In the Fungus King's Territory, the air was filled with a nauseatingly sweet and putrid smell of humus.
Massive amounts of fungi grew densely on trees, on the ground, everywhere.
However, this dead silent land, ruled by fungi for decades, was today forcibly torn apart by a completely different power.
A figure walked through it leisurely, as if strolling in his own garden.
The Legendary Sword Saint, "unfinished sword", Kaelos.
He hadn't even drawn his sword, merely letting it hover a few feet above the ground, and walked unhurriedly, as if taking a stroll, towards the areas where the fungoid carpet grew thicker and its color became more bizarre.
And around him, an invisible yet tangible domain lingered.
— Myriad Flower Sword Domain.
This was the name he had given his domain, embodying the meaning of sword light flowing and changing, as dazzling and deadly as a kaleidoscope.
Walking at the very front, the Sword Saint's body was covered by countless attacks.
There were many types: spore clouds with strong corrosiveness, madly spewed by fungal monsters; sharp, spear-like active mycelia that suddenly pierced out from underground; colorless, odorless, yet deadly neurotoxins permeating the air...
But.
All these attacks, before touching the Sword Saint's body, were completely isolated as if they had hit an invisible barrier.
All attacks seemed futile, only serving to highlight the domain's invincibility.
At the same time, centered on the Sword Saint Kaelos, without any visible drawing or slashing movements from him, the surrounding fungal monsters that rushed forward instantly shattered into pieces, as if simultaneously cut by countless invisible sharp blades, turning into dust scattered across the sky.
The thick fungoid carpet beneath his feet was also plowed open layer by layer by invisible yet sharp sword energy, revealing the soil that had been hidden for a long time below.
And as the fungoid carpet shattered, countless fungal spores, imperceptible to the naked eye and as fine as dust, drifted towards the Sword Saint, attempting to attach and parasitize. However, like those attacks, they were also blocked by the domain, completely unable to touch even a single thread of the Sword Saint's robes or skin.
Even though the surroundings were already a mess, with fungal corpses strewn everywhere and the earth shattered.
Yet, this human Legendary powerhouse himself remained spotless, his robes clean, his posture calm and elegant, completely unlike the filth and chaos around him.
"Keep up, clean it thoroughly, don't leave any hidden dangers!"
Kaelos's voice reached the human army behind him.
Upon receiving the order, the human army immediately advanced rapidly along the safe passage opened up by the Legendary Sword Saint.
Heavily armored soldiers wielded their blades, cutting down some subsequent fungal monsters that lunged; alchemical golems with scorching vents took heavy steps, firing searing flames, igniting patches of still-wriggling fungoid carpet, turning them into a raging sea of fire.
The pungent smell of char mixed with a strange fungal aroma, forming an even more unpleasant toxic gas.
Low-level warriors felt dizzy and disoriented upon inhaling it.
Fortunately, this toxic gas was quickly dispelled by the magic constructed by the accompanying mages.
Warfare involving Legendary powerhouses is completely different from ordinary combat modes.
If lacking equivalent-level Legendary armaments or strategic-grade magical devices, the role that ordinary legions can play is often more auxiliary in nature; they cannot directly participate in Legendary-level duels. Their main tasks are to more or less deplete some of the enemy's basic forces, or to handle tedious cleanup, occupation, and stabilization work.
Just like now.
The purpose of Kaelos's army was to clear the fungoid carpet and any stragglers, as well as to immediately clean up and take over the area after the battle ended.
Kaelos's gaze swept towards the depths of the territory, then suddenly stopped.
Although the attacks from the fungal monsters posed no threat to him, they were indeed wasting his precious time.
Besides this elusive Fungus King, there was also a so-called King of Molten Iron on his list that he needed to deal with.
The Mountain King, who had caused less destruction to the kingdom's base and appeared more stable, was no exception and was also on the Kingdom of Theos's purge list.
The kingdom would never give a monster a pass just because it behaved docilely.
Kaelos did not want to spend too much time in this disgusting fungal land.
After a brief moment of contemplation, he decided to use more forceful means to force out the Fungus King who consistently refused to show himself.
The Legendary Sword Saint reached out and pressed his hand on the hilt of his sword.
Instantly, an even more piercing and majestic power surged from within him.
His Myriad Flower Sword Domain, surrounding him, suddenly glowed intensely, transforming from its original formless and intangible state to becoming visible to the naked eye.
