◈ 542. [STAGE 31] Scarecrow (2)
Flash!
Immediately after entering the forward base through the teleport gate.
“Shh!”
“town?!”
“Hold your breath!”
The party of heroes who passed through the teleport gate, including me, all at once silenced their voices, lowered their posture, and took cover against the wall.
“… Damn it.”
Looking around, I drool.
Kiki kkeek kkik kkeek… … .
The outpost had already been occupied by a group of scarecrows.
A group of scarecrows wriggling their grotesquely long limbs on top of the castle walls that were once firmly guarded by human soldiers.
I had a human tied to my body one by one.
As the scarecrow moved, the tied humans were also moving their limbs.
Saliva drips from his gaping mouth, and his eyes, which are blurry and open, are unfocused. Everyone is unconscious.
Lucas breaks into a cold sweat as he sees the soldiers clinging to the scarecrow’s body.
“Captivated… Are you afraid?”
“okay. This is the Scarecrow Corps.”
After destroying the opponent’s mind by inflicting a mental abnormality such as fear or confusion.
They kidnap their victims and hang them on their bodies to serve as hosts.
When they are scarecrows, they are straw-like people who can only hang fear and confusion, but after connecting their victims to themselves like this… … It can be used by stealing the victim’s ability.
“Did you get everything?”
I quickly scanned the interior of the outpost. Did everyone fall for them?
“It can’t be.”
It was then that I heard a loud, tired voice.
Looking that way, I saw an old man with a white beard coming this way, limping on a cane.
“Dear Mudin! You’re all right!”
“What is Musa? You’ve lost face.”
Not surprisingly, the Archmage was covered in blood. Blood splattered not only on the robe that was always squarely ironed, but also on the long beard he cherished.
Diarmudin, who had come to us and sat down as if collapsing, let out a long breath.
“Everyone got hit in an instant. Prince Mikhail was the first to suffer, and the fear spread like a wave… … After everyone was captured one by one, it ended up like this.”
“I can’t… … .”
“All my men have also been captured. I tried to watch my subordinates somehow, but there was no answer at the point when the number of those who had lost their bodies increased.”
Right after that, Diarmudin looked at me with a blank gaze.
“Why do you look like you couldn’t stop me while I was there?”
I was stingy. No, I didn’t mean to say it that way… … .
“I admit it to myself, but very little of my magic is of the kind that helps my allies. It focuses on annihilating the enemy.”
Diarmudin frowned as he watched those clinging to scarecrows and squirming around.
“I myself don’t fall for this shallow trick, but I couldn’t take care of others either. Not very helpful in this situation.”
In short, this grandfather’s utility was low and he was only oblivious to deal performance.
No, because it doesn’t happen that way! Just looking at how it looks, there’s nothing that magic can’t do!
‘Well, even in the game, I had various attack magic, but there was no special ability to buff allies or debuff enemies… … .’
At any rate, Diarmudin himself admitted that there was little he could do in this situation.
Then, naturally, everyone looked at me.
I have presented a strategy for all the monsters that have appeared so far. It’s fair for everyone to believe that I have a solution to deal with this situation.
“… .”
But when things go this far, it’s not easy for me either.
“… Of course, the best way to deal with the scarecrow army is to avoid being taken over by them in the first place.”
I sighed.
“But now that things have turned out this way, we need to come up with a countermeasure in case our bodies are taken over by them.”
“Is there a solution, sir?”
“If the victim is captured by the scarecrow monster, there are three ways.”
I was reluctant, but I started explaining.
“First, we escape on our own.”
It is to get out of the fear of the scarecrow by refining one’s own mental power.
Of course, if you had that level of mental strength, you wouldn’t be caught like this in the first place. The probability is low and it is realistically nonsense.
‘It would be nice if this side could help… … .’
At the point of being caught in the first place, it is judged to be a part of the scarecrow, so this side’s buff or recovery period is not affected.
My [Indomitable Commander] doesn’t work either. It was confirmed seeing all the victims within the passive range still unconscious and dangling from the scarecrow.
“Only the second scarecrow saves the victim by hitting it delicately.”
Everyone who heard me looked tired.
Now, the scarecrow and the victim are closely attached to each other. Besides, it doesn’t stand still, it moves.
They haven’t noticed us yet, so they just hang around, but as soon as they notice our presence, they will rampage and attack.
Accuracy in this situation?
‘I’m also hard on Damian.’
What’s more, Damian hasn’t joined yet… … !
Because of the surprise situation, reinforcements from allies are delayed. It’s just that some troops, including me and the ‘uncles’, arrived quickly.
“… What is the third way?”
Lucas asked cautiously when I didn’t tell you the last way.
I closed and opened my mouth a few times, then reluctantly let it out.
“Abandon the victim.”
“… !”
“Kill with the scarecrow. This is the most realistic solution.”
A cool silence fell.
Everyone around looked around with white faces.
The heroes and soldiers standing guard at the forward base are all familiar. They must be comrades who have gone through life and death together many times.
But this is the reality. At the point of being robbed by the scarecrow, killing it with our own hands before the other side suffers more terrible pain is, in a way, the most humane way.
“… .”
Diarmudin looked at me intently. I also faced the old wizard.
– Change your life.
he said then If you need to increase the graves of your allies in order to maintain the line, do so.
Is he still feeling that way now that his subordinates are captured?
“… And how we choose.”
Staring at the scarecrows again, I said.
“The second method.”
“… !”
A look of relief appeared on everyone’s faces. I nodded.
