◈ 481. [STAGE 23] Tag (2)
The day before.
At the time of the operation meeting.
“The center of the three Gorgon sisters is Medusa, the youngest.”
Lucas calmly continued his explanation.
“The first Steno and the second Euryale are extremely incompetent. However, under the rule of Medusa, it can exert its powers 100% effectively.”
“… .”
“With these three sisters together, we have no chance. Even if the three sisters stand with their backs to each other, there is no way to knock them down.”
Lucas looked around at the heroes and nodded.
“But if you can take it off, you have a chance to attack. If the maknae Medusa doesn’t have control, the other two will be no different from a brainless ow.”
… Aren’t ogres strong enough?
The heroes exchanged such glances, but Lucas cleared his throat and continued.
“It must be a nasty strong ogre with the ability to petrify.”
“… .”
“Anyway, the probability of defeating them is much higher than when the three of them are together.”
bang bang!
Lucas tapped the map pasted next to the blackboard with his hand.
“The main purpose of the operation, ‘Hag’, is to separate the two from the clever Medusa. And after dispersing the three.”
Lucas stared at Evangeline.
“Medusa is my opponent. And Euryale… … Evangeline is dealing with it.”
Lucas and Evangeline, equipped with awakening and various enhanced skills as well as equipment, have become exponentially stronger and are currently different from other heroes in strength.
That’s why it was worth dealing with these monsters one-on-one, but the rest of the heroes couldn’t.
“The rest of those who can engage in hand-to-hand combat should lure Steno as far as possible.”
“… .”
“Remember. The purpose of this tag-and-dash strategy is to keep the three apart. Guide them by blocking the evil eye of petrification with a mirror shield, but don’t close the distance.”
Lucas spoke cautiously to the other heroes.
“… And if you get caught by them, in the worst case, don’t die fighting and be petrified. If the petrification is canceled later, there is a chance of survival. It will be quite painful, but it will be better than dying.”
It was a terrible story, but it was also a practical survival advice.
Lucas looked around at everyone and asked.
“Any questions?”
“… .”
Meanwhile, Evangeline just listened quietly.
Evading the Mystic Eye of Petrification through urban combat and activating individual defeat conditions… … It was definitely a sensible operation.
It also made sense that citizens and ordinary soldiers were taken out of the battlefield to reduce unnecessary damage from the wide-area attack, the Mystic Eye of Petrification.
‘But that’s probably not the real intention of this strategy left by senior Ash.’
Evangeline also saw the strategy book Ash left behind.
Lucas… … In order not to burden Ash, who left for the ecliptic, he was twisting the original meaning of the operation Ash had left behind.
Evangeline looked at Lucas with a pitiful gaze. It was then.
“I have a question.”
One of the Blacklist’s heroes raised his hand. Lucas nodded.
“Tell me.”
“The colored areas on the map are the areas to attract each monster, right?”
“Yes.”
“however… Why did you leave that part of the map blank?”
As he said, on the map, about 1/4 of the crossroads was not colored.
In other words, it meant an area where monsters were not to be induced.
Lucas closed his mouth, then answered slowly.
“This area is where the evacuation of citizens has not been completed.”
“what? why?”
“… There is a pregnant woman in the temple. I am giving birth.”
The eyes of the blacklist heroes widened. Lucas just confided.
“I am having a very difficult childbirth. It was impossible to evacuate, so a few people, including the priest in charge, remained. … So, never lure monsters into this area.”
“… .”
“Any more questions? If not, I will give detailed tactical instructions from now on.”
Lucas let out a light sigh.
“… Talking about the ‘last trait’ these monsters have.”
***
Current.
thud… . thud… . thud… .
A monster walks over the city.
Steno walked in the direction of the temple, drooling with his mouth open. Trampling on the sidewalks in the path and throwing wagons and the like.
“… .”
“… .”
“… .”
Watching this scene from the roof, the 5 blacklists stood still, killing their presence.