It was a domain composed of countless tiny, brilliant, constantly appearing and disappearing miniature sword lights, beautiful and magnificent yet brimming with killing intent.
"Hiding your head and showing your tail, just wasting time."
Kaelos murmured to himself.
The next moment, his beloved sword, a magical weapon named Sun Chaser, hanging at his waist, emitted a clear, resonant hum on its own. The blade trembled slightly, and the sword itself unsheathed three inches.
Legendary equipment is rare and expensive; even Kaelos, who had only recently advanced to Legendary, did not yet possess a truly Legendary-grade weapon.
However, his Sun Chaser sword was already the top-tier equipment below Legendary.
With the enhancement and amplification of his own Legendary domain, its power was not to be underestimated.
Just the three inches of exposed blade unleashed an indescribably sharp aura that shot straight into the sky.
Even the overcast clouds in the sky were cleaved and dispersed.
Dust-Cleansing Sword Rain!
With a clear hum, countless sword lights, as fine as dust and as brilliant as stars, instantly surged and boiled, attaching themselves to the unsheathed Sun Chaser blade like rivers flowing into the sea.
The light condensed on the blade was so dazzling it was impossible to look at directly.
Suddenly, countless sword qi, solidified as if tangible, as fine as ox hair yet incomparably sharp, burst forth from the blade.
They did not scatter randomly, but rather, as if possessing life, transformed into a torrential downpour sweeping in all directions, indiscriminately covering all fungoid carpets, fungal monsters, and even the twisted earth and forests within sight.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh—!!!
A dense sound, like rain hitting banana leaves yet sharp as ten thousand blades scraping, resounded.
Wherever the sword light passed, it was both beautiful and terrifying.
The originally thick, tough, and constantly wriggling fungoid carpet was instantly cut and pulverized as if thrown into a meat grinder, turning into dust flying everywhere.
The fungal monsters lurking in the fungoid carpet or hanging on dead trees didn't even have time to wail before they disintegrated under the onslaught of countless sword qi.
Whether it was hard fungal shells or pliable mycelia, they were as fragile as paper.
Further away, twisted groves of trees, infested by fungi, were also shorn into bare trunks by the sword rain, and then the trunks themselves became riddled with sword marks and collapsed with a crash.
A large area centered on Kaelos seemed to have been instantly purified.
All fungal creations, whether living monsters or static fungoid carpets and fungal forests, were swept clean, leaving only a pockmarked land crisscrossed with sword marks and fallen, shattered remnants of trees.
The nauseating smell in the air also seemed to have been greatly diluted and dispelled by the all-cleansing sharpness.
The human army advancing behind them involuntarily stopped, looking at this scene in shock.
Even though they already knew that Legendary powerhouses possessed unparalleled strength, every time they witnessed it firsthand, their hearts still couldn't remain calm, only filled with deep reverence.
Kaelos's wrist moved slightly.
The Sun Chaser sword let out a satisfied soft hum and slid back into its scabbard, as if what had just happened was merely a trivial matter he had handled with ease.
His robes remained as clean as new, unstained by dust.
The Sword Saint hovered in mid-air, his cold and sharp gaze sweeping across the instantly cleared area, as well as the deeper core region still covered by dense fungi.
"Still unwilling to show yourself?"
"Continue to cower, and I will, with each successive sword strike, completely erase your lair along with all your disgusting creations from this land. By then, you will lose all your barriers and reliance, and even the last shred of possibility for resistance will cease to exist."
He said calmly.
At the same time.
As if provoked by his arrogance and destruction, a dull roar, like a drumbeat, came from the depths of the swamp.
Immediately after, the fungoid carpet in front exploded, and a massive figure emerged.
It was nearly five meters tall, its body structure presenting a thick and clumsy appearance similar to a troll, but its skin was grayish-white like necrotic tissue, densely covered with strange fungi that constantly opened and closed, breathing out various spores.
Its head was like a deformed mushroom full of wrinkles, grooves, and deep holes, with a constantly opening and closing slit in the center, emitting a hoarse and inhuman roar.
Its limbs were thick, and its fingertips extended into tendrils like fungal roots, stirring up a foul-smelling gale as they waved.
The moment this'Spore Troll' appeared, all the surrounding fungal monsters seemed to be invigorated, becoming even more frenzied.
