Chapter 212 Confrontation in the Shadows
"I did come in, but..."
It was so dark that Abel couldn't see anything.
There was something prepared for times like this. It had also been useful when he fell into the trap of the Sordin Church. He immediately took out the glowstone.
But perhaps because it was old, it seemed to have less sparkle than before.
"Oh, I should have asked Count Caldwell for a new one."
There was a luminous stone mine in this territory. Of course, at that time, he never thought he would end up here.
Actually, this wasn't planned at all.
But so what?
Adventure is all about dealing with unexpected situations.
"But didn't you say it was a cluster? Why can't I see any?"
He looked around with the glowstone but couldn't even see the tip of Crucian's nose.
There were only artificially created cavities and passageways here and there.
"Surely those countless baby carp aren't just swarming out of those holes?"
- Huh?
He was muttering with an ominous feeling when suddenly Shuguri pricked up his ears.
He looked at him, wondering what he had figured out.
"What's the matter?"
- It's a flag.
"What are you talking about? Are there monsters like that?"
- No, it's a death flag.
Immediately after Shuguri finished speaking, a strange noise was heard.
Boom, boom!
It sounded like the sound of stepping on fallen leaves, but soon he knew what it was.
Just as he had said, something popped out of the hole.
With a crazy scream, that is.
"Crucian carp!"
"Crucian carp!"
"Crucian carp!"
"Bombshell!"
Oh, really.
It truly annoyed him that his bad feelings kept coming true.
***
There appeared to be over 50 Crucifixes present in the crowd.
He understood why Count Caldwell referred to it as a colony.Nôv(el)B\\jnn
What if they all came rushing out at once and started digging all over the ground?
"It's terrifying to even imagine. But what are they doing?"
The Crucifixes all nodded their heads.
It felt like he was participating in some kind of cult religious ritual.
Then, he felt something even more ominous than before.
It seemed like all of those guys' big round eyes were directed at him.
'No, is that a natural reaction? From their perspective, I'm an intruder.'
But then again, thinking about it, it didn't seem like they were particularly intelligent.
Wasn't that the group that stubbornly insisted on being stupid?
They might just stick to the wall and attack him…
"I guess so?"
He stared blankly at the glowstone he was holding in his hand.
This was the only glowing object in this dark cave.
It was a natural result that attention was focused on it.
"Crucian carp?"
"Crucian carp!"
Doo doo doo doo doo doo!
The Crucifixes began to run toward them, fluttering violently.
If they reached top speed like that, they would jump forward and backward without regard to direction and attempt to headbutt.
Thud thud thud!
As expected, dozens of Crucifixes flew in with their heads sticking out.
"What the hell!"
- You idiot! You should have put the glowstone in a long time ago!
"What should I do if I can't see it?"
He quickly flew to the side while arguing with Shuguri.
You can't argue with him and end up in trouble, right?
Crunch! Crunch!
As he moved while hitting the wall with the Warhammer, some distance opened up.
Meanwhile, the carp fry began to peck at each other in a flurry.
Kwakwakwakwakwang!
It was a truly ignorant and incredibly aggressive method.
"Oh my! What if it collapses like that?"
- Huh?
- Huh?
He was muttering to himself without thinking, but Shuguri and Peltron made strange sounds.
Somehow he felt like he knew what was going to happen next.
"It's not a death flag."
- That's right.
"Be quiet!"
Chaeng! Quagagagagak!
He pulled out Hector Punisher and started going down again, thrusting.
Then he fell onto the back of the Crucian who was wandering around on the floor.
"Uratcha!"
Crunch!
As he pushed the warhammer in with the force of gravity, the back of the bastard's neck caved in with a terrifying sound.
[Critical hit! 3.9x additional attack power.]
"Boo, boo… Boom!"
The guy died in one shot.
It fit perfectly with what the two half-horse guys had investigated.
This meant that the entire body, except for the head, was relatively soft.
So he deliberately targeted the nape of the neck, and it was so effective.
'Isn't it okay to fight all of them instead of just a dozen of them?'
Can he send them to the goal one at a time in one room?
Then wouldn't it be over if he just swung it 50 times?
But he had to hit the vital spot precisely.
"Come in, you idiots."
He stood with his back to the wall and taunted the Crucifixes.
Of course, they didn't get caught or anything.
He didn't have to do this; they were going to stick their heads in anyway.
