“Is this even worth it?”
Five enemies suddenly became eight as the shadow assassin spawned three clones of himself.
“Clone or not, we destroy him and then find his real body!”
The half wolf half man transformed into a werewolf, his expanding black fur crackled with blue sparks that enveloped his massive form.
“Don’t give him any chances to flank us!”
The red-scaled lizardman flew up once more, his semi-transparent barrier still active around him. Immediately, he pulled his bowstring, manifesting a glowing yellow arrow between his fingers. The moment he let it go, it turned into a rain of arrows coming down at the scarecrow and his army.
“Somnu, my boy?”
“I got this! Just wait!”
“Do you, now?”
“?!”
Somnu tried to assure Evu’Dral’s panic, but preceding even the arrows was the teleporting assassin. She appeared right behind the strawman and cut off his head.
The second the serpents tried to swarm her, she teleported away again, making way for the rain of arrows to come down.
“Don’t let him get up!” The bow user cried out, immediately shooting an exploding arrow at the regenerating head.
The moment it exploded, it signaled the werewolf to leap forward, sharp claws out, completely shredding the strawman into pieces.
However, in that instant, Grudgekeeper appeared once more behind the massive figure. As the blue sparks began to zap it, the two sickles were already swung, creating an instantaneous amalgamation of slashes within a sphere that contained the beast like a torturous cage.
[Ceaseless Spiral Passage!]
“!”
Although the werewolf tried to step away, he got suddenly caught in a massive hand made of straws, holding him in place. Although he instantly broke through it, it was just enough time for the violet slashes to shred his towering figure.
“Hey, move it!”
“...”
The scarecrow dodged another exploding arrow, only to land between four assassins coming out of shadows. To make matters worse, the teleporting Sleeper landed behind him once more, this time, attempting to steal his Dream Catcher as she almost pulled it away from his straw-filled body.
All the clones moved in quick succession, leaving afterimages behind them. The strawman darted his head left and right, only to be stabbed with poison daggers from four different sides.
“!”
[Straw Storm!]
Spikes of straws protruded from the strawman's body in all directions, skewering through multiple figures. However, shadows rose up and wrapped around his own entire figure, squeezing him until he spit out blood.
“?!”
“What are you idiots doing?!”
“Blood…?!”
The shadow assassin suddenly retreated, his vision quickly adjusting back to reality.
Instead of the strawman, he had captured and killed the female teleporter.
Two uses of [Distorted Fallacy]... Somnu thought, making Grudgekeeper retrieve the cloak around the dead Sleeper before swallowing her whole.
He used his skill once to trick the shadow assassin, and another time to ensure the teleporter couldn’t activate her skills for a few seconds due to the poison that got on her.
That was a total of three [Distorted Fallacy] uses so far, and one [Ceaseless Spiral Passage]. It’s about half of what I can do now, and I still have three, no, four Sleepers to go…
He thought, making the doppelganger and the Dream Catcher disappear.
“GRRRRRAAWWWWRRR! COME AT ME!!”
The werewolf announced his survival. Despite almost being shredded to pieces, his rapid regeneration was just as fast, outliving the now disappearing slashes.
“Where did he go?!” The bow user cried out.
“Hey, bitch! Why haven’t you done anything?! We lost someone!”
The shadow assassin appeared next to the one-legged elf who had mostly defended against the serpents rushing at the flying lizardman.
“... Shut up and stay sharp. We need you to locate him.”
“This is stupid! We can’t kill him anyway!”
“He won’t be able to use his skills forever. Keep fighting, these are his orders.”
“...”
Hearing the elf’s words, the four remaining Sleepers stopped moving and looked around, remaining vigilant.
“How long are you going to hide, John Doe?”
The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
“?!”
“Are you really going to watch me kill all your little pawns before you show yourself?!”
The [False Echoes] continued to resound throughout the throne room.
“Look who’s talking! Why don’t you stop using a clone and fight us with your real body?!” The lizardman shot an arrow into one corner, taking care of one serpent.
“I know you’re here inside one of them. Come on out already.” The echoes sneered, repeating a few times.
“!”
“There he is!”
Then, the doppelganger appeared again, this time, wearing the cloak he had stolen.
“!”
Just as he tried to dodge an arrow, it landed on the ground and created chains that wrapped around his feet. In an instance, the werewolf had already grabbed him and brought him closer to his big open maw.
SLASH!
“?!”
The massive figure suddenly got cut in half horizontally, but not just him, the shadow assassin and his clones too.
This was the skill [Luminous Mirage], received after ranking up Wistful Daystar prior to the barn fight. It allowed the two disks to multiply and hide within plain sight, under the guise of the scattered lights.
As the strawman landed back on his feet, he first summoned Grudgekeeper to swallow the werewolf, and then more serpents for the assassin.
And yet, once again, he got stopped.
