Knights of the Faux God

Chapter 11: The Mussis' Fear

"Why do I feel like I'm walking into something's body?" Rin eeked, avoiding to step on maroon mushrooms sprouting from crevasses between the sloping floor's bricks.

It's been about eight minutes since they've entered the tunnel. A straight walk so far, and a straight walk it will probably stay to be, as neither the left wall nor the right appeared to be curving up ahead. Both were rigid, and painted with purple moss-like things that were definitely alive. Their smell similar to dead rats, coagulated meaty texture, and surface glistening as Gleen's lights hovered past them, made the tunnel feel as if it was the throat of something colossal. Rin has just voiced out pretty much what the rest of them were probably thinking.

"That's because we are." Linus gave her an apologetic smile. "This tunnel led us directly into the giant shroom's body. Although we're probably underground by now, these walls are still being encroached by the main organism."

"W-Wait. Are you saying these mushrooms are alive?" Rin's eyes grew, a horrified shade dimming her face. "So creepy."

"Idiot." Bling snapped. "Mushrooms are fungi. They're their own living beings. Of course they're alive."

"What did you just call me?!"

"Keep it down, lady. You don't want these fungi waking up, do you?"

"Wake...up...?" Rin took a pause and gnawed on her nails as she anxiously eyed the mushroom-infested wall next to her.

Bling grinned.

"Cut it out, Bling." Linus scowled. "It's okay, Dame Rin. There are no sentient mushrooms in Trimpell."

Bling's grin dropped. "Side with her, why don't you?"

Rin's nervousness vanished as exasperation quickly took over. She hissed. "Don't you make fun of me, shroom boob."

"Shroom...boob...?" Bling gradually, very gradually, like she was about to face an inescapable truth, looked down.

Rin held her hip with one hand and pointed with another. "That's right! You're flatter than a flat topped mushroom!"

The air around Bling ignited.

"Stop it." Talc tugged on Rin and tossed her behind. "If Rin really is that scared of sentient mushrooms, of course I could make it happen. Though it appears I won't even need to." The black mage pointed ahead.

"Kekek." Abnormally huge white-eyed mole rats with mushrooms growing all over them scurried to attack.

Linus opened his palms, taking a stance to prepare to fight. "Those are shrodents. Their dead bodies are being manipulated by the mushrooms on their backs. Just immobilize them."

Rin, after being tossed by Talc, was squatting on the floor. "D-D-Dead bodies?"

"There's a lot of them." Winston pulled out his weapon.

Dorias buried his blade in a mole's skull. "I didn't think you'd see that as a problem."

A smug grin climbed onto Winston's face. "Just pointing out the fun part."

Rin gasped and looked on with concern crumpling her face. "You guys! We've already seen how crazy confident you two are but right now isn't the time to be cocky! There's only one way to run from here."

"Shard Shots!" Thomas aimed his blade and obsidian bullets launched at the critters.

Winston sliced a mole rat in half. "Alright then. Let's think of a way to end this fast."

"Look there!" Gleen let one of her orbs travel to illuminate holes in the walls.

From there, the shrodents were pouring in like water from a destructed dam.