Reincarnated as a Mushroom?-Chapter 79 - 78: The Hymn of Parasites and the Gathering Storm

Chapter 79: Chapter 78: The Hymn of Parasites and the Gathering Storm

Chapter 78: The Hymn of Parasites and the Gathering Storm

My question—silent and swirling in the void of my mind—became rhetorical the moment Onyx extended her slender, alabaster hand and gently clasped the shimmering caterpillar-like parasite.

"I will absorb the parasite, darling," Onyx declared with quiet authority, her voice a velvet whip slicing through the tension. "There’s no sense letting it waste away, unused."

I blinked, considering. "Why not let Sophia take it back? After all, it’s hers."

Onyx’s gaze softened, a cosmic shrug woven into the curve of her lips. "Hers, mine, ours—these are trivial distinctions, my love. The parasite belongs to the Hive collective, ultimately. But whatever soothes your mind."

She released the tiny creature with a careful flick of her fingers, sending it fluttering like a fragile whisper through the psychic currents.

I extended my own link—a shimmering tendril of psionic energy—reaching across the mental ether to Sophia.

A breath later, her voice rippled through the link with unexpected urgency. "Hmm? My sweet, what is it?"

"I’m sending your parasite back," I replied swiftly. "No point letting it rot here unused."

"Quickly then. Do it now," Sophia’s tone sharpened, worry prickling beneath the surface.

With deliberate haste, I channeled the parasite’s form, suffused with my own psionic essence, and dispatched it along the spectral thread toward Sophia.

Eyes still closed in concentration, I opened them and found her unease palpable, already spilling into words before I could even ask.

"Forgive my rashness, my sweet," she began, voice lowered as though confessing a secret. "Using the link openly, especially away from the Hive’s embrace, is a risk. It can be traced, tracked. I had intended to discuss this later—once you met my followers. But now, here we are."

Sophia’s sapphire eyes glimmered with uneasy candor. "On your way here, I sensed your link activate. Briefly, heavily suppressed—still unmistakable. Luckily, no other psionics of sufficient power are nearby to intercept it, save for myself."

Her warning hung in the air like a whispered incantation. "For the sake of my mission, I implore you: avoid using it unless absolutely necessary."

Her words struck home with a jolt of surprise. How had she detected the subtle psionic dance between Kimchi and me earlier? Embarrassment flushed through me like hot magma. I reached for Sophia’s hand, sincere.

"I’m sorry for drawing attention to myself," I said softly, fingers tightening around hers. "I swear, as your mate, I won’t use the link again unless a life-or-death moment demands it."

Perhaps it was the solemnity of my tone, or the warmth of my touch, or both combined — but Sophia’s cheeks flamed with a delicate rose, and her eyes softened into something vulnerable and raw.

"I—I—It’s okay, my sweet," she stammered, flustered yet forgiving. "There’s nothing to apologize for. Let’s put it behind us and simply enjoy our time together."

---

The next thirty minutes slipped by like a gentle current, filled with the slow unraveling of Sophia’s essence beyond the Hive’s invasive tendrils. Setting aside the biological reality of her place in the collective, she was a woman of formidable intellect and beauty, her perspective shaped by worlds far different from my own.

"So, theoretically," she mused with uncontained excitement, "if a planet were subjected to a strict mating regime, we could consume biomass at perhaps a hundredfold the rate of simply devouring the planet whole over a prolonged stretch."

Her words sparked a wildfire of fascination inside me — the science, the strategy, the sheer scale of it all.

Meanwhile, Kimchi wore her classic scowl, betraying little but harboring secret warmth. Behind her guarded mask, my laughter and bright expressions stirred something fiercely protective and quietly content.

Her defenses might be stone, but beneath the surface, she was happy.

Though, that mask would shatter instantly if Sophia ceased whatever subtle, relentless touches she was directing toward me.

---

The door to the VIP suite parted like the curtain of fate, admitting a new player.

She was breathtaking—shining brown hair flowing in soft waves behind her, a calm storm in motion. Dressed modestly in a turtleneck, fitted pants, and a casual jacket, she was covered from neck to toe in fabric, yet radiated a quiet command that demanded attention.

"Ah, Samantha, is everything prepared downstairs?" Sophia’s voice carried a note of impatient expectation.

My eyebrow rose at the name — the same Samantha Onyx had mentioned during our voyage.

"Yes, Mother. All is ready as instructed. We await your command," Samantha replied, reverence thick in her tone.

"Very good, child. You may go. The command has been given."

Samantha started to turn, but a voice, low and carrying a familiar steel, froze her mid-step.

"Hey, Samantha?"

