＜ 9. The thief who stole the country (7) ＞
Andrea made two plans before dealing with the Minotaur. The reason I had to do that was because of the pattern that appeared on the 8th turn.
On turn 8, a huge ax falls from the sky. And when the Minotaur grabs the axe, all status ailments are healed and health is maxed out. That alone is horrifying, but on top of that, there’s even a stat-up buff.
Therefore, the outline of Andrea’s plan was as follows.
Plan A, before the 8th turn, somehow hit all the deals and catch the Minotaur.
Plan B, save all means and hold on until the Minotaur gets an ax and beats it all up.
You can understand it just by listening to it roughly, but Plan A is the standard and much easier path. The problem is that Andrea and her party’s firepower is absolutely lacking. It was the worst situation to put a deal in the middle of the day and turn 8.
So Andrea decided on a fork in the plan. Plan A if leap is drawn within 1 or 2 turns, plan B if leap is not drawn.
Destroying buildings to inflict damage was a method often used in the game. However, it was not easy to avoid the Minotaur’s charge, so it was essential to use the leap.
If you went to Plan A by destroying the next building, the most important thing is to pull out ‘Summon Marco’ as quickly as possible. Right now, the only thing that could physically stand up to the Minotaur was ‘Marco with a hammer’.
The plan went smoothly, and Marco did a better job than expected.
The Minotaur’s weak point is its horns. Because if the horn is broken, the stats will be drastically reduced. A direct hit to the head would have been nice, but breaking the horns was enough.
The eyes of the Minotaur staring at Marco were burning.
“You dare… take my horn…”
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No further conversation was necessary. The Minotaur jumped off the floor at once. Marco tightened his grip on the hammer and prepared to swing it.
puck!
This time, it hit the Minotaur’s forearm directly. If the horns were left, it wouldn’t have dealt much damage, but it was a shock that was too much for a bull monster with reduced resistance to endure. Minotaur holding his forearm and stepping back.
“Don’t be rude!”
Marco didn’t miss the momentum. I swung the heavy hammer freely as if it were my own body. Again, a blunt impact drove the Minotaur.
Left shoulder without epaulettes, right leg using the recoil from hitting the floor, left side ignoring the raised guard with forearm.
Fur – billion!
The shock wave just exploded and was quite lethal. The posture of the Minotaur, which had been struggling, collapsed. Andrea was not alone.
“Huap!”
He lowered his body and aimed from behind, cutting off his calf. Blood splattered along the azure blade.
pick-pick-
A shower of arrows followed. Trisha relentlessly aimed her arrow at the Minotaur’s eye. Arrows continued to pierce the palms that covered his face.
However, the Minotaur felt something draining out of the hand that blocked the arrow. It was Trisha’s use of a ‘containment shot’ to slash the resistance.
The charter has turned completely. If it had been intact, the three pincers would have been just annoying, but the Minotaur had a hunch that it might really suffer if it continued like this.
The solution given by the instinct of the beast was to escape.
The Minotaur threw Andrea away to run back.
“Where!”
Andrea tried to hold on, but no matter how injured she was, it was difficult to overcome the difference in strength from her size. Taking advantage of Andrea’s gap, the Minotaur ran.
“Mr. Marco, we have to go after him!”
“I know!”
I had an ominous feeling. The party is now overwhelming in terms of combat, but one thing was extremely lacking compared to the Minotaur.
mobility.
‘If the Minotaur makes up his mind and runs away until turn 8, the plan will be in vain.’
Minotaurs show a warlike and playful side. However, it was an attitude that was strictly limited to the target he could win.
A typical strong-weak-weak. If you judge that the target is difficult to defeat, the next action is to run away.
It was also the reason why Andrea attacked the leg first. In preparation for the number of cases in which the Minotaur escaped. Although that level of injury was not even an obstacle to running away.
“Trisya! You too come over here and help with the chase.”
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Nodding her head, Trisha quickly started running. Actually, it didn’t matter much if it was just catching up. However, it is difficult because it is impossible to drive the Minotaur without Marco.
The Minotaur climbed over the ruins of the collapsed castle and hid itself in the dense forest. Andrea asked Trisha to taunt him in order to shake the Minotaur’s emotions.
“If you are looking for fodder, I think the grass there is still a bit dry, right?”
“If you come back now, I’ll fix the barn you destroyed!”
“I went to eat beef with my father yesterday, but he ate it with his bare hands before it was cooked.”
“Trisya… That seems a little… harsh.”
Marco looked at Trisha, disgusted. Trisha shrugged, not caring.
“That’s pretty mild.”
Unfortunately, the Minotaur did not come out after hearing the provocation. However, this was enough to fight emotionally when faced with it.
‘Even if I fought calmly, it would be hard to beat Marco, but if I was enraged, there would be more gaps.’
4 turns already. I drew a card before chasing. Shadow imprint, strike, defense. Andrea used the shadow imprint without hesitation.
‘If this happens, it will be much easier to fight.’
The pain that I couldn’t get used to burrowed into the back of my hand again. A black hook pattern engraved on the back of the hand. The black energy that flowed out enveloped Andrea and the knife in her hand.
Marco looked at Andrea with admiration.
“Huh, is this the power of the Shadow God?”
Sharpened senses wandered through the forest. Andrea was soon able to spot a huge presence.
“Just follow me. You get a sense of where the Minotaur might be.”
Andrea ran as fast as a shotgun. Marco and Trisha hurriedly followed him.
The Minotaur didn’t intend to just suffer. While running through the forest, a whole tree came flying. Andrea and the others spread out and avoided the trees.
