Chapter 45 — ILK Chapter 45

The Nine-Tailed Snow Fox

The moment the newcomers appeared, the expressions of the high-ranking officers in the cave darkened. Asu Ment was alert and wary, while Keliu’s face was a mixture of loathing and fury.

Beside the burly man stood a person whose limbs were covered in mushrooms. These mushrooms glowed with a kaleidoscopic, fluorescent light, though their roots showed signs of grayish rot. At the sight of him, Keliu and the original garrison Sentinels looked repulsed. This was the master of the Mutated Mushroom, the source of the hallucinations.

The Snow Mountain tribe’s previous skirmishes were all a setup—designed to exhaust the base Sentinels until their mental stability hit rock bottom. Only then did the Mutated Mushroom release its spores to invade their minds. This was how the base was caught off guard; Major General Keliu had issued the highest lockdown order to Eve, sealing the main hall and control center, before leading the emergency retreat.

Enemies meeting face to face.

"How did you know about this place?" Minur asked, her mind racing. The snow waterfall should have erased all tracks.

Brian, the Snow Mountain Clan Leader, sneered. "I’ve always known about this place. I knew it was the secret base you shared with our mother. I knew that back then, you hid her here and helped her escape the same way." His iron-gray eyes were cold. "I said nothing then; I didn't expose you. And today, you betray our tribe once again."

Minur stood stunned, struck by the memories. She and Brian were siblings—descendants of the old Black Tower Royal Family.

"How many times do you think I will tolerate you?" Brian raised his arm, which transformed into a sharp longblade before everyone's eyes, and swung it toward Minur. The blade shrieked through the air.

Seven snow-white, fluffy tails erupted from Minur's back. She used them to propel herself toward the cave ceiling, narrowly dodging the lethal strike.

"Are you trying to kill me now, brother?" Fox ears sprouted on Minur's head, the pink membranes clearly visible. "Is it because I let two Guides go, or because I was the one Mother favored!"

Minur tore away the veil from the truth they had both avoided, her words stabbing Brian like physical knives. Brian’s body swelled visibly as he began to mutate further. Even Sang Ye, standing at a distance, felt the radioactive energy of the Black Crystals radiating from him, making her feel momentarily dizzy.

"He's insane. How many Black Crystals did he eat?" Du Yuan shielded her two disciples, her eyes wide with disbelief.

Brian’s subordinates lunged toward the crowd. Suddenly, a green gas filled the cave. Some lower-rank Sentinels began to hallucinate again, walking toward the tribesmen’s blades as if they were approaching something beautiful. The Gu-Eagle manifested, letting out a piercing, infant-like shriek that briefly snapped the Sentinels back to consciousness.

"It’s the Mushroom Man!"

Asu Ment unsheathed her Shamshir and charged directly at the Mushroom Man, who was releasing mental power with his eyes closed as the mushrooms on his body rotted at an accelerated rate. This move drew Brian’s attention. He swung a massive palm at Asu—a hand that was now larger than half her body!

"Brian! What is your goal?" Asu Ment shouted, dodging the giant palm and slashing through anyone in her path. "Do you really think the Snow Mountain tribe can stand against the Empire? If it weren't for the ore veins, natives like you who resist would have been annihilated by Imperial warships long ago!"

Brian looked at Asu with increasing disgust. "Stop talking down to me! Why should I make peace? Black Tower belonged to us! If it weren't for the mental suggestions that woman planted in us, who would have signed that treaty? You are the ones who should get out!"

Under Brian’s radiation, the tribesmen behind him began to mutate. The scene turned into a nightmare of mismatched body parts and blood. But the radiation didn't just affect the tribe; some base Sentinels began to cough up blood, showing signs of mutation themselves. Their spiritual forms, rushing out to protect them, were directly poisoned by the energy.

As the hallucinations intensified, the situation became dire. Brian’s body grew until it hit the ceiling, threatening to bring the entire cave down as falling rocks pelted the crowd. Du Yuan deployed a mental barrier to protect her people, her eyes full of pain as she looked at the tribe.

"Brian was already S-rank, and his spiritual form is the Black Crystal!" Du Yuan shouted as they dodged falling debris. "He can draw energy from the crystals of the entire mountain, especially the Snow-Pear Plains! His mutated rank has already surpassed S. This isn't a gap you can bridge with numbers!" She looked frantic. "Everyone will be affected by his radiation. Run!"

