Damn it—【Shukuchi】 won’t work, I can’t retreat!
Wait… doesn’t that mean… I lost again?!
He instinctively turned his head for one last look at that cunning opponent—only to see several fungal tendrils lashing toward him.
【Entangle LV6】
Killing Fifteen outright wasn’t part of the plan; Inanna was still watching. The goal was to bind him, knock him out, and throw him as a human shield against the Sword Saint.
But halfway through their strike, all six tendrils suddenly swerved—
Their new target was the phantom-like figure that had appeared at the very edge of the rift—
Sword Saint Elvien!
He’d been so far away just a breath ago!
What was this?A once-in-a-lifetime ultimate teleport?!
“Hah… haven’t dashed that fast in ages… almost pulled my back.”
Elvien’s left hand raised his still-sheathed long sword, the scabbard hooking perfectly through the pendant loop on Fifteen’s neck, dangling him in midair like a paper charm doll.
Then with his right hand he flicked out a short sword, a casual sweep slicing all six fungal tendrils in an instant!
At the same time, a shock of paralysis slammed through the knight Puji’s body, locking it stiff as stone.
【Status: Paralysis】
Ignoring the mushroom knight at his feet, Elvien studied the dangling, utterly defeated Fifteen with amusement.
“My bad, my bad. I taught you how to swing a sword, but forgot to teach you how to use your head. Look at you—outsmarted by a mushroom.”
With a flick of his wrist, the humiliated Fifteen was tossed onto the paralyzed knight Puji.
Only then did Elvien turn and call out loudly, “Little Inanna—your turn!”
“Coming, coming!” Inanna’s voice was flustered.
She had only seen a flash of silver, then her Sword Saint uncle vanished—then everything was somehow over?
Did the plan work?
She trotted up, finding Fifteen sulking behind Elvien and, on the ground, a huge mushroom draped in a red cape.
With its legs and tendrils cut off, the knight truly did look like nothing but a big toadstool.
“Come on, try that dagger—see if you can bind it.” Elvien jerked his chin at the “mushroom,” tone casual. “If not… well, tonight we’ll taste the King of Pujis.”
Inanna drew a deep breath and pulled out the gemmed dagger—Stoneheart’s Bind.
Her gaze lingered on the knight Puji, chest tight.
Yes, this was the plan—but what if?
What if the dagger really could control her leader?
What if she ended up with a Lin Jun who obeyed her every command…?
The thought hit so hard her hands began to tremble.
Elvien noticed, but misunderstood, and chuckled. “What’s to fear? With my Songstop strike, it’s a block of wood. Can’t even twitch. Tsk, doesn’t feel like Alamar’s kid at all, shaking like that.”
Inanna didn’t explain. She steadied herself, let mana flow into the dagger.
Blue runes shimmered across its blade like living veins.
Without hesitation, she slashed her palm. Blood welled up—but instead of dripping, it was hungrily sucked into the gem, its glow deepening into something sinister.
Then, under everyone’s eyes, she crouched, and plunged the blood-fed dagger into the knight Puji’s wound.
——
Could a mere magic item really control him through a Puji body?
Lin Jun scoffed inside. Maybe if it struck his main body—but through a minion? Impossible.
…Or was it?
This world was absurd enough. Maybe it was possible.
That was why he let Inanna proceed.
Because if some random artifact could hijack him so easily, then this flaw was a sword forever hanging over his neck.
With such a weakness, there would be no hiding, no rising to power.
So better to test it now.
And if he truly ended up a thrall? Well, better Inanna than some unknown enemy. She wasn’t malicious. Maybe a quiet life under her wouldn’t be so bad.
So yes—he was nervous when the dagger went in.
And then—
A new status appeared.
【Fixed State: Intermediate Magic Contract (Inanna St. Clair)】
Lin Jun immediately yanked open his status panel—no changes at all!
So it wasn’t full control. Not useless either. Just… this one knight Puji was bound.
Could he still command it?
——
“Well?” Elvien crossed his arms, amused.
Inanna felt the new tether linking her to the Puji and whispered, “I think… it worked!”
“Oh? Then have it move,” Elvien said.
“Stand up!”
The knight twitched against its paralysis but failed.
And then Lin Jun tried a little push of his own—
The knight Puji suddenly belched a puff of hallucinogenic spores!
“Wind Surge!”
Guge reacted instantly, a gale dispersing the toxin.
He said nothing, only cast a sharp glance at Inanna.
“S-sorry! I’m not used to it yet…” she stammered, tears in her eyes as she shouldered the blame.
Her silly fantasy of “controlling her leader” burst with a pop.
With the “King of Pujis” wrapped up, Elvien had no more reason to linger. He led the team back to the surface.
The maimed knight Puji couldn’t walk, so Inanna hugged its round, squishy body like a bundle.
And just before leaving—Inanna quietly dropped a palm-sized notebook onto the ground behind her.