Chapter 450: The Fungal Queen’s Pursuit

Gracia spoke with her head turned, but no one thought she was speaking to them. Even if she had been, they would have done anything to avoid it.

But the massive piles of Plant People and Spore People corpses reacted. Driven by a violet-green light, they were dismembered, crushed, and reshaped. The rotting structures, which should have decayed centuries ago, were gradually sculpted into a humanoid female form by an unknown power. Though incomplete, it was driven by an impatient urgency and had already begun to stride toward them!

Victoria clutched the Holy Emblem to her chest, praying to Heim for a sliver of warmth. She did receive a response; a gentle Twilight Barrier enveloped her. As the body formed from plant corpses passed by, it didn’t spare her a single glance.

But Victoria was trembling all over. That aura... it was clearly from the Abyss!

The Abyss, fungus... The only beings Gracia would address in such a tone were those of equal status. The creature’s identity was now obvious—

The Fungal Queen, the Lady of Rot, Zugmoi!

By the time this entity, formed entirely of fungus, walked up to the imprisoned black mist, her form was complete. Her slender frame was identical to the descriptions in ancient grimoires. Lichen wrapped her in layers of skin and flesh, while mycelial folds formed her elegant overcoat.

In terms of appearance alone, she was even more beautiful than Gracia—enough to topple kingdoms. But upon closer inspection, it was obvious that while the body was magnificent and exquisitely detailed, it was empty inside, making it seem like a puppet or a walking corpse.

Compared to Gracia, while neither of them were human—or even mortal—Gracia’s vessel clearly had more of a ’human touch.’ When Ron looked at Zugmoi, however, all he felt was the uncanny valley effect.

She herself was not humanoid. Although she could sculpt her humanoid body as she pleased, her every move betrayed an inhuman air. This wasn’t to say the Fungal Queen was too dull to understand or imitate humanoids; she simply had no need to.

After all, her followers almost all unwittingly converted after being infected by fungus to some degree; she rarely spread her Mind-Control Spores proactively. Moreover, this Demon Empress spent the vast majority of her eternal life’s Energy locked in a struggle of mutual destruction and consumption with her neighbor—the Faceless Lord, the Mud-shaped Hungry Beast Jupilex. For her avatar to descend upon the Material Plane was truly unexpected.

’And from what Gracia said, it seems she was the one who sought out the Desire Demon Queen. A Demon Lord asking a Purgatory Duke for help?’

Ron kept his head down, only daring to watch these powerful beings out of the corner of his eye while he schemed inwardly.

’Zugmoi went to all this trouble to find the Banker of Delusional Land. It obviously wasn’t because she was bored and wanted to chat. Either she’s been lonely for too long and is looking for a partner, or she’s here for revenge.’

’Given the current situation, the latter was clearly more likely.’

"Zugmoi?!" Upon seeing her revealed form, a trace of panic was evident in the voice of the being within the black mist. "You... no, My Lady, what brings you—"

"Silence, Cadrianum Er Aijun! You despicable lizard! You venomous reptile!" the Fungal Queen’s words were as shocking as they were thunderous. "You stole my followers and hid at the edge of the Multiverse! Did you think I would never find you?!"

"For thousands of years, I have been hunting for your trail, and today, my wish is finally granted! I will make you pay back everything, with interest!"

"My Lady, you must be mistaken!" a shriek came from behind the black mist. "I never stole your followers! It was a consensual transaction between us! We have a contract to prove it!"

Unexpectedly, Zugmoi’s avatar had no intention of saying anything more to him. In an instant, she locked onto the coordinates on the other side of the black mist, and her entire vessel vanished. She intended to take the fight straight to his door!

Clearly, she couldn’t care less about any contract. She just wanted to unleash all the negative emotions she had accumulated over the ages upon him!

"Trying to reason about a contract with a Demon Lord... talk about a mistake." As a scream echoed from the other side of the black mist, the chains Gracia had summoned shattered link by link. The Purgatory Duke paid it no mind, merely clapping her hands and muttering as she turned around.

Immediately after, her gaze fell upon Ron and the others. The Twilight Barrier around Victoria dissolved into nothingness at the same moment. "Alright, I’ve taken care of her business. Now, we can talk about yours."

"I was originally going to have Yelena pass a message to you, but since I’m already here..."

"This was all your arrangement?" Ron looked up at the Devil Duke. For them, this journey was supposed to be about finding someone, but not only had they run their legs off, they had almost lost their lives. He had to demand an explanation!

"Part of it," Gracia didn’t deny. Her eyes swept over the sculpture on Jilannis’s shoulder, which had a face identical to the Moon Elf herself. "I couldn’t devote my full attention here. This part was unexpected."

"Anyway, the time is right. That fellow is busy dealing with Zugmoi, so he probably doesn’t have the Energy to snoop on what’s happening here. It won’t hurt to say a bit more," Gracia leaned back, and a soft chair immediately materialized behind her. "The Lady of Rot asked me to find the ’Banker’ many years ago. That was one of my initial motivations for joining this game. It’s just that he’s far too cunning. I could never get a handle on him, let alone hold him down long enough for Zugmoi to arrive."

"But that was only a few minutes ago," Jilannis said.

"For beings like us, a hundred centuries is not long, and a single second is not short," Gracia smiled, offering a simple explanation for the Grand Mage’s question. "Under normal circumstances, I would never have been able to hold out until Zugmoi arrived. And if she didn’t come, I would have essentially violated our contract and would have had to pay the price. Among the Dukes, I’m the one who specializes in that sort of thing. How could I accept such a disgraceful outcome? So, for me, I had only one chance to achieve a perfect result."

"Centuries ago, the Farama Kingdom had a similar opportunity, but he wasn’t as desperate back then. If I had acted rashly, I likely would have failed. That’s why I chose you, this time. His patience has been worn thin, and you are the closest thing to the ’food’ he desires. I lured you here, certain he would appear to explain the situation and force you down the path of ruin he chose for you."

The Desire Demon Queen snapped her fingers, and a glass of red wine appeared in her hand. "If you had simply obeyed him, that would have been that. If not, he would certainly have had his puppets try to take your place. And if you defeated his puppets... he would definitely have acted personally. And you have quite a decent Caster here."

Jilannis, despite receiving Gracia’s praise, showed no sign of pride. To her, it was only natural. She had just one question in her mind, one that was also among Ron’s many doubts:

"Your Highness, your entire plan is built on ’what ifs.’ So, ’what if’ we had followed his advice?"

’Losing was never a possibility. Never mind that I still had Magic; even if I didn’t, the power of the Magic Items on my person was far beyond what those two creatures could handle.’

’Besides, Ron had handled them himself, without even needing me as a backup.’

"That’s impossible," Gracia said, looking at Ron and licking her lips with her crimson tongue. "We’ve talked about this before, haven’t we, Ron?"

"You even rejected my invitation. So how could you possibly agree to side with a Dragon Lich who’s already being targeted by so many powerful beings?"