The treetop city, on the outskirts of Isildorin.

Selden, the elf mage who once slew a scout Puji with lightning, crossed an old, decaying wooden bridge and entered an abandoned hut.

A wall woven of interlaced branches slid aside silently, revealing an entrance. Selden slipped in, descended the spiral staircase carved into the great tree, and finally pushed open a stone door disguised as a rock face, stepping into a familiar hidden chamber.

The Grand Mentor and other core members were already waiting, their voices and faces blurred.

As soon as Selden entered, he asked, “The rangers are watching us so closely these days. To summon me urgently now… it can’t be good news, can it?”

The nearest elf gave a wordless gesture toward the stone dais at the center of the chamber.

Selden followed his gaze. A translucent crystal glimmered with faint light.

He recognized it as a simpler, one-way receiver compared to a message crystal. It only shone when its twin on the other side had been crushed, and would keep flashing until the stored mana was exhausted.

“What does this mean?” Selden frowned.

“It means the first stage is proceeding smoothly,” another elf whispered.

But Selden knew better. If all was truly smooth, there’d be no need to expend such a consumable signal crystal. A direct return report would suffice.

“Who carried out the confirmation task?” he pressed, a foreboding already creeping into his heart.

“It was Pelagel.”

Selden’s pupils contracted. Pelagel’s absence spoke for itself.

“Why wasn’t I told?!” he all but snarled.

“It was Pelagel’s own request,” came the reply. “He said that if you knew, you’d insist on going with him.”

“So he ditched me and walked into a trap alone?!” Selden’s body trembled with fury. He whirled, ready to storm out.

“Where are you going?” An elf grabbed his arm.

“Where else? To the dungeon, to drag that arrogant fool out alive!”

“Selden, don’t be rash.” At last, the Grand Mentor, silent until now, spoke. His voice was not loud, but it carried clearly to all. “If the danger were manageable, Pelagel would already have returned. If even he cannot cope, then you going would only mean another death.”

“So we’re just abandoning him?!” Selden’s fists clenched, knuckles pale with strain. “He did this for the ‘Oath of the Ark’!”

“Exactly because of that!” The Grand Mentor’s eyes, too, carried deep pain. “Our mission now is to ensure his sacrifice is not wasted.”

He immediately summoned an elf, instructing her to monitor all movement around the dungeon, paying special attention to anyone entering or leaving.

Then he swept his gaze across the chamber, each member feeling the weight of his resolve. “Listen well. Sacrifice is inevitable. The plan comes first, above all else. Even if one day the one who must be sacrificed is me.”

He patted Selden’s shoulder, then shifted the topic to the new Surveillance Array.

Selden clenched his fists for a long while, chest heaving, before he forced all his grief and rage back down, silently praying for Pelagel.

——

“For the Oath of the Ark!”

In the chamber, the shadow-shrouded elves raised their voices in unison, as though enacting a solemn rite.

Then, as one, they turned toward the single figure who had remained silent—Pelagel.

“Why don’t you speak?” one asked.

Pelagel stood unmoved. “You… are not comrades.”

“Pelagel, what nonsense are you saying?” The others stepped aside, revealing the veiled figure in the wide-brimmed hat behind them—the “Grand Mentor.”

“You aren’t the Grand Mentor.” Pelagel strode forward and ripped away the veil.

Beneath was not a face at all, but a green mushroom cap.

Lin Jun: “…”

Seriously? He hadn’t even started his interrogation routine yet, and already he was exposed?!

Since first breaking into the dream and stealing those two vital phrases—“Oath of the Ark” and “Grand Mentor”—every subsequent attempt at probing had failed.

Even now, when he had seized control of every “NPC” in the dream, Pelagel was like a stone—unyielding, revealing nothing.

Was this guy’s mental defense forged of iron?!

…

In the dungeon cell, Pelagel slowly awoke. His body was veined with spreading white mycelium—clearly parasitized.

He spat with disgust at Louisa and the watching Pujis. “Despicable demonkind! And those useless rangers too!”

Indeed, seeing lizardmen, half-demons, and a vampire together, he had mistaken Lin Jun for an invading demonic faction.

“Pelagel, explain why you’re spreading the Frenzy.” A speaking Puji asked coldly.

Pelagel said nothing. Instead, not far away, Little Pig shuddered faintly.

When the elf kept his mouth shut, a pale mushroom burst from his chest with a wet crack!

“Ugh!” He groaned in agony—but instead of yielding, his eyes blazed fiercer. “You demons will never get anything from me!”

Then came a sharp crack from his mouth. Little Pig lunged forward, prying open his jaws. “He had poison hidden!”

Damn! Suicide tactics? That was a first!

And what was this? Making Lin Jun look like some villain while the one spreading Frenzy came off like a noble martyr?!

“Pin him to the Mycelium Carpet!” Lin Jun ordered at once.

Without hesitation, Little Pig slammed the poisoned, weakening elf onto the writhing fungal mat.

The Carpet linked with the mycelium inside him, and vast mana poured through, forcefully transmuting into skills!

[Poison Resistance LV8]

The flood of raw energy brought searing pain. The conscious elf groaned louder than before!

Not only that—a Puji quickly fetched antidotes and healing potions. Without pause, they pried his mouth open and poured everything down his throat.

Think you can die?

Dream on.

As Pelagel’s lifebar steadied, Lin Jun denied him a second chance.

Hallucinogenic spores soon filled the cell, and Pelagel sank into deep unconsciousness.