They watched the slaughter from safe positions while the other heroes who were mobilized to lure Steno were torn apart and petrified.
“Will you risk your life to fight because you’re crazy?”
Among the five heroes, a blind swordsman with a cloth covering his eyes grumbled.
“They say they’ll give you gold coins just for participating in the war, but it’s fine if you just lie down and run away.”
A muscular man with iron plates all over his body and a woman wearing a candlestick crown on her head exchanged arms.
“There’s no reason we should fight for our lives just because you brought them here.”
“To fight a terrifying monster like that? Then, with this amount of gold coins, the balance cannot be calculated!”
It was then.
A child in a prison uniform who was silently observing the monster’s course, bound with chains, frowned.
“… But where is that monster going now?”
The man with glasses sitting in front of the child corrected his glasses with a magic engineering prosthetic.
“That’s the direction the deputy commander said during the briefing that he shouldn’t be guided.”
“Then again… .”
“okay. It is a temple.”
Silence prevailed.
The five heroes of the blacklist all frowned and looked in the direction the monster was heading.
A striking white building-the temple must have been in its path.
“… Shouldn’t you let it go?”
“A pregnant woman is giving birth?”
“Sypal, what are you saying? He is not my child.”
“We have some distance from the warriors of justice.”
“The life of a fool like us is not precious, and the life of a newborn baby is precious? uh? isn’t that Are lives fair?”
thud… . thud… . thud… .
The monster walks.
The 5 members of the blacklist clearly saw the monster destroying several other hero parties in an instant.
If that powerful monster reached the temple. The lives of pregnant women and priests in the temple are obvious even without looking at them.
will die
cruelly
“… .”
“… .”
“… .”
Glaring at the monster’s back, which was getting farther and farther away, the mouths of the five gangsters dried up.
“That damn monster doesn’t even notice.”
“Don’t go that way, damn it… … !”
“How what… don’t you have Is there any way we can stop that bastard while making sure we’re safe?”
They lived on a gambling board and their recognition had dried up, but they still had at least some sympathy.
However, their lives were heavier than their sympathy for them to stand in front of the monster. So they couldn’t move.
It was then.
thud-!
Someone appeared on Steno’s side.
A man who wrapped his body in bandages, wore a helmet that completely covered his face, and carried a thick square shield and a mace.
It was Thorkel.
The 5 Blacklisters were taken aback when they saw Thorkell blocking the powerful monster by himself.
“Who is that fearless madman?”
“uh? i know him Aren’t you the son of the demon of the Leper Slaughter Corps?”
“Are you famous?”
“Obviously famous. Five idiots with leprosy biting and destroying all of them, how can they not be famous?”
“But what about all the subordinates I went with?”
“Ah, I heard rumors. I heard that all of his men died here and he survived alone.”
Without knowing at all that the gangsters hiding here are whispering their stories.
Torquell took a breath, then inhaled, then let out a roar.
“Hey monster! This way-!”
Torkel stood on the side of Steno and deliberately started luring Steno in order to disorient him.
But Steno didn’t even pay attention to Torkel’s provocations. I just walked forward with my blurry gaze fixed on the temple.
There was a grinding sound from within Thorkel’s helmet. Torkel gradually closed the distance from Steno and continued to yell.
“Look here, here! damn son of a bitch. There is a living person here!”
《… .》
“Doesn’t a leper look like a person?! look at me! Come to kill me!”
But Steno didn’t seem to hear Torkel’s voice at all. He didn’t give a single glance, as if he had already set his sights on the people in the temple.
In the end, Thorkel chose
Taat-!
It was a rush.
Since the monster wouldn’t look this way, there was no other choice. I had to take a risk and close the distance to attract them.
Thorkell decided so and rushed to Steno’s side- yank
!
Suddenly Steno’s head turned sideways like a machine.
It was truly bizarre to see the huge body facing forward, but only the head snapping to the side.
Steno stared at Torkel with such a bent face.
Kiyiing!
