“What’s happening? What happened?”
The Elf looked around in a panic, feeling a bit intimidated by the mysterious, violent commotion.
After witnessing the destructive power of the Knight Bee Legion, she was like a bird startled by a mere bowstring. Whenever she heard a similar sound, she feared a Knight Bee was charging up behind her.
She would rather face a knife to the back than a charging Knight Bee.
“Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid. It’s just someone losing their dinner,” the Mushroom Miss said casually. “Even though they were already eating, they were still thinking about something else. How greedy.”
“Huh?”
Although she didn’t understand what Marlow was saying, she was certain that the Mushroom Miss was the culprit behind it all.
“Instead of worrying about that, we should move quickly. We probably only have enough time for a hit-and-run.”
Since the crocodiles were already gathering their spoils, the Bees would surely be on their way back as well.
Time was running out. Fortunately, the spreading Fungal Network had long since confirmed the location of the Bee Hive, even though they had deliberately avoided it to prevent detection.
Coincidentally, it was near the territory Marlow had developed when she first arrived at the Woodland.
The Mushroom Navigation was useful, but relaying it verbally was too cumbersome. Even though the two could communicate through consciousness and even shared a degree of empathy, using such a primitive method to guide the Elf was simply too inefficient.
“I’ll show you something good.”
“What is it?”
The little Elf asked softly, still maintaining a bit of caution. The Mushroom Miss’s whimsical ideas were often more than she could handle, even if there was no ill intent.
Fortunately, they had serious business to attend to. When dealing with the Bees, Marlow never did anything redundant that might interfere with their objective. Thus, Lumina didn’t have to worry that this was some “enhancement” that was actually just a cover for experimenting on her body.
Suddenly, something extra appeared in her field of vision.
Was that a simple map and route guide, similar in style to the System Panel?
“This is amazing, Marlow!”
The clever Elf quickly understood the meaning of these icons and couldn’t help but offer her sincere praise.
‘That’s right, this mushroom is super awesome.’
The last time she had received such heartfelt praise was when she provided mana, Marlow thought.
‘So, she should listen to me, no talking back, no questioning. She should offer her loyalty to the mushroom.’
‘Hmm, what else?’
In any case, there were many benefits to obeying her. Sharing the Fungal Network’s vision and providing organized guidance were only small favors.
Before the mushroom could demand anything in exchange for these benefits, Lumina was already captivated by the new feature. Combined with her excellent vision, she moved through the forest as if there were no obstacles at all.
The Elf stopped before a series of earthen mounds.
The scenery was the same as the rest of the Woodland—omnipresent Screaming Wood stood before them, scattered and staggered. Only the grayish-yellow ground beneath their feet rose continuously until it formed a hill nearly 2 people tall not far away.
The mound of soft, granular soil looked unremarkable at first glance, but if one were to accidentally step on it, the disturbed Bees would swarm out from every entrance of the hive.
Before they arrived, the Mycelium had already extended inward without restraint. The complex network of tunnels and pipes beneath the hill was laid bare before Marlow’s eyes.
The total number of Bees in the hive was relatively small, but there was still a significant force of soldiers guarding their home.
Not only that, there was a big fellow underground—the commanding consciousness behind the Bees was finally revealed.
**[Race: Giant Hornet Queen]**
**[Level: 37]**
**[Skills: Unified Will (Leader) Level 5, Great Piercing Level 5, Flight Level 7, Vassal Creation Level 2, Paralysis Resistance Level 3…]**
**[Title: Bee King]**
**[Bee King]**: The king who leads the bee swarm.
Effect: Synchronizes all vassal actions to grant an enhancement to the next skill. The enhancement effect depends on the number of vassals. After the effect is triggered, it must be recalculated.
It was a title.
‘I see. That explains why the power of the group charge weakened after the Knight Bees were interrupted by the Paralysis Toxin, and why they could ignore the negative effects and continue charging even after being poisoned.’
‘A king who leads the bee swarm… but why don’t I have a “Mushroom King” title despite meeting the criteria?’
‘No matter how I think about it, I should qualify.’
‘Could it be that there are no kings among the mushroom species?’
‘Dammit, this is discrimination. This is definitely discrimination against mushrooms! I want to file a complaint against this unfair, biased world on behalf of all mushrooms.’
But filing a complaint required a channel, and it was clear that no such thing existed on the System Panel. If this system-like thing truly was the creation of a god, they likely had no need for mortals to criticize them.
So, from the very beginning, the mushroom had nowhere to voice her grievances.
She was very unhappy. Her own weakness was certainly frustrating, but the enemy’s success was even more distressing.
“Listen to me, Lumina. Aim your staff at that spot. Yes, right there. Use your Light Beam on the Bees.”
The Elf didn’t doubt her. As soon as she was able to use the Light Beam magic again, she began chanting without hesitation. After a brief charge, the destructive beam of mana directly pierced through the layers of earth.
As the afterglow faded, the Elf asked with a hint of excitement, “How was it?”
“It hit.”
Although it didn’t do much—it didn’t even leave any substantial damage on the Queen Bee—releasing that bit of magic felt incredibly refreshing. Who could refuse the satisfaction of throwing a stone through the window of someone they hated?
“Don’t look now. Turn around and run immediately.”
“What’s wrong?”
As she asked, the Elf cautiously peeked into the hole leading underground, wanting to see the results of her magic.
Through that small opening, she saw a Bee.
It was enormous, far larger than any Knight Bee. Ornate golden stripes covered its body, its wings were spread wide, and a pair of antennae stood like guards around its chitinous crown. Its narrow compound eyes betrayed no emotion; it simply stared back with a cold, indifferent gaze.
