The giant slime continues to burrow its way through the tunnel with Victor resting at its back.

Victor: Sweet. This is really convenient. Thanks big guy!

Victor (thinking): Come to think of it…Where is this thing even taking me? If I remember correctly, these slimes help Mr. Springbottom bring stuff from the surface. Could it be trying to bring me outside?

Victor:...

Victor (thinking): I still can’t get behind the size of this thing. It still makes me nervous…It won’t attack me right…? Will it suddenly suck me into its body and dissolve me like acid or something…?

Victor is briefly reminded of his encounter with the wanted slime in Pillberry, and it sucking the can that Sharon kicked at it into its body.

Victor sees something in the distance. As the figure gets clearer he sees a man suited in knightly armor, his face obscured behind a helmet and wielding a spear.

Victor (thinking): Is that another person?! Why is there somebody here?

Victor (thinking): Could it be an adventurer?! One that got lost just like us? What a coincidence!

Victor calls out to the person in armor: Hey–!!! Do you need help–?!!

The knight remains rigid and unresponsive. Victor continues to call out to the knight.

As they approach closer, the knight begins to move. It clamps its spear with the other hand. The torso shifts into a stance. The knight leaps into the air, raising its spear with both arms.

Victor: Huh–?

The knight brings its spear down onto the head of the giant slime, squishing it against the floor and stopping it in its tracks. The repulsive force of the slime’s spongy body bounces Victor off of it.

Victor looks up to the knight: Wait…!

Victor: Hold on! Why did you attack us…?!

The knight silently raises its spear again, this time with the pointed tip aimed at the head of the dazed slime.

Victor: Wait! Don’t! That slime isn’t dangerous! It’s friendly! It saved me!

The knight brings the spear down. Victor leaps forward to catch the spear in time.

Victor: What the heck’s your problem…?! Why did you attack us like that?!

Knight: ….

Victor: Answer me! Why aren’t you saying anything at all?!

The weight of the spear shifts and it becomes heavier.

Victor: Damn! He’s putting more force into it! I can’t hold on–!! – He says struggling to keep the spear in place.

In an act of desperation, Victor activates his steam gauntlet. He easily overpowers the knight, knocking him back. Using the momentum Victor swings his arm into the knight’s chest. The knight gets knocked back and its head pops right off.

Victor: HUH??!

Victor: Oh no…!!!

The body of the knight flops lifelessly onto the ground, the head rolling besides it. Victor runs up and grabs the head.

Victor: Damn it! I didn’t think I'd be this strong! I’m sorry!

Victor hears the sudden sound of footsteps behind him. He turns around to see another person adorned in adventuring equipment.

Victor: …What the hell? Another one?

The other knight takes a step towards Victor. An arrow zooms by passing Victor and hitting the knight through the slits of the eyehole. A familiar voice calls out to Victor.

Familiar voice: Victor!

Victor turns around to see Sharon waving at him, along with Darren, Windie and Queenie following along.

Victor: You guys!

Victor: How…Did you even find me?! How’d you get here?!

Sharon: It was Windie that found you all first. It discovered you and Tatsuo in a large hole, and so we followed Windie back through a small entrance hidden within the Ellen’s roots.

Victor’s mind took a step back to make sense of Sharon’s response.

Victor: …Ok. So like, how does that work? How’d you know to follow Windie? How did you know about us being trapped underneath some big hole?

Darren: I questioned the same thing. According to her, she can understand what it (Windie) says.

Victor glances at Windie back and forth.

Victor: …

Victor: What? How? It just squeaks!

Darren: I know right? Bullshit.

Sharon: Ha. Ha. And look where that got us. Face it, you guys just can’t comprehend my greatness!

Darren (demeaning): Mhmm…

Sharon: Anyways, how did you end up here? And where’s Tatsuo?

Victor: Ah! Me and Tatsuo got separated…

Darren bends down at the beheaded corpse of the knight: Woah. Did you kill a dude?

Victor: Yeah! Apparently! Wait no–!

Victor: How did you guys find me here?! We weren’t at the hot springs anymore!

Sharon: …Hot springs?

Darren: Is that what was underneath all that rubble we saw? Makes sense with all that water under it or whatever it was.

Victor: Huh…? Did you guys not see it…?

The arm of the soldier that Sharon felled spurs into the air, as if gesturing to be saved.

Victor: Look…! The guy that you shot down…! He’s still alive!

Victor: He’s most likely one of the adventurers that got lost in these caverns just like us, we’ve gotta help him! - Victor impulsively runs towards the body.

Sharon reaches out to Victor: Hold on–! Wait–!

