Chapter 4206  Dangerous Knowledge (Part 1)

Ygri didn't react to Kalla's insults, but his mist-like form became more translucent as she continued her analysis.

Solus and Nyka had no idea what it meant, but Loma knew that a Horde's body thinning like that was an involuntary reaction to shame, the human equivalent of turning pale.

"Is everything lost?" Loma asked.

"No. If we are lucky, the fungus folk has used a spell powerful enough to leave a mark despite Ygri's efforts to erase it." The Wight replied.

"What if we are unlucky?" The orange Horde said.

"Then you have wasted my time by bringing me here." Kalla snorted. "We might as well take a random direction and hope to pick up the fungus folk's energy signature.

"The only silver lining in this mess is that your friend had the good sense to Warp us away from the scene of the fight. The last thing I need is to add dimensional energy to the many layers I have to untangle."

"You said that the enemy attacked the fungus folk and failed to capture them. How can you be so sure?" Solus synced her Master Eyes with the Apprentice's, sharing one Monocle with Nyka to lessen the burden on her own mind.

"Because I assume that if they captured our youngest, the enemy would have taken their time to erase their traces." Ygri replied. "Also, consider this. If I'm right, the fungus folk are free, and we can still save them.

"If I'm wrong, they got captured, but we can find the fungus folk by following the energy signatures left by their kidnappers. Either way, there's still hope."

"Only if those people are still in Verendi." Kalla pointed out. "Your spell is a few hours old, but the fight happened even earlier. If whoever is after the fungus folk has already returned to Jiera or Zima, there's nothing I can do."

"I'm confident that our youngest is still on the run." Ygri's silver mist became dense enough to obscure vision. "Even in our non-Awakened form, we are not an easy opponent. On top of that, our kin chose the perfect stage for a fight.

"Fungus folk are masters of earth and water magic, and here they had both."

"Yeah, too bad that two elemental-blocking arrays are enough to cripple even a genius magical beast." Kalla filtered out the silver Horde's energy signature, and she didn't like what she found one bit. "It's what happened here.

"Your friend isn't Awakened, so no Spirit Magic. Even if they managed to escape the arrays, you can't use dimensional magic with just two elements."

"Their pursuers came that prepared?" Loma's mist scattered wide in surprise. "That's weird, I'm the latest born Horde, and aside from Lith's group, I fought no one as a fungus folk. Our base affinities are supposed to be a secret."

"Maybe your enemy came with all possible elemental-sealing arrays ready." Solus shrugged.

"It's possible." Kalla nodded. "There were plenty of people here. Keeping six arrays at the ready wouldn't have been much trouble."

"How many, exactly?" Ygri asked.

"At least four." The Wight removed the elemental traces one at a time until she isolated the small sparks of pure mana left by the tier five spells. "But my guess is that the attackers knew what they were dealing with. We're up against Divine Beasts.

"They might be old enough to have records about what a fungus folk can do, or at least know someone who does."

"What kind of Divine Beasts?" Solus had the Fury appear in her hand as she looked around warily.

"They don't belong to any species recorded in the Eyes' database." Kalla shook her head. "They are not Upyrs either. I'm afraid they got your friend and are long gone."

"Impossible!" Ygri snarled. "Please, Lady Kalla, take another look. I'm certain our youngest got away."

The Wight gave her all, and Solus helped her to the best of her abilities, but the elemental sealing arrays had prevented the fungus folk from casting many spells.

On top of that, the Isharas' energy signatures and Ygri's meddling had drowned out every trace of the fungus folk's aura.

"I'm sorry. I got nothing." Kalla said. "I can bring you to the Divine Beasts, though. They are in that direction."

"They are still here?" Ygri's silvery mist lit up with mana and joy as they followed Kalla's claw that pointed east.

"Yes, there are… five of them, weird number, and they are all very powerful." Kalla replied. "All bright violet cores, huddled up in a deep cave about 304 kilometers (189 miles) from here.

"The good news is that I can't pick up any energy signature that even resembles yours coming from that direction."

"Then I was right. The fungus folk did escape!" The silvery Horde was so happy that, unlike Loma, he paid no heed to Eyes' extraordinary range.

"Look, pal, you are making no sense." The Wight tilted her head. "You should be angry and call up all your friends to team up and rescue the fungus folk. What are you hiding?"

Loma and Ygri exchanged a glance before fusing their mist bodies to have a private conversation.

"Lady Solus, is Lady Kalla truly trustworthy?" Loma asked once the two Hordes split back into two different beings.

"I'd trust her with my life and secrets as much as Lith would trust me with his own." Solus nodded.

"Then I hope you'll understand that what I'm about to say must remain between us." Loma said. "If the survival tactics of a fungus folk became known to the public, our species would have no chance of survival.

"The few of us that manage to gain sentience would be captured long before we can locate them and never grow old enough to become Hordes."

"You have our word." Nyka replied. "We'll keep your secrets, but my mother will probably just forget about them."

"She's telling the truth." Kalla said when everyone turned to look at her. "Unless it's something that can help me achieve Lichhood, I just don't care enough to remember."

"Perfect." Ygri nodded. "I am confident that our kin evaded capture because there is an important detail I left out. When I said that the fungus folk chose the perfect spot for a fight, I wasn't referring just to the soil and water.

"With no woods or natural formations for kilometers, this is a windy valley." He said as if it explained everything, yet it did not.

"So what?" Kalla shrugged. "The fungus folk can't use air magic, and even if they did, another sealing array would neutralize that as well."

"Which is all the more reason the trick would be more effective!" Solus' eyes went wide in understanding. "The spores, Kalla. Both fungus folk and Hordes are comprised of countless small spores that can be carried away by the wind."

"I see." Kalla nodded. "So, the fungus folk staged a fight to the death with a spore dummy while their real body was fleeing away undetected."

"Yes and no." Ygri replied. "You got everything right except for one detail. There is no dummy and real body. Every single spore is our real body. We can just decide which to cut off and which to replicate at any moment."

"What if the combat body was trapped in a Spirit Barrier?" Kalla asked as she highlighted the lingering traces left by the emerald prison conjured by the Isharas.