Lumina met its eyes and jumped in shock, retreating several steps.
“Ma… Marlow?”
“Mhmm, I’m here,” she replied cheerfully.
The Elf stammered in a mix of panic and frustration, “You never told me their king was right where you had me aim the magic.”
“You didn’t ask.”
*Snap.*
She probably broke her staff, or perhaps a bone, or maybe she just ground her molars. In any case, this mushroom was truly infuriating.
**[Title effect determined successful. Gained skill: Tongue Flick Level 1]**
The message that suddenly popped up startled Marlow. Following the Fungal Network, she found that a frog had been dropped onto the Fungal Blanket.
Although there was no sign of the Bees, it was likely that the Queen’s loyal subjects had received word that their king was under attack. They must have dropped their heavy loads and were rushing back to provide reinforcements—even though their king’s stats made her far stronger than any individual Bee.
“That felt good, didn’t it?” the mushroom said. Before the Elf could respond, she continued, “We really have to go now. We were fine before, but once the main Bee force returns, it won’t be easy to leave.”
The Elf didn’t look back as she broke into a run.
“Really, those Knight Bees were already so strong. Given how monsters respect the powerful, the king they follow must be extraordinary. What if we’ve provoked it and it holds a grudge and chases us?”
“Ah, first of all, the Bees already held a grudge. Secondly, it won’t chase us—at least not now…”
She had seen the ‘Sleep’ status effect in the Queen Bee’s status window, so she knew the Elf would be fine.
“I don’t believe you.”
Faced with the mushroom’s certain tone, the Elf covered her pointed ears, signaling that she didn’t want to hear another word.
The process had been nerve-wracking, and she had been quite frightened, but she truly did enjoy blasting that skill. She added in a low voice, “Though, it really did feel great to get back at them.”
Marlow smiled, knowing that the real reason the Elf was angry was that she hadn’t been warned about the Queen Bee in advance. But since the Elf had trifled with her feelings like that, she considered it a small surprise in return.
She cleared her throat and added mischievously, “As for what happens when someone is sleeping soundly at home and suddenly gets hit in the head by a Light Beam… well, that’s hard to say.”
She felt the Elf’s speed increase further. She even saw a 1 point increase in the Agility stat on the other’s status screen.
‘Training can improve one’s strength. That’s very reasonable.’
A rumble sounded behind them as the Bee Hive collapsed. The original mound was replaced by a massive crater, and the Queen Bee’s enormous body crawled out from the deep hole.
Using the Treants summoned from Screaming Wood as a reference, a Knight Bee was only half the size of a Treant, while the Queen Bee was as tall as an entire Treant.
The reason Marlow had the confidence to provoke her was based on speed. Despite her massive size, the Queen’s Agility was much lower than that of the Knight Bees or the Elf; it was only slightly better than a normal Bee’s.
The only question was whether the Agility stat on the System Panel could be trusted. Marlow never intended to fully trust the system’s data. Even if she used it as a reference, she had to consider an escape route.
If she were being truly cautious, she should have waited for the cooldown on the Elf’s title to end. But then, they wouldn’t have had the perfect opportunity provided by the empty hive. Furthermore, she didn’t want to wait.
She wasn’t weak like the Elf. If the Bees tried to walk all over her, she would strike back the moment she had the chance.
The risky venture had naturally paid off. The prey the Bees had secured at the cost of three Knight Bees and countless ordinary soldiers was abandoned, allowing the mushroom to reap the benefits. Although they were mostly useless skills, she was the absolute winner in this chaos.
The Bees had deployed their entire army and gained nothing; instead, they had lost a significant portion of their forces.
Marlow thought that the enmity between mushrooms and Bees had deepened even further. Add to that the Queen Bee, who had been given a magical wake-up call by the Elf, and it wasn’t impossible that she would chase them to the ends of the earth in a fit of morning rage.
However, the Queen Bee’s next move puzzled her.
The massive Queen Bee flapped her wings and flew into the air above the forest. She was surrounded by the remaining Bees, who acted like escort ships guarding a flagship.
Once the returning main force joined them, they didn’t chase after the direction she and the Elf had fled. Instead, they headed in the opposite direction, toward the heart of the dense forest.
‘The Queen Bee is running away with her vassals?’
When this thought entered her mind, she startled herself.
The Elf and the mushroom were nothing more than unkillable cockroaches—persistent and annoying, but hardly worth the Bees abandoning their home and migrating their entire race.
She could shamelessly claim that was the case, but thinking carefully, she realized it probably had little to do with them. The mushroom was likely just a catalyst.
The true reason was that there was no more food for the Bees in this area.
From the moment she had seen the Unified Will skill and decided to hunt the Bees until now, her observations through the Fungal Network revealed the daily routines of the Bee aerial forces. In fact, she had thought they were patrolling their territory, but now she realized they were likely out foraging.
Even Marlow had only seen a single Grey Wolf in all this time, spending the rest of her time outwitting Slimes. One could imagine how difficult life was for the carnivorous Bees.
Perhaps the trade with the frog was a temporary attempt to bring back some food. After all, the food shortage meant they couldn’t support so many Bees, so it was better to sacrifice some in exchange for sustenance.
In the end, she had ruined that too.
The mushroom almost laughed aloud, thinking with schadenfreude, ‘How tragic.’
“Oh no!”
Just as she was enjoying herself, she heard the Elf cry out. It was as if she had fallen into some deep pit or trap; everything around them went dark.
Not only that, but Marlow’s perspective also turned dark and blurry, just as it had been when she first reincarnated into this world.
Her smile vanished instantly.
The connection to the Fungal Network had been severed.