Chapter 4209  Crossing Paths (Part 2)

"It didn't take long for the other races to catch up to us, and that's when we decided to ask Lith for help."

"Why did you leave Ygri alone?" Solus asked. "I know there are only a few of you, but each Horde is a force to be reckoned with. With all seven of you in Verendi, the search would have progressed much faster."

"Because we had just rumors, Solus." Ygri replied. "Countless sightings of weird creatures are reported every year, and none of them ever turned out to be a fungus folk. Until now.

"Also, consider that covering such long distances without alerting the Awakened Councils of our movements takes time. Moreover, if we all assemble on one continent, there is no one looking after the other six, and we might miss a real fungus folk while chasing a hoax."

"Remain here, please, and alert us if anyone approaches." Loma said as the final Warp Steps led the group a few hundreds of meters away from a meadow surrounding a small river.

The Awakened noticed several burrows of small animals hidden among the vegetation, yet no living creature was in sight. Even the insects were silent, a clear indicator that a powerful predator had recently upset the local balance.

"Smart." Loma stared at the area. "There is no coverage, so the fungus folk can see anyone approaching from a long distance. The wind, water, and burrows give them plenty of escape routes while algae and grass are the perfect nutrients to recover their strength in the middle of a battle."

"What about the animals?" Solus asked.

"Animals tend to run away when powerful creatures clash." Ygri replied. "Plants can't do that. It's one of the reasons Fae don't like Hordes. Besides the obvious, of course. We're going in."

The silver and orange Horde spread their mist bodies wide until they became so thin that Solus couldn't see them without mana sense. At the same time, the spores started to resonate, producing a low hum that somehow spoke to her of peace and brotherhood.

A third, thicker brown mist timidly rose from the algae-covered rocks in the middle of the rushing water. Just a few puffs of living smoke at first, but more emerged from under the grass and then out of the burrows as the excitement of not being alone anymore overwhelmed the fungus folk.

Ever since the young creature had gained sentience, they had lived in fear of being the only one of their kind. The fungus folk had approached animals, insects, and plants at first, moving on to the scary human settlement only because no one ever answered them.

The fear the fungus folk had seen in the eyes of humans, magical beasts, and plant folk mirrored his own, adding the pain of believing themselves a monster to that of isolation.

The attack from the colossal scorpions had only reinforced the fungus folk's worst fears.

The creature believed to deserve such treatment, and had almost let themselves be captured just to put an end to their misery. Luckily for the fungus folk, their survival instinct had kicked in, taking the Isharas by surprise.

Finally meeting someone who could not only understand the fungus folk but also protect them and explain the mysteries of the world to them was a dream come true.

The creature lowered their guard, collecting all the spores they had scattered throughout the grassland, and lost themselves in the joy of the union with the Hordes.

"Incoming!" Solus and Kalla yelled almost at the same time. "The unknown Divine Beasts are approaching. Hide yourselves."

"Hide how?" Ygri replied as they put their communication amulet away. "We Hordes can't wear cloaking items, and even if we could, it's not us they are looking for. The Divine Beasts must have the means to track our youngest as well!"

"Then running away is pointless." Kalla replied. "Unless the Divine Beasts agree to back down, a fight is inevitable."

Solus and Kalla had started preparing their spells the moment their respective Eyes had perceived the threat, while everyone else began as soon as the first warning resounded.

The unknown Divine Beasts moved fast, too fast for the encounter to be out of bad luck. The Isharas reached the group a few seconds after entering the Eyes' detection range.

"There it is. The little bastard is smarter than he looks. If I hadn't brought along everything I needed for an emergency Forgmastering, we would have lost the fungus folk's tracks for good ." Imosi, the Ishara Elder, held what looked like a compass in a black, chitinous hand.

Yet instead of a magnetized piece of metal, a thin brown dust filled the crystal case. Solus would have mistaken it for dirt, if not for the dust gaining the fungus folk's energy signature whenever a jolt of silver lightning coursed through the artifact.

'That thing contains several powerful Healing spells.' The data Solus received from the Eyes allowed her to understand how the artifact worked. 'The Divine Beasts must have collected a few dead spores and stored them in the device.

'The Healing magic keeps the spores from rotting, and the Life Maelstrom shocks them back to life long enough to point at the main body. As long as the Divine Beasts have that thing, Warping away will buy us seconds at best.'

"It seems we have company." Utho said, snapping his pincers as jolts of silver lightning crackled between them. "What are your orders, Elder?"

"Stand down." Imosi said, and the other seven Ishara moved back. "There is no reason to taint this auspicious day with violence. The Great Mother is clearly blessing us. We won't bloody her gifts unless we have no other choice."

The fall from grace of the Mother of All Isharas and the misfortunes that had befallen her offspring had led them to consider Mogar as a god and do everything they could to please the planet.

"I am Imosi of the Ishara clan from the Rathi continent. Who is your leader?" The Divine Beast moved forward alone with a peaceful expression on his arachnid features.

The Ishara's upper body was that of a humanoid covered in a black chitinous exoskeleton. He had two sets of arms, one as thick as a tree and ending with razor-sharp pincers, and the other smaller and more delicate, ending with three-fingered hands.

The lower body was that of a four-legged scorpion covered in scales that made it resemble an armored tank. The creature's face had a mouth, eight eyes, and no nose, hair, or ears.

Solus noticed that the other Isharas had different numbers of eyes that went from six to twelve, but she couldn't feel the power of the elements coming from any of them.

'They don't seem to have anything in common with humans or Hydras.' She thought. 'Their equipment is damn good, though.'

Imosi looked unarmed, but he was far from it. His armor was hidden below the plates of his exoskeleton, so that his own aura shrouded the artifact. What Solus supposed was his weapon, and something else rested below his scorpion abdomen.

The other Isharas followed a similar approach, so that while the enemy focused on their raised stingers, they wouldn't notice they were already in the sight of the Divine Beasts' hidden weapons.