With an innocent gaze, a voluptuous figure, and a sweet voice, Elisa had the kind of looks most men would find attractive. At least, until just a second ago.
"Mrs. Elisa!"
The moment Hans C's eyes opened wide, the slender 1.70-meter-tall woman collapsed to the ground.
I have collapsed.
Her temple was dented, her eyes bulged dramatically, and crimson blood spurted like a water pistol from where her ear canal should have been. The pretty-faced Elisa was gone.
"What have you done?!" cried a shocked Hans C, witnessing their misfortune. "Why?! Why have you hurt Lady Elisa? What have we done to you?!"
That's right, you haven't done anything yet.
I replied briefly, "Oh, I'm sorry. It was a mistake." My hand slipped because the gavel was heavy. True. "Why don't you come closer for a moment? To discuss compensation for my mistake."
"You crazy bastard!"
That didn't work. True, he had a brain too. As soon as he felt his fate, Hans C fell into a state of panic. "Ah, no... w-we're all going to die..."
"I'm glad you know." He no longer denied it.
"B-Because of these crazy bastards..."
Except that, amidst the smile at Hans C.'s terror, I perceived a disparity difficult to describe. Wondering what it was, I inspected it carefully and realized it was caused by the direction of the man's gaze.
He's not looking at us. Why, is he afraid of something else?
I moved my head naturally, following Hans C.'s gaze. At the end of it was (the former) Elisa, an unfortunate woman who had lost her beauty and became a cold body.
But perhaps she felt my gaze upon her.
"Gigig, gigi, gigig..." Elisa, who should have already returned to her creator, began to convulse and spit out a strange noise. Her limits twitched and bent as if she were being electrocuted. It was reminiscent of the dance performed by zombies in a movie.
What the hell is this now?
I didn't understand anything. When I hit her on the head, I felt a sensation in my hand like a fatal gunshot wound. Why was she still alive, writing and making those thick noises?
"Gigit, gigigigt, gig!"
"B-Bjorn? What's going on?"
Don't ask me, dwarf, I'm fucking scared too.
Since I woke up in this body I have killed many people, but I sweat by my ancestors I have never seen a body dance like that.
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."
"Solve it?"
Instead of responding, I lunged forward and structure with my mace. The target was Elisa's face.
Bang!
His skull, which was incomparably softer than that of a death demon, sank again, almost causing Hikurod to faint.
«Mutilate a corpse? Even if these people are looters!»
What, is it immoral? So what? «I was so scared I couldn't help it».
«That? Is it something a fearful person would do...?»
I cut off his words. I didn't know why I had to explain this to people over and over again. «The best defense is attack». Of course it was. I was scared, so I destroyed it. To protect oneself, one must mercilessly mutilate the enemy. That was the barbaric way.
Now I understand.
That's why Ainar feared the banshee, because spiritual type monsters couldn't be hit. It required magical damage, not physical damage.
Having realized something, I looked back at (the old) Elisa and said bitterly: «Damn, you're still dancing, huh?». Although her entire face was now sunken, Elisa was still cracking her joints and dancing a creepy dance. Was a magic solution needed? «Dwalkie! Use magic!»
«But...»
«Hurry up!» No buts. There was no need to play fair with children like that. They only listened to firm orders. Simultaneously with my scream, Dwalkie began to recite a spell.
Just then, Hans C turned his back on me and started running away. «I, I can't die!»
It was stupid. Before he could even run a few steps, the crossbow arrow Brown shot hit his back.
Stabbing!
With his back turned, Hans C collapsed miserably. Watching its tragic end, I murmured briefly: «Damn idiot». If he hadn't given us his armor, he would have been able to withstand a single arrow. Little intelligence was synonymous with suffering.
Soon, I moved my gaze and looked at the last remaining enemy, the spearman Irita. I asked him: «Aren't you going to run away?».
