Chapter 59 – #14_Play Ball(2)
#58
One.
“Take your assistant, Odette, and run away. I’ll stop you here.”
Odile moved forward, hugging Shiu and Odette.
It was by no means light bravado or conceit.
She knows the danger of that homunculus more than Siu.
A giant cat lazily climbing down a tree.
The sight of him leisurely riding a wooden pole with his three big eyes wide open is deformed, as if he had transcended the laws of physics.
A sense of reality evaporated at the sight of the cat landing on the floor with light movements that felt no weight at all.
“What are you doing? Run away quickly?”
Even in the midst of Odile’s madness that burns her inside, Siu calmly counted the situation.
Aside from that, she gives Odette precise instructions.
“Odette-sama, is the music box working?”
“Ah! Yes…Four!”
Odette, who had been wiggling while holding on to the hem of her skirt for some reason, quickly presented the music box.
And she immediately looked up at Siu anxiously and said,
“Assistant… You can run away. I can’t leave my sister behind!”
“No! Odette! You mean you have to call for help while I block you!”
“Gee, I’ll do it now!”
As expected, Odette was slower to judge the situation than Odile.
I don’t know if it’s because she woke up in the middle of the night or because she’s a bit less bold, but after hearing Odile’s instructions, Odette immediately started muttering her incantation.
The fortunate thing was that the homunculus in front of me was just watching the commotion on this side.
Eyeballs spinning round and round with reluctant pupils as if looking at something interesting.
Odette’s magic is in full bloom in that uneasy surveillance.
Huge strings that began to stretch towards the sky.
It is a magic formula that is one level higher than the skyboard used by Siwoo.
It was an emergency signal to call for help by breaking through the thick trees of Latifundium and lighting up the sky.
“It’s okay, sister!”
“Okay! Now let’s bounce! …Keugh!”
And as soon as Odette activates the magic, the monster cat moves, as if in response to the magic.
A tail that flew through the air like a chain scythe.
The speed was castrated so fast that it could not be properly identified with the naked eye.
As if the hunting so far had been nothing more than a joke.
-Kwaguawang!
The defensive line that Odile had spread out in advance.
The ‘Song of Rest’ was smashed so easily.
Odile wide-eyed in the scattering debris of the magic circle.
“One… You said you broke it all at once?”
Odile is astonished at the sight of the defenses, which are strong enough to block anti-tank missiles, being torn apart like scrap paper.
Even at that moment, Siu was looking up at the sky.
It was because there was something odd about it earlier.
Odette’s request for rescue.
As it ascends into the sky, the string, which gradually grows larger, collides with the black shadow that covers Latifundium.
– Yep!
And.
I heard the sound of glass breaking.
As soon as the string shining bright purple touched the shadow, the black shadow interfered with the magic as if it were alive.
The broken string becomes thousands of fragments and falls on Siwoo’s head.
“Ah….”
Odette stunned as she watched her last hope shattered.
The rescue signal fails.
Odile’s shield was accidentally cut off by the monster’s tail.
Any attack from this side does not work on the enemy.
Because the peaceful daily life is suddenly overturned, the accident that could not be pursued changes.
It’s a bit late, but the three of them shared the same impression at the same time.
Death.
Two letters that felt like a nasty joke clearly passed through my mind.
At that time, Siu’s gaze reached the river of magical water that is in charge of supplying magical energy to the latifundium that flows behind the homunculus.
“Odette-sama, please protect Odile-sama. I will set up a smoke screen.”
While everyone trembled with a frightening feeling, Siwoo was the first to act.
It was a strange feeling.
Certainly death is right in front of you, but somehow the thin film on your head has disappeared, and your thoughts change quickly.
The adrenaline flowing through my veins pleasantly supported my trembling legs instead.
Run
Siu started to run toward the monster like an arrow being shot.
“Joe…Joe!”
Odette’s hasty grasp was far behind in an instant.
“What are you doing!”
Siu passed even Odile, who was confronting the homunculus, and started running toward the monster.
“What?”
The head of the homunculus turned at a right angle, as if it was unexpected that the prey jumped up.
Siu continued to analyze the homunculus even at the moment of running.
The means of combat of the homunculus observed so far.
The spear of shadow that attacked the first research building.
It takes about 5 seconds from when the shadows begin to gather to when they emerge.
The maximum number of shots fired at the same time is 3.
The time between attacks is quite long.
However, judging from the monster’s laid-back attitude, it must be taken into account that it was not exhausted.
Its speed is so fast that it cannot be followed by the naked eye, and its power is strong enough to break down a giant tree with a circumference of several tens of meters.
It was clear that Siwoo could not respond with any magic he possessed.
Next is the tail.
Its tail, which has a scythe attached to its end and swings like a chain scythe, makes it difficult to gauge the attack range.
Its power seems insignificant at first glance, but seeing as it breaks Odile’s defenses at once, there is no doubt that it shatters into pieces when hit with a bare body.
Finally, an unknown black shadow.
It was clear that it was not simply hardening the shadows.
At some point, the shadow that dominated the air like smog broke Odette’s rescue technique.
If so, it should be seen that there is virtually no means of communicating with the outside world.
The Latifundium area had turned into a hunting ground for that monster.
The distance between Siu, who kept running, and the homunculus, who stared blankly at it, was less than 20 meters away.
And the homunculus began to move, putting Siu’s earnest wishes to shame.
“Kikii profit!”
The tail wriggling in the air along with the grotesque cry of a giant insect begins to wail like a venomous snake aiming at its prey.
Siwoo, who calmly measured the timing, stretched out his arm into the air.
Latifundium, which has more magic in the air than anywhere else in Gehenna.
