Thanks to Serar's final "disperse and withdraw" order, the cult wasn't completely annihilated by the Sword Saint Puchi.
Though heavily damaged, about a quarter escaped using their familiarity with the terrain and scattered routes, vanishing into the vast mountain forests.
Most of the rescued survivors, after brief rest and expressions of gratitude, chose to return to that small town. Their belongings were still there—though likely already ransacked by later adventurers.
Only Eugene stayed behind.
Eugene was a LV47 gold-tier middle-aged man, quite strong among adventurers.
But his real strength wasn't in combat—it was his pharmacology skills.
Making poisons and antidotes were his specialties. He even tinkered with original poison formulations on his own.
His potion shop was the only place in town with signs of battle.
According to Eugene's recollection, those cultists exploited the town's lack of management and infiltrated easily.
They used some kind of potent mixed knockout smoke. Overnight, they knocked out nearly all two hundred-plus residents.
The few who stayed awake through resistance, alertness, or sheer luck couldn't organize effective resistance against these black-robed figures and were quickly subdued.
Eugene had planned to hide until they left.
However, his hiding skills were far inferior to his prowess with bottles and mortars.
Just as he was about to be discovered by the searching Aurora, he had no choice but to strike first with a sneak attack.
Unfortunately, the strength gap between them was clear. His first sneak attack failed to kill Aurora outright, and the following battle... in Eugene's own words, "was like trying to block a decapitation axe with a pestle."
Even worse, this earned him Aurora's special attention. During his captivity, he became her daily source of amusement.
He never thought he'd live to see the sun again, much less imagine that what would pull him from the abyss of despair would be a Puchi.
As someone who'd long done business near Scarecrow Abyss, Eugene was naturally quite familiar with Puchis.
But in his understanding up until then, Puchis were merely practical tools for safe passage through dangerous areas, or high-value familiars for Puchi masters.
As for the "Mushroom Tribe," he'd only heard some dubious rumors from traveling adventurers—it always felt distant from him.
What did it mean for a Puchi to one-shot a diamond-tier powerhouse?
It had even killed the cult's leader!
After personally witnessing the Sword Saint Puchi sever Aurora's arms with more ease than killing a chicken, Eugene's worship of his savior mushroom reached the point where he wanted to prostrate himself and kiss the Sword Saint Puchi's stubby little feet.
Of course, the Sword Saint Puchi didn't need a middle-aged man kissing its feet, but Eugene still acted like a devoted servant, his admiration overflowing.
Upon learning that the Mushroom Tribe could communicate through the "fungal network," Eugene did something that made everyone's jaws drop.
He immediately used the limited medicinal materials at hand to concoct a precisely dosed poison on the spot, swallowed it without hesitation, keeping himself in a near-death but not quite dead state, and successfully completed the parasitization.
Even the Sword Saint couldn't help praising him as "a ruthless one."
Hearing his savior mushroom's mental voice for the first time, his pale face showed satisfaction bordering on religious pilgrimage.
No. 4 was so envious—it wanted a devoted follower like that too.
Now the only one who praised it was Pink Puchi.
But Pink Puchi praised every Puchi she met.
She'd praise No. 10 as reliable, praise Fourteen as amazing, praise it as soft and obedient...
This wasn't what it wanted!!!
By now, everyone in the entire envoy—from chief manager Ronan to the ordinary guards whose faces and names No. 4 couldn't even remember—knew of Fourteen's feat of nearly wiping out an entire vicious cult force single-handedly.
This awe earned purely through strength was clearly reflected in everyone's attitude toward Fourteen.
When Fourteen, carrying four swords, "puchi puchi"-ed past, whether people were chatting or resting, they would unconsciously pause, nod slightly, their expressions respectful, even lightening their breathing. Only Pink Puchi still rua'd it normally.
No. 4 wanted to experience that kind of reverence from others too.
It decided that next time something happened, it would charge ahead of Fourteen...
...
The envoy continued southeast, gradually approaching the border of the Elf Forest. No other people could be seen on the road.
After all, elves never welcomed outsiders—trespassers would really get shot full of arrows like pincushions.
The envoy members had come specifically to negotiate with the elves, so naturally had no particular feelings about it.
The several Puchis didn't think the Elf Forest was anything special—Puchis went wherever they wanted.
Only Eugene grew nervous.
Despite making his living just days' travel from the elf border, he'd actually only seen elves once.
That time, when he first arrived, the group he was traveling with took a wrong path and got stopped by elf rangers with drawn bows.
A foul-mouthed member of the group habitually cursed and immediately got shot through the throat, blood spattering on Eugene's face nearby.
Coming here now, it was impossible not to be nervous.
What made him even more nervous was that Eugene had just realized their group had been quietly surrounded by elves—and no one else had noticed!
Just as he was about to speak up and warn them, steady footsteps came from the forest ahead.
An extremely tall figure stepped through the thick layer of fallen leaves and emerged.
Eugene's pupils contracted sharply, his breath catching.
That height... nearly two and a half meters!
Could there be such tall elves in the world?!
However, when the figure fully emerged from the shadows into the forest's brighter bands of light, Eugene saw clearly.
Behind him, some members of the envoy couldn't help letting out gasps mixing surprise and sudden understanding.
What emerged was indeed an elf—emerald eyes, clad in light yet exquisitely crafted leather armor and a dark green cloak—but that unusual height...
On top of this elf ranger captain Eco's head, who stood about 1.8 meters tall, sat a plump, round Puchi!
Why are there Puchis everywhere?
This question flashed through Eugene's mind, but now clearly wasn't the time for him to speak.
Ronan stepped out from the envoy and produced the kingdom's official documents, handing them to Eco's adjutant for verification.
Eco himself paid no attention to Ronan.
He first glanced at Inanna—he'd heard of this war heroine who'd recently risen to fame thanks to Puchis. Her pink hair and pink eyes were quite distinctive.
Then Eco's gaze swept over the Puchis in the group, finally landing on Fourteen.
For no particular reason, purely on instinct, he felt this Puchi carrying four swords was most likely the most dangerous existence in the entire group.
And for some reason, though he quite liked most Puchis, he instinctively disliked this one he was meeting for the first time.
That Puchi also seemed to be "watching" him, its tentacles even resting on sword hilts.
Interesting...
Just as Eco was considering how to probe this Puchi's origins, the Puchi on his head kicked off his head and jumped to the ground.
At the same time, No. 4 bounded out from Inanna's arms.
"Big bro!"
"Little Four!"
"Big bro!!!"
"Little Four!!!"
The two Puchis, who had only been apart for half a month, embraced.
(End of Chapter)
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