The scene before him was enough to make even an experienced player like Caesar freeze for three seconds.
On one side were stiff Zombie Ants. These guys clearly had brains stuffed with fungus; they didn't even care about their lives as they charged headlong into the undead. On the other side were translucent things floating in mid-air—skeletons with only their upper bodies left, and pale-faced female ghosts—who were frantically sucking energy from the ant swarm... It was a battle between the physical side and the magical side.
Resident Evil meets a supernatural horror story.
The ecosystem down here in the underground was truly wild.
Although Caesar loved watching drama, the current situation was clearly not suitable for sitting in the front row eating sunflower seeds. That massive fungal carpet was like a living creature; every time a zombie ant died, the mycelium on the Ground pulsed like a blood vessel, spreading a few inches further onto the gray rock ahead.
It looked like a territorial dispute.
Caesar muttered to himself as he watched this scene... He and the Little Silver Dragon really had explosive luck. To fall from such a height and land squarely in the center of the fungal carpet without being immediately decomposed into nutrients was a miracle.
Although the System panel didn't show any Poisoned or abnormal status effects, what was this feeling of psychological discomfort...?
"No, I need to disinfect."
The more Caesar thought about it, the more itchy his whole body felt.
He opened his mouth, and a dark red light glowed deep in his throat.
He didn't dare use full power, only mobilizing a tiny bit of Dragon Element.
"Whoosh—"
A wave of scorching heat sprayed out, hugging his own skin.
Scales with the Rough Skin ability were already thick and extremely heat-resistant.
This wave of high-temperature sterilization made him grimace in pain, but he finally felt a bit better mentally.
High temperature is the most effective way to kill fungi; that's common sense.
Cecilia, who had been shivering nearby, was stunned.
Is this Little Earth Dragon crazy?
Why is he burning himself?
However... she looked down at the sticky spore fluid on her body, which she had picked up during the fall.
As a Silver Dragon who loved cleanliness, she had long been unable to stand it.
"Um..."
Cecilia approached awkwardly, the tip of her tail drawing circles on the Ground.
"Could you help me do that too...? It's filthy."
Caesar gave her a sidelong glance.
This Young Miss sure is high-maintenance.
But considering this girl was currently an important meat shield, if she actually got infected and turned into a zombie dragon, it would be his problem.
"Turn around," Caesar said grumpily.
Cecilia obediently turned her back and even spread her wings to make the disinfection easier.
Controlling the heat in his throat, Caesar aimed a Dragon Breath right at her back.
Sizzle—
Gwaaa—!!!
Cecilia's neck suddenly stiffened, her whole body went rigid, and she fell straight to the Ground.
Her limbs were still twitching occasionally.
Caesar: "..."
Oops.
Forgot that Dragon Breath has a 30% chance to trigger Paralysis.
Looking at Cecilia foaming at the mouth and rolling her eyes on the Ground, Caesar shrugged without a hint of guilt.
"Don't blame me; you're the one who wanted to take a hot bath, awooo."
At that moment, the battle ahead changed.
It seemed the two sides had reached a conclusion. Undead creatures, after all, have no physical form; as long as they aren't touched by the fungi, they are basically invincible. Although the brainless Zombie Ants were numerous, after a few screams from those banshees, their movements grew slower and slower. Finally, they collapsed on the Ground like they'd been unplugged, becoming new fertilizer.
This also led to a problem.
With no Zombie Ants to draw fire, those undead floating in the air turned their pairs of hollow eyes, glowing with ghost fire, toward the two living creatures over here.
To the undead, the aura of living flesh and blood was as glaring as a searchlight in the dark of night.
Roar—
A rotting knight with only half a torso, holding a rusty broken sword, drifted over unsteadily. Behind him followed a group of bizarre-looking specters—some like clumps of black mist, others with twisted human faces.
"Trouble," Caesar muttered, pulling Cecilia behind him and lowering his center of gravity.
These things have their physical resistance maxed out.
The rotting knight was the first to strike. Although it looked slow, it charged like a gust of ghostly wind, arriving in front of them in the blink of an eye. The broken sword, trailing black energy, slashed down toward his head.
Caesar didn't dodge at all, raising his arm covered in fin-blades to block it head-on.
Clang!
A dull thud sounded. This rotting knight's strength was only around level ten or so, not even as strong as the group of ants from before. Caesar swung a claw back in a counterattack.
