Chapter 149: Hunting Summoners (2)
"I'll explain how we can kill the summoner."
Raina told them about a crossbow, which was used for capturing.
"It shoots out a rope with a hook like a harpoon. The soldiers usually carry it around to capture us."
That was why she insisted on scavenging the arsenal for soldiers.
"Mott, Holly, Jay, Tom, and Teo will hold the crossbows."
Everyone, except the girls Julia and Mellie, had to carry a crossbow.
"The summoners are unaffected by our attacks. I've known that for a while now."
Raina explained everything she had investigated and learned from Almond to the children.
"But Almond showed me yesterday that attacks do work on them. It's just that the attacks are weak."
She placed a single rock on the ground.
"This is the summoner and this is us."
The branches on the ground were tiny compared to the rock. The branches represented Raina and the children in her squad.
"From what I've learned watching the summoners fight, the summoner's attacks on each other are even sometimes ineffective due to the strength of their protection. That's how strong their champion's blessing is."
The champion's blessing in the game was simply called the HP bar. For Raina and the minions, the HP bar seemed like a large shield.
"But the champion's blessing doesn't go on forever either. Most importantly..."
Tak.
She took out a thin thread and tied the sticks and rock together.
"They're weak to attacks that deter their movement."
"T-This is what the crossbows are for?" Mott asked.
"Yeah, Mott. Very smart!"
"Haha..."
Mott smiled, glad to hear the compliment.
"This harpoon-like crossbow shoots a hook that ties a knot to its target. I can't show it to you guys yet because the soldiers always keep it locked up."
It meant that they had only one try to succeed. There was no opportunity to practice.
"Umm..."
Tom carefully raised his hand to ask a question.
"But the hook won't dig into the summoners because of the champion's blessing."
The champion's blessing enveloped the summoners like a second layer of skin. Before that broke, no attacks would reach them. The hook wasn't an exception either, but Raina knew that.
"Yes, that's right. So we're going to aim for something else."
Raina had a plan in mind. The plan that came out of her mouth was ridiculous even for Almond.
'... Is that even possible?'
It was dangerous and extreme, but...
"Almond! Let's do our best!" Mott said as he clenched Almond's hand.
"If it's you, you can do it!"
"Alright."
Mott's smile shined brightly. Teo smiled alongside him. Teo had no past memories, but was still fond of Almond like before.
Would Mott be the same if he ever lost his memory?
***
'I should've looked at his smile a little longer back there.'
Almond finished recollecting while staring at Mott's severed head.
'That was the only viable plan.'
He realized why Raina's plan was so dangerous and extreme.
'To kill something like that, we have to do something extreme.'
High risk led to high rewards. If they wanted to kill a monster like a summoner, they needed to factor in that much risk.
"I changed places because I felt like something was off. I see you guys are doing something cute?"
The summoner who surprised them was Yuria. The white light shining from her outshone the night. She was completely different from when she fought the assassin champion.
'She's much stronger.'
The blue team didn't win for no reason. Yuria was much stronger than the assassin champion. Her blue eyes were wide open and filled with murderous intent. Fighting her would be on another level compared to the distracted summoner from last time.
Almond prepared himself.
Creak…?
Yuria pulled her bowstring.
"Everyone can either die or just give up and come here."
An unknown white energy was forming on her bow. He didn't know what it was, but judging from the earlier battles, they'd all die if the energy was fully gathered. He survived the earlier shot because he was lucky. Yuria couldn't use one shot to kill all the scattered minions, but would he get lucky again? Almond shook his head.
'We have to strike back.'
They had to fight back. Just like Raina said, a fight with the summoner was unavoidable.
'But what about Raina?'
Almond looked around and checked if Raina had survived. If she died, everything was over.
'She's over there.'
Thankfully, he could easily spot Raina. However, she wasn't in the state to fight back.
"Ah, ah..."
Her eyes lost focus. She seemed out of it like most minions when facing a summoner. She was trembling and waiting for death. Even the mighty Raina was helpless when she was a minion. Almond had no choice but to raise his arms.
"We surrender."
Yuria wanted Raina and Almond alive anyways.
‘Try not to die. Otherwise, that'll put me in a difficult position.’
It was what Yuria told Almond, which meant she didn't want him on the red team. The summoners didn't kill strong minions like Almond. Instead, they captured them and erased their memories like they did to Raina. He didn't know how they altered memories, but it'd be more cumbersome than killing him. They went through the trouble to have the minions stay on the blue team.
'Seems like I'm right.'
Almond was correct. As he approached her, Yuria smiled.
"Come closer."
Yuria signaled him to come closer using her bow. The white light at the tip of her arrow shone at its brightest. If she released the arrow, Almond would instantly die.
Almond approached her, trying not to turn his gaze towards it.
"Hey, Raina. I'll give you a special chance as well," Yuria told Raina, who was still shuddering.