"Boooooooooo!"
Kwaaang!
He quickly dodged the flying Crucian.
A guy struggling while stuck against the wall.
This made it easier to target the vital spot.
"Uratcha!"
Crunch!
As soon as Hector Punisher was stuck in the back of the neck, he waved his arms repeatedly.
Just then, a guy fluttering around nearby caught his eye.
Hoong hooong hooong! Boom!
[Critical hit! 4.2x additional attack power.]
"Yes!"
Perhaps because of the critical hit, the guy's body became unrecognizable.
That was because everything from the back of his neck to his lower back was completely blown out.
He stretched his right arm out to the side and recited confidently.
"Recall."
Shhhhhhhhh! Thud!
Hector Punisher flew in and got caught.
'Oh! This is it. It's so delicious.'
He held the handle and spun it around, feeling like he was the god of thunder.
He jumped over the Crucian who was rushing at him and hit him with one blow.
Crunch!
Since he knew the vital points, the battle was incredibly easy.
Plus, Hector Punisher's abilities were just too good.
In this case, it would be okay not to use any other skills.
'Let's leave it for an emergency. It's enough as it is.'
He ran around the common area, slaughtering the Crucifixes.
That's when he killed about 40 of them.
"What the hell is going on!"
A bright light shone through a hole in the opposite wall.
A light beam so intense that it was on a different level from the faint glowstone.
For a moment he couldn't see ahead, but he didn't care and flew.
Because the next move was planned anyway.
Kwajik-!
"Kkuek!"
A Crucifix with its back torn off lay rolling on the floor.
"Get out!"
Soon, the same voice resonated through the hall again.
Then, surprisingly, the Crucifixes began to retreat hesitantly.
"Hey, just leave them alone. There aren't many left anyway."
He stared at the other person quietly, licking his lips.
As he was getting used to the light, a figure suddenly appeared and caught his eye.
'Looking at the way he controls the Crucifixes, I can tell he's a warlock.'
-----
<Person Information>
Name: Ezekiel
Status: Freedman
Position: None
Relationship: No acquaintance
Status: Anger due to Chimera destruction, no guilt, and a vicious plan to destroy the Caldwell Estate.
Skills: 5th class black magic, chimera production and strengthening.
Overall Ability: A
----
As expected, the contents of the information window were as anticipated.
It had not been revealed what the real intention behind doing this was.
But it contained a lot of pretty useful stuff.
'Oh? Now we've reached the realm of magic?'
In fact, it would not be an exaggeration to say that most of the other person's personal information was known.
In addition, it also showed what kind of rough plan was made.
Even the most skilled shaman wouldn't be able to do something like this.
'Let's use our heads a little.'
The Earldom of Caldwell was now in great crisis.
What could be the reason for driving Youngji into such a corner?
There must be something here to suck up to, so they must have done something like that.
So who is the culprit?
'One or all of the surrounding lords must have conspired.'
There were quite a few fiefdoms bordering the Earldom of Caldwell.
One filtering it out was quick.
Because the north was full of large mountain ranges, and the west was full of small and medium-sized fiefdoms.
There was no way barons with little power could have done something this big.
Then, it was only the east and the south...
Since both were counties, the possibility was high.
He stared at his opponent and shouted:
"Are you Ezekiel?"
"Hmm?"
"I heard from Count Macartney. He sent me to help, but I was treated poorly."
Ezekiel's guard was quickly lowered.
He guessed it was because he knew both his name and his client.
"You could have just called me from outside. Why are you making such a fuss?"
"I thought a warlock of your caliber would be able to use a highly intelligent chimera. No, you made some that would attack you as soon as they see you? I almost died."
Abel pointed at the Crucifixes with a disgruntled expression.
Ezekiel scratched the back of his head and replied, "I-I couldn't help it. To turn the land upside down, you need chimeras with good physical ability and defense, so you can't help but lack intelligence."
"Hey, you shouldn't have used carp in the first place."
"That's true, but…"
"Enough with the small talk; let's go inside and talk. I heard your performance hasn't been very good lately."
"Ahem! That's right."
The conversation so far had been very natural. To any onlookers, it must have seemed as though Abel were a reinforcement sent by Earl McCartney. That's how convincing his acting was.
'I just gave a quick performance, but it turned out well,' he thought, a bit amused by his own success.