The remaining fungoid carpet lit up with streaks of light, flowing towards its root-like, foot-like double feet.
Its aura once again surged, reaching a very powerful level below Legendary, surpassing that of ordinary Level 20 creatures.
"Is this the so-called Fungus King? Truly ugly and nauseating."
A trace of undisguised disdain flashed in Kaelos's eyes.
Opposite him, the Spore Troll opened the slit in the center of its mushroom head, speaking in a twisted yet clear human language: "Humans...invade my territory...die!"
The Spore Troll took heavy steps, and the ground trembled.
It swung a fist covered in a thick fungal shell, enveloped in a dense cloud of spores potent enough to instantly corrode steel armor, and smashed it fiercely towards Kaelos.
Kaelos remained unmoving, not even adopting any defensive posture.
As the fist entered within three meters of his body, its speed abruptly decreased, and the violent spore cloud seemed to hit an invisible wall of flesh-grinding blades, instantly dissipating.
The Spore Troll's massive fist struck what felt like the hardest barrier in the world, unable to advance an inch.
Furthermore, at the point where the fist met the domain, countless fine, hair-thin cutting marks instantly appeared, with grayish-white fungal fluid seeping out.
"Is this all you've got? Truly disappointing."
Kaelos shook his head slightly, his tone carrying a sigh of indifference.
The moment his words fell.
Clang!
Another incomparably clear sword cry suddenly rang out, its sound overpowering all the clamor and roars.
The sword light flashed and vanished!
Fast! Extremely fast!
No one could see how he drew his sword, nor could anyone track the trajectory of the blade itself; it was as if only an extremely thin, extremely bright silver line, capable of splitting even light itself in two, flashed across the air and then disappeared.
The Spore Troll, which was raising its other fist, preparing to launch a second attack, suddenly froze its massive body.
Its movements abruptly ceased.
The next second, starting from the very center of its giant mushroom head, a straight and smooth silver line rapidly extended downwards, passing through its broad chest, thick waist, and abdomen, all the way to its crotch!
However, this was not the end.
There was no blood at the Spore Troll's incision; only wriggling mycelia frantically extended, merging back together in a blink of an eye.
It suddenly leaped up, its right arm, covered in mycelia, abruptly deformed and stretched, rotating rapidly to form an incredibly sharp fungal spear, which, with a piercing whoosh, fiercely stabbed towards Kaelos again.
The result was identical to before.
The Myriad Flower Sword Domain was indestructible; the fungal spear was shredded by invisible sword light the instant it touched the domain.
At the same time, Kaelos merely waved his hand casually.
Sword light once again swept across the Spore Troll's body.
This time, it was no longer a single silver line.
A silver line appeared on its body, then ten, a hundred... countless crisscrossing sword lights, as if erupting at the same instant, completely enveloped the Spore Troll's body.
The Spore Troll's enormous body suddenly shattered into pieces of varying sizes, scattering across the ground with a crash.
But it still did not die.
The scattered fragments wriggled frantically on the ground, and more mycelia surged out from them, seeking, connecting, and intertwining with each other as if alive. Simultaneously, the surrounding residual fungal mat, as if summoned, converged here like waves. The fragments absorbed the energy transmitted by the fungal mat, rapidly expanding.
In the blink of an eye.
Three Spore Trolls, each with equally powerful auras reaching level 20, stood up in its place.
They surrounded the Sword Saint in a triangular formation.
Their bodies deformed into various weapons.
Their attacks covered all angles.
The Sword Saint, at the center of the storm, merely curved his lips and let out a soft chuckle.
The Myriad Flower Sword Domain glowed and flowed, steadily blocking all the furious attacks coming from all directions, without even a ripple expanding.
"Let me see how many times you can split."
As his indifferent words fell, sword light, like a brush of death, once again sketched in the air.
The bodies of the three Spore Trolls, almost simultaneously, were once again covered in crisscrossing sword marks, and then, with an unwilling roar, they collapsed and shattered at the same time.
However, just an instant before their bodies were about to completely collapse and disintegrate.
The remaining consciousnesses of these three Spore Trolls seemed to reach a consensus; they simultaneously let out deafening roars and violently crashed into each other.
Their bodies, covered in sword marks and on the verge of shattering, fused in the collision.
Countless mycelia frantically intertwined, compressed, and underwent qualitative change.
An aura far more powerful than at any previous moment, almost reaching the peak below Legendary, erupted from the fusion.
