◈ 543. [STAGE 31] Scarecrow (3)
Bang! bang! Kwakwagwagwang!
The flying scarecrow corps commander pours an onslaught towards us as it is.
Every time the sword is swung, vermilion magic explodes and our heroes vomit blood and roll on the floor.
He is using Mikhail’s power that he hung on his chest as it is.
And Mikhail is a magic swordsman.
In one attack, a mighty sword strike and magical powers come rushing in together. It can be said to be a double attribute attack of physical and magic.
Complete defense is impossible, and it is inevitable to suffer damage.
“Baby like a profit beggar… !”
“Lord! This side cannot attack… … ! At this rate!”
Next to me, who was trembling, Lucas was equally at a loss.
Mikhail is chained to his chest.
If we attack, Mikhail could be hit instead. So we retreated behind the extension without even being able to counterattack.
Besides, it’s not just the scarecrow corps commander.
Catch a giggle, a giggle, a giggle… … .
Even the other scarecrows who had occupied the outpost slowly surrounded us. They also have other heroes and soldiers hanging on their chests.
“There is no answer to this.”
Judging in the end, I ordered the heroes around me.
“Retreat!”
“… !”
“Escape out of the outpost! Hurry! Get out before they complete the siege!”
You can’t defeat the scarecrow, but you can’t save your tied up colleagues, so for now, the only way is to leave.
However, scarecrows were already crowding the gates of the outpost.
But when we jump over the wall, the scarecrows that sensed us from the side of the wall surrounded us and approached us.
“I can’t help it.”
I clicked my tongue and looked back.
“Nobody!”
“Yes, lord! What would you like to cut?”
The blind swordsman Nobody smiled and raised the sheath. I chinned right next to it.
“rampart.”
“… yes?”
“You can bell anything. Cut down this wall of the forward base.”
Nobody’s face was astonished, but he quietly followed my instructions. I lowered my stance and put my hand on the handle of the knife.
“… I’ve never done this before.”
Then, like a thunderbolt, a single wave was scattered.
Tsukak-!
The long sword that came out of the scabbard deeply cut through the wall. From the bottom of the wall to the top of the wall, a long sword mark was engraved.
“Ah!”
Nobody fell backwards, screaming as if the recoil came from cutting something too hard.
The long sword in his hand was also cut in half. But enough!
“chain! Lord Diarmudin!”
I pointed to the wounds on the wall and instructed the two wizards.
“With full power!”
“I asked what to do… It’s good that our lord is hot!”
“But you are right… !”
The black mage, bound by chains, controlled the power of darkness to hit the wall, and the white beard, the arch mage, fired intense flames as a follow-up.
Kwakwagwagwang!
When the two wizards attacked the already split wall, the wall was dug up at once.
However, the walls built with the engineering skills of the Empire, the sincerity of the Crossroads workers, and my own money were amazing. It is still not fully penetrated.
“Lucas!”
Finally, when I called my right arm, Lucas drew his sword of light and gnashed his teeth.
“To destroy this wall with my own hands… Tears of blood!”
“I fly too! Hurry up!”
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
And when Lucas’s [Strike of Will] hits right back, he throws himself into a fight
!
Finally, a hole was drilled in the wall.
It was built so solidly and meticulously that even though a hole was drilled through it, the upper part did not shake. Great job my castle walls! sorry my castle walls!
“Everybody escape-!”
We got out of the outpost through a hole in the wall.
After escaping into the field, let’s look back while wiping my sweaty chin… … The scarecrows in the advance base watched us from a distance and did not pursue us.
widely.
The scarecrow corps commander, who easily climbed on top of the castle wall flapping his wooden wings, sneered in a horrifying voice.
“Yes, run away. As far away as possible to the ends of this world.》
“… .”
“After all, I’m going to go into your bedroom anyway. And I will sing you a lullaby in your ear.”
Giggik. Gigg. Device device gig.
