One would think being sneaky in a place full of dark miasma would be easy, right? Wrong! So freaking wrong! Every step was akin to a gamble with death— except death was nicer.
Sure, hiding was super easy, but it was even more so for the enemies!
The Ephials' shadow-like bodies allowed them to blend in with the surroundings perfectly. One could be walking only to randomly collide with one, the result obvious.
"How do we progress?" The Centaur asked at a loss.
He had long gathered himself, his mind focused on the revenge Jack had promised him. Still, this lofty goal obviously wouldn't be any easy.
"Oh, going there is a big no. More accurately, we won't be the ones to do so." Jack explained. Why did this sound so much like his previous Pumpkin plan?!
Jack crouched, gesturing toward the ground, bones suddenly appearing and quickly morphing into…a skeletal chicken?!
"Shriek!" It happily jumped around, exploring its surroundings, Moon Moon welcoming it with a timely "Woo!", glad to see its old friend.
"C-chicken…."
"Chicken indeed." Jack praised the Centaur for his astute observation before diligently instructing his pet on its new adventure.
Thus began a Dungeon Mapping journey, one filled with countless shattering sounds, the poor chicken being destroyed and revived nonstop.
"Shriek!" (There's an enemy there!!)
Normally such a strategy would have totally backfired:
Living creatures spotting an undead would instantly trigger the alarm while undead/demonic ones would most likely investigate, hunting them down.
But, Centaur Ephials were actually controlled by some strange power that affected their thoughts, akin to puppets. It created a flaw in their thinking, their thought process being:
Was the target dangerous?
Yes —> Incapacitate/ Destroy!
No —> Corrupt it ASAP!
It just happened that a tiny chicken was neither dangerous nor corruptible by its nature. Had Jack used invoked a skeleton instead, they'd already be fighting right this instant!
It took a while, but they did manage to get an approximate map of the surrounding monster distribution, and the place was overflowing with enemies.
Their current objective was information gathering. As long as he could reach the city's core, he was confident he'd be able to get something worthwhile.
"If we pass here, we should be able to avoid most of the patrols." Jack briefed.
"What about the Ephials standing right there? There's no way we can take on three of them at once!" The Centaur accurately remarked.
"You're right, but Centaurs have one flaw, climbing." Jack pointed at his companion's hooves.
"The birds will…."
"Woo!" (Leave it to me!)
Moon Moon thumped its chest in assurance, a flame flickering atop its tiny paw. While climbing was hard for it too, it could do that much!
Wow! When had its fire mastery increased that much?! In any case, this fitted perfectly into Jack's plan. All he needed was a slight distraction, and he'd do the rest.
"Perfect, move out!" He powerfully declared.
"W-what about me?" The Centaur asked, eager for revenge.
"You stay put and hide. Don't worry. You'll have a crucial role to play later." Jack gave him a thumbs-up as they all disappeared into the darkness.
But it didn't take long for the darkness to light the F UP!
"Woo!" (Let the world burn!)
The small wolf evilly cackled as it let mighty flames burn a building whole! This was so satisfying! Sadly it couldn't stay too long, so it rushed back to hide.
"Scree! Scree!"
The birds all rushed toward the flames as if moths, trying to determine the cause. The Ephials on the ground too were getting restless.
Luckily none had actually seen the crime happen and they were utterly puzzled. While they searched around for the cause, they weren't sure what they were looking for.
While a wolf and a pony played hide and seek with the enemies, jack was jumping from roof to roof with incredible agility.
He had wind swirling around his legs, bones appearing as footholds, and threw pumpkins as noise distractions. Gotta go FAST! He had to reach the core of this place before…
— SHRIIIEEKKK! —
W-what the hell was that?!
An ear-piercing cry resounded, quickly followed by a heavy gallop. That's when the entire building he was on began shaking like crazy.
A second later, something appeared on the roof's edge, and Jack couldn't help but freeze. Centaurs couldn't climb? This one freaking could!
In front of his eyes appeared a creature straight out of a nightmare.
He didn't like the look of this! As dark as night, yet shimmering and somehow easily discernible. It was a huge headless Ephial wielding a ginormous scythe.
< Ephial Commander: Headless Corrupted Centaur 60! ?>
It was only ten levels above the other foot soldiers, but this one was obviously a boss! Even if he used his two remaining life bombs, there was no way in hell he was taking it down!
