Lola's face twists in horror as the controlled mushroom people lead their own families like prisoners toward the square.
Vincent clenches his fists, "This... was all planned?"
Lila grins wider, fangs bared. "Of course. I let you all think I was chained, that I needed your help. But you just cleared my path to power."
Mira glances at Virgil's unconscious body, her voice trembling, "You used us."
Lila shrugs. "I used your kindness. That's what Hell Rabbits do best—twist trust into chains."
Lola shakes her head slowly, tears brimming. "But… I believed in you."
Lila's expression hardens. "That was your first mistake."
Behind her, the mist thickens. The villagers under control begin chanting something low and guttural, their spore-caps trembling. The chief groans, trying to rise again, bloodied and broken.
Vincent grips his staff tighter. "We can still stop this."
Lila's mana flares, dark and hot. "You're welcome to try."
She grins. "Stop your chit-chat. Now, who will die first to help me open the Gate of Hell?"
A voice answers, calm and sharp. "I think it's you."
She whirls around and finds Virgil standing, steady and unharmed.
Lila's eyes widen. "How are you okay?"
Virgil lifts his shirt, revealing a faintly glowing spore armour beneath.
She scans the scene again and realises Lola, Vincent, Mira—and even Chief Polo—are standing too.
She turns to scream at the controlled mushroom folk, "Ki—"
But the command dies in her throat as she sees them already subdued by the humans.
Lila stammers, "What's going on?"
Lola steps forward. "After meeting you the first time, and when you accused the chief, I confronted him out of anger."
Chief Polo says, "I explained everything to her. She didn't believe me at first—it was understandable. She saw me kill a villager and chain a Dark Rabbit, creatures known for their virtue."
Lola glances apologetically at the chief. "Sorry, Chief. I'll believe you from now on."
Then she turns to Lila, her eyes cold. "The chief showed me records about Hell Rabbits. Ancient, sacred records he couldn't forge."
Chief Polo continues, "Hell, Rabbits do their evil under the mask of Dark Rabbits. Few survive after uncovering their true identity. One of our ancestors lived by camouflaging herself as an ordinary mushroom when a Hell Rabbit opened the Gate of Hell in a town."
Lola nods. "But we couldn't discover our controlled villagers. If we kill you, they'll just hide and wait for another demon to return. To stop that, they must be purified."
Chief Polo's voice turns grim. "Or die."
Mira adds, "After the meeting, Lola told us the truth. So, we acted for you."
Lila stands frozen, stunned.
She's a Hell Rabbit—she should have fooled them, not the other way around.
"It can't be…" she mutters. "I'm a Hell Rabbit. I don't get tricked!"
She screams, and a storm of purple energy erupts from her body.
Virgil flinches—the danger pulsing from her is immense. He's already moving.
Chief Polo yells, "Stop her! She's sacrificing herself to Hell!"
Virgil charges, but the energy blasts outward, slamming him and everyone else away.
Nearby mushroom houses rip apart, debris flying through the air.
Virgil hits the ground hard, pain flaring across his chest and back.
He grits his teeth and channels Cure Wounds.
Warm light flows through him, dulling the pain.
He pushes himself to his feet.
The village centre is swallowed in thick purple mist.
Around him, the others rise slowly, all staring at the mist with grim faces.
Lola, rallying her resolve, helps lead away the subdued mushroom-folk.
The chief, his guards, and Virgil's group form a loose line facing the mist.
Vincent whispers, "What now? What's going to happen?"
Chief Polo replies, "She may die… or come back stronger."
Mira glances toward the mist. "How much stronger?"
The Hell Rabbit's profession may be hidden or misjudged, but her strength was definitely Rank 5—someone like that wouldn't need such elaborate schemes or allow herself to be captured by Chief Polo.
Virgil feels the ground tremble and assumes it's coming from the village centre—
—but then he notices giant humanoid constructs, formed from fungus, rising silently to surround the purple mist.
A few minutes later, the purple mist spreads.
Virgil closes his eyes for a moment—when he opens them, the village centre is no longer visible.
Now, standing within the haze are fifty snarling imps, and in the middle of them—a monstrous, hulking figure. A humanoid rabbit on steroids, its body swollen with unnatural muscle.
The Hell Rabbit roars with a voice no longer her own, "Kill them!"
The imps charge.
The Hell Rabbit leaps, soaring more than ten meters through the air.
Everyone scatters to avoid the impact.
She crashes down with a shockwave—dust erupts, houses tremble.
Virgil doesn't stop—he charges toward the beast.
Behind him, Chief Polo casts a series of buffs: strength, agility, and guard.
Virgil and the fungus constructs engage the Hell Rabbit.
Chief Polo stays back, supporting with spells.
The others—Lola, Mira, Vincent, and the mushroom guards—take on the imps.
Virgil and the two nearby fungus constructs strike together.
He lets the constructs absorb the brunt of the Hell Rabbit's strength, while he darts around her with blinding speed, slashing, stabbing, retreating.
The battle stretches for an hour.
Eight fungus constructs lie shattered around the square.
The Hell Rabbit—bloodied, panting, her body carved with wounds—staggers at the centre.
Chief Polo raises his staff. "Bind."
Fungus from the fallen constructs slithers up her legs, around her arms, coiling tight.
"Blast."
The vines glow—then detonate.
The shockwave fades.
In the silence that follows, only a broken figure remains—Lila, once again in her original form, lies lifeless in the crater.
Chief Polo lowers his head. "Two hundred years of our village's heritage… destroyed in a single day."
Inside Virgil's sea of consciousness, he hears it—
Minor Event: Two Silver Stars.
Virgil can't check what the silver stars mean—his focus shatters as the cost of victory becomes clear.
Despite overwhelming advantage, Sam, Millie, and Tina are dead, torn apart by the imps.
The group's mood is grim.
No one celebrates.
This wasn't a major victory—it feels like a hollow survival.
They're not even halfway through their journey, yet five members are already gone, their number now down to twenty-seven.
That night, no one sleeps.
Virgil opens the simulation panel—
And suddenly, a video floods his mind.
It replays the events of the last day—but without him.
The Chief fails to kill the Hell Rabbit.
Without Virgil, instead of three deaths, nine fall.
The Hell Rabbit sacrifices an entire rat-man village, gaining more power, and then slaughters several smaller settlements.
In time, she returns to the mushroom village—
burns it to ash in revenge.
She sacrifices a town to open a hell gate—
and walks through the portal, leaving the Underdark behind.
Because of Virgil's presence, that future never comes to pass.
Without him, the Chief couldn't trap the Hell Rabbit—she was too powerful.
It was Virgil who bled her dry, weakening her enough to be bound.
Because of him, many lives are saved.
The system acknowledges his impact:
Minor Event Completed — Two Silver Stars
Reward:
— Two Simulation Opportunities
— Two Instant First-Order Method Simulations
Virgil uses the first instant simulation to complete the Life Sword Technique.
He receives the memory.
Now, he can morph the Life Sword into any weapon, shape it freely for attack or defence.
Because the Life Sword spell reaches Perfection, he notices many common points with Life Guard.
Channelling the spell, he senses areas for improvement—
and refines it to Mastery.
Next, he uses the second instant simulation on Life Guard.
It advances to Perfection.
The system grants him the full memory of the technique—
He finds more shared patterns between it and Life Sword.
There's a clear path to combine them.
But fatigue grips him.
The weight of loss, the drain of combat, the toll of progress—
He closes his eyes and finally sleeps.
The next day, they resume their journey—
with Lola and three mushroom-folk joining them.
Their destination is Panuz City, three caverns away—
and on the way to Tanris City.