The mushrooms, sharing a sensory link with the Elf, naturally felt the agony of the piercings.
Although the sensation was somewhat muffled, to be honest, it was nowhere near as intense as what Marlow had felt while inhabiting the Elf’s body directly.
Clearly, the bees were no experts in torture… The damage from a puncture was too one-dimensional. After the initial shock, the sensation gradually grew numb, and she quickly adapted.
The Elf had a talent for this. As for how she acquired such a talent—well, best not to ask.
When she heard Lumina’s signal, Marlow controlled a newly grown cluster of mushrooms to fire Spore Bullets toward the Elf.
Of course, this wasn’t to give the Elf a merciful end.
While it looked like she was attacking her own teammate, it was actually a feint—a desperate plan to escape their predicament.
The Knight Bees surrounding the Elf reacted quickly, darting to the side.
Previously, they wouldn’t have bothered dodging attacks that couldn’t even bypass their defenses. However, after witnessing the effects of the Paralysis Toxin, they chose to evade rather than take the hit.
The bees possessed intelligence. Knowing how dangerous the mushrooms were, they would certainly be on guard. By exploiting this, Marlow could temporarily clear the space around the Elf.
But they would never retreat too far.
The first wave of the Spore barrage struck the Rapier pinning Lumina down. As the sturdy restraint loosened, the Elf scrambled to her feet. Ignoring her arm, which was numb from the shock, she gripped her staff and used Entangle on herself.
The next wave of spores slammed into the wooden vines binding her. Using the momentum of the impact, Lumina launched herself outward.
They hadn’t seen that coming—this was the real escape route.
Realizing their intent, the bees crushed the cluster of mushrooms. At the same time, several knights flapped their wings to give chase, but they were too late. The Elf, still wrapped in the wooden vines, rolled into the soft mud and began to sink slowly.
She had entered the Gloomwood Marsh.
The solid ground turned into soft, rotting sludge. The air was thick with the foul stench of earthy musk and stagnant water. It was dark and damp, and while the field of vision was wider here than in the Woodland, the distant landscape was perpetually shrouded in a blurry gray mist.
Vague reflections were visible in the fog—the broken remains and severed limbs of Screaming Woods. Their silhouettes were grotesque and twisted, looking like terrifying figures struggling as they sank into the bog.
Nearby, faint points of light flickered. It was Glow Grass, emitting a weak, shimmering green luminescence.
Everything was silent, so quiet that only the buzzing of the bees’ wings remained.
The Elf couldn’t help but wonder if reaching the Swamp Area would actually help them lose the bees. After all, a knight was charging straight at them, showing none of the hesitation or wariness she had expected.
Lumina gripped her staff tightly.
Dizzy from the impact of the Spore Bullets, she felt she couldn’t dodge in time. She planned to use her staff to parry the knight’s thrust.
Marlow couldn’t help but speak up. ‘Give me control of your hands for a moment.’
The Elf’s performance when enemies got close was truly subpar. Although Marlow didn’t have much experience in close-quarters combat herself, Staff Strike was at least a solid melee skill.
Actually, a few more holes in the body wouldn’t matter much. After being stabbed so many times already, one more wouldn’t hurt.
However, the knight’s attack seemed to be aimed directly at the head. It was hard to say if getting her head blown off would be permanent, so it was necessary to intercept.
Lumina didn’t hesitate. “What do I do?”
‘Relax. Don’t resist.’
Whatever influence Marlow could exert over the Elf was mostly done through the Mycelium. Since the Elf’s body was already nearly half-composed of Mycelium, Marlow could usually create minor bits of pain to scare her.
But when Lumina didn’t resist—or even actively cooperated—what she could achieve became much more significant.
She was just surprised the Elf had agreed so readily.
‘Aren’t you afraid I’ll take this chance to seize your body?’
Lumina simply looked dazed and asked, “Didn’t you say you didn’t want it?”
‘Ah, right. I did say that.’ But it wasn’t the same thing.
‘It was a mess back then, so taking over would have been useless. Now, although there’s still a crisis, it’s much better than before. It’s hard not to be tempted.’