A trump card that can be used because it is here.
It only takes one time.
Timing is what matters.
“Bloom!”
Like the muzzle of a pistol, the tail that was aiming at Siwoo is swung around with a ghastly sound.
And at that moment, Siwoo’s body jumped diagonally like a bent spring.
– Whoa!
It was very slow to see the tail brushing past the tip of the toe and digging into the road.
Jumping over the head of a monster with a height of 3M was not something like superhuman strength displayed at the moment of death.
The ‘Water Lizard Walk’ that Odile showed yesterday as he left.
He used the magic formula to increase his mobility by concentrating mana on his toes, and used the mana he gathered to the limit to make a single leap.
“Ah….!”
I jumped up to the height of the third floor with my bare body.
The wind brushes past my ears.
The anxiety of having nothing to step on was soon diluted by a greater anxiety.
It is the fear of falling.
Siwoo prepared for the shock by watching the ground approaching in real time.
“Keep!”
Siwoo, who jumped up to 20 meters at once, landed on the riverside of the Magical Beast.
In an urgent moment, Siwoo, who had not put all his energy into landing, felt the pain as if his ankle would break as he bounced on the ground like a water swallow.
It was a parabolic fall, so if it fell vertically, it would have been either dead or killed by a cat after passing out.
The monster cat’s sluggish eyes, chasing after its prey that disappeared right in front of its eyes, quickly finds Siwoo.
-Geeeee!
A cat trying to condemn the shameful prey that jumped over its head, forming a spear with shadows gathering around it.
Siu suppressed his pain and stretched out his arm into the river in front of him.
Ignore the throbbing pain.
He shouted as he ran with his hands dipped in the water, limping.
“Bloom!”
It was for this moment that he risked his life and headed for the river.
The concentration of the abundant magical water absorbed by his fingertips rivaled that of the advanced magical water Siu was using for his magic research.
One deployment.
One change.
And one ductility.
Right before the window of shadows skewered Siu.
The river swelled like an explosion.
-Shwaaaaagh!
“Kiyiyiyiyi?”
The magical power that had flowed through the river all at once wriggled and changed into a thick fog that made it difficult to see an inch ahead.
It was a great blindfold.
While the situation was not properly identified, the homunculus ejected the three spears it had made in advance to the riverside where Siu was standing.
The sound of something exploding and the sound of a pile of dirt that reached the sky and fell into the river.
“Kikkiik?”
When the fog was blown away by the wind enough to secure the watch as time passed, Siwoo and the twins had already disappeared somewhere.
2.
“Are you okay, assistant?”
“Keuuuuu…”
As much as it was a momentary improvisation, it was close to luck that Siwoo joined his twin.
If it weren’t for the twins who literally ran to find Siwoo in the middle of the duck, there would have been a possibility that they would have scattered.
Fortunately, the twins who found Siu immediately used water lizard steps to distance themselves from the homunculus.
The place where they hid was a knothole in a tree with a cracked bottom.
It was a place where mushrooms like button mushrooms formed colonies.
“Look…!”
Odette rolled up Siu’s pants and inspected the wound.
My ankles are completely gone.
Seeing that it had thickened 1.5 times in that brief moment, I thought it might have cracked my bones.
“Why did you do something so reckless!”
Odile reprimanded Siu with tears in his eyes.
“If we had continued to stand in front of them… We would have all died in the end.”
Siwoo’s judgment of the situation was accurate.
Odette’s distress signal did not work and the attack was nullified.
Even if the twins continue to spread their defenses, in the end it will only be a punishment for time.
The moment their mana ran out, they would have become prey to the homunculus without any protection.
“I thought that if the music box could prevent magic detection, just covering the eyes would be enough.”
“But it was too dangerous! I was shocked.”
“That’s right, I actually thought the assistant was split in two.”
Odile grabbed Siu by the collar and shook him while whispering quickly, and Odette also helped.
The twins, who watched Siwoo run from behind, understood what kind of line he had crossed.
Jump to avoid the swinging tail at the right timing…
It was a desperate situation where I couldn’t complain if I ran too late or too fast because it was easy to say.
It was a rhythm game where you risked your life.
“But you bought some time like this.”
“Stay still, I’ll treat you first.”
A warm light pours down on Siwoo’s swollen ankles.
“It’s enough to walk, but you won’t be able to run like before. Actually, it’s the first time I’ve used it on an injured person, so I don’t know.”
“I’ll be careful.”
Even if you’ve heard quack talk, it’ll be okay.
Basically, recovery through magic promotes cell division and dramatically increases self-recovery power.
“What should I do now? Should I just hide like this?”
As soon as Siwoo’s first aid was finished, Odette shuddered nervously.
And.
– Kwajik! Kugu Palace!
A roaring sound can be heard from not too far away.
Before long, the vibration caused by the fall of the huge tree was transmitted to the buttocks.
The homunculus, which lost the toy right in front of its eyes, is indiscriminately attacking the surroundings to find them.
“I have two options.”
Siwoo picked up a twig that was lying around inside the knot.
Since soft soil for mushroom cultivation was piled up inside, it could be used as a simple blackboard.
“Hana will remain silently praying and wait for the other witch who noticed the incident to find this place.”
As long as there is a music box, the location of the three people is not revealed until they are visually identified.
Taking advantage of that opportunity, risking your life to play hide-and-seek.
I.E. Prayer meter.
However, we cannot rule out the possibility of being blinded by the homunculus’ blind magic, which attacks indiscriminately.
The downside of the prayer meta is that ‘If you’re unlucky, you’ll get screwed’.
Odile also had a serious expression on his face.
“What about the other one?”
“I’m going to catch him.”
