The blast that cleansed Brisken Hollow echoed across the continent—and it reached the ear of Thryxx, the Mold Mage of Mirecradle.
An ancient bio-arcanist and fungal prophet, Thryxx was once a respected academic in mycological magic. Now, corrupted by a spore-bound grimoire and crowned with a halo of puffball rot, he led the Spore Synod—a circle of decay cultists who believed purification was theft from nature.
And Brisken Hollow? That was sacred ground to them.
"He made soap of our shrine," Thryxx hissed. "We answer with blight."
The Battlefield: Dwarven Sanitarium Ruins
The confrontation took place at the crumbled ruins of Stonecleft Sanitarium—a once-great dwarven hospital and rune lab that had since become a fungal jungle of sentient moss, phlegm trees, and twitching walls.
Kazuki and his Sanitation Vanguard arrived first, expecting a scouting mission.
Instead, the ground pulsed. The air spored.
And from beneath the rubble rose Thryxx, riding a mold-covered wyrm skeleton, eyes glowing green with internal rot.
"Kazuki Tanaka," he croaked, "you purify what you don't understand."
Kazuki raised his washer, runes flaring. "And you weaponize what should've been cleaned."
Spell for Spell
What followed was a duel of extremes:
Thryxx summoned Fungal Golems, constructed from twisted roots, old bones, and industrial waste.
He cast Mycosis Pulse, which made Kazuki's allies cough spores.
Mold-fueled familiars leapt from the sludge, slashing with mildew blades.
But Kazuki countered with:
Soapstorm Burst — a spiraling tornado of heated lye vapor.
Runic Bleach Fields — light-based glyphs that corroded unnatural biology.
Cleanse Chains, which wrapped around summoned beasts and disinfected them to dust.
The battlefield itself shifted—a dance of glowing glyphs and pulsating sludge.
Turning Point: The Kidnapping
The fight escalated.
Then—
A shadow moved behind Kazuki.
A scream.
He turned just in time to see Roro Buckethelm, his goblin squire, being pulled into a fungal portal—by someone he knew.
A figure in silver robes with elven features stepped from the mist:
Sir Elrin Naelbright, Kazuki's longtime ally and one of the founding Knights of Hygiene.
But his armor was now etched with Grime Alliance sigils.
"I told you," Elrin said, "purity without consent is oppression."
"You betrayed us," Kazuki whispered.
"No," Elrin said. "I freed myself."
Stalemate
With Roro's life in danger and Thryxx charging a plague nova, Kazuki had no choice.
He dropped the Holy Pressure Washer.
He lowered his hands.
"You win today," he said, "but I know something you don't."
"What's that?" Thryxx grinned.
"Mold only grows in shadow."
The Mold Mage scowled, but the battle was over.
Kazuki vanished in a flash of emergency teleportation. Lysoloth carried the rest of the Vanguard to safety—scarred, fractured, but alive.
Fallout
Brisken Hollow is recaptured by the Grime Alliance.
The Purify Cannon is heavily damaged.
Public opinion wavers.
Kazuki retreats into silence.
But the world doesn't forget the pressure he left behind.