That massive flower was still pulsating, its fleshy petals covered in sickly purple veins, trembling slightly in the thick fog.
In the center of the flower lay the skeleton of an adult Earth Dragon; the bones had been gnawed clean and stained a dark hue by the flower's juices.
Caesar hid behind a rock, his heart pounding wildly.
That skeleton was likely a glimpse of his own future.
An anonymous Earth Dragon, dying in some unknown corner, eventually becoming fertilizer for some bizarre plant.
A cloyingly sweet fragrance permeated the air.
It smelled like overripe fruit mixed with honey, but the scent itself was screaming "danger."
The swarm of Swamp Rot-Poison Scorpions, however, didn't care at all.
Like a black carpet made of shells and stingers, they trampled over each other, scrambling toward the source of the scent—
They swarmed over the base of the giant flower; some climbed the stalks, while others fought over the scraps of meat remaining on the skeleton.
Dinner time. For the scorpions.
Dinner time~! For the giant flower.
Immediately after, the massive petals began to fold inward.
That cloyingly sweet scent grew even more concentrated, nearly making one dizzy...
Caesar recognized this script.
This was the most classic monster movie trope; the Venus flytrap was preparing to close its doors.
It seemed he was about to witness a hunt.
But just as those massive petals were about to snap shut, the ground began to vibrate.
It wasn't an Earthquake, but a series of localized tremors.
The mud at the base of the giant flower suddenly exploded.
"Puff! Puff! Puff!"
Dozens of giant mushrooms burst out from the swampland.
They were massive, taller than the current Caesar.
Their caps were the iconic red and white, dotted with wart-like protrusions.
From behind, they looked like sturdy shields and seemed to possess two arms.
Is this... a new species?
Before Caesar could react, the group of mushrooms launched a charge.
Their movements were surprisingly synchronized, forming a phalanx as they rushed toward the giant flower.
Their actions weren't clumsy at all; instead, they moved like a squad of well-trained soldiers, precise and efficient.
"Hiss—Qia!" one of the mushrooms let out a strange, insect-like grinding screech.
In response, all the mushrooms reached behind their shield-like bodies.
And then they pulled out small glass bottles filled with a bubbling green liquid.
What on earth? Alchemists?
They exerted force in unison, hurling the glass bottles at the giant flower.
"Clang! Crash!"
The glass bottles shattered against the fleshy petals of the giant flower, splashing green liquid everywhere.
"Hiss hiss hiss hiss hiss!"
A sound like strong acid corroding metal rang out in the air.
Thick, pungent smoke rose from the giant flower.
Wherever the green liquid splashed, the vibrant petals immediately turned black, withered, and began to collapse.
The giant flower let out a silent, pained twist.
Its massive stalk thrashed wildly, flinging the clinging Rot-Poison Scorpions everywhere.
But the mushrooms didn't stop.
Another wave of small green bottles sliced through the air.
Then a third wave.
The Gible's eyes widened, and his almost non-existent jaw nearly hit the ground this time.
That giant flower had "BOSS Battle" written all over it.
He had even started imagining its attack patterns—vine whips, venom projectiles, plus a screen full of bullet hell, just like the Soul Knight game he used to play.
And then this group of Fungus People just... blew it up with grenades...?
In less than a minute, that behemoth had turned into a shriveled husk emitting black smoke, slumped powerlessly on the ground, dissolving into a puddle of black sludge.
Holy crap... these mushrooms... are so reliable.
Looking at them, Caesar actually felt a strange sense of security.
Wait, could he have hallucinated from eating too many poisonous mushrooms earlier?
To think a bunch of walking mushrooms are reliable? This is too ridiculous.
Having dealt with the giant flower, the mushrooms turned their attention to the panicked scorpions, driving them away from the flower's remains like shepherds herding sheep.
Fine, they're leaving, and Caesar should slip away too.