Kwajijik!
Other trees hit by the projectile snapped and snapped.
‘This time it’s not a tree uprooted. Even if you can throw something that’s already broken, you don’t have enough strength to pull out a tree like before.’
Andrea gained confidence. If he had such keen senses and light movements, it seemed like he could deal with him one-on-one, even if he wasn’t as good as Marco.
The first to catch up was, of course, Andrea. The Minotaur was waiting on one knee among the bushes.
“Did you come alone…?”
“Yeah, I think it will work.”
“cheeky···.”
The Minotaur stood up. I didn’t feel the same pressure as when we first met. Andrea had even used her indomitable will before coming. Raising up the polar dawn polished by shadows, he prepared to face it.
But the Minotaur turned its back on Andrea and started running away on all fours.
“No, what…”
For the Minotaur, he suppressed his rising emotions and made a rational decision. Seeing that there was something strange going on, I thought it wouldn’t be easy to win even if I was alone.
An uneasy premonition was gradually coming true. If you keep going like this, it will be turn 8. Andrea desperately pursued the Minotaur.
“Don’t let me run away!”
The Minotaur ran out of the forest without hiding its presence. Trisha and Marco narrowed the siege, but the range was too wide. The bull monster found a blind spot and broke through.
As soon as he started running on all fours, his speed was faster than Andrea’s pursuit. Returning quickly to the ruins of the castle, the Minotaur climbed the collapsed stone walls and perched atop the ruins.
I was only chasing after him, but it was already the 7th turn. Andrea looked up at the stone wall nervously and eventually decided to climb it. The Minotaur tossed debris from above.
“Get out of here!”
“Such a cowardly oxhead…”
It was a fighting method that seemed like a mixture of beast and man. If the fight is unfavorable, he runs away without pride, and endures unconditionally until the situation comes to his advantage.
‘But now that I think about it, it’s similar to how I fight originally… There’s no method more effective than this when fighting tough opponents, damn it.’
Andrea dodged the pile of falling stones, complaining inwardly. Using the shadow imprint, his senses and attack power became stronger, but his resistance did not rise. It seemed difficult to avoid all the stones and climb up there.
I had to change my plans. Turn 8 is already ahead of us. Andrea left the Minotaus and ran somewhere.
‘Since I couldn’t kill him before turn 8, I have to stop picking up the ax no matter what. You have to go to the point where the ax can fall and wait.’
Tricia and Marco belatedly reached the rubble. Andrea gave instructions to both of them.
“Wait at the pit right next to the castle and the tree cut out in front of the railing! Turn 8 soon!”
There are a total of 5 points where the ax can fall. It was certain that it would fall around the capital, but it was completely random where it would fall, so I had no choice but to gamble on three places. However, if you are concerned…
‘Please, it’s not just the top of the stone wall where the Minotaur is now.’
…Now, the place where the Minotaur is is also one of the points where the ax can fall.
Andrea made a big mistake. That he dared to hope and pray that nothing would happen in this damn dungeon.
An ax with a sharp blue blade flashed from the sky and began to fall towards the location of the Minotaur.
“no!!”
Turning her back on Andrea’s screams, Tricia fired an arrow.
Shik –
The bull monster saw arrows flying over the stone wall, but he didn’t care. This arrow, whether or not it gets stuck in the skin. If I just grabbed the axe, all my injuries would be healed anyway.
Besides, the arrows were misdirected. If you go in that direction, you will have no choice but to hit the ax, not yourself.
‘He was a no-nonsense archer.’
The Minotaur snorted. Without even realizing that he had made a rash decision.
Ting!
The moment the arrow hit the axe, Trisha’s figure in front of the pit disappeared in an instant.
It was a ‘blink shot’.
Trisha, who instantly teleported to the top of the stone wall, blocked the ax and fired at the Minotaur.
“I hope you don’t touch this axe.”
Minotaur stroking his chin as if he was quite surprised. Even so, there was no sign of nervousness at all.
“Ah, wasn’t that the b*tch who dirtyly teased her tongue downstairs? Would you like to repeat what you said earlier?”
“What did you say? You said your father was a beef lover?”
The bull monster’s forehead wriggled, and veins rose.
“There will never be a time when four years old will die gracefully. Let’s see if you can make fun of the muzzle even if the axe cuts the head in half.”
“Ah, such a delusion…”
Trisha flicked her index finger from side to side and pulled out a potion from her bosom.
“…it’s not too late to drink an explosive potion.”
“what···?”
The Minotaur was not given a chance to speak any more. Trisha threw the explosive potion in front of the Minotaur.
Kwa-ang!!!
A huge explosion occurred. With a deafening sound, the few remaining ruins of the castle collapsed completely.
kurlr –
Even though I couldn’t see it myself, it wasn’t hard to guess what was going on. Andrea put on a bewildered expression.
‘No, you bastard! Promise not to use it nearby…!’
It was not easy to figure out what happened after the explosion caused a thick cloud of dust. Andrea and Marco quickly ran through the collapsed wreckage. What they witnessed was a terrible sight that was difficult to describe.
A charred bull monster, Trisha, whose skin was ripped apart and lost an arm.
But the reason Andrea couldn’t open her mouth wasn’t just because of the disastrous results of the attack, which was tantamount to suicide. His silence was also mingled with fear of what was to come.
“I looked easy on her, but she must have been quite venomous. It was really dangerous this time.”
Holding the ax in both hands, the Minotaur slowly raised itself.
＜ 9. The thief who stole the country (7) ＞ End