Chapter 55 – The Witchwood (Part 2)

 

With an innocent look, a voluptuous body, and a sweet voice to boot, Eliza had an appearance that most men willingly liked. At least a moment ago.

"L-Lady Eliza!"

At the moment when Hans S's eyes widened, the slender woman who was about 160 centimeters tall collapsed to the ground.

*Collapsed*

Her temple was dented, her eyes were theatrically protruding, and crimson blood shot out like a water pistol from where the ear canal should have been. There was no more Eliza with a beautiful face.

"You, what have you done?!" Hans S, who had witnessed her suffering, shouted in shock. "Why?!" Why did you hurt Lady Eliza!? What have we done to you?!

True, you haven't done anything yet.

I answered briefly:

"Oh, I'm sorry. It was a mistake. My hand slipped because the mace was heavy.

It's true. So...

"Why don't you come closer for a minute." To talk about compensation for my mistake.

"Y-You crazy bastard!"

It didn't work. True, he also had a brain. As soon as he felt his fate, Hans S fell into a state of panic.

"Oh, no... we're all going to die...

"I'm glad you know.

I no longer denied it.

"And-because of those crazy bastards...

Only now, smiling at Hans S's horror, I felt a certain discrepancy that was difficult to describe. Wondering what it was, I examined it carefully and realized that it was caused by the direction of the man's gaze. But he is not looking at us.

Is he afraid of something else?

Naturally, I followed the gaze of Hans S. At the end of it was the (former) Elise, an unfortunate woman who had lost her beauty and turned into a cold corpse.

But perhaps she felt my gaze on her.

"Zhigig, zhigig, zhigig...

Eliza, who was about to return to her God, began to convulse and spew strange sounds. Her limbs twitched and bent as if she were being electrocuted. It was like a zombie dance in a movie.

What the hell is this?

I could not understand it. When I hit her on the head, I definitely felt a sensation in my hand that was only characteristic of a one-hit kill.

Why was she still alive, wriggling and making those horrible sounds?

"Zhigit, zhigit, zhigit!"

"B-Bjorn?" What is going on?

Don't ask me, dwarf, I'm scared as hell too.

I have killed many people since I woke up in this body, but I can swear by my ancestors that I have never seen a corpse dance like this before.

*Crunch!*

However, this habit of biting my jaw when I was nervous was proof that my body belonged to a brave barbarian.

—... I'll figure it out.

"Will you figure it out?"

Instead of answering, I rushed forward and struck with my mace. The target was Eliza's face.

*Blow!*

Her skull, which was incomparably softer than that of the Death Fiend, fell apart again, nearly knocking Hikurod unconscious.

"And-mock a corpse?" Even if these people are looters-...

Is it immoral? So what?

"I was so scared that I couldn't help it.

"What?" Is that what a frightened person would do...?

I cut off his words. I didn't know why I had to explain it over and over again.

"The best defense is an attack.

Of course, it was. I was scared, so I destroyed it. To protect yourself, you need to maim the enemy without mercy. This was the path of the barbarians.

Now I understand.

That was why Einar was afraid of the Banshee, because spirit-type monsters couldn't be beaten. This required magic damage, not physical damage.

With a new realization, I looked back at (ex) Eliza and muttered bitterly:

"Damn, you're still dancing, aren't you?"

Even though her entire face was now shattered, Eliza continued to crack her knuckles and perform a terrible dance. Did this really require a magical solution?

"Dvalki!" Use magic!

"But-...

"Hurry up!" No "buts".

There was no need to babysit such children. They obeyed only strong orders. At the same time as I screamed, Dvalki began to cast a spell.

At this moment, Hans S turned his back and began to run away.

"I, I can't die!"

It was a stupid act. He had not run a few steps when a crossbow arrow fired by Brown struck him in the back.

*Blow!*

Turning his back, Hans S fell backwards. Watching his tragic end, I muttered briefly:

"Idiot."

If he hadn't given us his armor, he would have been able to withstand one arrow. Low intelligence inevitably led to suffering.

Soon, I shifted my gaze and looked at the last remaining enemy, the spearman Irit Tyson.