"Die!!!"
The Spore Troll, its body once again swollen and grotesquely distorted after fusion, let out its final roar.
A pair of arms, now indistinguishable in form, merged together to become an enormous fungal blade, concentrating all of its current power, and fiercely cleaved downwards towards the Sword Saint Kaelos.
Clang—!!!
This time, it was not silent.
With a crisp and heavy impact sound, the Sword Saint's Myriad Flower Sword Domain finally rippled like water for the first time! Although the domain remained stable and was not breached, Kaelos's previously indifferent gaze instantly became serious and sharp, brimming with killing intent.
He took a step forward.
His Sun Chaser sword completed two crosses in front of him in an instant, drawing a perfect 'cross' shape.
At the same time, a 'cross' shaped sword mark appeared out of thin air on the Spore Troll's massive body.
Immediately after, its body, along that cross-shaped sword mark, neatly broke into four large pieces, collapsing with a crash.
At the fracture points, countless mycelia were still frantically growing, attempting to reconnect.
However, this time, a layer of condensed, un-dispersing destructive sword light lingered around them, firmly suppressing its regeneration.
Kaelos no longer gave his opponent any chance.
With a thought, the Myriad Flower Sword Domain suddenly expanded, completely enveloping all the Spore Troll's remnants.
At the same time, he shook his wrist, and the Sun Chaser sword swung out again.
In an instant, incomparably scorching flames rose from his domain, transforming into countless crimson sword lights that swept over all the Spore Troll's remnants. The Spore Troll's remnants were further cut and pulverized by the sword lights, and simultaneously ignited by the terrifying flames, emitting crackling sounds, rapidly turning into charcoal, and finally becoming a pile of ashes.
The Spore Troll, which had briefly battled the Legendary Sword Saint, was now truly dead.
And almost at the exact moment it completely turned to ashes.
All the wriggling fungal mats lost their vitality, their color turned dim, and they visibly shriveled at a rapid pace.
The remaining fungal monsters, whether they were pouncing on soldiers or emerging from the fungal mats, also stopped their movements simultaneously, then collapsed limply as if their souls had been extracted, turning into ordinary corpses and withered fungal bodies.
An officer stepped forward to inspect the Spore Troll Lord's remains and respectfully said to Kaelos: "Sir, all the monsters have lost their vitality! It seems this troll monster was the main body or core of the Fungus King! You have slain it!"
Kaelos nodded lightly, then sheathed his sword.
"It seems so."
"Clear the battlefield, collect all valuable samples, especially the remains of that troll, then send a message back to the Royal Capital, inform the Exotic Strategy Department that the Fungus King in the southern region of the Serre Wilderness has been purged."
His tone was calm, as if he had merely done a trivial thing.
The legion soldiers erupted in cheers and began to efficiently clean up the aftermath, burning the remaining fungal corpses, while Kaelos leisurely returned to the legion's camp.
He only killed, he didn't bury.
Tedious matters such as battlefield cleanup, sample collection, and subsequent defense arrangements were naturally handled by the legion under his command, requiring no effort from a Legendary powerhouse like him.
"Next, it's the Central, Northwest, and Northeast... the so-called King of Molten Iron, and that Mountain King."
Inside the main tent, Kaelos stood before a large military map of the Serre Wilderness, his finger slowly moving across the map, finally gently pointing to the Central Region.
"Then, the next target to be cleared will be this 'King of Molten Iron'."
His reason for this choice was simple.
The King of Molten Iron's territory was the closest to his current location, making it the most convenient to clear and saving the maximum amount of time.
The Fungus King was dealt with first for the same reason.
At the same time.
Not long after Kaelos left, in an extremely hidden, inconspicuous corner.
A dull gray mushroom, only the size of a fingernail, seemingly an ordinary mushroom found anywhere, silently poked its tiny head out of the scorched earth. It slightly wiggled its cap, as if confirming something, then quickly retracted back underground, disappearing without a trace, attracting no one's attention.
Clearly, the Spore Troll that died earlier was just a puppet.
The Fungus King decisively abandoned its territory, sacrificing a part of itself to escape.
On the other side.
In the northwestern Serre Wilderness, territory under the jurisdiction of the Phoenix Anqia.
Galos arrived here and received the uniquely named 'solely honored dragon emperor armor' from Golden Dragon Nasha's front claws.
He was ready.