Chapter 64: The Fecal Fiend

It was raining again.

At the higher altitude of Dragon Peak City, the rainy season was not like the plains where it rained nine days out of ten, but the sun was still a rare sight.

Daya did not like this kind of weather. Her dense dragon scales were poorly breathable, and once the humidity in the air increased, transforming into her dragon form felt like wearing a damp, heavy cotton-padded jacket—unbearably uncomfortable from head to toe.

As for her concern that "rainy days would diminish the power of dragon breath," that fortunately did not happen.

Even during torrential downpours, dragon breath remained devastatingly lethal against the aberrant ghouls. The flames would generate massive amounts of steam, forming a thick, scorching white fog in the air that caused the carapaces of the sea-roaches trying to force their way through to crack and their flesh to rot away.

Bethalys was currently directing the guards of Dragon Peak City to execute a phased retreat.

The order of evacuation prioritized civilians first, followed by the guards. Because the civilians fled at a slower pace, they needed a rearguard to intercept pursuers and buy them time, whereas the guards were mostly able-bodied young men capable of swift travel.

By the time all the guards had departed, only Rein and his group of three remained in Dragon Peak City to continue the resistance. This was the most perilous moment of all.

Rein began to cast necromantic sorcery.

He excavated all the cemeteries of Dragon Peak City, reanimating a vast horde of skeletal lizardmen to fill the gaps in the defensive line left behind by the departed guards.

Bethalys was utterly shocked by this sight, because most necromancers merely compelled corpses to act on the rudimentary instincts of undead entities—not that direct control was impossible, but once the number of undead exceeded double digits, such hands-on command would degenerate into an excruciatingly inefficient and useless form of micro-management.

Yet Rein possessed some unknown method that allowed him to wield these skeletal lizardmen as smoothly as his own limbs, orchestrating their every maneuver with the precision of a chess master. This caused Bethalys to strongly suspect whether this fellow might actually be a lich wearing human skin, given that his cognitive processing power had reached a terrifyingly abnormal level.

Unfortunately, it was still not enough.

Bethalys looked down toward the base of the city wall once more. The path cleared by Daya's fiery dragon breath had been refilled in the blink of an eye by an endless tide of sea-roaches.

The massive dragon clinging to the ramparts emitted a hoarse roar from deep within its throat, seeming to near its absolute limit.

A Lotus of Thunder and Fury detonated amidst the ocean of aberrant ghouls, once again blasting a vast multitude of sea-roaches into fine powder, but a mage's endurance could never match that of a bloodline warlock. Both Ellyna and Bethalys were acutely aware of this fact.

"We must retreat," Bethalys suggested. "While you still have mana left, let your death-thralls stall the ghouls' advance. Retreating right now is the optimal moment."

Rein ignored her suggestion and simply continued to direct the corpses to reinforce the battle line.

"Fine," Bethalys sighed, shrugging her shoulders. "Then just how long do you intend to hold out? Until the soldiers and citizens of Dragon Peak City all reach Dragon Plain City?"

"Until it appears," Rein replied.

"It?" Bethalys asked, bewildered. "What on earth..."

Before she could finish her sentence, a drastic change erupted at the base of the city wall.

A massive sphere of viscous slime surged out from within the army of sea-roaches, instantly devouring all the surrounding aberrant ghouls. The flesh and blood within were rapidly melted into dark red, pulpy slush.

"It has appeared, just as expected," Rein said with a grim expression. "The Shit-Fiend."

"Hm?" Bethalys arched an eyebrow, looking at the distant sphere of mucus, and asked in astonishment, "Is that... a slime?"

"No, that is a Shit-Fiend," Rein corrected her.

"It looks no different from a slime," Bethalys said with a frown. "Just bigger."

"Attack it with spells," Rein commanded.

Without a second thought, Bethalys flicked her fingers, unleashing a ball of flame.

Incendiary Cloud.

A cloud-like plume of blue fire shot forth, piercing through the boundless curtain of rain and striking the distant mucus sphere with pinpoint accuracy.

