Versatile Mage (Web Novel)
chapter-2330

Chapter 2330: Oil Lamp Fireflies

Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales

Translated by XephiZ

Edited by Aelryinth

The Mushroom Ticks immediately lunged at two other soldiers, as if they were able to smell their infected skin.

They were the size of little scorpions, but every soldier they targeted died quickly!

After their deaths, a few more poisonous mushrooms would grow on their corpses. Some of the bodies even blew up after falling to the ground, allowing more mushrooms to grow out of the ground covered by their blood.

Either way, each poisonous mushroom would explode like a grenade and give birth to a Mushroom Tick, which immediately looked for its next target!

“What’s going on here? Those things are like black-legged ticks carrying Lyme Disease, and every infected has two more ticks coming out of their corpses!” Mo Fan was utterly shocked.

Mo Fan was a high-ranked Hunter who had seen many parasitic demon species, yet most of their eggs would only hatch after some time.

In contrast to them, the eggs of the Mushroom Ticks were hatching so fast it was like they had no incubation period. They could take out a soldier and give birth to a few more Mushroom Ticks in just a few seconds. The Mushroom Ticks that were hatched would then attack new targets and give birth to more Mushroom Ticks!

What a terrifying species!

If these Mushroom Ticks were attacking ordinary people in a city, the whole city would be crawling with them in less than a day!

“Are those bastards planning to destroy mankind and make us livestock for the demon creatures by creating such a vicious species!” Professor Xylan cursed.

“Professor, what species are those? Their rate of infection, fission, and attack is insane!” Su Xi exclaimed, her face pale.

It was tricky to deal with the Mushroom Ticks, since they would look for new targets as soon as they hatched. The students only had a short amount of time to kill them. They had no way of killing the Mushroom Ticks once they dug into a soldier’s body without killing the soldier too!

“Let’s just name the species Mushroom Tick,” Professor Xylan said calmly.

“Huh? Name the species?” Mo Fan was dumbfounded. Wasn’t the Professor supposed to be the expert among them? Shouldn’t she be figuring out a plan to deal with the Venomous Insect Shamans’ evil sorcery? “Should we catch a few of them so you can conduct experiments on them?” he sneered.

“That won’t be necessary. It’s just a little trick the Venomous Insect Shamans are using. It’s not that scary once you learn its secret,” Professor Xylan said. She looked at the Russian student and asked, “Julya, do you know what trick the enemy is using?”

Julya shook her head and said sternly, “Professor, I think you should tell us how we should deal with the insects first. Those things are reproducing rapidly. More people are going to die the longer we wait.”

Mo Fan’s face darkened. Was the Professor seriously still just testing her students at a time like this?

“If these insects are laying eggs and hatching so rapidly, it means they are soulless. As a matter of fact, they aren’t even a living species. They are just puppets granted temporary power to attack their prey. They are receiving energy from a source entity, most likely the Poison Mage who created them,” Professor Xylan informed them.

“So we can stop them by finding and killing the Poison Mage who is controlling them?” Julya asked for clarity.

“Exactly, it’s just a petty trick from a Poison Mage. It’s not worth enough for me to dirty my hands. I’ll let you all handle it.” Professor Xylan closed her eyes after she finished explaining. She could not care less about the soldiers who were dying horrible deaths around her.

“I’m not familiar with Poison and Plant Magic…” Julya turned to Mo Fan.

She basically meant she had done everything she could to help.

“Likewise,” Mo Fan agreed.

The Poison and Plant Elements were complicated and contained a lot of variables, unlike the other Elements that adhered to a certain set of principles. Only people who were interested in becoming a Herbalist would spend their time studying them.

Su Xi walked over to Mu Bai and asked seriously, “Senior, do you think the Mushroom Ticks are similar to one of the species in the Andes Mountain Range that we discussed before?”

“The Ancaman Arachnids.”

“Yes, but they seem different, too. The Ancaman Arachnids can’t reproduce so quickly.”

Mu Bai looked at the Demon Fireflies that had lit up the woods like a city and thought about Professor Xylan’s words.

“The Demon Fireflies reproduce very quickly, and the Ancaman Arachnids are infectious and have a strong ability to fission,” Mu Bai murmured.

Su Xi’s eyes glittered. She blurted out, “These Mushroom Ticks must be a mixed breed between the queen of the Demon Fireflies and a male Ancaman Arachnid!”

Mo Fan did not understand a single word of their conversation. He only hoped they could find a solution as quickly as possible.

The Federation Army had lost the previous battle because it was surprised by unknown species of venomous insects which had taken over the battle in no time. The soldiers were too scared to keep fighting.

Fear was more contagious than the venom of the insects. The number of deaths caused by the Venomous Insect Shamans was not high, but the Federation Army had still lost the battle.

The red Demon Fireflies in the woods stopped hovering in the air. They flew higher into the sky, like they had just received an order.

The light of the Demon Fireflies was surprisingly bright when they gathered together. It was shining upon the battlefield like a red moon.

The Demon Fireflies suddenly dove at the ground!

They tore through the gray curtain of rain and scattered above the battlefield like fire sparks before diving at the soldiers.

Their abdomens bloated like oil lamps. An oil lamp could easily cause a carpet of flames once it was flung to the ground!

It did not matter if the Demon Fireflies landed on the ground or the soldiers. Their kamikaze dive instantly turned the area into a valley shrouded by poisonous mist. Every soldier soon found themselves swallowed by the mist!

The bodies of those caught in the poisonous fog festered immediately. Some of them even melted like ice if the Demon Fireflies’ poison struck the them directly!

“How vicious can those Venomous Insect Shamans be?” Zhao Manyan yelled as he was searching for a safe spot.

Mo Fan was helpless too.

There was nothing he could do to stop the enemy’s attack, unless he could find the Poison Mage controlling the insects.

Mu Bai and Su Xi had just figured out the traits of the Mushroom Ticks, but now the soldiers were being attacked by another species.

There was clearly more than one Venomous Insect Shaman!