Crummmp!

The explosion rocked the wall of mana, further shattering it in places as a mad rush of Mana Spores died emerging into the widened invasion zone that I and my subordinates had finally dug out. This was where I had been first ambushed, and I couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction for having returned. I stood patiently behind two dozen ghosts with Slith and Bas relaxing beside me, their postures belaying how bored they were. Truth be told, I was at the same point. Thousands of the annoying bastards had already died by this time, and it was obvious their numbers had dwindled as the swarms that had been attacking me lately had been pitiful. Even the gaps between the attacks had been getting longer and longer.

Once again, I sent in a couple of my ghosts to do recon and bait in any Mana Spores still hiding on the other side of the wall, but after all the searching, they found nothing nearby. Every hall and every room was empty, other than large amounts of mana stone deposits. Hesitating for a moment, I sent the rest of the ghosts through the wall to create a beachhead on the other side, and I called out to Bas and Slith. “Put a hole through that wall. We're going in.”

“Diee!”

“Eaaat!”

Almost like they had been prodded into action, they rushed the wall, tearing at it madly. While Bas literally bit into the wall like it was a hard candy, Slith used his tentacles to drill holes in the mana stone wall and scoop out chunks. The pure natural mana that was in the wall was something like coffee for them, making them hyper. That was also one of the reasons why I had left the metal eaters behind. The mana concentration was so high, that the low tier metal eaters had been just stumbling around, almost like they were drunk earlier. If they had stayed too long, they would most likely received Mana poisoning, leading to the breakdown of their flesh. My ghosts, being undead, were not affected as much, as they were mostly made of death tainted mana themselves.

This entire time, while I was literally knocking on their front door, no Mana Spore showed up. Even when the last layer finally crumbled down before me and I got a direct look at the corridor beyond, nothing showed up. My ghosts were already pushing further outwards, some entering the corridor heading towards the Soul Focus and Mana Pool, while others explored hallways leading towards the former fortress Breeding Pens and Slaughterhouse zone.

Maintaining an undead army had required more than just spells and mana. It had required a large number of souls, and while human souls had been decent material, gathering them had been inefficient. So Neduzar had bred large numbers of fast breeding magical creatures for their souls. The location of this zone being close to the Mana Pool and Soul Focus was no accident in design, as all the dead souls from the creatures had been absorbed by the Soul Focus for processing before they were used to create various undead creatures with the help of the Mana Pool. Thinking about the almost factory like setup that Neduzar had created, it almost reminded of me of modern day Earth slaughterhouses.

Trying not to dwell on that unpleasant thought, I made my way though the now shimmering corridors, heading for the Breeding Pens. My ghosts had sent back some confusing images, when they arrived there. Like most of the other zones of the fortress, another large area spread out below me as I existed the passageway. However, unlike the past areas, all that I found was a cavernous space dotted with stalactites and stalagmites and covered in dense layers of solidified mana. What had once been massive, open air animal pens were now nothing more solified mana, and in some places, I could barely make out shapes humanoid figures that had once been the golems maintaining this zone.

It was immediately obvious why the numbers of Mana Spores had been so crazy, as the concentration of mana around me was so high that it was like soaking in a warm bath. I also finally found my soon to be exterminated enemies, as my globes of light were not the only source of light in the cavern. Various shining spots were also moving around in the darkness. Thankfully, their numbers were pitiful compared to the thousands of Mana Spores that had once infested this area.

However, what really drew my attention were the five, large globes dully spilling a blue glow, as they rested in the center of the cavern. At first, it had not been clear what they were, as they had blended in with their surroundings. However, when I saw a low tier Mana Spore separate itself from one of the masses, it became obvious what I was looking at. Even from the distance I was viewing them, I could tell that each was at least half the size of the mid tier Slime that I had killed.

I went still. My ghosts, who had descended to the lower levels of the area, froze in their tracks. Bas and Slith, who had just exited the corridor behind me ran into one another.

“Dieee!”

“Eaaattt!”

Then, before I could stop them, they got into squabble. The noise from the short tussle echoed through the cavern, and almost immediately, in the distance, all five mid tier Mana Spores rose up from their roosts, glowing a deep blue. I turned around to look at my two idiotic subordinates, once again tempted to purge their souls. Slith had his tentacles wrapped around Bas, who in turn had his jaws clamped down on the slime wraith's globular body.

“Eaaatt?”

“Dieee?”

Then the familiar, high pitched buzzing noise drowned out all other noise. I looked back to find the five large Mana Spores spreading out throughout the cavernous area, with dozens of smaller Mana Spores following each of them. Looking at them almost coordinating their movements, I felt like cursing.

“Fuck! They're smarter....”