The Scarecrow’s long fingers gently caressed Mikhail on my chest while letting out a grotesque laugh.
《With the sweet voices of your dying colleagues.》
***
After completing the retreat to a place a little far from the forward base.
After ordering a short break, I first identified the current number of people on our side.
me.
Party ‘Uncles’ 5 people – Lucas Janice Torkel chain nobody.
Diarmudin.
Thirty soldiers. and… .
“… I can fight too, Your Highness.”
Hannibal.
Hannibal was also stuck here when he came through the gate and followed us.
The boy’s eyes, reflected through his messy hair, were frightened, but he also showed a determined will.
“… .”
Anyway, that’s all the staff.
I checked the means I had in my head and glared at the forward base.
Lucas, standing next to me, asked curiously.
“Why didn’t they come after us?”
“… Because the ‘harvest’ is less over.”
“yes? Harvest?”
I nodded and nodded toward the outpost.
On the wall of the outpost.
The scarecrows stood around each other, hand in hand. It was as if they were dancing Ganggangsullae to celebrate a good harvest.
In the middle of this vicious circle stood the leader of the scarecrow corps.
And –
“Quaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh!”
“Kheuk keuh uh uh uh!”
“Aagh! Aww!”
Victims hanging from each scarecrow began to scream horribly, and transparent energy pulled from their bodies into the center of the circle… It began to be absorbed into the body of the scarecrow corps leader.
The scarecrow corps commander was devouring it with his mouth wide open as if it were sweet.
“It’s sweet, sweet, sweet… .]
The roar of the scarecrow corps commander’s joy resounded throughout the area.
《The Dao More More More! More horror, more nightmares… … !]
It is truly a painful sight to watch.
Turning my eyes, I continued the explanation.
“That’s ‘harvest’. It extracts the powers of its captive victims and brings them together.”
“What the hell… .”
“And all the harvested powers belong to the scarecrow corps commander.”
As the number of victims increases, the scarecrow corps commander, who has absorbed the power of all victims, becomes exponentially stronger.
Right now it’s a group of scarecrows, each using the powers of the other captive victims, and the corps commander using Mikhail’s power.
When the harvest is complete, the Corps Commander becomes a ridiculous monster that can use all of the captive victims’ abilities at once.
“If this side doesn’t make any victims, he’s a weak monster. As the number of victims increases, its power grows as much as an autumn barn with a good harvest.”
“oh my god.”
Lucas broke into a cold sweat after understanding all the scarecrow army’s mechanisms.
“… It should be said that it is a scarecrow-like ability to help with farming.”
“Then I’m really going to sweat hard and farm, so what’s the point of kidnapping people and harvesting their souls… .”
Lucas asked cautiously as I bit my lip.
“What will happen to the victims when the harvest is complete?”
“I die.”
Throwing away the victims who have been drained of all abilities and turned into corpses, the Scarecrow Corps is looking for the next harvest target… … find a victim
During this iterative process, the scarecrow corps commander becomes infinitely stronger. Like an endless fear of destruction… … .
Lucas muttered incredulously.
“Isn’t it too powerful a monster?”
“I would have been the weakest monster in the world if I had only responded the first time.”
If only it wasn’t a surprise. If only the captured victims were the weak ones. Either that or if I were at the outpost. No, at least, if only Damian was here right now.
It was an enemy corps that could be easily resolved. However, the situation twisted and twisted and this uproar broke out.
The Scarecrow Corps has cleared the very rare condition of being a king, and the first button has been perfectly sewn.
If we continue to push back like this, we might be able to continue to summon victims and cause the real destruction of the world.
‘Look at the bastard who planned this surprise attack, he must be the demon king, but he stabbed me very well… … .’
Trying to assemble a countermeasure in my head, I spat out.
“So there is not much time. I can’t wait for reinforcements any longer.”
Crossroads should have known by now that the outpost gate was damaged, so reinforcements should be rushing through the next nearest gate… … late.
