It was just that the Arcanist with a staff left. All they had to do was knock her down like the rest of the puppets, then they could figure out how to get out of here. Or even better, destroy the Myconet.

  Elaine [Dashed] forward, drawing the Arcanist’s attention. Colby, carried by Porter, [Dashed] the other side. Aiming his [Cheese Gun] at the Arcanist, he waited for the right moment to send a cluster of [Marvellous Mozzarella Marbles] at the puppet’s feet.

  Except Colby just realised something. He hadn’t seen this Arcanist move in the slightest.

  A giant boulder materialized and was hurled at Elaine. With a combination of [Dash] and [Strengthen], she dodged out of the way of the incredibly telegraphed attack. Leaping out of the way of another boulder, she came face to face with the Arcanist.

  Despite being within prime slashing range, the Arcanist never moved. Instead, the staff glowed once more as Elaine swung.

  A loud thunk echoed throughout the cavern.

  The previously robed Arcanist was now draped in a layer of rock. Elaine’s blade flared as she slashed, then stabbed. It skittered and sparked against the stony shell. There wasn’t even a crack—unless you counted the natural crevices within the rocky armor.

  Then the rocks started to tremble.

  Instincts screamed at Elaine. She withdrew her blade and leapt backwards.

  The rock armor detonated.

  Shards of rugged stone exploded outward in every direction. Elaine threw up her blade and swatted away as many as she could. As for the ones she couldn’t, they slammed into her armor with a heavy thunk, punching visible dents into the metal before ricocheting across the ground. scattering sharp, rugged, rocky shrapnel in every direction.

  Meanwhile, Porter [Dashed] away. He ran behind the pillars of rock that the other Arcanists had erected during their skirmish with Elaine, using them as a natural shield. Stones pelted the ground on the other side as he used the stones to destroy the stones.

  “I can’t cut through that rock!” Elaine yelled, staring at the Arcanist holding up her glowing green mini-tree staff.

  “What about pushing?” Colby hollered behind the safety of Porter and the erected pillar.

  “Let me try something.”

  Elaine sheathed her sword and drew one sharp, steadying breath. Her back foot sank into the spongy mold-carpet, squishing it with a wet squelch. A faint glow poured out of her metallic boots, luminance swelling brighter and brighter.

  Though Colby didn’t know what she was doing, he knew what to expect. He squeezed his eyes tight and shielded them with his hands.

  A white light flared through the gaps in his fingers, piercing through his eyelids.

  An instant later, there was an echoing thunk.

  Colby opened his eyes, spots swimming in his vision, and found Elaine right in front of the Arcanist. Her blade was out again, pressed against another layer of seemingly impenetrable rock that covered the Arcanist’s body.

  The stone trembled.

  Elaine retreated.

  The shroud of rocks exploded, tearing through the air and peppering Elaine once more.

  Except, not all of the rocks burst outwards. Those at the Arcanist’s rear pathetically crumbled to the ground. And what was behind the Arcanist?

  The Myconet.

  Originally, the plan was to take down the Arcanist, then either try to escape or take down the Myconet. However, the way things have been going, it seemed like in order to take down the final Arcanist, they had to take down the Myconet.

  To the best of their knowledge, the only reliable way to take down the Myconet was with fire. Something that would most likely take them out as well—assuming the Arcanist didn’t do it first.

  Colby shifted his [Cheese Gun] from the Arcanist to the large sphere of mold suspended in the middle of the cavern. Its slimy membrane shimmered. While beautiful to look at, it was a major annoyance as well. That layer of enzyme that protected the Myconet from the worst of fire. But that layer was thin. He just had to get past it. Hopefully, [Flaming Saganaki] had enough firepower to pierce through the membrane.

  A ball of halloumi shot out of the gun’s barrel. It spun in the air. Flickering, fluttering flames licked along its surface before it struck with a wet splat.

  It had not pierced through the slimy membrane.

  Heck, it hadn’t even touched it.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  A wall of stone had surged up from the ground. It intercepted the cheese long before it could even come close to the Myconet.

  The stone around the cheese, and only around the cheese, began to shift. A tremor ran through it. Hairline cracks rippled outward. Its rigid surface softened, loosening grain by grain as it sloughed into something resembling sand.

  The flaming cheese sank into it.

  A moment later, it rose from its stony grave.

  The fire was gone.

  It had been reduced to just cheese, without any of the burning spark which made [Flaming Saganaki] [Flaming Saganaki].

  That was annoying. Two could play at that game.

  “Port,” Colby said, looking down at the Supply Runner.

  “No biggie.”

  Porter [Dashed]. He ran laps around the Myconet as Colby lobbed [Flaming Saganaki] after [Flaming Saganaki] at the mass of green.

