Everything was roughly ready, except that Edin and Inanna were absent.

When the red dragon’s tracks first appeared, they were still at the Duke’s Mansion and were now rushing towards Puki’s Dungeon under the starry night. According to the speed calculations of the red dragon, they were expected to arrive about half a day later.

It’s not a big deal, even if we can’t win, it shouldn’t be that the Fungus Castle I’ve spent so much to repair can’t hold out for even half a day, right?

Lin Jun shared the image of the red dragon with all core members through the Fungal Network. Even the retired Old Dylan was sitting in Puki’s House, watching the live broadcast.

"This is... well, a distant relative of Xiao Hai."

"It’s a bit blurry..."

In the image, only a vague dragon figure could be seen flying by in the sky.

Lin Jun had no good solution for this; after all, the Fungal Mat was based on the surface to scout the surroundings.

The dragon flew so high, Lin Jun had already done his best to zoom in on the image.

But this was enough; Lin Jun just wanted to better acclimate everyone in advance.

Then, he found Sword Saint Puki, who was eager to try.

He looked like he was planning to use this dragon to test his current strength.

"Fourteen, didn’t you slay a dragon before? Are you confident this time?"

The Sword Saint didn’t brag about his achievements: "The one Alama and I killed back then wasn’t in good condition, and in terms of size, it was probably a circle smaller than the one flying now."

Lin Jun asked, mainly because he himself wasn’t confident.

Dragon.

This was a creature standing at the pinnacle, a synonym for legend.

Although it was only Level 76 on the panel, with those super attributes, coupled with the terrifying impression from last time, Lin Jun deduced that this might be a tough battle.

Lin Jun even thought of a backup plan.

In the worst-case scenario, if even Inanna, with the power of both the Fire and Ice Elemental Lords, could not suppress this red dragon in a righteous siege with the entire defensive strength of the Fungus Castle,

then Lin Jun would go to the elves and find Eco, using the favor of saving his life to seek help for the Fungus Castle.

But doing so had many hidden dangers and could expose information and destroy the persona. It wasn’t the best option unless it was absolutely necessary.

...

The air in Fungus Castle was tense before the battle.

From the constant shifts in the soldiers’ grips on their weapons, it was evident.

Some spoke of the legendary might of the giant dragon, some tried to belittle it to boost morale, while others had full confidence in the defenses of the Fungus Castle.

These fragmented exchanges never ceased within the Fungal Network.

And then, it arrived.

A black dot appeared on the horizon visible to the naked eye, then rapidly enlarged.

At first, there was just a silhouette, but soon, those massive wings that blocked out the sky became clear.

With a dragon’s roar, the gigantic body of the red dragon appeared before everyone’s eyes, and at the same time, an invisible yet immensely heavy pressure descended upon everyone.

Dragon Mighty!

This wasn’t just psychological; it was a real debilitation.

[Dragon Mighty (Total Attributes Decreased by 35%)]

Lin Jun recalled that when he first met Xiao Hai, the Dragon Mighty reduced attributes by 50%. Was it because this dragon’s Dragon Mighty was only Level 7?

The enemy was slightly weaker than expected, which allowed Lin Jun to breathe a little easier.

But for those Fungus Castle soldiers facing Dragon Mighty for the first time, it was a completely different feeling.

Teeth began to chatter uncontrollably, knees went weak, as if their body was supported not by bones but by melting ice.

They wanted to grip their weapons tightly, but their fingers were stiff and unresponsive.

Some soldiers with slightly weaker wills couldn’t suppress the whimpering sounds in their throats, and in some places, the air even carried a pungent scent of urine. Someone had wet their pants.

The red dragon came closer and closer, close enough to see the thick dragon scales on its body, close enough to see the ferocious horns on its dragon head, close enough to see the small defending army reflected in its golden vertical pupils.

"No... I can’t... I’ll die... I’ll definitely die..." A lizardman soldier standing at the front of the bed crossbow line collapsed under the dual pressure of body and mind.