Not the slightest change occurred.

Bethalys blinked, her mouth half-open in shock as she stared blankly.

"You've got to be kidding me! Fire-immune aberrant ghouls?"

"That appearance... I remember Charlotte mentioning it once," Ellyna said with a grave expression. "She once encountered a strange, slime-like aberrant ghoul against which almost no spells could inflict any damage."

"Then how did she defeat it?" Bethalys quickly asked.

"She ran away," Ellyna replied.

"—Very well." Bethalys fell silent for a moment before asking, "How does one defeat this Shit-Fiend, then?"

"The Shit-Fiend is immune to spells, so Daya's dragon breath is useless against it," Ellyna reasoned, falling into thought. "Does that mean we must rely on physical attacks?"

"Let's go," Rein said, turning around. "Daya, you don't need to hold the line anymore. Transform back."

"You've got to be kidding, we're only retreating now?" Bethalys found it hard to comprehend, yet her feet did not pause for an instant as she hurried after Rein down the city wall. "So the only reason you insisted on waiting until now was merely to confirm the existence of this Shit-Fiend?"

Ellyna followed closely behind, thinking to herself that surely that could not be the case. As a necromancer, he possessed far too many methods for long-range reconnaissance; there was simply no need to personally remain in Dragon Peak City just for confirmation.

As she ran, she turned her head and saw that the Shit-Fiend outside the city was still devouring the surrounding sea-roaches, its body growing larger and larger.

The originally clear and transparent mucus, having mixed with a chaotic mess of flesh, carapaces, mud, sand, and other impurities, had ultimately transformed into shapeless masses of brownish-yellow meat paste that churned ceaselessly as the viscous monster surged—truly resembling a clump of feces shifting within intestines.

The name was certainly accurate, but how on earth was one supposed to defeat it?

"Rein is doing this for a reason; he must have a plan," Daya, having transformed back into her human form, suddenly spoke up.

"Of course, we trust that he has been prepared all along," Bethalys retorted swiftly. "I merely wish to know what his preparation is. After all, suddenly having an unfamiliar and powerful aberrant ghoul show up is hardly a comforting thought... Watch out above!"

The group hurriedly dodged to the side as "feces rain" suddenly poured down from the sky. The distant Shit-Fiend had transformed into a mortar, continuously hurling the lumps of filth from within its body across the distance.

"Mind your dodging," Rein said calmly. "The shit is poisonous."

*Thanks for the reminder,* the three women thought in unison, silently complaining. Even if these lumps of filth weren't poisonous, we would never let a single speck touch us.

Using the various buildings within Dragon Peak City for cover, dodging these falling chunks of filth was not overly difficult. Ellyna and Bethalys, two ancient elven heroines, were both accustomed to wearing light armor or even no armor, favoring an agile and mobile combat style. Evasion was their most practiced tactical maneuver. Although Daya lacked formal military training in this regard, her true dragon bloodline vastly enhanced her physical attributes in every aspect, allowing her to sprint and dodge swiftly alongside the two elves.

Only Rein, acting as a necromancer, lacked the nimble agility of the two ancient elven heroines. With an air of casual indifference, he raised a hand and cast a spell, forming a floating shield of bone fragments above his head that deflected the falling clumps of filth to the side.

Upon hitting the ground, these filth-balls exploded instantly, releasing an unbearable wave of putrid stench.

Before long, Dragon Peak City had truly transformed into "Dragon Dung City," littered everywhere with brownish-yellow, unidentifiable substances that emitted a horrifying aura and intense corrosiveness.

The group fled the cesspit through the north gate, charging onto the steep and narrow mountain path.

Glancing back in haste, they were jolted out of their wits: the Shit-Fiend had sprouted countless tentacles, forcefully shattering the walls of Dragon Peak City. Like a rapidly crawling giant octopus, enveloped in a despairing and terrifying stench of rot, it was aggressively and swiftly pursuing them!