"Won't you run away?" I asked.

"I know it's pointless.

His eyes and voice sounded as if he had already given up. However, my warrior blood felt a strange discrepancy in that voice, as well as in Hans S.

*Shaaaa!*

Suddenly, a black glow erupted from Hans S's body. To be honest, I was scared to death, so I quickly hid behind Dvalki, but nothing much happened after that. The glow lasted for about five seconds and then disappeared, after which I stuck out my twisted body and looked forward.

"Damn?"

I don't know what kind of bizarre combination it was, but Hans S's body, which was emitting light, turned into a mummy.

All the moisture was gone, leaving a dry, lifeless body.

Everyone's eyes naturally turned to Brown, who shot the arrow.

"Rothmiller, what are you...?" Hikurod asked.

"I, I didn't do anything!" Really!

I know, old man.

It had to be related to the (former) Eliza. We didn't even have time to do anything with Irit, and he already looked the same.

The mage of Dvalka hastened to express his opinion.

"The life force that was extracted from these two was absorbed into that woman's body!"

Ha, so that's how it was? After playing games for so long, I now understood what was going on, and I had a hunch.

"Gigig, gigig, gigig...

Soon Eliza performed a dance, cracking her knuckles, and got up from the ground. Her face was still half-covered. In this state, Eliza's mouth opened.

"How... You will... Learned?

"What?"

"What... We are... Enemies.

"Ah, that's...

I was petrified, but I answered, pretending to be calm.

"All the bastards stink of slop.

Was this a satisfactory answer?

I thought so, for Eliza laughed out loud with her head half-broken.

— Ки, хи, хи, хи!

Damn, why has my life always been mountain after mountain?

The current situation was similar to the one in the battle with the Corpse Golem. Everyone on the team froze on the unreal stage, and I woke them up, screaming like last time.

"Everyone, wake up!" Otherwise, we will all die!

***

I've been playing Dungeon & Stone for almost 10 years now. It wasn't the most popular game, but I could proudly say that there wasn't anything I didn't know about it, and I wasn't wrong about it.

— Ки, хи, хи, хи!

"Wh-What's wrong?" Why is a dead man...

The corpse was resurrected. As far as I know, this was hardly a miracle performed by the god of exploration Reatlas.

Whatever those who served him did, Reatlas was a good-natured god. I summed up everything I had guessed so far.

"She is a priestess of Karui.

The Priest of the Dark God Karui is a kind of hidden class that could only be chosen when you started out as a human and became a priest. His advantage was the ability to use holy power and dark spells at the same time, but the penalty was just as huge.

— Жрица Каруи!

"This woman obeys the evil god Karui?!"

When you become a Karui priest, as soon as others find out about your occupation, you are dragged to prison. Therefore, it was necessary to form a team, making the evil NPCs their subordinates, as well as periodically making living sacrifices in order to preserve the profession.

Perhaps that's why she became a looter. Finding a victim inside the maze is the safest option.

This explained a lot. However, one question remained: why did it have to be us? Why did they pursue us so persistently? But there was no time for such questions.

"Because of... thee... I lost... Their... Precious... Subordinates.

Was it because she had digested all of Hans S and Irit's life force?

Looking at me, Eliza returned to an almost normal appearance. Her shattered brain seemed to have been restored because her speech was also better than before. In other words, her intellect returned.

However, intelligence and a good personality are two different things!

What is this madwoman talking about?

I answered briefly:

"If you blame others even in this situation, then you must not have been properly educated.

— ... A what?

It was her fault that Hans and Irit died so tragically at such a young age. If she had resigned herself to her fate in a state of broken skull, this would not have happened.

Soon I made a decision.

"I will avenge Hans and Irit.

And I will take away all the equipment and valuables that they have, although it will not be easy.

But when was my life easy?

[Elise Behenk cast the spell [Call of Death]].

"Look over there!" Hikurod exclaimed, pointing somewhere.

There, the mummified Hans S and Irit slowly stood up.

