Most of the things they had witnessed until now were an illusion. It was hard to differentiate what was real and false anymore, but... she was one hundred percent sure that the gigantic monster in front of her was real! The sinkhole — absolute blackness — had turned into something so hideous. Its edge filled with serrations, sharp and frightening. It wasn’t really a sinkhole, but a mutated plant. "What the hell is it?" Derek took out his weapon, a long knife he had been using to cut down mutated plants. He flung the knife toward the absolute blackness, which resembled a mouth. The knife flew toward it and then disappeared into the darkness. Then, they saw its stem. Similarly black, as if it had been dipped in ink. It was a mutated mushroom. A gigantic one. The knife had been swallowed by its cap, which now had become its mouth. The tiger let out an earth-shattering roar before it bit into Zerra’s clothes tighter, urging her to leave. But unfortunately, they couldn’t leave. A suction force enveloped Zerra and Derek. The mutated mushroom was trying to eat both of them. They both hurriedly separated, resulting in its mouth swallowing the earth it landed on. A deep crater formed, making their scalps go numb. The suction force behind the mouth in its cap was terrifying. Zerra took out her whip. The cracking sound reverberated, and she stared at the two meters tall mushroom. "It should be the source of illusion," she muttered. Derek analyzed the mushroom grimly. He took some seeds from his bag, scattering them on the ground. When he heard Zerra’s words, he nodded. "So, we can’t get out until we defeat this thing?" He asked gravely. Vitality flowed out of his hand, absorbed by the seeds he had scattered. The thick vines, lush and strong, grew quickly and bound the inky black mushroom. "Be careful." Zerra told the tiger and then turned toward Derek. "Yes, it seems to be the case." The tiger was a little confused about Zerra’s insistence on defeating the ugly thing. Only after she explained briefly about the mushroom’s illusion, which affected both her and Derek, did the tiger’s eyes flash with understanding. The illusion didn’t affect it, after all. Zerra also confirmed with the tiger that the sinkhole that had made it appear in this forest was different. It wasn’t this ugly mushroom, who had a faint rotten smell. So, it was going after them to nourish itself. Just like the mutated mushroom she had found before. However, both mushrooms were of different species. The vines bound the mushroom stem briefly, stopping it from reaching them. Soon, the fragile vines broke down. Zerra was in charge of attacking the mushroom while avoiding the suction force on its cap. The two of them work together; Zerra attacked and Derek tried to hold the mushroom back. "Try to whip its stem or the gills." He breathed, cursing the mushroom for sucking the seeds he had just scattered with some difficulty. Zerra nodded at his suggestion. She used a little trick with her space power. As she whipped toward the mushroom stem, she used the space power. She remembered when the zombie controlled her, and Cassias helped her to make an excuse. He had revealed her space power then. Because of that, she had secretly learned teleportation using her spiritual power. At her current level, she could only move three items at close range before her spiritual energy ran out. So, three attacks. Both of them held their breath, bracing themselves for the result. She had used teleportation to deliver the attack toward the mushroom stem. Something a little incredible happened in front of them in an instant. The stem, like a black mass of wet cotton, was torn apart slightly. It left a deep torn mark. The mushroom cap, as if angry, headed toward Zerra, wanting to pull her. It was as fast as a snake. The tiger stood in front of her, as if wanting to protect her. Yet, she tugged on it, urging it to move away quickly. The tiger was undoubtedly strong, but it was no match for such an enormous gaping mouth. She breathed out after she managed to evade the mushroom’s cap again. This time, she was on the tiger’s back, staring at the mushroom cap, which was busily sucking the vines and vegetation around it. Thankfully, there was Derek, who had diverted its attention in time. "We can get rid of it." There was hope finally. Although the blackness in its cap was like a dangerous sinkhole, its stem was terribly vulnerable. Anyone with awakened abilities could tear it with their power. Unfortunately, they didn’t have an ability user who could do a long-range attack like wind or earth ability users. "Continue to hold it down," Zerra told him. "I will try to slash its stem." "Are you going to approach it?" Derek swallowed. "That’s too dangerous." His complexion had gotten paler after he had used his wood ability without rest. "That’s our only chance." She gripped her whip tightly. "Otherwise, that thing will continue to confuse our senses." "Then, be careful," he warned. His tone was full of worry. "I will continue to hold it back as much as I can." The two worked together again. Zerra used her second chance to use the teleportation to deliver the second attack. More fatal than the first. She frowned and gritted her teeth. Although her effort yielded some results, the stem diameter was too thick. She couldn’t even slash half of it. In the third round, she couldn’t even guarantee she could slash the same spot. The only option left was to approach it, but it was too risky. She controlled the whip. At some point, she managed to tear some serrations on the edge of its mouth. Of course, she had aimed for the grills below, where there was no suction force. After a while, she didn’t get another chance. It seemed that the mushroom had grown quite vigilant in her repeated attacks. Derek’s face had become deathly pale, but he still kept on pushing himself. "Ugh..." she groaned as she evaded yet another suction from the mouth in its cap, stumbling to the ground. "Zerra!" Derek’s voice rang urgently. For more chapters visit NovєlFіre.net The cap was heading toward her at incredible speed, its sucking force as devastating as ever. She tried to get up, but in her haste, she slipped again. Her pupils constricted. All of a sudden, she sensed a strange time and space fluctuation. Just as the mouth was about to swallow her whole, she heard a familiar voice. He arrived near her in seconds, grabbing her figure, and they successfully evaded the mushroom’s sinkhole. She panted heavily as he embraced her tightly. She thought she would be swallowed by that sinkhole. For a fleeting second, she thought maybe it wasn’t that bad. She might get transported to other realms, a way out of these cursed endless reincarnations. But then... she snapped back to her senses. If she exited this world, she might not see her parents, Laziel, Cassias, and others again. "Are you okay?" Cassias asked softly, bringing her out of her sea of thoughts. "Why are you here?" She took a deep breath as she stared at Cassias’ flawless face. It had been a month since the last time she had seen him. He smiled softly at her. "I sense you were in danger." His expression flipped to a grim one. "Fortunately, I arrived in time. Otherwise..." However, now wasn’t the time to reminisce. They both turned their attention to the mutated mushroom ahead, which had started to head toward them again. Cassias grabbed Zerra’s hand. "I will protect you." With that, he stood in front of her, as if becoming a wall that would withstand any attack. "I know what kind of monster it is. Its weakness..." Cassias trailed off. He took out a longsword. As the sinkhole, a complete blackness, was about to reach them again, Cassias swung his sword. The blackness became a bit distorted. "It has the power of space," he explained and was about to swing his sword the second it came down to them again. This time, the sinkhole was coming toward them fast, but Zerra could sense that its suction power had diminished somehow. "Zee, you are exhausted. Just let me do it. I will kill the monster for you–" The whip fell down, just as stubborn as the owner. Not on the mushroom, but on Cassias. He widened his eyes in disbelief. "Zee, what are you doing?!" Then, she heard it. Derek’s voice. The picture of Cassias in front of her abruptly disintegrated. She stared at the collapsing illusion, Cassias’s face with some reluctance. The second whip fell down again, then again. Slashing the mushroom stem as if it were tofu. The few meters mushroom had its cotton-like fragile stem scattered. Then, everything around them began to disintegrate, just like Cassias earlier. "Hiss, what is that monstrosity?" "The tiger! There is also that damn tiger" Zerra lifted her eyes, meeting the gaze of several ability users.