  The first wall of stone sank back into the ground as more tore upwards around the Myconet, intercepting the flaming cheese and extinguishing it. A moment later, they stone withdrew into the ground only to pop up elsewhere, blocking more flaming cheese.

  Elaine quickly caught on to what Colby was planning—which wasn’t that hard in all honesty.

  She [Dashed] toward the Arcanist, sword glowing white as she swung. Another layer of rock climbed over her robed body. That didn’t deter Elaine in the slightest.

  She kept swinging, blows ringing off stone.

  When the rocks began to tremble, she didn’t dart back. This time, she [Dashed] forward, slipping behind the Arcanist.

  She leapt at the Myconet and slashed.

  A wall of stone erupted in front of her.

  It blocked her swing with a dull thud, vibrations running up her arm.

  Momentum still carried her forward. Elaine kicked off the wall and shot back at the Arcanist. The moment she was within striking distance, a layer of rock draped over her once more.

  Behind, the stone wall sank.

  Then, the rocky armor trembled.

  The stone wall dropped, and the armor trembled once more.

  And Elaine lunged towards the Myconet once more.

  If they could overwhelm the puppeted Arcanist, she was bound to slip up sooner or later. Then they could take down either the Myconet or the Arcanist, or even both.

  Except, Colby didn’t have an infinite supply of milk. If he ran out of halloumi, they lost their best chance of defeating the Myconet.

  There was also the fact that the Arcanist still hadn’t moved from her spot. Even with her back facing them, she still knew where and when to erect a stone wall to block off their attacks.

  Colby couldn’t do anything about the latter. As for the latter, it was time to use good old reliable: mozzarella.

  Using a mix of regular [Cheese Shots] and [Flaming Saganaki] [Cheese Shots], he could lengthen how long he was able to pressure the Arcanist for, until she made a mistake.

  A burst of [Cheese Shots] fired out of his [Cheese Gun].

  There was no rumbling. There wasn’t even a stone wall.

  Regular [Cheese Shots] splattered against the Myconet, slowly falling to the ground thanks to that slimy membrane surrounding it.

  That was the opportunity they were searching for. Did he just throw it away?

  [Flaming Saganaki] hurtled through the air, only to come to an abrupt stop by a stone wall.

  Yup, he did.

  Annoyed, Colby upped the pace. A barrage of cheese bombarded the Myconet.

  Sure enough, the Arcanist couldn’t keep up.

  Some of his cheese managed to slip past the barrier of stone walls, splattering against the Myconet.

  However, none of it was [Flaming Saganaki], just regular [Cheese Shots].

  That couldn’t have been a coincidence. The puppet’s focus was on the cheeses that were on fire.

  Colby didn’t throw away the opportunity. Instead, he had found a new one. Something he could take advantage of.

  But for that, he had to enlist the help of [The Ricotta Army]. A very special unit of [The Ricotta Army]. One that pained him greatly. One that should never be formed after today.

  Congratulations! [The Ricotta Army] has reached Level 3!

  Interspersed with [Flaming Saganaki] shots were the ginger-cheese men. They were sent flying high up into the air, [Cheese Pouches] deploying into parachutes as they landed on top of the Myconet.

  As predicted, the Arcanist paid them no mind.

  Using their toothpick-sized blades, they scraped away at the membrane surrounding the Myconet, exposing as much of the raw mold as possible.

  The troops worked tirelessly despite knowing what was to come. They went above and beyond, even exposing the raw mold on the tendrils that supported the Myconet from the ceiling.

  When they had cleared out as much mold as possible, they stabbed their toothpick-blades into the mold. They were barely able to pierce through the dense layer of green, just enough for the blades to stand upright on their own.

  The troops turned towards Colby, glancing down at their commander and saluted.

  With a tear dripping down his cheek, he saluted back. The ginger-cheese men that had been watching over the downed Knights and Arcanists saluted as well.

  Thornelius let out a sad howl as he watched the events unfold.

  Colby disembarked from the Porter Delivery Service and aimed at the Myconet.

  A [Cheese Pouch] was fired.

  Congratulations! [Cheese Pouch] has reached Level 5!

  Congratulations! [Cheese Shot] has reached Level 13!

  As the [Cheese Pouch] soared above the Myconet, a blade pierced from within, slicing through the skin to reveal the treasure hidden within.

  A ginger-cheese man on fire.

  It saluted Colby before plunging downwards and joining his comrades.

  They flopped onto their stomach, gripping the Myconet with all of the strength within their cheesy muscles and waited.

  A flash of light erupted, along with a wave of heat.

  The Myconet was on fire.