Chapter 24: The Sky Burns with Spores
The falcon coughed violently while the thick spore clouds moved through the air to sting his lungs with tiny needles. His eyesight briefly clouded up before another set of explosive mushrooms flew toward him.
"Not again!" The falco I'm the DR to get by n growled while shaking his head to regain his senses.
The mushroom held onto his talons while shaking from fear as it saw the frightening strength of its fellow mushrooms. The mushroom mage stood still as he observed the battlefield with an emotionless stare.
Another incantation. Another transformation.
Two smaller mushrooms started to emit light during this spell. The mushrooms' bodies underwent a painful transformation which resulted in the growth of insect-like wings that were thin and transparent.
Flying mushrooms.
The mushrooms launched themselves into the air at an unnatural speed while their tiny wings produced a buzzing sound that followed the falcon. These mushrooms lacked the explosive behavior of their counterparts because they did not produce light or vibrations. The mushrooms discharged a ghostly vapor from their bodies which matched the yellow hue of the airborne spores.
The falcon understood their actions without needing to speculate.
"Poison types!" The creatures refused to give up their pursuit as the falcon attempted to escape. The creatures moved swiftly through the air while changing directions unpredictably.
The creature attacked by splitting its cap open to reveal its horrifying toothless mouth. The creature attempted to grab onto him with its open mouth.
The falcon used his beak to swiftly kill the creature with one quick bite. The gas explosion from the destroyed creature released its toxic fumes yet he managed to escape the worst of the poison.
But the second one.
"Behind you!" the mushroom shrieked.
The falcon reacted purely on instinct. He twisted midair, allowing the creature to pass just beneath his wing. Before it could recover, he struck it with his talon, sending it plummeting toward the ground.
"Persistent little pests," the falcon muttered, exhaling sharply. But the moment he did, he felt the sting in his throat again.
The spores.
They were getting thicker.
If this kept up, he'd have no choice but to land, and that was exactly what the enemy wanted.
He glanced downward. They had already passed the outer layer of the mushroom kingdom, meaning they were approaching the inner district. The buildings inside were different, larger, more structured, like a real city.
If they could just make it a little further.
His sharp eyes caught movement below. The mushrooms weren't done.
The cannon-type creatures had already begun loading their next round.
But this time, they weren't using explosives.
No, these mushrooms were different. They were larger, bulkier, and their caps were lined with jagged ridges.
The falcon immediately recognized them.
"Shrapnel mushrooms," he muttered. "Those things explode into razor-sharp fragments"
Before he could finish, the first one was launched.
Then another.
Then another.
A deadly rain of fungal artillery came soaring toward them.
The falcon's mind raced. If he tried to dodge, he'd have to maneuver wildly, burning even more stamina in the process. But if he took a hit.
The mushroom in his talons shivered, sensing his hesitation.
"Throw me!" the mushroom suddenly shouted.
The falcon blinked. "What?"
"Throw me at one of the shrapnel mushrooms! I have an idea!"
"Are you insane?! You'll be blown to pieces!"
"JUST TRUST ME!"
For a moment, the falcon considered refusing. But the storm of deadly projectiles was already closing in.
He had no choice.
With a swift motion, he flicked his talons, sending the small mushroom flying straight toward the incoming threat.
And the mushroom… started glowing.
The falcon's sharp eyes widened as he saw the small mushroom hurtling through the air, its entire body glowing with an intense, pulsating light.
"What the hell is it doing?" he muttered, flapping his wings to regain balance.
The shrapnel mushroom was just about to reach its peak height, moments away from exploding into deadly fragments. But before it could detonate.
Splat!
The tiny mushroom slammed directly into the enemy's cap. Its body instantly burst into a thick, sticky substance that spread over the shrapnel mushroom's surface like glue.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then.
BOOM!
The shrapnel mushroom exploded, but instead of scattering deadly fragments in all directions, the thick glue caused most of the pieces to stick together. The explosion fizzled out midair, reducing what should have been a lethal blast into a harmless puff of smoke.
The falcon's beak hung slightly open in shock. "It… neutralized the explosion?"
[System Message]
[ one-time-use skill: Indestructible Slime Morph!]
— Your body transforms into an unbreakable, slimy goo.
— While in this form, you can absorb and contain external impacts.
— Duration: 10 minutes.]
The skill was obtained after consuming an unidentified potion and slime gel from the his loot last night.
Another shrapnel mushroom was fired. But just as before, the tiny mushroom had already landed on it, bursting into the same sticky substance, neutralizing it.
One by one, the dangerous projectiles were being neutralized in midair.
Down below, the mushroom mage's eyes narrowed. He hadn't expected such a strange counterattack. With a flick of his wand, he signaled the cannon mushrooms to change their approach.
Instead of launching more shrapnel, they switched back to the explosive fungi.
But this time, they weren't firing in a straight line.
Instead, they arced the trajectory, aiming to surround the falcon from all sides.
The falcon immediately noticed. His feathers bristled as he saw the encirclement forming.
"Damn it! They're trying to box me in!"
There was no time to think. The spores in the air were thickening again, and his stamina was rapidly depleting. He had to make a decision, fast.
Then, he heard a tiny voice.
"I'm still here, you know!"
The falcon glanced down.
The tiny mushroom returned to his talon after he had thrown it earlier and clung to his claw with its tiny hands.
The mushroom returned to his talon during his moment of distraction.
"You're alive?!"
"Of course, I'm alive! Do you think I would stand there and let myself be destroyed by bullets?
The falcon struggled to suppress a chuckle during this dangerous moment. The small creature proved itself stronger than its appearance suggested.
"Alright, genius," he said. You seem to know everything so how should we escape from this situation?
The mushroom's cap moved slightly while it studied the battlefield.
"We don't dodge," it said.
The falcon raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Then what do we do?"
The mushroom grinned.
"We go through them."
The falcon's eyes widened. The bird demanded to fly headfirst toward the blasts.
"Trust me!"
The bird hesitated.
The mushroom's self-assurance convinced the bird to trust its words.
"Alright, hold on tight!"
The falcon executed a single forceful wing movement before plunging directly into the enemy formation.
The mushrooms below the ground displayed panic. The mushrooms were shocked when the falcon launched his attack instead of defending.
The small mushroom used its sticky substance to successfully counteract the explosions that detonated all around the falcon.
The falcon maneuvered his body through a series of close calls with successive explosions.
And then.
They broke through.
The wind blast swept by as they managed to escape the enemy fire.
The falcon's wings suffered severe burns due to exhaustion yet they managed to escape.
The mushroom kingdom's interior walls extended directly below their current position.
They were in.
The falcon descended toward the ground while feeling that a more threatening danger awaited them inside.
The mushroom kingdom started to expose its genuine threats as they entered its domain.