«I know it's useless». His eyes and voice sounded as if he had already given up everything for lost. However, my warrior blood perceived a strange disparity in that voice, just like in Hans C. That was the moment.
Shaaaaa!
Suddenly, a black glow erupted from Hans C's body. To be honest, I was scared shitless, so I quickly hid behind Dwalkie, but then nothing special happened. The light emitted for about five seconds before disappearing, after which I stretched out my crouching body and looked ahead.
«Damn?»
I don't know what kind of strange combination this was, but Hans's light-radiating body transformed into a mummy. All the moisture had disappeared, leaving a dry and lifeless body. Everyone's eyes naturally turned to Brown, who had shot the arrow.
«Rotmiller what have you...?» Hikurod asked.
«I, I didn't do anything! Really!»
I know, man.
This also had to be related to (the old) Elisa. We hadn't even done anything to Irita and she already looked the same.
The wizard Dwalkie was quick to express an opinion. «The vitality that was extracted from those two was absorbed by the body of that woman over there!».
Was that so? Having played for so long, I now had an idea of what was going on, and I had a guess.
«Gigig, gigi, gigig...»
Soon, Elisa performed a dance with her joints and got up from the ground. His face was still half contorted. Elisa's mouth opened in that state. «How... did you... know?».
«What?»
«That... we are... an enemy».
«Ah, that». I was petrified, but answered, pretending to be calm. «All motherfuckers smell like garbage». Was it a satisfactory answer? I thought it was, seeing how Elisa laughed out loud with her head half destroyed.
«Ki, heh heh heh!»
Shit, why was my life always one hill after another? The current situation was similar to that of the corpse golem battle. Everyone in the group froze at the unreal scene unfolding, and I woke them up yelling at them like last time.
«Wake up everyone. If not, we will all die».
He had been playing Dungeon and Stone for ten years. It wasn't a popular game, but I was proud to say that there was nothing I didn't know about it, and I wasn't wrong about that.
«Ki, hee, hee, hee!»
«W-What happened? Why a dead man...?»
The corpse had been resurrected. To my knowledge, it was not likely that this was a miracle performed by the god of exploration, Reatlas. Whatever those who served him did, Reatlas was a kind god. I brought a conclusion to everything I had deduced so far.
«She is a priestess of Karui».
A priestess of the dark god Karui.
A kind of occult class that could only be selected when you started out as a human and became a priest. He had the advantage of being able to use holy power and dark spells at the same time, but the penalty was just as huge.
«A priestess of Karui!»
«Is that woman subordinate to the evil god Karui?!»
When you became Karui's priestess, the moment others discovered your class, you were dragged to prison. Therefore, it was necessary to form a team by making malicious NPCs your subordinates, and it was also necessary to periodically offer sacrifices in life to keep the job.
That's probably why she's a looter. Finding a sacrifice within the maze is the safest option.
This explained most of the results. However, one question remained: why did it have to be us. Why had they persecuted us so insistently? But there was no time to question those things.
«By... you... I lost... a.... my... precious... subordinates».
Was it because he had digested all the vitality of Hans C and Irita? Elisa's appearance became almost normal again as she looked at me. His crushed brain seemed to have been restored, because he also spoke better than before. In other words, he had regained his intelligence.
However, intelligence and a good personality were two different things?
What are you talking about, are you crazy?
I briefly replied: «If you are blaming others even in this situation, you must not have received a proper education at home».
«... What?»
It was their fault that Hans and Irita had died so tragically at such a young age. If he had accepted his fate in his crushed skull state, this would not have happened.
I soon decided. «I will avenge Hans and Irita».
And I'll take all the equipment and valuables they have, although it won't be easy.
But when has my life been easy?
[Elisa Behenk has released Call of Death.]
«Look there!» hikurod shouted and pointed somewhere. There, the mummified Hans C and Irita slowly rose.