The one-legged elf leapt forward at incredible speed and swung her hammer at both him and his Dream Catcher, allowing the werewolf to regenerate.
At the same time, the lizardman shot a rain of shadows at the serpents, making the shadow assassin put himself together again from gathering shadows.
This is growing too tedious… I can’t afford to use the rest of my uses of [Distorted Fallacy] here. Is that what John Doe is waiting for? At this rate-
“Somnu, my boy! Urgent news!”
“What is it now?!”
“Sheep balls!”
“...”
“Sheep balls! Goats! I warned you, remember?!”
“This isn’t really the time for-?!”
CRASSSHHH!!
“?!”
Suddenly, the windows around the throne room shattered, revealing hordes of Nightmare Creatures swarming in.
And as Evu’Dral had described, most of the Specters were indeed wraiths in the shape of fluffy balls, that had the face and horns of sheep.
To make matters worse, between those sheep balls, or likely Bouncing Sheep, wide elongated muscular figures began to appear. They had six limbs, each more hairy than the last. It was clear to Somnu they were supposed to be some kind of Climbing Goats, a name Bro’Ski had also used once along with Bouncing Sheep, but their crimson eyes and long curving horns made them seem more like demon beasts instead.
“Why are they here, Evu’Dral?!”
“You requested we change course, Somnu, my boy! I had warned of the potential danger!”
“You said no Nightmare Creature could step into this fort!”
“Well… That should have been the case, unless…”
“Unless what?!”
“The Dreadbeast has been released.”
“?!”
While everyone was fighting the swarming horde of new enemies, Somnu stood in puzzlement at the sudden statement.
I don’t have time for this! I’ll think about that later!
While Naga and her clones were constantly bouncing up and down along with the spectral sheep balls, they eventually jumped out of the windows to disappear from view entirely.
[Straw Storm!]
[You have slain a Nightmare Creature.]
[You have slain a Nightmare Creature.]
[...]
Having shot tendrils of straws all around him, the scarecrow managed to hit a couple of the goats, skewering them with holes. However, the straws simply passed right through the spectral sheep.
Wait…!
That’s when Somnu remembered an old description he had encountered.
“The night stands as a boundary between life and death. The violet moon’s cycles shall be your guide, cleaving all that may eclipse your path.”
It was Eclipsed Requiem’s ability description.
He swung his violet sickles, sending glowing slashes around him, immediately slaying multiple sheep monsters.
This would have been really bad if I had been there myself… This time, only Naga got hit by the restrictions…
“Somnu, my boy! I think It’s time we reconsider-”
“No!”
“My boy! This is too much for you to handle on your own!”
“I can do this! Just leave if you’re worried! You’re distracting me!”
“...” Evu’Dral narrowed his eyes slightly, then closed them for a moment. “As you wish, dear boy. You are as stubborn as always…”
Then, in an instant, the whole throne sank deeper into the ground. Then, the hole got filled with more stone tiles, blocking the way.
I need to take advantage of this situation and-
Just as Somnu was considering to flank his enemies as they were being swarmed with Nightmare Creatures too, chains suddenly shackled the strawman to the ground again, allowing for the shadow assassin to appear behind him and wrap him in a prison of shadows.
He tried to summon straws and serpent clones, but they got immediately burnt by the one-legged elf. In the end, he was faced with a massive, sparking figure grabbing him and torching his entire straw body before attempting to eat it once again.
I can’t keep summoning more doppelgangers, and I can’t risk using more skills! Somnu gritted his teeth, running through all the possibilities in his head. If I have to hold out to fight the real enemy, I won’t be able to beat all his pawns first! And If I don’t beat them… Everyone I care about will just be in danger! Everyone would be-
“It really stinks in here, I might just puke.” A low, thin voice resounded suddenly, carrying with it a rush of unseen emotions. Then, it added in a loud, determined shout. “Vine Rush!”
“That’s not very nice to say, Lulu.”
“?!”
Vines suddenly wrapped around the strawman’s body and pulled him back amongst the many Nightmare Creatures still rushing in. Despite that, on each side of where he landed, two Sleepers stood unaffected by the horde.
“Well, it’s true. It smells like actual shit in here. Even the idiot smells differently…”
“Harsh… I’ve missed you too.” The scarecrow muttered, taking his place between them.
“...”
Seeing the new enemies, the pawns stood for a moment, seizing up the potential danger.
“Master! I can’t seem to make contact telepathically!”
A big shadow, covered in violet glowing runes, hit him on the side of his head, then continued to repeatedly peck him, albeit gently.
“I missed you too, Fala… I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Are you ready, brother?” Mathros patted the cloaked strawman on the shoulder. “This time, we fight together.”
“...”
Hearing those words, Somnu felt the aching in his faraway chest.
“... Yes, let’s do that.”
