Chapter 157

Chapter 157: New Weapon—Large Mushroom 1/7

"This fellow…"

"Although it looked like a creature from the archosaurs, it was not an archosaur."

"It wasn’t even an amniote but rather a group related to the amniotes."

"It was a Lake Dragon!"

Lake Dragons belonged to the group of broad-toothed dragons, which lived during the Carboniferous period and resembled early four-legged terrestrial creatures.

Although most broad-toothed dragons were massive plant-eating machines, Lake Dragons were completely different from their cousins; these fellows were meat-loving “evil dragons.”

They were not large, measuring about 1.5 meters in length.

While this was only the size of a medium-sized dog, making them seem weak in any later era, they could be called the earliest large terrestrial predators in Earth’s history and even served as top predators on dry land for a time!

The reason was simple—nothing that could handle drier conditions was tougher than them, and nothing tougher than them could handle drier conditions.

At that time on land, the creatures that had truly left the water and adapted to drier places were various arthropods. Bugs crawled everywhere, including big scorpions and all sorts of things that looked like spiders but weren’t spiders.

Among these, the largest were the lung scorpions.

But even with their tails, lung scorpions only reached about seventy centimeters; they were no match for the 1.5-meter-long Lake Dragon, which had strong muscles and bones.

As for those large shelled vertebrates and labyrinthodonts living in lakes, shallow water, and swamps, while some were three meters long, or even over four meters as "Lords of the Lake," they could not leave wet areas.

Unable to go far inland, their habitats did not overlap with the Lake Dragons’, so there was no competition.

Thus, Lake Dragons got lucky and grabbed the top predator title for free.

But don’t think their "top predator" tag was a fluke—Lake Dragons had solid bodies: strong limbs, a slim but sturdy frame, and a big head that looked a lot like today’s giant lizards!

Lake Dragons’ special teeth, especially those three pairs of long fangs, probably made them deadlier than giant lizards!

“So, what were these two fellows doing?”

“What was the Lake Dragon doing with the Titan Chirper?”

“Hmm?”

Trilobite saw the Titan Chirper using its thin legs to pin down a…

Little bug!?

“Oh! Is that young lady Trilobite!?”

“Were they facing off over food?”

“But if that was the case, the scene seemed too calm…”

“Hmm…”

Peter Foot Salamander tilted his head and watched for a while, but saw no sign of a fight.

“Whatever!”

“Young lady Trilobite must be rescued!”

“If needed, I could toss them both into one pot!”

“Just that if I did, this meal…”

"It was going to take some effort to get a meal."

The Titan Chirper was already quite challenging prey. For the Peter Foot Salamander, hunting it was risky business.

That Lake Dragon was even larger than any fossil Trilobite had seen—an astonishing 1.8 meters long, barely smaller than himself.

Normally, Trilobite would follow the predator-avoidance principle and steer clear of such a massive creature.

But…

"I can win!"

"Both the Lake Dragon and the Titan Chirper have weaknesses."

"For example…"

No matter how fierce the Titan Chirper seemed, it was still just an insect.

Insects lack bones to support their bodies, making them fragile. And since the Titan Chirper needed to fly, it sacrificed even more defensive capability. One bite to its back or belly from Trilobite’s Peter Foot Salamander jaws would finish it.

"Even a hard slap from me would shatter that insect’s spindly limbs and small head."

"As for the Lake Dragon…"

Though it possessed a massive head and terrifying fangs, it had no claws!

This meant it lacked a crucial weapon for close combat.

By attacking while avoiding that huge head, Trilobite could ensure it couldn’t land a single bite!

"So…"

"The key is choosing the right angle for my strike!"

Trilobite slowly shifted his position among the clusters of large mushrooms.

Though these fungi no longer provided "Chaos Energy" and had become "symbiotic creatures"—making him lose his appetite for them—they still offered him cover.

"Perfect!"

"This angle will work!"

Using his calcite eyes to gauge distance, Trilobite aligned himself with both the "Titan Chirper" and the "Lake Dragon."

"Wait!"

Staring at the mushroom forest, Trilobite suddenly remembered.

"These large mushrooms and ‘bare-stalk mushrooms’ show as blue in the System, right? They’re my symbiotic creatures, aren’t they?"

"Could they… help me fight?"

"Maybe I can defeat them separately?"

【Yes, you can.】

【I’ll arrange it immediately.】

Miss Valaharl was very cooperative.

Soon…

"Hssss… Grrr…"

The large mushroom suddenly opened its cap’s folds and began releasing massive amounts of spores!

—-

"Ugh… Huh?"

"Ah… Ah-choo—!"

"Ah-choo—!"

Sneezes rang out one after another.

"Damn it, what’s happening!?"

Abraham scanned his surroundings angrily.

He’d been setting up a huge magic trap. By his estimate, this trap could either completely ensnare that bizarre "Ether Dragon" or at least severely slow its advance.

It might even weigh down those stubby limbs like lead, making its already sluggish pace crawl slower!

Then Abraham could harass the creature with swift aerial maneuvers, forcing it off balance until it exposed a weakness.

Momo could leverage his superior ground mobility to find the perfect angle, then strike a fatal blow with his massive skull and terrifying fangs!

But now, the "magic trap" framework stood incomplete.

As for why…

"Ah-choo—Ah-choo—!"

Momo kept sneezing too, halting the magic formation’s construction.

"Damn it!"

"Not only am I sneezing, but my magic flow keeps sputtering!"

"I can’t even cast properly!"

"What in the…"

The chaos deity searched the area for whatever was disrupting them.

Soon, they found the culprit!

"Hoo…"

"Pfft…"

The enormous "Inverse World Nail" spread its cap’s folds—or its "bald crown"—spewing irritating "golden specks" into the air!

These drifting specks emitted strange energy that interfered with magic.

Inhaled into divine bodies, they triggered violent "allergic reactions," causing magic circuits to shudder violently and unleashing sneezing fits.

"Time’s still on our side. That clumsy oaf’s probably crawling through mushroom patches."

"But we can’t drag this out forever."

Momo growled in frustration.

"True! This is maddening!"

Abraham suffered worse. His energy-exchange "vents" sat near core organs in his abdomen.

Sneezes racked his whole body violently.

Worse, the specks invaded his internal organs. Some even lodged inside him, threatening to "take root!"

These invaders greedily absorbed Chaos Energy, spreading mycelium that threatened to clog his vents.

"I’ll handle this!"

"Chopping down those wretched ‘columns’!"

He scuttled on two pairs of walking legs into the Inverse World Nail thicket, reaching the speck-spewing fungus.

"Ha!"

His sickle-like limbs slashed through the obstructing World Nail.

"It’s you…"

"Ah—!"

His triumphant shout became a shriek!

Behind the mushroom cluster Abraham had cleared stood more than just annoying "Inverse World Nails."

A massive maw loomed there!