What to do?! He could only run or stall it somehow…but even then, he was screwed: it would only be a matter of seconds before it sounded the alarm.
Jack glanced reluctantly behind him toward the city core. There was no way he'd make it there anymore. Did this mean he'd have to die and come back?!
More importantly, would the Pumpkin trick even work a second time? What if the Ephial Boss realized the subterfuge?!
But just as he was beginning to despair, he saw a light. There was an item at the Ephial Commander's hip! It was a sealed cylinder, the kind that contained missives…
Were those…orders?!
Wasn't this precisely the information he had been looking for?! He'd be set as long as he had proof of the Ephials' nefarious plans.
But this single cylinder might as well have been on the moon. Stealing it would be by no means easy. How?!
He was also running out of time.
The creature was already charging toward him, its hooves destroying the roof tiles. This charge had so much power that it made him turn pale.
This thing outclassed him on all levels. He could only face it head-on, yet seriously shouldn't. His only path to survival was to use its own power against it.
"Yosh, bring it on, big guy!"
Jack screamed as he worked his magic. It was time to use an ability he hadn't used in forever…for a good reason!
He took a stance and created the mightiest gale ever! This was his self-destruct skill, driving all his mana into that one spell.
Tornado-like wind was generated, rendering the creature helpless for an instant and pushing it back a few meters, straight toward the roof's edge!
Jack could sense the thing's surprise and helplessness. What was up with this powerful wind spell?! But just as the human grinned, the Ephial regained its balance.
It charged again, this time with even more momentum!
Jack took the same stance as earlier, evidently wanting to reuse the same spell. His goal was obvious, to make the enemy fall back down!
But this time, the Ephial was prepared.
Just as Jack shouted, releasing his spell, the Ephial used a charge skill to go even faster! It used its own ability to its maximum potential, knowing it would have to counter the wind.
Except….what wind? Jack's mana flow was already a complete mess from the previous self-destruct attack. Not even a gentle breeze was generated.
The Ephial hadn't expected that at all. It really wasn't ready!! It was as if it had pressed once on a scooter's gas pedal and ended up at supersonic speed.
It tried to change its stance and cut the human down, but it was already too late. It had more speed than it could control! And they just happened to be on a roof.
A second later, the creature threw itself off a building. Jack had been expecting just that outcome and barely managed to get out of the way.
"SHRIIEKK" It cried helplessly before falling to its death….not. The thing was hella sturdy, and there was no way a 100-meter fall or so would impact it.
Jack rolled to get back up, glancing at his surroundings hurriedly. Had he succeeded? Yes! Next to him lay the cylinder he had been looking for!
— Obtained Ephial Commander's Orders! —
He could almost picture the victory music. But now that he had obtained this, it was time for him to GTFO while the Ephial was groggy down there.
Part of him wanted to try killing the creature, but he knew this simply wouldn't happen, not now.
He rushed away, already hearing a cacophony of bird cries and the galloping of the Ephials. Very soon, he'd be surrounded.
It didn't take him long to reach the Centaur's hideout. "You're back!" The youngster happily exclaimed. Oh, but it wasn't for long…
"Can you hear all those enemies coming over?"
"Yes! Climb up, and we'll run away! No matter what, we can't die here! I'll try to convince the other Centaurs. As long as we stay alive, there is still hope and—"
Jack interrupted the heated youngster, giving him a solemn look.
"No. Listen to me, and listen well. I have a secret mission for you. You're to remain here and hide. No matter what happens, you have to remain hidden. Is that understood?"
"W-what are you planning? Wh—"
"Time is precious! Do you understand?"
"Yes, I do, but—"
"Great! Then take care and make sure to stay alive and well. I'm counting on you." Jack uttered before leaving once more.
The youngster turned white as he realized what the man was doing. He couldn't accept this! But just as he was about to follow, he saw Jack's stern look and stopped.
"Come and get me, you bastards!!!" Jack shouted at the top of his lungs.
He was the only one that had been detected. Now he would die to reset the alarm level and give them a chance. He was sacrificing himself for their sake!
The young Centaur watched the man he admired the most get ripped to shred by countless corrupted birds. The poor Centaur shed tears of blood as he watched his hero perish.
Yet even now, Jack was smiling…