These mushrooms in the mist seem to be some kind of social creature; he'd have to interrogate Cecilia later, the little thing's Legacy memories should know something.
If there was a common language, that would be even better; Caesar had the idea of trading potions with them.
He had accumulated some good stuff since birth, having hoarded plenty of parts that looked like they could be weapon materials from Monster Hunter.
The little Gible began to back away slowly, moving his feet with extreme caution.
He took one step back, then another—
On the third step, he stepped into a patch of exceptionally soft deep mud.
"Squelch."
In this dead-silent swamp, that wet, loud noise was incredibly abrupt.
Every single mushroom instantly froze in place.
Then, like a slow-motion shot from a horror movie, the mushroom closest to him slowly turned around.
Its back looked so solid, so reliable.
Its front... was another story entirely.
The mushroom's body was a thick grey stalk; beneath two fierce beady eyes was a massive, pink, down-turned mouth.
The entire expression was one of sleaziness, looking ready to pick a fight at any moment.
The red and white cap on its head now looked less like a mushroom and more like a Poké Ball.
This image instantly overlapped with a certain memory in Caesar's mind.
The reliable back, the sleazy face, the Poké Ball design.
He couldn't control his mouth, and an exclamation from the depths of his Soul as a gamer blurted out.
"Holy shit, Amoonguss?!"
As soon as he spoke, a System notification popped up before his eyes.
[Ding! New species discovered: Fungus People!]
[Attribute: Poison]
[Introduction: An intelligent race living in swamps and wetlands. They are skilled at concocting various peculiar poisons and potions, making them fearsome masters of toxicity and top-tier herbalists.]
This damn System was getting wordier lately; the interface scrolled for a while before a line of small text appeared at the bottom—
[Danger Level: Extremely High (Swarm ※ Extremely Xenophobic)]
"What kind of decent person gets hard-CC'd by flavor text for two seconds...?!"
Caesar let out a howl of angry cursing.
In the time it took for the notification interface to scroll, the first Fungus Person had already sounded the alarm.
All the Fungus People turned their heads in unison.
Those pairs of beady eyes locked onto Caesar.
The air that was inexplicably reassuring just a moment ago was instantly filled with killing intent.
The way they looked at him wasn't like looking at a lost little dragon, but like looking at an intruder.
A foreign object that had to be purged.
The slightly larger Fungus Person leader let out that grinding high-pitched screech once more.
This time, it wasn't a signal to drive away livestock.
It was an order to slaughter the beast.
They raised their arms again in perfect unison.
Not to drive away scorpions.
But to hurl more "grenades" at him.
"Uh, can we settle this peacefully...?"
Caesar raised both claws high, only then realizing they couldn't possibly understand him.
It didn't matter.
A wave of green glass bottles was already flying toward him.
The Gible lunged to the side, rolling through the disgusting mud.
"Clang! Crash!"
The glass bottles exploded where he had just been standing, the green liquid corroding the ground and emitting the same choking chemical smoke.
Dammit!
Not even giving him a chance to communicate!
More glass bottles flew in.
The Fungus People spread their formation as they threw, surrounding him.
Caesar scrambled up on all fours.
He had to fight back.
"[Sand Attack]!"
The little Gible stomped his foot, kicking up a spray of... thick, heavy mud.
The clump of mud flew less than a meter before landing on the ground with a "splat," completely useless.
But it made sense; after all, this move wasn't [Mud-Slap]... it seemed his signature skill was disabled.
Plan B!
"[Sand Tomb]!"
This time, he concentrated his power beneath the feet of a group of approaching Fungus People.
The mud on the ground churned a few times, but it didn't form a rotating vortex at all; it just turned into a puddle of thinner mud soup.
The Fungus People stepped through the mud soup without even slowing down.
Crap, I look like a fool...!
This terrain really was disadvantageous for him.
The mushrooms closed in from all sides.
Their speed was much faster than they looked, gliding across the mud with exceptional ease.