Given that she was a priest of Karui, I wasn't surprised. I also played for him several times. [Call of Death] was the most basic and basic skill of this class. At first, he only summoned undead monsters, but using a corpse allowed him to manipulate stronger minions. Their eyes, devoid of any rationality, were proof of this.

"Gi-git...

Soon, Hanson—Hans and Tyson for short—turned undead and set his sights on us.

"Destroy your enemies, my servants!" "At Eliza's command, they rushed at us.

*Bam!*

The battle officially began when Hanson encountered the shield wall that Hikuroda and I had formed.

[Riol Varb Dvalki cast an 8th rank spell [Ice Spear]].

[Misha Karlstein has applied [Amplification]. The effect of the active skill used increases in proportion to MP].

[Misha Karlstein used [Toxin Release]].

While we were being beaten from the front, Misha and Dvalki tried to inflict damage, but there were no hits. With strength beyond that of humans and a high level of physical stamina, not even a mace could leave a scratch, not to mention that their bodies had been turned into undead and gained resistance to poison and cold. They did not go well with us.

*Break! Whoosh!*

Of course, Brown, who had a lot of experience fighting the undead, made generous use of his Molotov cocktails.

"How stupid!

[Eliza Behenk cast the spell [Fire of the Dead]].

A black flame flickered in the air, and it began to consume all the surrounding fire.

Bloody hell.

The situation was becoming more and more confusing. The divine power of fire, which was the opposite attribute of the undead, did not work.

Do we have no choice but to break through the core?

The undead could not die as long as the core remained intact, even if the entire body was sliced open. The skeleton had a nucleus hidden between its ribs, and the Fiend of Death had it hidden in its brain. Then what about those who have been reborn with the power of the dark god?

The answer was simple.

"Misha, can you kill this woman?"

The core of the summoned was usually located inside the summoner. In other words, if Eliza was killed, Hanseong would also be able to gain light and return to the bosom of the true god.

"Mm...

"You don't have to kill her. Just by dealing some damage, things will become much easier.

"I'll try."

Soon Mike nodded. Immediately she jumped off my shoulder, jumped high and flew towards Eliza. It was a dexterous and flexible enough move to even surpass an elf. However, the opponent was not one who could be defeated without effort.

[Elise Behenk summoned the [Shadow Watch]].

The soldiers in the shape of the shadow rose from the ground and surrounded Eliza, leaving no chance. Even Misha would not be able to break through this barricade and cut off Eliza's neck in a short period of time.

However, there is no reason not to engage in a long duel.

It didn't look like Hanson had a gun in his hands. Since we had already confiscated their weapons beforehand, they did not pose a threat in undead form. In fact, Hikuroda and I could drag it out as long as we wanted.

Having made a decision, I redistributed the personnel.

"Dvalki, Brown, you two help Mike.

"But...

"It's all right. The two of us will do our best to hold out here.

"Good!" Then I'll leave it up to you!

As soon as Dvalki and Brown joined them, things slowly began to change.

Of course, the Shadow Guardians regenerated as soon as they were destroyed, and they even had enough time to hurl various curses at us, but at some point, the countless Shadow Guardians summoned decreased significantly.

"It seems that her strength is gradually running out! Stay strong!

Even though she worshipped an evil god, the source of Eliza's power was limited. Perhaps she did not expect such a situation.

"Be... You... all... Damned!

Deciding to defend herself, Eliza was startled and began to shake with anger. It seemed that she still had the sanity to survive, because she clenched her jaw and muttered softly:

"I won't forget... of this humiliation...

Within 20 minutes, the number of Shadow Guardians had decreased, and there were fewer than five left. Realizing what she was going to do, I hurriedly shouted:

"What?" Hell, no!

We're so close to catching you, where are you going?!

I pushed Hanson, who had been harassing me throughout the battle, and threw myself with all my might.

[Eliza Behenk cast the spell [Spiritualize]].

Soon, Eliza's body became translucent and floated into the air. In this state, she looked at us for a moment.

"You've never... you won't come back... Live.

Then she flew into the darkness in the distance.

*Weeeep!*

I let out a big sigh, looking in the direction like a dog chasing a bird.

"Damn...

The boss monster, which we had almost caught, fled full of resentment against us.