And here lay the problem.
His sharp claws, capable of tearing through rock, passed through the knight's body without any resistance, as if swinging through a cloud of cold air. The knight's form only flickered slightly, completely unharmed; instead, it took the opportunity to slash its sword against Caesar's shoulder again.
[-0]
There was no damage, but that icy sensation seeped through his scales and into his bones, making the dragon extremely uncomfortable.
"Physical immunity, is it?"
Caesar was getting a bit angry. He opened his mouth and fired a Dragon Breath.
The breath passed through the ghost's body, and this time it actually had some effect. The knight let out a piercing shriek as its form faded slightly—but only slightly. Dragon Breath is a dragon-type attack; while it can hit ghosts, it doesn't have a type advantage, so its lethality was limited.
Immediately after, more ghosts swarmed around.
A female ghost suddenly teleported to Caesar's side and let out a shrill scream. Caesar felt his head buzz, and his movements slowed by a beat. Several mist-like specters took the chance to entwine his legs, desperately trying to burrow into his body to suck his life force.
"Get lost!"
Caesar irritably unleashed Bulldoze.
Boom!
The Ground shook and debris flew. But this move was completely useless against these things floating in the air! All it did was shake loose a few rocks from the cave ceiling, which nearly hit him instead.
How do I fight this?
Run, of course—!
No joke, the ghost-types in this other world were way too overpowered. Tackle has no effect, Poison Jab is resisted, and Ground attacks can be dodged.
They freaking come with the Levitate ability!
If he had evolved into a Gabite and learned a Dark-type skill like Crunch, even a good set of teeth could chew these ghostly things to pieces. But right now, he was just a Gabite who only knew brute force.
"Hey! Wake up! Cecilia!"
Caesar scooped up Cecilia, who still hadn't recovered, threw her over his shoulder, and started sprinting.
Cecilia opened her eyes dizzily, saliva still hanging from her dragon maw.
"What's wrong... is it time for dinner...?"
"Dinner my ass! We're about to become dinner!"
Caesar pointed behind him.
Cecilia looked back.
"Oh my god!!!"
Behind them was a dense, black mass of undead floating in the air.
There were birds with skeleton heads, half-sections of intestines floating in the air, and even a few cat-girl ghosts wearing tattered maid outfits but with half their faces rotted away.
This kind of visual impact was absolutely devastating for an innocent little female dragon like Cecilia.
"Ghosts, aaaaaah!!!"
Cecilia let out a scream like a dragon being slaughtered.
She wasn't afraid of physical monsters; she'd even dare to bare her teeth at a Sub-dragon several levels higher than her.
But these eerie, floating things directly bypassed her psychological defenses.
"Stop screaming! Use your breath! If all else fails, release your Dragon Might!"
Caesar felt the chill on his back growing heavier.
The undead creatures of this world possessed the Negative Energy trait, allowing them to absorb the life force of normal creatures. It was said to be a blessing from the god of the ghost element, the "Death God."
They were extremely fast, passing through walls and Ground, completely unrestricted by terrain.
Several icy claws were already about to touch the fins on his tail.
"I can't... I'm scared... waahhh..."
Cecilia buried her head in Caesar's neck, shaking like a sieve.
"Useless!"
Caesar cursed angrily, skidded to a halt, and turned to spray a Dragon Breath.
The scorching airflow temporarily forced back a few specters charging at the front.
But more undead burrowed directly out of the Ground, and some even dove down from the rocky ceiling above.
Those were several Earth-bound Spirits; they stretched out long tongues and directly coiled them around Caesar's ankles.
A bone-chilling cold crawled up his legs, and Caesar felt his movements instantly slow by half.
This is the Immobilization Method!
It's over.
We're going to get mobbed.
Just as several hideous evil spirits opened their large maws, preparing to feast on the Souls of these two living beings...
Cecilia was like a rabbit driven into a corner.
She squeezed her eyes shut, her small claws flailing wildly as she babbled incoherently:
"Don't come over here! Go away! Everyone go away! You disgusting things! I'm going to wash you all clean!!!"
A strange ripple erupted from within her body.
It wasn't that kind of violent elemental power.
Instead, it was a very pure, very soft light that carried a certain holy significance.
[Ding! Target detected: Cecilia has used the special skill Luster Purge!]