Her body tensed like a deer caught in headlights. She glanced toward Sophia for permission, then answered cautiously.

"Y-yes? How may I assist?"

"Oh, no need for fear," I said, stepping forward with a smile meant to disarm and intrigue. "Are you the Samantha on the verge of full conversion?"

Her eyes widened in shock at my knowledge. "Yes, that is me. Did Mother inform you?"

"No. I learned on the ship en route here," I said, eyes narrowing thoughtfully. "I must say, I’m impressed. Your face shows no signs of mutation. The transformations must be concentrated elsewhere."

Samantha nodded, pride and uncertainty mingling on her features.

Sophia interjected smoothly, "Yes, Samantha’s conversion has been a blessing. Her mutations have strengthened her while preserving her face’s human standards — crucial for her role as my assistant at high-profile events."

I studied Samantha carefully. Rising, I circled her like a scientist dissecting a puzzle, predator assessing prey — or, perhaps, a collector admiring a rare specimen.

"Remove your top," I instructed bluntly. "I have yet to witness genetic modifications on humans beyond myself. It may prove enlightening."

The atmosphere thickened instantly.

Kimchi’s scowl deepened, knuckles itching for violence against my focus. Sophia bit her lip in mingled curiosity and warning. Samantha’s cheeks bloomed a scandalous shade of rose.

Obedient, with minimal resistance, Samantha began undressing.

First, the jacket came off.

Her arms revealed a tapestry of evolution — an uncanny blend between human skin and the armored joints found in Kimchi’s battle-gear exoskeleton. Pink flesh prevailed, but purple and tan patches mottled her limbs like war paint, the sturdy texture promising protection.

Samantha’s blush deepened as my gaze lingered, but she pressed on, shedding the turtleneck to bare her torso.

Her form reminded me faintly of Onyx’s — thin chitinous plates layering her abdomen like armor forged from desert sands. Skin exposed between plates was harder than human touch, yet retained a subtle, almost seductive smoothness.

My hand drifted across her stomach, absorbing the contrast, while Samantha bit her lips so hard it was a wonder she didn’t bleed.

Unlike Onyx’s more radical transformation, Samantha’s breasts remained largely intact, not replaced or obliterated by plating — a strange hybrid of biology and mutation.

I turned toward Sophia, unconsciously still caressing Samantha’s stress-inducing curves.

"How is it," I asked, "that the conversion hasn’t replaced her exocrine glands with more... functional mutations?"

A sly smile crept onto Sophia’s lips.

"The mutations are the Hive’s subconscious, my sweet. Before you arrived, the pattern was to remove breasts for efficiency. But once Kimchi began breastfeeding you, and we observed your... fondness for them, it became second nature to retain them in bio-forms like ours. Our cultists, for instance."

She added with a wink, "Though, I guarantee the older cults have plenty of women sporting the mutations you mentioned."

I nodded, digesting this intriguing evolutionary tidbit, still unaware of the "torture" Samantha was silently enduring under my lingering touch.

Then, breaking the fragile silence, Samantha suddenly moaned—a low, unmistakable sound of pleasure.

"Mmm~ Daddy~!"

The room froze.

That moan yanked me from thought’s depths like a tidal wave.

Breath ragged, I pulled back, cheeks flaming in sudden embarrassment.

"Oh, sorry Samantha," I chuckled awkwardly, "I didn’t realize I had such a hold on... your stress balls."

Looking down at myself, I was stunned to discover an erection the size of a family tent — the kind you could host an entire reunion under.

"Huh. You learn something new every day. Didn’t know I was into that word as a turn-on. So, uh... thanks?"

While Samantha hurriedly dressed again, flushed and flustered, Sophia’s eyes were glued to the impressive tent, lips drying into a thin line.

Feeling emboldened by my arousal and the avalanche of new information, Sophia enacted an impromptu plan.

"Thank you for being such a good girl, Samantha," she purred, voice velvet dipped in command. "Now run along and do as I instructed while Daddy and I prepare."

As she said this, her hand snaked stealthily—no, not so stealthily—to the base of my salacious sausage.

My mind screamed fuck yes, tempted beyond all reason to indulge in pleasure.

Kimchi stayed silent, resigned to the fact this harlot before her would claim some of my love, but assuredly not all.

Just as I was about to dive headfirst into carnal delight—

Suddenly, Sophia was yanked into the air like a ragdoll.

Her limbs dangled limply, suspended by a tail coiling around her wrists like a cruel serpent.

A towering figure, five meters tall and shrouded in malevolent grace, loomed where emptiness had been.

Her voice, monotone yet laced with barely hidden madness, reverberated through the room.

"I told you... my universe... I. AM. NEXT."

---

End of Chapter

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