‘What a backstabbing mushroom,’ Lumina thought indignantly.
Then, she suddenly said with great sincerity, “I trust you, so I’m not afraid.”
It felt like a petty person judging a noble heart. Marlow was momentarily choked up by the Elf’s blunt honesty.
She had just wanted to tease her, but instead of finding amusement, she felt a pang of guilt toward Lumina.
Coming at her with such directness was just unfair.
If she didn’t resolve this situation stylishly, how was she supposed to maintain her dignity as the Lord of Fungi in front of the Elf?
‘Bring it on, knight.’
Gripping the staff, a long-forgotten sense of familiarity surged within her.
Even though she hadn’t used it in a long time, she didn’t feel rusty at all.
This was likely the benefit of skills. No matter how long they were set aside, they could always be used with high proficiency.
Aiming the head of the staff at the knight’s Rapier, she swung down with all her might. As long as the timing was right, the opponent’s original sword path would be deflected.
She succeeded, but only partially.
The Rapier that had been heading for her head was pushed down to the bottom right, piercing through a few centimeters below her ribs. The little Elf’s youthful face contorted in pain, yet she still said cheerfully, “Great job, Marlow. You did it.”
Compared to the time the Elf had tried to defend herself and got her heart pierced, this was indeed a success.
However, Marlow had originally envisioned stylishly parrying the thrust without getting hurt. Faced with Lumina’s praise, the mushroom felt sheepish and remained silent.
Before she could even recover from her embarrassment, she felt herself being kicked offline at lightning speed.
Marlow was stunned. ‘Didn’t you say you trusted me?’
This behavior of burning bridges and kicking her out after using her didn’t seem very “trusting.”
Lumina’s eyes darted around, avoiding a direct answer. Her face flushed slightly as she pretended not to hear Miss Marlow’s voice.
Seeing the Elf like this, how could Marlow not understand her little scheme?
‘Damn it, give me back my guilt!’
The Elf used to be such a pure and fun little thing, but now she had so many tricks up her sleeve. As expected of the Priest class—no matter how they looked on the outside, they were all dark on the inside.
“I’m sorry, Marlow. I really do trust you. It’s just that you scare me so often, so…”
So it was her fault after all.
‘Hmph.’
The bees didn’t seem inclined to let them lounge around. Aside from the one already in pursuit, three more knights and a swarm of ordinary bees crossed the boundary.
They seemed hesitant, yet determined.
Judging by their numbers, it was clear that the bees were wary of the Swamp Area. The fact that they were still choosing to pursue under these circumstances suggested their hatred ran deep.
Unfortunately, they had missed their chance to kill the Elf decisively. They wouldn’t get another.
Lumina hesitated for a moment, her violet eyes suddenly widening. She struggled to keep from laughing, putting on a mock expression of regret.
“Oh dear, a new title… but it arrived a bit late. I feel like I won’t even need it.”
**[The individual has met certain conditions and obtained the title Escape Master.]**
**[Escape Master]**: Death is coming, but He cannot catch you. Awarded to those who have repeatedly fled from danger.
Effect: Briefly increases the Agility stat to provide an explosive burst of speed. Can be activated manually. Cooldown: 1 day.
Breakthroughs in battle, obtaining titles in moments of crisis—was the Elf actually a protagonist?
Although Marlow didn’t know the specific requirements for obtaining titles, they were meant to be distinct from skills and were likely much more difficult to acquire.
Otherwise, the Elf’s original party wouldn’t have lacked even a single title.
“Repeatedly fleeing from danger” didn’t sound that hard on paper. But considering how rare titles were, did it mean… danger that was truly on the brink of death?
And the Elf just happened to find a loophole. She had indeed sustained fatal wounds—the kind that would have killed anyone else.
However, a body fused with Mycelium didn’t die easily. This meant every single “escape from danger” was counted as a successful triggered condition.
It made sense.
If anyone else tried to replicate this, they would have likely died during the trial without the powerful regenerative abilities provided by the Mycelium.
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