The sphere began to reshape, taking on a more human appearance. Just as it finished it transformation an enraged Baloth rushed out of the hole in the sewer wall she had been in. With a radiant glow she smashed into the chest of the fungal brood mind. She blew through it with ease and the hole she created quickly started to refill. Even more, Alyssa picked up on the sound of thousands of feet rushing towards them.
She grabbed Rys. "We need to get Cerone and get out of here." Rys nodded and they moved carefully around the battle to get to Cerone.
The focus of the battle quickly shifted though as the red man began to laugh with a mania that did not reflect on what his character had shown so far. He burst into flames that engulfed his entire body, The laughter dying down. "You will serve as my next step to perfecting fire!" He rushed at the fungal brood mind. Through the flames he was clearly naked as his clothing had not survived being bathed in fire.
Rys and Alyssa looked at him with disgust now. He had seemed good to get along with such a short while ago. The old wizard also shook his head and followed the two as they closed in on Cerone. "I will cover for you both. Help me with the coming hordes. A fungal brood mind never fights alone." The two looked at each other.
Alyssa listened and nodded at Rys. "They are coming from all paths; we have to fight." Rys sighed and pulled seeds from the pouch at his hip. When they had requested equipment Rys had specifically requested seeds of a few magical carnivorous plants. Gorsen had given a strange look, but he had still delivered. Rys spread the seeds in the entrance tunnels to their area and fanged, viny, blood covered plants started to sprout and grow.
The wizard gave him a look of astonishment. "Nature magic is so rare. Today has been a most excellent treat for my journey with magic." Rys gave Alyssa a strange look but continued on. Only they knew it wasn't magic, but their blessings. The more they watched magic though, the more they realized how essential it was to fighting.
The wizard raised his staff up, a sigil formed and dissipated quickly. In its place balls of lighting started to hover and move to the entrances of the tunnel. As rats began to pour in, the lightning would zap them, killing them outright. The stragglers would be quickly consumed by the plants, which only strengthened them.
In the center. Drake, Baloth and the flaming red man were fighting the fungal brood mind. It roared in pain as beams of flame scorched parts of its body and Baloth continued to rip and obliterate parts of its body with every blow. Her entire body had begun to glow in a purplish glow and streaks of dark black encircled her. Every attack from the fungal brood mind would begin to disintegrate when it got close to her.
The old wizard helped the two pick up Cerone and take cover from the incoming hordes. "You see that. That magic Baloth uses is why she could beat every single one of us. Its decay magic. It causes all things to disintegrate and fade away." The wizard explained. Just as he finished an arm rocketed into Baloth and she went flying away again.
Alyssa and Rys locked eyes and they immediately understood. Fungus do not decay like normal, fungus was decay. The fungal brood mind countered her magic quite well. The rest of the fungal brood minds body that wasn't fungus would decay, but not the fungus itself.
The rats from the entrances had begun to overwhelm the carnivorous plants and lightning. Seeing this the old wizard raised his staff and slammed it down. The lightning ruptured and spread out like a web, killing a large amount. He then began casting another magic. Alyssa took the opening to blast sound down the tunnels, causing further areas of damage. Rys took the time to give more mana to the plants, repairing the damages and strengthening them further. One of them had gotten fungus on it and turned on Rys. He struck it down with the sword he had gotten from Gorsen.
"I'm not sure how many rats are under that things control, but we can't hold them off forever." The old wizard shouted at the three fighting the mind.
Cerone laid on the ground, still, but in her mind the voices returned. 'We take our tithe. You will be safe.'
'Wait! What about my friends? Who or what are you? What price did I pay?' She yelled out into the black void of her mind.
'We are the rebirth. The reuse of the old to make the new. The price was simple. You will understand eventually, canidate.' The voice resounded in her mind. 'Worry not, your friends will survive.'