"Ah—!" He let out a shrill scream, threw down his weapon, pushed away the soldiers next to him, and turned to run madly towards the stairs of the city wall, tears streaming down, "Get out of the way! Let me go down! I’m not fighting! I want to get into a hole too!"

Panic, like a virus, was about to spread with this first to break down.

However,

just as he turned and ran less than five paces, not even reaching the city wall staircase, his body suddenly went into intense convulsions, and numerous lumps swelled up under his skin!

"Uh... aaaaaa——!"

A scream ten times more tragic than the previous cry for help burst out. Mushrooms erupted from his eyes, shoulders, back, hands...

The mycelium multiplied visibly and took over his nerves.

The screams didn’t last long; they abruptly ended.

In just two or three breaths, the cowardly lizard disappeared.

Replaced by a brave and fearless warrior unafraid of death.

Its movements were somewhat stiff, yet it bent over without hesitation, picked up the discarded weapon from the ground, walked back to its original post, and stood firm.

No one else tried to run, but the soldiers around it seemed to tremble even more.

And at the same time as this deserter returned to the formation, Little Pig’s thoughts fiercely crashed into the consciousness of every soldier:

"Listen up, all of you!"

"Fungus Castle offers you quadruple Contribution Points, gives you priority in housing allocation, lets you live ten times better than those hiding in the caves, not for you to wet your pants and be deserters at the mere shadow of the enemy!"

"Look around you, look under your feet; this is Fungus Castle, a solid fortress! Not your mother’s arms!"

"It’s just a big flying lizard, grip your weapons! Tonight, the whole army will feast on dragon meat stew with mushrooms!"

If scrutinized, Little Pig’s transmitted thoughts contained a slight tremor forcibly suppressed, but it was covered by high fighting spirits, and no one except the Fungal Network’s master, Lin Jun, noticed it.

Unlike direct verbal communication, emotional transmission within the Fungal Network was more apparent.

"For... for the dragon meat stew with mushrooms! Fight! Fight! Fight!"

Inspired by Little Pig’s stirring battle spirit, the soldiers, despite objectively still being under the negative state of attribute reduction, regained the courage to wield their weapons.

...

Red Dragon Tailgar didn’t care if the ants beneath were fighting or fleeing.

Its golden vertical pupils locked onto the tallest tower in the center of the Fungus Castle city, the sense from the dragon path’s competition telling it that the contender was hiding there!

"Coward!" The dragon language, filled with contempt and rage, rolled out from deep in its throat, "Hiding in the lairs of these insects! Then be reduced to ashes with these miserable creatures!"

No one in Fungus Castle understood the dragon language.

But the next moment, a terrifying flame capable of melting gold and stone spewed from the red dragon’s wide-open maw, aimed straight at the center of Fungus Castle!

The city’s defense magic array had long since been activated, and everyone’s heartbeats uncontrollably accelerated.

Faced with the Flaming Dragon Breath, the area several hundred meters in diameter above Fungus Castle, using the magic array patterns spread throughout it as a base and several magic towers as nodes, revealed layer upon layer of defensive shields.

It wasn’t a single array, but multiple defense barriers of different attributes and functions unfolding simultaneously.

The outermost layer was a light blue magic deviation shield, which violently fluctuated the instant it contacted the dragon breath, scattering some energy across the sky; the second layer was a semi-transparent force field buffer zone, further delaying and decomposing impacts; the third layer...

The high tower remained intact, the layers upon layers of defense arrays, though dimmed considerably in brightness, still intact in structure, showed no signs of imminent collapse, rapidly recharging under the underground magic power network in Fungus Castle.

The soldiers on the city wall forgot to breathe, their mouths agape, dumbstruck at the indomitable tower and the magic halos still swirling above its top.

Even Red Dragon Tailgar was visibly taken aback.

But soon, it launched an even more ferocious attack!