Several Fungus People rushed into Caesar's attack range.
One of them swung its disc-shaped shield-arm.
Caesar dodged, but a shard of a potion bottle still clutched in the opponent's arm happened to graze his flank.
"Screech—!"
The ear-piercing sound of glass scraping against scales made him shudder.
Sharp pain immediately radiated from the wound.
He looked down to see a bloody gash on his blue skin, with dark red beads of blood seeping out.
[HP: 38/39]
Before he could adjust his stance, another Fungus Person attacked from the side.
This time, its shield-arm slammed directly into his waist.
"Thump!"
The force wasn't great, but a cloud of fine yellow powder exploded from the surface of the shield-arm.
Spores.
The Gible instinctively held his breath, but it was a step too late; he had already inhaled a bit.
His lungs began to burn, and his head felt a bit woozy.
[Ding! You have been afflicted by [Spore]!]
[Status: Poisoned. HP -3 per turn. Poison resistance is mitigating this effect.]
[Toxin Accumulation: 10% (At 100%, you will fall into [Sleep] status.)]
Another kind of poison!
And its toxicity was completely different from the mushrooms in the cave.
"Get lost!" he roared.
The Gible opened his massive maw, and Dragon-type energy began to gather.
This was his only remaining long-range attack method.
"[Dragon Breath]!"
A cone of red energy erupted from his mouth, hitting the nearest Fungus Person square in the chest.
The fellow was sent flying backward, leaving a charred patch on its cap.
This hit was effective; several Fungus People caught in the edges were even paralyzed, but Caesar paid a price.
Due to the deep breath taken to launch the attack, he inhaled a massive amount of the spores floating in the air.
"Cough! Cough cough cough!"
He suddenly doubled over, coughing violently.
His throat felt like it was on fire, and the world before him spun.
[Toxin Accumulation: 25%]
The Fungus People saw his weakness.
They intensified their assault, their beady eyes reflecting a cold, inhuman intelligence.
More potion bottles flew, forcing him to keep dodging and consuming his already low stamina.
The smell of spores and chemicals in the air grew thicker.
He was backed into a corner.
Behind him was the dissolving corpse of the giant flower; before him was a wall of angry mushroom special forces.
The Fungus Person leader stood at the back of the formation and raised its arm.
Then, it let out an ear-piercing high-frequency screech, a series of rapid "clicks" that felt like they could pierce eardrums.
"Qia—Qia—Qia—Hiss—KREE!"
Mushroom Hissing triggered, all Fungus People Attack +1...!
The encirclement tightened.
The back row of Fungus People pulled out various potion bottles.
The front row brandished their shield-arms, which were encrusted with glass shards.
No way out.
Caesar's mind raced.
Run? Run where?
Fight? How?
He was only Level 11.
These guys were all Level 8, but there were dozens of them.
Plus, they had the advantages of terrain, technology, and teamwork.
This wasn't a fight; this was a one-sided beatdown.
Dammit, this is too ridiculous.
As a dignified Earth Dragon, he couldn't let a bunch of mushrooms beat him up, could he?
"Whew..."
Caesar took a deep breath, once again forcibly suppressing the sharp pain in his lungs, and gathered [Dragon Breath].
[Toxin Accumulation: 60%]
His vision had started to blur, but he didn't care.
The Gible grinned with his massive dragon's kiss, revealing a mouth full of sharp teeth, but this time, his mouth wasn't aimed at any of the Fungus People.
Instead, it was aimed at the muddy, slippery, water-logged swampland beneath his feet.
His posture was like a taunt, yet also like he was charging up—
Heh, did you really think I'd let you guys beat me...?
You've got to be kidding me.
The next second, the scalding Dragon Breath erupted without reservation!
That wasn't an attack on the enemy, but a transformation of the entire battlefield!
"All of you can go... enjoy a STEAM SAUNA with Lord Garchomp!!"