Once Victor got close to the body, the ceiling begins to gradually crack open like an eggshell. It explodes atop of Victor, dust and rocks begin to rain on him. At the center a large shadowy blob hatches out, its shadow looming over him. Before getting crushed, Windie swoops in on time to snatch Victor away from any harm.

The shadowy figure lands on the ground, a heavy thud follows from the impact. The shadow rises, clearing the dust clouds and reveals itself to be the giant moss monster that Tatsuo fought.

Sharon: What in the…

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Victor: Holy shit…! What is that?!

Victor: Well, now that I take a closer look. It kinda looks like my poop after I ate too many greens, but it got turned into a monster…

Sharon: Not needed thank you very much…

The monster cautiously observes the group. The ground near the moss monster begins to crack. More bodies of adventurers begin sprouting from the ground as if zombies.

Victor: Wha–! More of those guys showed up! So it was that monster’s doing all along…?! Just what is that monster anyways…?

Queenie: I believe that is a Moss Goliath…Though it’s strange. Its appearance is different from the ones I’ve seen. If I were to guess…It was originally a regular Moss Goliath, but based on the number of adventurers that fell victim to it, it evolved into some sort of super species.

Victor: Hold on– Did you say victims? So you mean those were all real people?

Queenie: Correct. Moss Goliaths can infect others through vegetation that grows from them and spores that they produce. Once infected, a Moss Goliath will run dry of its target’s life energy until it's dead. The corpses can then be used as a host for the Moss Goliath to control, much like what you’re seeing happening right now. These infections can also be spread by the smaller moss monsters it commands. The vegetation you see wrapped around the bodies of those adventurers and the flower sprouted on top of their heads is a sign of an infection.

Queenie: Though it's rather peculiar. It’d take a long period of direct exposure for a Moss Goliath to thoroughly infect a human, much less capable adventurers.

Victor: I see…It makes more sense now…Why some of the mushroom monsters ended up attacking me. Some of them had flowers on their heads.

A sudden instance of realization strikes Victor.

Victor: Hold on a minute…

The corpses begin to advance onto the group. Though they began the approach in a slow puppet-like motion, they gradually speed up which catches Victor off guard who was in the middle of collecting his thoughts.

Darren and Windie swiftly dispatches the impending corpses. A blade of wind bisects a body, cleaving the rest after it. Darren knocks the head of a nearby corpse off with a flying kick. He nonchalantly lands in front of Victor unscathed as the headless body thumps on the ground.

The Moss Goliath makes no move. It continues to stare at the group with a discerning expression.

The Moss Goliath mends its forearms into the earth below and the walls surrounding the group begins to slowly churn around them. While distracted by the morphing walls, vines whip out from below and ensnares Victor and Darren.

Sharon rushes to Victor but the rock walls slam together, shutting her out and singling her out from the group. The same follows with the rest of them and the group soon find themselves imprisoned by rock walls surrounding and separating them. Victor’s however, is left excluded, leaving him alone with the Moss Goliath that now treads closer to him.

Victor desperately shakes himself around in an attempt to free himself from the vines.

Victor: Damn!!! So the walls changing was all this thing’s doing!! Guess that’s how me and Tatsuo got separated then…!

Victor's ensuing panic worsens the closer the Moss Goliath approaches. Like a predator slowly approaching its prey, the Moss Goliath slowly inches itself at Victor with his back against the entangled walls.

*Meanwhile at the deeper levels underground.

Tatsuo and Mr.Springbottom look up at the tall waterfall, evaluating its height.

Mr.Springbottom: Hmmmm…That’s a pretty long fall that we took…I can’t even see the top. This is quite the conundrum…

Tatsuo crouches down while extending his arm behind him, gesturing in a position for a piggyback ride.

Tatsuo: Get on. – He tells Mr. Springbottom.

Mr. Springbottom: What?! What do you think you’re doing…?

Tatsuo: I’ll carry you up there.

Mr.Springbottom: Nonsense! That’s crazy boy! There’s no way you could scale that high a wall yourself…!

Tatsuo: Believe me, I can. It’s not like you have much options, do you?

Mr. Springbottom clamps his lips against each other, unable to give a retort.

Tatsuo: If you start getting cold feet, you could always abandon me and fall back into the river. It’ll save and eventually heal you just like it did when we first fell. I’ll make sure to climb right besides the waterfall so that you won’t have any problems falling into the stream.

Mr. Springbottom bites his lips in frustration. Without making a comment, he reluctantly gets onto Tatsuo’s back, wrapping his arm around Tatsuo’s neck.

Tatsuo: Hang on tight.

Tatsuo leaps onto the rocky walls and much to Mr. Springottom’s amazement, he begins to scale it.

Mr. Springbottom: W-woah…! You’re actually doing it kid…! I can’t believe this…!