If she was a priestess of Karui, I was not surprised. I had played one a few times too. The Call of Death was the most basic and fundamental skill of that class. At first, it only summoned undead monsters, but using the medium of a corpse allowed you to manipulate stronger minions. His eyes lacking any rationality were proof of this.
«Grrrrr...»
Soon, Hanson - short for Hans and Taison - transformed into the undead and set their sights on us.
«Destroy the enemies, my servants!». At Elisa's command, they charged at us.
Bam!
The battle officially began when Hanson crashed into the shield wall that Hikurod and I formed.
[Riol Warb Dwalkie has released Rank 8 Ice Spear.]
[Missha Karlstein has released Improve. The effect of the active skill used increases in proportion to the power of the soul].
[Missha Karlstein has launched Grant Toxin.]
While we were taking a beating at the front, Missha and Dwalkie struggled to deliver 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 on them, not to mention that their bodies had become undead and gained resistance to poison and cold. He couldn't be a good rival for us.
Destroy! Whoosh!
Of course, Brown, who had a lot of experience fighting the undead, used his Molotov cocktails generously.
«What nonsense!»
[Elisa Behenk has launched Fire of the Dead.]
Black flames flickered in the air, and began to absorb all the surrounding fire.
Damn.
The situation was becoming a headache. The divine power of fire, which was the opposite attribute of the undead, was not working.
Do we have no choice but to go through the core?
The undead could not die as long as the core remained intact, even if their entire bodies were cut off. The core of a skeleton was hidden between the ribs, and that of a demon of death was the brain. So what about these guys who were reborn with the power of a dark god? The answer was simple.
«Missha, can you kill that woman?»
The core of a summoner was normally inside the summoner. In other words, if Elisa was killed, Hanson could also find the light and return to the bosom of the true god.
«Mm....»
«You don't have to kill her. By doing him some damage everything would be much easier».
«Sorry». Soon, Missha nodded. Immediately, he got off my shoulder, jumped high and flew towards Elisa. It was a move agile and flexible enough to outperform a fairy. However, the opponent was not someone he was going to work with.
[Elisa Behenk has summoned a Shadow Guard].
Shadow-shaped soldiers emerged from the ground and surrounded Elisa without leaving any opening. Not even Missha would be able to break through that barricade and cut Elisa's throat in a short time.
However, there was no reason not to enter into a long-duration combat.
It's not like Hanson had guns in his hands. Since we had already confiscated their weapons beforehand, they were not actually a threat in undead form. In fact, Hikurod and I could lengthen it as long as we wanted.
After making my decision, I redeployed the staff. «Dwalkie, Brown, you two help Missha».
«But...»
«Alright. The two of us will do what we can to hold on here».
«Very good! Then I'll leave it to you!»
As soon as Dwalkie and Brown joined in, the tide began to slowly turn.
Of course, the Shadow Guards regenerated as soon as they were destroyed, and even had free time to cast various curses at us, but at a certain point, the countless number of Shadow Guards summoned decreased significantly.
«It seems that little by little it is running out of energy! Stay strong!»
Although she worshiped an evil spirit, Elisa's source of power had a limit. Maybe she didn't expect this situation.
«Damn... everyone...!» Driven to defend herself, Elisa was startled and began to tremble with rage. He seemed to still have rationality to survive because he clenched his jaws and muttered in a low voice: «I will not forget... this humiliation...»
The number of Shadow Guards decreased over the course of about 20 minutes, leaving less than five. Realizing what I was going to do, I hurriedly shouted: «What? Damn, no!»
We're so close to catching you, where are you going?!
I pushed aside Hanson, who had become entangled with me throughout the battle, and ran with all my might.
[Elisa Behenk has launched Spiritization.]
Soon, Elisa's body became translucent and floated in the air. In that state, he looked at us for a moment. «You will never... come back... alive». He then flew into the darkness in the distance.
Wiiip!
I let out a big sigh as I looked in that direction like a dog chasing a chicken. «Fuck...»
The boss monster we were so close to catching had escaped, full of resentment towards us.