Asu Ment took in Du Yuan’s words. She looked up, and the Gu-Eagle, sharing her mind, knew exactly what to do.

"Rong Cheng!" Asu shouted without looking back.

Rong Cheng’s spirit rallied. A powerful burst of mental energy erupted from the Gu-Eagle, clashing with Brian until one final strike—the entire cave ceiling collapsed under the collision of two S-rank powers. Heavy snow flooded in.

The Three-legged Golden Crow soared into the sky, melting the snow. Rong Cheng clung to the bird as its flames burned away the toxic mist. Because the snow neutralized the heat, the Sentinels were unharmed.

"The distress signal won't go out," Keliu reported, leading the wounded away from the entrance.

"We have to kill him." Asu Ment was hauled out of the hole by the Gu-Eagle, looking back at the Mushroom Man, who was preparing a second wave. Only she could stall Brian; anyone else would be mere cannon fodder.

Brian’s mutation continued. Without a Guide’s measurement, everyone could sense his power had far exceeded the S-rank threshold. The overwhelming pressure was constant. Standing in the front, Asu Ment was the only shield. She had been wounded in the previous clash; blood seeped from her abdomen. Under the radiation, her mental self-healing was sluggish.

"General, what about you?" Keliu asked, her voice lost in the wind.

"Keliu, I brought you away from your home. I must see you back safely," Asu said quietly. "All these years with me, you haven't been home once. You have family there; you can't die here. This is a military order!" She turned to Keliu. "Go back to base, mobilize all warships, and destroy the Snow Mountain along with Brian!"

The fate of the woman staying behind to stall him was left unsaid.

The Golden Crow grabbed one person in each claw and carried several more on its back, flying out of the cave. Sang Ye and Du Yuan were tossed onto the snow. Before Du Yuan could even stand, she deployed a mental shield. But Guide power isn't meant for physical combat; without an overwhelming rank advantage, a Guide cannot provide protection on a battlefield.

"Seize her!" Brian let out a bestial roar that echoed through the mountains. He had completely lost his human form. He pointed a weaponized tentacle at Du Yuan.

The Mushroom Man behind him prepared to attack but felt a sudden chill in his abdomen. His life force drained rapidly. The mutated man looked down in a daze. Minur stood behind him, having run him through with one of Brian’s own dropped blades.

"Eldest Miss..." he stammered, using his old title for her. He let out a faint smile. "This is fine. I am... finally free."

Minur showed no emotion. "You bastard! How dare you!" Brian screamed.

"Mother was a 'bastard' to you then, and now I am too, right?" Minur looked at him fearlessly. "Why act so noble? Did you 'choose' not to stop Mother? No, you couldn't stop her. You couldn't resist the mental mark she planted on you. You've always been jealous of me because Mother loved me most, because I inherited her spiritual form. You couldn't stop Mother, so you stopped me from leaving with her. But Brian, I wasn't stopped by you."

A giant shadow solidified behind Minur—a beautiful Nine-Tailed Snow Fox. "I chose to stay. This is my home, my tribe. I will not let you destroy the Snow Mountain people."

Her mental power expanded until she could stand toe-to-toe with Asu and Brian. Rong Cheng gasped: "She didn't show this kind of power when we captured her!"

The Nine-Tailed Snow Fox—clever and cunning, capable of a limited degree of foresight. Sang Ye realized that everything—every hint and lead—had been Minur's calculated guidance. This woman was terrifyingly intelligent.

Keliu led the retreat, but Brian wouldn't let them take Du Yuan. Asu Ment and Minur moved simultaneously to intercept him. Sang Ye and the Sentinels retreated, handing out energy packs. A rice ball had to be eaten in two bites before it froze solid. Keliu wept as she walked.

Sang Ye looked back. On the plains, the collision of mental powers was like exploding bombs. Brian was absorbing energy from the Snow-Pear Plains, his power spiking. The gap between A and S can be bridged in centuries, but the gap within the S-rank itself can be as vast as a dozen galaxies. If Brian continued to escalate, even Asu and Minur combined wouldn't be his match.

As Sang Ye feared, the two women were beginning to lose ground.