CH 126

A foul smell reaches my nose.

The smell of the sewer mixed in with the smell of all sorts of foods creates an indescribable stench that fills the underground passages.

There is a line of mushroom people carrying plates with food, and another line leading outside composed of mushroom people holding empty plates. We advance quickly next to them.

We pass by a few broken and very dim illumination devices. It’s very dark where the light doesn’t reach, so we have to watch our step.

“Something is coming!”

Ahri lets out a quiet yell.

In the darkness, a human shadow appears.

I see a face I think I’ve seen before. Three faces actually, but only one body.

One on the head.

One on a shoulder.

One on the torso.

It also has four additional arms dangling from its abdomen. They’re all holding ragged looking cylinders. They’re gun barrels of magic guns, bent in the middle.

This strange sight immediately puts me on high alert. The six eyeballs are looking straight at us.

I stop my noisy footsteps.

Ahri, Roa, and Taula do the opposite, and accelerate with weapons in hand.

The three headed being stops Ahri and Roa’s attacks by using the magic guns like clubs.

Taula slips by and unleashes a slash, cutting off one of the arms.

Ah, I remember. It’s those three I used to see talking to Rihalzam in the alchemist association. They were an adventurer party, but they seem to have been completely turned into a chimera. There’s no helping them at this point.

…If I remember correctly, one of their names was…

“Deden.”

The head on the torso rotates and glares at me.

It evades Taula’s second attack, jumps, and grabs on to the ceiling with the arms growing from the

abdomen. It ‘s coming my way, like it’s crawling on the ceiling.

I quickly try to activate a scroll.

It’s fast! Am I going to make it in time?

Seilook, who is on my shoulder, opens its mouth wide, and magic elements start glittering.

“Seilook! Hold back!”

I say, fearing that Seilook could destroy the whole passage.

The three headed being jumps from the ceiling, trying to fall on me, and Seilook pierces it with a superfine dragon breath.

It separates into several fine rays of light, and opens a few holes in the three headed being’s limbs.

All three mouths groan in pain.

Its momentum is killed, and it limply starts falling, as Ahri and Roa’s spears rapidly approach from left and right.

The three headed being is skewered and held in the air. Taula runs around in front of me and slashes, cutting all three heads.

“It’s not over yet!”

Warns Roa.

One of the cut heads opens its mouth, and a black mushroom jumps out, right in front of me.

Thanks to Roa’s warning, I’m calmer than I would have been otherwise. I grab the scroll floating to my left, and smack the mushroom in front of me as hard as I can.

My left hand has the magic crest, so my attack is coated with potion and very strong against the mushroom.

The mushroom is flattened, and melts.

I look around, not letting my guard down, but no further warnings come from Ahri or Roa.

I take a deep breath, and my eyes meet Taula’s.

“I’m sorry Rust. I should have finished it.”

She’s talking about not cutting the parasitic mushroom itself.

“No, I think our teamwork is pretty good for a team put together on such short notice. With the support from Ahri and Roa’s magic eyes and your attack power, I feel like we have a pretty good balance.”

“I think I failed as a vanguard the moment an attack reached you, the back row.”

“No…”

I’m more of a researcher, so I actually don’t really know a lot about this sort of thing.

I look at Ahri and Roa, as if asking what they think.

“Taula is the same type as Lady Kalin. I’m better suited to support Master Rust. You were in the way earlier.”

Roa shows no mercy, but Ahri doesn’t step in either.

“I-in the way…”

Taula looks disappointed. She probably feels she can’t retort because she thoughtlessly let that mushroom escape.

“Focus on attacking without thinking about what’s behind you. That’s your style. Believe in us and let me and my sister handle that.”

Continues Roa, with no emotion on her face.

“Understood. I will do that.”

Taula doesn’t argue. As I watch their back and forth, I think this honesty is one of Taula’s qualities.

Mushroom people are still walking with plates on their hands, even while this is happening. It’s like they didn’t care about that fight at all.

This kind of gives me chills, but we have to hurry.

Ahri and Taula silently look at each other, before Taula takes the lead and we continue moving forward.