The more progress Tatsuo made, the more at ease Mr. Springbottom began to felt. Eventually, the thrill of overcoming such a daunting obstacle began to fill Mr. Springbottom with excitement.

Mr. Springbottom: Yeah, boy! I may not be able to look down to see the bottom, but I sure can now begin to see the top! That’s amazing! We’re really going to make it!

*Meanwhile in Queenie’s cell.

Queenie examines the walls that the moss goliath had trapped her in fascination.

Queenie (thinking): Wow. Fascinating. Who knew a Moss Goliath would be capable of something like this. Turns out what I said might be true.

Queenie briefly takes a moment to weigh the situation, for she was hesitant on exposing her powers to the group.

Queenie (thinking): …It should be fine. None of them would know it’s me anyways.

Queenie places her hand on the wall. The walls that the Moss Goliath formed shifts around and reverts back to how it was previously.

The group churns their head around, trying to make out of what just happened. The three of them gasps and mutter to themselves in visible confusion. The Moss Goliath halts its advancement, taken aback by the undoing of its crafty scheme.

Darren: …What…The heck…?

Sharon: What just happened…? Just now I was trapped with no way out, but then suddenly…

Victor exclaims out in relief: You guys…! Oh my god! Thank god you’re all here! I don’t know what the hell just happened, but I’m so freaking glad you all here right now!

The Moss Goliath sponges part of its body into the ground and wreaths itself backwards. It begins to send the wave of walking human bodies in its stead.

Sharon: Careful everyone, that thing can warp the environment around us. I think it would be better for us to escape from here instead. If we’re going to be fighting it, we’d better finish it fast.

Queenie (thinking): She’s quite perceptive. She’s right. It would be quite difficult for us to fight with its advantage over us. It’d be an easy task if I was able to use my powers freely…Actually, I would like to encase and study it if I could…If it chooses to do so, it could crush us with the walls at anytime…

One of the walking humans reaches its arms out, “H-help me…!”, it says in a sickeningly weak voice.

Victor: Look! You guys heard that! That one might still be alive! Maybe some of them haven’t been completely infected yet! We can save them…!

Queenie immediately halts Victor before taking any brash actions.

Queenie: No! You don’t completely get it…! – Victor pauses to listen to Queenie’s explanation.

Queenie: When a Moss Goliath takes full control of its hosts, it kills them…! What you see before you are nothing more than walking corpses…! You can visibly tell by the flower on their heads…!

Victor: But…That one just…

Queenie: I know, I heard it too. It has probably witnessed others, perhaps those that you see before you now, fall victim in trying to save their comrades. It most likely recognizes these human patterns and behavior, and is trying to trick you with it!

Victor: What…? But…It’s a monster…

Queenie: Yes, but this one is different. Like I said, this is most likely a super species, when it evolved it gained new abilities. The most fearsome one is its intelligence. Think about it, you said it isolated you and Tatsuo, right? And just now it tried to trap us away from each other to pick us off one-by-one! It strategically formed and planned a trap for all of us!

Victor (thinking in sudden realization): She’s right…!

Queenie: Furthermore, look at the way it’s acting now. What do you think most monsters would do in this situation? They’d attack right away, right? But it’s maintaining its distance from us, carefully watching what we do next. Who’s to say it wasn’t using that talking corpse earlier to test for our reactions?

Both Sharon and Darren were also impressed by Queenie’s detailed observations.

Darren (thinking): Damn…This girl…She’s a smart cookie isn’t she…? Now that I think about it though…Maybe she was the one who undid the walls for us…Not that I’ll ask her about it…Ain’t gonna risk my life for that…

Victor’s shoulders sinks down with his newfound epiphany.

Victor: Wow…I didn’t think about it like that…Thank you Queenie…I was about to do something stupid again…

Victor immediately jumps back into his valiant attitude.

Victor: But we can’t just run away here! If we leave it alone, more unfortunate people will fall prey to it! Plus, it’ll mean that Mr. Springbottom is in danger!

Sharon: Wait…Hold on…Mr. Springbottom as in…Clara’s husband…?!

Darren: You guys found him?!

Victor: Hm? Oh yeah, he was the one that rescued me and Tat–

A horrific look of expression appears on his face.

Victor: That’s right…Mr. Springbottom…He had a flower on his head…

Sharon and Darren: What?!

Sharon: Are you sure…?!

Victor: Yeah…It was such an unusual thing, it was one of the first things that grabbed my attention…But he was moving around and talking just fine…Me and Tatsuo didn’t find anything suspicious about him…He was acting very human around us…

Victor turns his head towards Queenie to reaffirm with her.

Victor: Queenie…Are you sure…? About what you said with the flowers…

Queenie: …If what you said is true…Then there’s nothing else we can do about it…

“Mr.Springbottom…He’s dead.”