Chapter 449: Chapter 449 - Tamers War - Turning Points Victor had fought with all his power. His Gold rank 3 Qilin had provided him massive earth control, creating barriers and mineral projectiles that should have been decisive due to his elemental advantage against any aerial opponent. His resistance should also have been extraordinary with that matchup. His eagle had few rivals in the sky. Speed, maneuverability, elevated attack power, and very high precision. But none of that had mattered. Venmont’s Gold rank 2 Wyvern was no longer simply his equal. The power of five other Gold rank 1 beasts flowing in perfect synchrony had created an advantage that Victor had no way to overcome. The mutated beast he faced barely retained the basic form of a wyvern at the end of their battle. The additional power lines had transformed its silhouette, expanding its now four wings to monstrous proportions, giving it extra extremities and thickening its neck with much more muscle mass that pulsed with visible purple energy. It approached much closer to the form of a true dragon. Victor now flew straight toward the ground. But not by choice. His eagle, missing one of its wings, spun erratically alongside him in a rapid fall toward the ground, both bleeding profusely where Venmont’s beast’s transformed claws had found their mark. The ground approached at terminal velocity. Above him, his troops both in the sky and on land desperately attacked Venmont’s mutated beast. Fire projectiles, wind spears, combined techniques that would have destroyed entire formations. The attacks impacted against the transformed creature’s advanced wind control and dispersed like breeze against a mountain. The combination of six Gold beasts had created defenses that transcended normal capabilities, a resistance that converted even coordinated attacks into minor irritations. No amount of coordination could overcome the fundamental power disparity that the new Yino enhancements had created. The impact against the ground was devastating. Victor crashed with force that made nearby defenses tremble. Dust and stone fragments rose in a cloud that temporarily obscured the vision of nearby combatants. When visibility cleared, Victor lay motionless in a crater of his own creation, his beast transformation flickering weakly, threatening to vanish completely. The sight was shocking to witness... their aerial commander, who had dominated the skies for hours, reduced to a broken figure struggling to maintain consciousness. Venmont prepared a powerful storm attack from the heights, his mutated form radiating triumphant power while observing the fallen aerial commander. The attack was clearly intended to be final, not just to defeat Victor, but to eliminate him and demonstrate the futility of resistance against his power. Yano’s troops fell silent for a moment, processing what was happening from one moment to another. Their commander, who had dominated the skies, had been defeated by a power they didn’t understand. And that power was about to eliminate them all. ♢♢♢♢ Earlier... Ren and the girls had run from the tower with the urgency that Mooshito had insisted was crucial. The small mushroom’s idea was relatively simple: make the affected people who weren’t yet unconscious on the left flank gradually approach to form an absorption network with the same infected spores. That network would gradually expand to all other infected... They had reached the battlefield’s perimeter panting, but their first communication attempts had failed completely. The infected soldiers who were still alert to possible bombardments were absorbed in themselves with the new mark of power that was perceived within the arena where their leader fought with forces difficult to understand. "They’re not listening to us!" Liora shouted, frustrated after trying to direct soldiers covered in golden spores toward where Ren and Mooshito waited. "They must be more affected than we thought," Luna murmured, observing how an infected soldier walked in circles, apparently lost. Ren made the decision to change approach. He approached the first unconscious infected person they found, a young soldier whose chest rose and fell laboriously while golden fungi sprouted from all over his body. Mooshito jumped in his hair, considering touching the soldier directly, but then shook his head in a gesture that surprised Luna with its ’cuteness’. "It’s better if you do it," the small mushroom communicated to Ren. "Inside you, the contact area is larger. The power will be assimilated faster due to synergy between us. Besides, you learning the sensation can’t be bad." Mooshito allowed himself to be absorbed and Ren extended his hand hesitantly toward the unconscious soldier. The moment his fingers touched the infected skin, the golden spores began reacting to mana patterns that Mooshito formed through him. It was a strange sensation, like small electric currents running through his arm. Mooshito could have simply absorbed the spores directly, but decided on something more efficient in the long term. He used them to form roots first, helping to germinate with his own spores too in a hybrid process that Ren could feel developing under his skin. The sensation was unlike anything Ren had experienced, not painful, but profoundly strange, as if his body was being transformed and expanded... The girls observed the process from behind as Mooshito had asked them, maintaining a safe distance but ready to defend Ren if something went wrong. The roots that began growing were super thin but incredibly long. They extended from the contact point like a nerve network, silently covering the terrain toward dozens of unconscious soldiers scattered throughout the area. Ren felt each extension as if it were part of his own nervous system. It was exhausting in a way he had never experienced. The mental strain was different from physical fatigue or magical exhaustion, it was the overwhelming sensation of consciousness expanding beyond the boundaries of individual identity. "It seems this is the maximum possible with our own energy," Mooshito murmured in Ren’s mind. "Is this all we can cover?" Ren asked, concerned about the limitations they were discovering. "It’s only the beginning," Mooshito responded with confidence that contrasted with Ren’s mental fatigue. And then the real absorption began. Through the root network, Mooshito began draining golden spores from all connected soldiers simultaneously. Ren felt how power flowed toward him in waves, each cured infected person adding energy to the system.