“Wait for Damian. It’s going to be a little overkill, but with Damian’s ability, it’s possible.”
Victims are left untouched, only scarecrows are killed with precision strikes.
Of course, this is conceptually impossible.
But if it’s Damien’s eyes.
If it’s Damian, who has the best eyes in the world. Miracles like this can happen every day.
“I haven’t heard of this yet. When Damian comes, he blows off all the heads of the scarecrows with a sniping shot through his clairvoyance.”
I looked back at the arriving troops one after another and nodded.
“So until then, keep holding your breath… .”
and that moment.
Whiik-
Kung-!
On the other side of the wall, a scarecrow jumped up and landed heavily in front of us.
“… !”
In an instant, in the thick sand dust, I could see scarlet magical energy blazing.
My mouth trembled and I reluctantly let it out.
“… Mikhail.”
When the dust cleared, it was revealed.
In particular, a boy knight was hanging from the center of the huge scarecrow’s body.
Tears streamed down from his eyes, and mumbles that he couldn’t understand continued to flow from his mouth.
“me… It’s because… … every… proof… highest… … .”
“Why doesn’t that friend seem to be tied up a lot these days? There will be trauma.”
Everyone drew their weapons and prepared for battle in front of me talking.
It was because he sensed that the spirit of Mikhail standing right in front of him and of the enemy monster who had captured Mikhail was unusual.
“Because of me… i killed… … porridge… killed… … .”
“Hey Mikhail! Come to your senses-”
Before I even shouted something,
Tuhak-!
The scarecrow’s long legs kicked off the ground and rushed towards it, emitting a terrifying scarlet magic light from its back.
“He stole Mikhail’s powers! Never let your guard down!”
I didn’t even have to shout. The five ‘uncles’ who rushed forward did their best to defend themselves without being careless.
And
Kwagwagwang!
fell out
The scarecrow’s fingertips were deformed to form a sword shape, and a scarlet sphere of magical power formed on the sword – and he slashed down this side like a bombardment.
In a single blow, they all fell backwards. Even Lucas had to roll on the floor using the fall technique to cushion the impact.
“Kuh… ?!”
The only thing that survived was Torkel, who held the Great Shield forward, and even that Torkel had to take a few steps back.
‘What kind of power is that?’
I shuddered.
The enemy monster that took away the power of an ally hero was terribly strong.
Mikhail is one of the best fraudsters among SSR-ranked heroes, and both his magic and sword skills are close to MAX.
In addition, the scarecrow who has taken power is not affected by the negative traits ‘recklessness’ and ‘full of mistakes’, which originally gave Mikhail a demerit.
In other words, it means that the original Mikhail can use that scarecrow by scraping it to the bottom of its unusable potential – that’s how filthy strong it is!
‘Still, I can’t use the flying cavalry ability, which can be Mikhail’s greatest strength… … .’
Scary to think.
Poof! Poof! Whirik!
Nearby scarecrows who had not yet hung their victims bent and deformed and clung to the scarecrow’s lower body.
Before long, the scarecrow’s lower body transformed into something resembling a gigantic winged beast.
No matter how you look at it, it was a griffin.
The heroes who managed to rise again after escaping from the shock of the first attack opened their mouths. I was dumbfounded and muttered.
“I’m going crazy, really.”
The scarecrow spread its wings and once again wrapped the magic light around the sword and shot towards it at terrifying speed.
If this hits, you die!
Lucas quickly grabbed me and rolled to the side, and both heroes and soldiers quickly spread out to dodge the attack.
The problem
was that there was a gate where the tip of his sword was pointing.
Kwagwagwagwang-!
It was devastated.
The three gates connecting the Cross Road and the outpost were completely destroyed. Barracks and buildings collapsed one after another, filling the base with white dust.
In the dust cloud, I shuddered.
“You were aiming for the gate from the beginning, you bastard… .”
Then
Gigi. Gigg. Device device gig.
A grotesque sound, like tree-to-tree rubbing, echoed through the clouds of dust.
Eventually I was able to recognize what this sound was.
It was a laugh.
The sound of that monster’s laugh.
《I heard from the King of Kings, the human commander.
》 Geek. Geek.
With a creak, a huge scarecrow stepped out of the dust cloud.
With Mikhail hanging from his chest, the straw envelope that had been put over the scarecrow’s face tore open and a terrifying voice leaked out.
“Your spirit is stronger than anyone else. My fear won’t work on you.》
“… .”
“But that’s something I don’t know. Real fear doesn’t come from mind-manipulating fantasies.”
Gate destroyed.
Damian’s reinforcements are further delayed.
Desperately trying to figure out what to do in this situation, I passed the time by matching the enemy commander’s rhythm.
“okay? Then where does the real fear come from?”
《Reality.》
Gigik. Gigg. Gigg.
The Scarecrow laughed.
“When I realized there was nowhere to run. When you realize there are no reinforcements coming to help. When the prepared number runs out.》
“… .”
“When someone you care about dies in front of your eyes. When you realize that you can’t save anything, you’re helpless… … When I realized that I was not even a handful of straw.”
Why?
Even though my passive skill [Indomitable Commander] is definitely working.
《Real fear begins in such a cruel ‘reality’.》
I… … I felt an eerie run down my spine.
《Now, answer me, human. Do you feel fear too?》
The commander of the scarecrow corps, ‘The Oldest Scarecrow’.
He smiled terribly, his eyes twinkling with the scarlet magic of Mikhail he had stolen.
“It will happen.”