'She's going to kill the rest of them.'
The other minions were simply Raina's distractions and Yuria would mercilessly kill them.
'How many minions are left?'
Meanwhile, Almond tried to figure out how many minions remained. If the plan were to work, at least four needed to be left alive.
'I wonder if she knows?'
Almond glanced at Yuria. Yuria was checking her surroundings as well. She was unaware of where the other minions were. This meant there was hope.
Whip.
She suddenly turned around and aimed at Almond.
'What the?'
Almond was surprised.
"If you don't come here right now, I'm going to kill this guy as well. I think you two are close, right?"
Thankfully, she was just using him to threaten Raina. Raina, hearing the threat, slowly picked herself back up. Her legs were still shaking, but her eyes were back in focus.
"Dying or going to you, it's the same thing..."
Raina looked directly into Yuria's eyes. A minion looking directly into a summoner was like staring at the bright sun, but Raina was unfazed.
"Isn't that right? It's all the same. My memory is erased and like a slave, like a toy, I'll be used in your silly plays."
Wrinkles formed between Yuria's eyes.
"Silly play?"
"War? Taran?! When we die, we go and fight for Taran anyways! What's different!"
“Sigh,”?Yuria took a deep breath while muttering, “You found out that much.”
"It's not playing. It's training."
"What...?"
"Anyway, you found out too much. I won't even be able to convince you."
Creak...
Yuria pulled on her bow. Raina was still frozen and wouldn't be able to dodge the arrow. It was a miracle she was standing on her powerless legs.
"It'll be better to kill you off."
If Raina found out that much, she wouldn't surrender anyways. She had to kill the other minions, who listened in as well.
'But...'
Yuria felt something odd as she pulled her bowstring.
'Why did the other guy surrender himself?'
Kang!
She felt a warm sensation on her left arm. Her bow lost balance and the arrow fell. The burning white energy immediately disappeared.
"I knew it. My damage isn’t bad."
She turned around and saw that it was Almond. Unlike before, his eyes were filled with murderous intent.
"You...?"
Ting...!
Yuria released her bow instinctively, but a bow without an arrow was useless.
Nothing happened. She just gave him another opening.
"Champion Raina can shoot even without an arrow, but it seems like you can't."
Swoosh!
Almond's dagger struck Yuria's chin.
Puung!
Blue sparks flew off from the impact of the dagger. Yuria's neck turned around as her eyes shone white with rage.
At the same time, Almond shouted at the top of his lungs, "Now—!"
When he saw how many minions were alive, more than he expected had survived. They had all been crawling to their positions.
'If what I saw was correct...'
Charrrrrr!
Hooks flew in from all over the place. It was the hooks from the crossbows. The ropes attached to the hooks formed a star around Yuria.
"A rope crossbow? That won't..."
Yuria laughed because something like a hook wouldn't dig into her skin. She thought it was better to kill the child in front of her instead of dodging. Yuria's foot lit up with white energy as she kicked Almond in the stomach.
Kwaaaaang!
The kick caused a white explosion. The damage was weak compared to her shots, but the damage was critical for a minion. However, Yuria was an archer at the end of the day. She wasn't skilled in close combat. Almond, who could dodge the attacks of an assassin, dodged the kick and the explosion.
Instead—
"!?"
Charrr! Ting!
Yuria was the one who failed to, no, chose not to dodge.
"T-The hooks are together?"
The hooks came from all directions, but weren't aimed at her skin. As the hooks were being pulled in…
Clank!
This was the moment they were waiting for. The moment when the hooks linked to each other. The hooks tightened around Yuria's body.
"Urgh...!"
Coincidentally, she was standing on one leg. As her two arms and thighs started to tighten, keeping her balance became difficult. Yuria swayed back and forth, left and right, and then—
Slam!
She fell forward and the minions were startled.
'It works.'
'Summoners can also fall!'
'It worked!'
Raina was right. Even for summoners, the capturing technique worked. Now, Almond had to do his job and finish her off.
''But we're missing one.'
It was the hook Mott had to fire, which was needed to finish her off.
Just then—
Charrr!
"?"
A hook flew in from somewhere and struck the tree behind Almond. The rope led to...
"Huff... Puff... Took me a while to find this."
It was Raina. She seemed to have come back to her senses.
She loosened the rope and shouted, "Almond, hurry!"
Almond was already in motion. He grabbed the loose rope with one hand and ran towards Yuria. He tackled her and aimed for her head.
"Let go of me! Before I kill you!!!" Yuria's hysteric voice echoed.
It seemed like she was about to kill them using her teeth, but that was only for a moment.
Whiff!
"You're the one who's going to die."
Almond wrapped the rope around her neck. Raina pulled the trigger, causing the rope to rewind.
Shiiiik—?
The rope tightened around her neck while pulling her up.