen battle, and it gave him the thrill of dragons waging wars of national destruction from his memories.
Yet although these Little Stone Spirits looked unremarkable, once they gathered into formation, the combat strength they displayed was extraordinarily high.
Their bodies were extremely hard. Even when they were struck and sent flying, they did not die. Before long, they would climb back up and attack bravely again. After several charges, a few drops of dark-red blood actually began to flow from between Moqi's clawed toes.
On the other side, In Tas focused intently on dealing with the Mushroom People. His situation was similar to Moqi's. He attacked while thinking, striving to apply the magical power control Ferrum had taught him to actual combat.
Ferrum had said he needed some time, but once he truly began, not much time passed at all. Moqi had not yet had his fill of fighting when he sent another batch of Little Stone Spirits flying and discovered that the overwhelming charge had already stopped in perfect unison.
At the center of the field, the ferocious steel-gray monster set aside the main trunk of the fungal bed, lifted the rock orb from the ground, held it before his eyes, and inspected it carefully.
The Stone Sprites and Mushroom People across the field stared blankly at the sight: their intact mother pool and "clean" fungal bed, each now peacefully whole in its own right.
Then—
"Bujee bujee bujee."
"Creak creak creak."
The Little Stone Spirits and Mushroom People all erupted into cheers.
They finally understood. These monsters had not come to harm them, but to save them. They were also exceedingly wise and powerful, solving the problem that had plagued them for a month in only a brief moment from arrival to finish.
"Haha, whatever treasures you have, bring them all out now."
Moqi puffed out his chest and raised his head proudly, as though he had rendered the greatest service.
The Little Stone Spirits put down their stone swords. They circled Ferrum one after another, then gradually crouched down, pressing their round bodies against the ground.
The Mushroom People, meanwhile, slowly pushed their fungal bed closer. Hidden among the mycelium was a large piece of Iron Grease, already solidified into shape. It was dark red and gleamed with metallic light.
The oldest Mushroom Person climbed atop the fungal bed and waved its short arms at Ferrum. A group of Mushroom People lifted the Iron Grease, struggling to raise it over their heads.
Ferrum lowered his head and looked at them.
The little creatures held it up for a long time. Seeing no reaction from Ferrum, they all shuffled forward a few more steps, rising onto their toes and trying their best to lift the Iron Grease even higher.
As though offering treasure.
"No matter how formidable Ladon is, has any living creature ever sworn fealty to him?"
Moqi looked at the Little Stone Spirits kneeling before Ferrum and chuckled. "Ferrum has followers now, just like the dragon lords in the Lineage. Heh heh, the first dragon lord among the Dragon Hatchlings."
Before you continue