The next teleport gate is one day north of the outpost. And in one day, all those caught now will be harvested.
“We have to save it alone.”
“But how… .”
“Let’s give up.”
Lucas was about to say something when the old man’s voice cut through like a knife.
I frowned and looked back. Diarmudin was approaching with his characteristic hard face.
“Prince Ash. If all the characteristics of those monsters you mentioned are true, it would be difficult for us to rush into them.”
“… .”
“Right now, we are few and our equipment is mediocre. What if you overdo it and get annihilated? And what if that scarecrow absorbs all of our powers? Then things get worse.”
Lucas nodded heavily and looked at me. It must mean that Lucas also thinks this way.
“Those caught now must give up. It is only right that we join the reinforcements, regroup, and destroy those monsters with all our might.”
“… I have my men at the outpost right now.”
I looked at Diarmudin gently.
“Your men are there too.”
“They all decided to die and came here. These are people with a noble determination to give their lives for the world.”
Diarmudin flinched at the mention of his men, but did not back down.
“To maintain the front line, a cool calculation is needed, Prince Ashe. If there will be a loss anyway, you have to know how to minimize it.”
“There is also Mikhail. There is also the poor crown prince who has already lost all his knights.”
“… He is destined to be scrapped anyway.”
I frowned. What is this again?
“How much do you know about the kingdom of Vermilion?”
“I only know that it is a northern power.”
“It is a strong country. But it is a country with little royal power. In fact, it is a country ruled by the wizards of the Council of Elders.”
I’ll explain it simply-” continued Diarmudin, who rhymed.
“Just as dragon blood flows in the Duke of Bringer, the blood of the ‘first griffin’ flows in the veins of the Vermilion royal family.”
“You said that you and Griffin were brothers, but did you really have a blood relationship?”
I thought it was just a joke, but physically, it seems that the blood of the real Griffin was flowing.
“exactly. In order to create a flawless king from the best warriors… … A type of homunculus created by mixing Griffin’s blood in the Senate. strengthened man. The crystallization of genetic engineering is the Vermillion King.”
“… This is a terrifying setting.”
“In order to pass it down from generation to generation, it continues to improve upon improvement in order to create a more powerful ‘individual’. They get married to homunculus mixed with other superior ‘bloods’ and engage in arranged marriages to bring in the genes of other countries.”
I was dumbfounded, so I laughed.
“That’s why Mikhail said he had five fiancées. The same goes for his sister.”
“exactly. For descendants, the more samples, the better.”
“These crazy people.”
I’m also picking up real people at the mercenary guild, but I’m picking out descendants while remodeling people, marrying them, and passing them on! Aren’t these crazy bastards?!
“Crown Prince Mikhail was the most gifted boy of this generation. But I lost this time.”
“What about defeat?”
“Because the ‘king’ that the Kingdom of Vermillion seeks must not know defeat.”
Diarmudin nodded.
“At the point of returning home after losing all his subordinates, he will lose his position as crown prince to the next candidate. And all of the griffin’s blood left in his body will be drawn out and he will be disposed of and die.”
“Knowing that, why didn’t you stop Mikhail from returning home?”
Then, Diarmudin looked at me as if he was unhappy about something, and then turned his head away.
“… Do I look like such a compassionate old man? After all, I have no right to do so.”
“but!”
“Crown Prince Mikhail is an asset of the Vermillion Kingdom. We can’t say anything about the treatment.”
Diarmudin, who had refined his voice, let out a suppressed voice.
“Anyway, in short! That Crown Prince Mikhail is going to die anyway.”
“So what? He’s going to die anyway, so let’s just let him die here?”
“Shouldn’t you be making a realistic decision?”
At the words that followed, I clenched my fists tightly.
“Knowing how to give up efficiently is also a king’s virtue. Prince Ash. Blindly pursuing an ideal is nothing but stubbornness and recklessness.”