'I don't understand!' Cerone yelled in her mind once more, but no response came. She continued to try to ask over and over again. The black of her mind started to recede and she shot up. Rys and Alyssa rushed to her side.
"Your ok!" Alyssa hugged her. Rys joined in as well.
Cerone hugged them back and took stock of the raging chaos around them. The fungal brood mind in the center of the tunnel was growing in size. The blood and death of the rats around them only seemed to fuel its rage. The flesh and bones rushed into the mass repairing the damage it was taking. It raised two club like arms up swiftly pushing the three it faced far back. Away from the wizard and the trio. It then lowered its arms and rushed after them.
The group watched baffled as the fungal brood mind seemed to purposefully move the battle away from them. The wizard looked behind them and the rats now broke through the encirclement and rushed right past them. Like a river of matted dank fur, it split just around them. Not once did they turn to look at the group. The just followed the fungal brood mind.
Cerone remembered the conversation she had with the fungal brood mind. 'Canidate?' She thought. She looked down at the injury she had just yesterday. Where yesterday she swore she could just barely see spores, now there was clear green root like lines on her. She moved her armor to cover it and stood. Cerone didn't know what was happening, but she knew that the fungal brood mind needed to die.
She reached a handout and cast her blessing. The red mist surrounded Cerone and the three next to her, but it didn't stop. It continued to spread out covering all the rats. Cerone watched with horror as her blessing seemed to inextricably betray her. The empowered horde rushed deeper into the tunnel and the group watched as they jumped Drake, Baloth and the flaming man. The flames of the man held most of the group at bay, but Drake and Baloth continued to suffer. The decaying magic of Baloth corroded and destroyed the flesh of the rats, but the spores started to stack up on her and soon she fell, quickly followed by Drake.
The rats devoured Drake, but the fungal brood mind picked up Baloth. Its writhing form seeped into her body, her originally small form bloated with the increase of mass. Her skin ruptured in places and blood began to seep onto the floor. The flaming man saw this and fled deeper into the tunnel. The mass of the fungal brood mind decreased as it flooded into the body of Baloth, the splits in her skin were sealed with erupting mushrooms and fungus. Soon the entire body of the fungal brood mind had disappeared into Baloth. She fell to her knees. Her body sat there surrounded by rats that stared in anticipation. Eventually Baloth twitched then stood.
Standing up finally, her body swelled in size and then she turned to the group of four. "It feels good to have an avatar again." The voice didn't match Baloth anymore and it remained at an octave so low it was difficult to understand. The creature that was no longer Baloth looked to the group. Her eyes strained for a moment, then the decaying aura that Baloth had used before erupted, but much larger. All of the surrounding rats died and faded. The fungal remains moved to Baloth's body and merged with her.
The group held their breath. Their strongest combatant had been defeated and consumed. Drake was dead and the flaming man had run. In truth they had no chance of defeating this creature before them if it was hostile. It finished what it was doing and began to move towards the group. The old wizard moved to the front of the group, protecting the kids. "Run children. I will hold this off. Warn the city." The wizard looked back to the fungal Baloth as it closed in on him. It raised a single arm forward.
He raised his staff high in the air and a massive sigil formed. Before he could do anything, his body withered into nothing, and his clothing fell to the ground. Fungal Baloth smirked at the remains of the body, lowering the raised arm. "Worry not Cerone. You have tithed and both you and your friends are safe to leave." It turned to follow in the direction of the flaming man.
Cerone clenched her fist. She wasn't sure what had happened to her and what she did to tithe, but she understood that right now she had some kind of negotiating power with the fungal brood mind. "Wait! I know we cannot defeat you, but your existence is a threat to this city. Can I convince you to leave and go elsewhere peacefully?" Cerone shouted after the creature in a last-ditch attempt to do something.
It paused in its steps. An audible hum could be heard. "Your payment was only enough to survive, nothing more. But if you stay here, it could prevent you from growing." It drummed its fingers on its chin thinking.