"Rampart-Creeping Fungus is a type of monster found in all three Darkest Dungeons around Coldiron City. Compared to the other two dungeons, however, the Rampart-Creeping Fungus inside Secluded Tower Mountain is far harder to deal with. Its overall capabilities range from forty to one hundred percent of those of its counterparts in the other two dungeons! Monsters are living creatures in the end, and every living creature has weaknesses! The Rampart-Creeping Fungus's weaknesses are its broad target area, divided stamina, and parasitic instincts."
With their cooperation settled, Andu shared what he knew with Loulan as a show of good faith. After all, knowing both yourself and your enemy was the key to victory.
"There are only two ways to kill it. The first is to wear it down along with the monsters under its control until it no longer has the stamina to repair them. The Rampart-Creeping Fungus will then enter a weakened state, and you can kill it by cutting its main body away with a sharp blade. The other way is naturally to strike straight at its head. A Rampart-Creeping Fungus is usually composed of three to six fungal brains. Active fungal brains are extremely conspicuous, and destroying them is the same as killing it, though this method is more difficult than the first."
After finishing, Andu glanced at Loulan, a note of ease entering his voice at the end.
Why was the second method more difficult than the first?
Because of manpower. One group had to tie down the fungus-corpse monsters, while another group had to kill the Rampart-Creeping Fungus before it entered its weakened state. Splitting their combat strength meant a much more arduous fight.
But one might ask: didn't the Rampart-Creeping Fungus also have to deal with two groups at once?
No, that was different. The Rampart-Creeping Fungus was a collective of fungal monsters, capable of controlling at least three fronts simultaneously. Dividing the attack actually worked to its advantage!
Loulan's involvement changed all that. Andu believed he had the ability to hold off every fungus-corpse monster on his own! Otherwise, they wouldn't be seeing him resting here so leisurely. They would be looking at a corpse.
Their cooperation meant the difficulty of defeating the boss had plummeted exponentially. In the face of absolute strength, no obstacle was worth mentioning.
"All right. Let's finish this quickly."
Loulan stood and casually stretched his limbs, then advanced with his nodachi, intending to serve as the vanguard and tie down the fungus-corpse monsters.
Seeing Loulan rise, everyone in Andu's party assumed a battle stance and followed closely behind him.
One heavily armored dwarven shield warrior, two lightly armored human warriors, one rogue, one cleric priest, one assassin, and two mages. That was his entire party.
It was a standard composition, and a powerful one!
"Roar... Roar... Roar..."
Inside the secret room, a dozen or so fungus-corpse monster girls roared in unison when Loulan appeared once more.
The sounds didn't come from vocal organs. They were produced by the compression and vibration of the unknown fungal masses packed inside them, spreading together as if their entire bodies were crying out!
"Gulp~"
Behind him, the two young mages swallowed at the sight of such a scene for the first time, and their bodies began to tremble slightly.
Loulan had the Beautification Filter. They didn't.
All they saw were skeletal monsters covered in fungal masses and mushrooms, their bodies quivering as distinct chunks of "flesh" writhed and squeezed against each other while dense clouds of fungal powder shook loose.
The sight sent their sanity plunging through the floor!
It was far more horrifying than anything they had encountered while training in ordinary dungeons.
The contempt they had felt after only recently entering a Darkest Dungeon vanished with it.
So the blood and undead considered terrifying even in ordinary dungeons were nothing more than appetizers here. The lightless environment was merely background decoration.
The truly horrifying things were these disgusting monstrosities far beyond what the human body could endure!
"Blergh~"
It was too much to bear.
As Loulan charged forward and swung his nodachi again and again to cut down the fungus-corpse monsters lunging at him, the twisted living wall behind them also sprang into action. Hundreds or thousands of tentacles flew out to gather the shattered corpses and bones, finally repairing them into new monsters that attacked once more.
Vina covered her mouth, trying to swallow the filth she had already vomited into it.
Her physical revulsion soon overwhelmed her will. Filth dripped through the gaps between her fingers, dealing a double blow to her mobility and mental state!
Simply put, she couldn't even cast magic in her current condition. She was utterly useless!
"Miss Lilia, please strengthen us and support Loulan from the rear. I'll leave Miss Vina in your care."
She was their employer, after all. After offering a few words of comfort, Andu raised his weapon and led his teammates around the side wall of the secret room. Their target was the boss's main body!
Behind them, Lilia nodded, then raised her spellbook and began chanting.
"Luowa Kakulu! (Strength, grant might)"
"Luowa Kakuhu! (Grant speed)"
The two spells took effect. Pale purple arcane mana radiated from Lilia, gathered together, transformed into empowering energy, and streamed into the bodies of the six adventurers like streaks of light.
It wasn't that Lilia didn't want to strengthen Loulan, their main combatant. It was simply that when the difference was too great... enhancement spells of this level had no effect.
She wasn't a mountain or living-wood mage from the Elemental School, capable of casting physical enhancements such as Wooden Armor or Stone Skin.
Most arcane enhancements acted directly upon the human body.
"Mowu Humocha (Mana, Arcane Missiles)"
The pages of her spellbook turned on their own. When she finished another chant, the mana around Lilia gathered into six equally sized spheres that orbited her body.
At a single thought from her, they could shoot forth like flying bullets.
At the same time, she kept her eyes fixed on the area around Loulan. If any attack came faster than he could react, she would support him immediately.
Up ahead, Loulan, who was fighting more than a dozen undead fungus-corpses at once, suddenly advanced several steps.
The horde that had once overwhelmed him so completely that he couldn't move had begun to weaken, its numbers slowly dwindling.
Although enough food had restored Loulan to his physical peak and allowed him to move closer to the Rampart-Creeping Fungus's main body than before, he became unable to advance again once he reached a certain distance.
Those undying fungus-corpses would never allow him even one step closer!
Unless...
"Taste the strength of a dwarf, monster! Forgefire Smash!"
"BOOM!"
Andu's party had already reached the Rampart-Creeping Fungus's main body nearby. Andu himself led the charge, swinging his iron hammer and dealing it a vicious blow.
The dwarf's strength intertwined with the warrior's battle aura. The tremendous force they added to his iron hammer smashed the fungal stalks, which were tougher than rope, into pulp and even blasted a large crater in the wall they infested. The impact sent out vibrations that even Loulan could feel.
But that might have been the dwarf's trump card. Unable to sustain that burst, Andu raised his shield and began clearing the tentacle-like fungal stalks to open a path for the two human warriors on either side.
Meanwhile, the rogue and assassin began searching for the fungal brains while clearing out the fungus-corpse monsters dispatched to stop them.