Reincarnated as a Mushroom?-Chapter 80 - 79: Conclave of Kinship

Chapter 79: Conclave of Kinship: The Gathering of Shifting Shadows

After boldly declaring her intentions to the scattered scavengers lingering in the room—that she, Onyx, would claim Irvine for herself next—she carefully lowered the limp, captive Sophia onto the floor with a tenderness that belied her fierce possessiveness. Then, eyes sharp as emerald blades, Onyx scanned the room like a sovereign surveying her unruly court.

"Ugh, fixed points are the worst—especially when they don’t revolve around you, my universe," she muttered with an almost amused disdain.

Confusion furrowed my brow. "This was a fixed point? But there didn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary just now."

Onyx’s tail flicked toward a single figure, and her eyes glinted with cryptic amusement. "Not at this exact moment, Irvine. The fixed point is the expression on her face—Samantha’s—when she first laid eyes on me."

Turning in the direction of Onyx’s gesture, I saw Samantha standing rigid, eyes locked upon Onyx’s alien form, face drenched in a cocktail of reverence, awe, and unmistakable worship.

"Oh, a stalker gene-caste bio-form," Sophia observed with a faint smile, her voice edged with curiosity and mild skepticism. "I didn’t expect you to bring such a rare and elite creature with you, my sweet. But I do wonder—how do you intend to have your way with Daddy~ here, when your form lacks reproductive organs?"

Onyx didn’t waste words. For a moment, her eyes flashed vibrant green like twin auroras, and her body shimmered, twisting and reshaping until she stood in a sleek, humanoid form. On her toes, she leaned forward, resting her head gently against my shoulder, arms wrapping around my waist in a grip tight enough to threaten splitting me in two.

"Oh, trust me, infiltrator," she whispered with a venomous purr. "Even without these parts, I would find some way to plant my universe’s seed inside me."

Her arms tightened like iron shackles, and for a heartbeat I thought I might actually be cleaved in twain.

Sophia’s breath caught, utterly awestruck. What a unique specimen—even by stalker standards. Her gaze flicked left, where Samantha still stood frozen, mouth agape in silent shock.

"Samantha!" Sophia’s voice cut through the silence like a whip, pulling the girl back to reality. "Stop standing there like a fish with your mouth open. I told you—the command has been given."

Reluctantly, Samantha tore her gaze from Onyx’s formidable form and obeyed, murmuring with a blush, "As you wish, Mother." Then, turning to me, her cheeks brightened momentarily before she whispered, "G-Goodbye, Daddy." And with that, she sprinted from the room.

The sudden hush left a heavy silence hanging between us, broken only by my ragged breaths as I struggled to stand.

"Onyx, hah, c-can you let me go? I’m about to lose my legs under this crushing embrace," I wheezed.

Realizing she’d nearly incapacitated me with her strength, Onyx released me with a playful, "Whoopsie~."

I exhaled sharply, feeling relief flood my limbs. "What is it with this hive and nearly crippling me with affection?"

The thick, palpable sexual tension evaporated, leaving me free to sit back down on the couch—only to find another clingy presence settling beside me. I turned my gaze to Sophia, curiosity bubbling beneath my exhaustion.

"So," I gasped, "what exactly is this command you gave Samantha?"

Sophia took the seat beside me, her voice calm but carrying an undertone of pride. "It’s nothing too dramatic, my sweet. Every member of the family retains a fragment of their original species deep within them. To soothe that tethered humanity, I’ve organized a little gathering downstairs—an intimate party just for you."

At the word party, Onyx’s head snapped up sharply, her lips whispering a single treasured word: "Shrimp."

Knowing that delicacy was her favorite, she slipped out of the VIP suite in near silence, intent on devouring as many shrimp as her body could handle—a first, physically consuming her favorite food.

Meanwhile, I looked back at Sophia. "A party? Sounds like a damn good time. How many of your ’family’ are showing up?"

Sophia considered, calculating carefully with her sub-hive brain—an intricate network connected solely to her devoted followers.

"Under ideal circumstances, the entire cult would attend," she explained. "But many are off-world, or tied up in high political or military roles and cannot come. Plus, we have to balance the available space while keeping the nightclub open to the public, so only about three thousand have gathered tonight."

"Three thousand?" I mused. "That’s a respectable crowd for little old me. Out of curiosity, how many people have you managed to ’bring into the fold’ overall?"

