Chapter 244: Wonderland – 47

“Give me back Katpia! You hid him, didn’t you!”

Patty shouted, brandishing the scythe of death menacingly. Each time he stomped on the ground, the rock cracked apart.

The Scarecrow was tense.

His mannerisms and actions seemed less impressive than the Reaper they had met before in Drvchep, but his power was not to be underestimated.

Just a single swing of his scythe had taken off half the hilltop.

Patty paid little attention to the Scarecrow and Lumie.

The scent of his friend had permeated the place long before they arrived.

So he focused his hostility on Chen Hawk, who seemed to have been here all along.

The fact that he wore the captain’s armband of the guards also contributed to this judgment.

“Was it you? How could a non-apostle like you... What did you do to my friend!”

“Calm down.”

Hawk stood before the Reaper utterly unperturbed.

Instead, he even seemed to smirk beneath his mask, provoking his opponent.

“We boiled your friend into a stew. Should’ve saved some bits for you.”

“You bastard!”Fịndd new updates at novelhall.com

Patty swung the scythe again.

Hawk spread his wings wide, as if anticipating the attack, and his body soared into the sky.

“You think I can’t catch you if you fly away!”

The black cloth swirling around

Patty’s body unfurled into the shape of bat wings. He quickly pursued Hawk.

But he was significantly heavier and less adept at handling dark magic than other Reaper.

He tried to grab Hawk with sluggish movements, but he couldn’t even touch a feather due to his clumsy actions.

“You think you can catch me at that speed?”

Hawk’s taunt only enraged Patty further, making him charge even more furiously.

“Argh! You bastard!”

The Scarecrow and Lumie noticed Hawk glancing at them amidst dodging the reaper’s attacks.

His intention was clear. While he kept the reaper occupied, they were to escape.

The two exchanged a brief look and nodded.

They couldn’t let his final, burning performance go to waste.

They pulled out their exit tickets and tried to tear them.

But at that moment, their hands holding the tickets froze stiff.

“What, what’s this, why?”

“This is... No way...?”

The Scarecrow noticed frost spreading from where they stood.

Patty was floating in the air, glaring at them.

“Hmph. You think I wouldn’t notice that?”

The icy curse contained in the death god’s gaze.

Patty had realized Hawk’s intention to buy time for their escape and unleashed his power the moment they let their guard down.

“I thought you were insignificant, but I guess you’ll do as hostages.”

“Hey! Wasn’t I your opponent!”

Hawk tried to draw Patty’s attention back, but the Reaper ignored him and landed in front of Lumie.

He deemed it better to subdue her than the Scarecrow, who was sprawled on the ground like a corpse and couldn’t get up.

As the Reaper focused on her, ice began to spread over her body with a crackling sound.

Her complexion turned as pale as Maya’s.

“Ugh, urgh!”

Patty shouted at Hawk, who was flying overhead, looking for an opportunity.

“If you don’t want to see her die, tell me where my friend is!”

Hawk felt a sense of helplessness.

He had no idea what happened to his friend.

He had only pretended to know to provoke him and buy Oz and Lumie time to escape.

But this backfired, causing the enemy to take them hostage instead.

Even if he now claimed he knew nothing, the enemy wouldn’t believe him.

In that dire situation, the Scarecrow was staring blankly into the air.

He was looking at the illusionary letters floating before him.

It was a message from Lumie.

She had once shown him a trick called ‘lenticular,’ combining invisibility magic and refraction to show illusions visible only from certain angles.

By using this, she could send secret messages to specific people within the same space.

­’I’ll tear your ticket for you.’

The Scarecrow looked at the hand holding his exit ticket.

Small blades were forming there. Lumie had barely managed to conjure this illusion while freezing.

­’What about you, Lumie?’

The Scarecrow said, making sure only she could hear him through the Sound Room.

“You fool...”

Lumie’s body was engulfed in light and vanished.

She had returned to the surface.

“You bastard!”

Patty forgot about keeping Hawk at bay and swung the reaper’s scythe at the scarecrow.

Seizing the opportunity from above, Hawk dove in a straight line, slashing Patty’s nape with his talons as he passed.

“Argh, you pesky insect!”

The Scarecrow could finally catch his breath when the Reaper averted its gaze from him.

It was a necessary choice just now.

His ability was remote, but her body was within the cursed zone.

His ability was unaffected by the curse, but required direct contact.

So he had no choice but to rush toward her.

Of course, it wasn’t because he was prepared to sacrifice himself for her.

He had a trump card.

Sub Quest – Masquerade

: In Wonderland, you are the Torch Dancer.

Completion Conditions

: Ensure that your companions, except for Arno, leave Wonderland without discovering your identity.

Reward for Success

: You can take one Persona out of Wonderland.

Penalty for Failure

: None.

The quest completion notification had just appeared.

He could use that reward.

Of course, it was uncertain whether he could escape from Wonderland with it.

But it was better to bet on a possibility than to abandon her and run away.

The Scarecrow designated “Torch Dancer” as the reward for the quest.

However, the status window returned a negative response.

[You cannot designate yourself. Please select another Persona.]

The quest description only stated that he could take one Persona with him.

It couldn’t be used as an escape method.

But he didn’t despair.

He still had one more trick up his sleeve.

-Hawk, can you hear me?

Hawk, who was taunting the Reaper and dodging its attacks, momentarily glanced at the Scarecrow.

Of course, he couldn’t respond.

The sound room’s function was only usable by the troupe members.

The Scarecrow had configured his voice to be directed at a specific target like a directional microphone.

-Cut my hand in two.

Hawk’s flight path faltered slightly as he seemed momentarily confused by the Scarecrow’s words.

The Scarecrow quickly added an explanation.

-Cut off the ticket in my frozen hand.

Using the quest reward would have been ideal, but since that was impossible, he had to resort to a backup plan.

Hawk understood his intention and sharpened the talons on his feet.

However, it was difficult to find an opening while dodging the Reaper’s attacks.

-I’ll count to three and then paralyze it for a moment. Ready? One, two, three!

The Scarecrow redirected the microphone’s direction to Patty and turned the volume to maximum before shouting.

“I’ve cracked a Reaper’s skull before! You rabbit bastard!”

“Aaaargh!”

The thunderous sound echoed in Patty’s ears, causing him to stagger in place while clutching his ears.

Hawk, waiting for this moment, folded his wings and dove toward Oz.

His sharp talons were more than capable of cutting through the Scarecrow’s frail hand.

But they underestimated Patty’s intelligence.

He knew that Hawk intended to rescue the Scarecrow.

Just before Hawk could reach him, Patty had set a trap with pitch-black magic around the Scarecrow.

“Got you.”

Shadows around the Scarecrow rose up, tangling Hawk’s body with an indistinguishable mix of black smoke or fabric.

“Damn it!”

Patty, pausing mid-air, swung his scythe towards him.

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Chapter 243: Wonderland – 46