Subsequently, yellow magical light scattered from Steno’s eyes. Thorkel gritted his teeth and raised his shield forward.
Great! Damn it!
The demonic eye of petrification was fired and the entire street was petrified.
Because Torkel had a mirror attached to his shield, the body covered by the shield was able to avoid the petrification effect.
However, Thorkel was basically very mobile and dull.
I couldn’t get my body fully within the range of the shield and ended up exposing both feet to Steno’s gaze.
“What?!”
My boots turned white and turned to stone.
Unable to keep his balance, Thorkell fell to the ground. Even down, Torkel tried to take a defensive stance against Steno’s next attack.
“… ?”
However, Steno no longer cared about the incapacitated Torkel.
thud… . thud… . thud… .
I just walked back towards the temple.
“… hey. Where are you going?”
Grinding his teeth, he hit the floor with his mace and Torkell staggered to his feet.
“Only this side lost two feet. I can still catch you enough.”
《… .》
“Look this way, you damn monster! Don’t touch the temple!”
Torkel desperately stepped on his petrified feet and nearly crawled behind Steno.
“People die there… Once is enough!”
Torkel, who had caught up right behind Steno, swung his mace with all his might. but.
Kiyiing!
Steno, who grotesquely turned his head away from allowing the attack, blinked his eyes.
damn… … !
This time, his right arm was out of range of the mirror shield while holding the mace. Torkel’s right arm froze as it held the mace.
“Turn off… Whoops!”
Torkel fell backwards with a scream. Steno turned his head forward again and started walking forward.
However, such Steno had to stop eventually.
“Heh heh heh heh heh… .”
It was because Torkel, who had desperately crawled on the floor despite his petrified feet and right arm, blocked Steno’s front.
Inside the helmet, Thorkel’s sneering sound, which is usually hard to hear, flowed out.
“Is this all? I’m sorry, but my skin has hardened into something resembling a stone in the past.”
《… .》
“Your petrification doesn’t even tickle me.”
thud!
As if he had given up on manning and decided to fight the monster head-on, Torkel took a defensive stance.
“I can’t go after this monster. I’m the last one on the front line here.”
《… .》
“I won’t let anyone die behind my back… !”
Thorkel roared and charged Steno.
As he charged head-on, Steno could no longer ignore it and threw his powerful arms at Torkel.
Thorkel was the strongest among the heroes of the Crossroads.
As a hero that Ash had chosen to use as his main force, he had considerable growth potential and potential in his innate stamina.
However, the limits to fighting with one arm and two feet petrified were obvious.
Finally
poo!
Steno’s strong fist hit him, and he passed out while coughing up blood
.
He was lifted into the air with his other hand caught by the collar.
“Kuh… !”
Thorkell gritted his teeth.
His life wasn’t worth it.
But if he dies, who will protect the people of the temple now?
“like this… Do you feel like you’re going to fall… … !”
The face of Marherita, who died quietly in her arms after being hit by an arrow on her behalf… … It crossed Torkel’s mind.
The face of the goddess statue always looking down on herself sadly.
Thorkel let out a desperate voice.
“I still have a debt on my life… I mean, I couldn’t pay it back!”
Of course, Steno didn’t understand the human’s desperate cries and just slammed the other hand down to kill the opponent.
and the next moment.
Denggung-!
Steno’s wrist, which had been shot down into the sky, was suddenly cut cleanly.
《… ?!]
The monster’s forearm, made of ancient metal, was cleanly cut.
The severed wrist rolled across the floor with an ugly metallic clang.
Steno and Torkel did not understand this phenomenon, and for a moment froze.
Then a voice came from the side.
“Ah, sorry monster.”
The blind swordsman of the blacklist sat down on the floor before he knew it, waving his ragged hem… … He was slowly putting his longsword back into the scabbard.
click.
The blind swordsman who finished the lead sword smiled, revealing his yellow teeth.
“I was aiming for the neck, but as you can see, my eyes aren’t quite right… Did you blow your wrist off?”