A flicker of pride crossed Sophia’s face as she processed the figures. "Currently, my sweet, roughly 0.00002% of the population has successfully bonded with a parasite."

"That seems low," I admitted, "but I don’t know the population size. What are we talking about?"

Sophia’s voice dropped slightly, as if sharing a secret. "The planet currently houses about five hundred billion humans, alongside eight billion Sepiida—according to the last census."

I staggered back in my mind, shocked not only by the planet’s overwhelming population but by how many she’d covertly infected without arousing suspicion.

Leaning over, I planted a kiss on her cheek. "Well done, Sophia. A hundred thousand cultists quietly bound to you—that’s impressive."

Sophia giggled, blushing at the compliment before standing gracefully.

"Thank you, my sweet. Now come—we can’t leave the cultists waiting too long or they’ll start to grow restless."

As I rose to follow, I reached for my backpack, but she stopped me with a soft command.

"You may leave that here for now. It will be safe."

"Okay, but I’m bringing Kiya for the safety of your staff."

Opening the metal bag’s top, fumbling slightly since telepathic commands don’t work on mechanical locks, Kiya — still sheathed — emerged, floating around me like a silent sentinel.

Strapping her on my back, I followed Sophia out of the suite into the roaring pulse of the nightclub. Fortunately, the drunken, dancing crowd parted for us like parting seas, granting us swift passage to the bar.

Behind the counter, we slipped through a door leading to a narrow corridor that ended at an elevator.

The elevator’s descent was accompanied by an eerie, looping melody that somehow felt familiar yet disconcerting.

Noticing my puzzled expression, Sophia sighed in irritation.

"The sound is integrated into the elevator’s electrical system. I can’t turn it off, no matter how many mechanics I call. Ronnie said the elevator... only thinks this song on repeat. The creator was pure evil."

Kimchi’s scowl deepened, her displeasure clear, but I found the tune oddly upbeat. I wisely kept that to myself.

Twenty uncomfortable seconds passed in elevator silence before the ding announced our arrival.

Taking a deep breath, Sophia stepped out first, with Kimchi and me trailing closely behind.

We walked another corridor until we stood before heavy double doors.

Sophia turned to me, cheeks flushed, eyes shimmering with vulnerability.

"My sweet," she whispered, "Inside, I’ll be performing. I’ll change slightly—don’t think less of me when you see it."

A smile cracked across my face at her shy confession.

"I couldn’t think less of you if I tried—"

But before I could finish, her body convulsed in a strange twitch.

Blood seeped from her mouth, sharp teeth erupted like jagged obsidian, fingernails grew into razor claws, and two wing-like appendages burst from her back, flexing with eerie grace.

Her once-pristine white dress was stained crimson.

She discarded it, revealing her immaculate, terrifying form, then draped a hooded robe—prepared and waiting nearby—over herself, wings sliding through slits crafted for that very purpose.

She looked back at me, a look of pain and nervous hope mingling in her eyes.

Sophia had been denied full access to the link for nearly two decades, only glimpsing it in fleeting fragments. She wasn’t sure if her mate—me—would accept this monstrous new visage.

"This form is the last remnant of what I once was," she confessed. "The rest was consumed, or used to create nest pods to strengthen the cult. Samantha looked mostly human, but this... this is me."

Her voice trembled with a fragile honesty.

"I’m sorry if you find this version of me undesirable, but if I lose any more of my genetic structure, I will collapse."

Having spent too long around humans to fret over appearances, I deliberately shifted the mood.

"What are your wings for?" I asked simply.

Sophia blinked, confused by the selective focus.

"They’re vestigial, Irvine," she answered. "Some fresh cultists like seeing more alien features, so I sprouted these for their sake."

"Hmmm, cool," I shrugged. "Let’s head in then." fгeewebnovёl.com

Sophia’s confusion deepened.

"You don’t hate my current form?"

"To be honest, Soph, not much has changed. You got wings, got bloody. I once made out with a gore-drenched Kimchi and swallowed some Ker’min blood. It was nasty as fuck, but I didn’t care."

Holding her hand carefully, so as not to get sliced by her claws, I reassured her.

"Looks are secondary. I fell in love with the Hive, not just its bio-forms. So stop acting like a big human baby and let’s go meet the family."

A wave of relief washed over Sophia’s face, her confidence rekindled.

Pushing doubts aside, she donned her Mother Persona like a crown and flung open the double doors.

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End of Chapter