The Freak Show Foreman

Wonderstein moved slowly, each step sending a sharp pain coursing up his thigh from the injured leg making contact with the ground.

Still, he managed to smile, thanks to the 'smiling man' trait.

Ivanenko, watching the limping figure, cautiously approached him.

"Are you okay?" His tone had become exceedingly polite.

The man, despite suffering such a serious injury, had not once furrowed his brow. Not only did he forgive his assailant, but he also provided treatment.

Even Ivanenko, who had been dismissive of priests in general, couldn't help but be moved by Wonderstein's self-sacrificing character, truly demure.

He glanced at Wonderstein's trousers, stained with blood.

Though the bleeding had stopped, just looking at the amount of blood shed so far, it wouldn't be surprising if he collapsed from excessive bleeding any moment now.

Wonderstein smiled to reassure him.

"I'm fine. Let's go take care of these people."

The pain relief from the 'smiling man' had a lasting and repetitive effect, making the initial fiery pain in the wounds bearable now.

The first time, the wounds burned like a fire, but now they were tolerable.

Of course, the 'smiling man' could only alleviate the pain; he couldn't actually heal the wounds. Wonderstein's cell regeneration ability, rated at 4.0, healed the wounds much faster than an average person, but even with such a rapid regeneration, it was impossible for the flesh that had been torn away to heal instantly, especially with his basic abilities reduced.

There was something that had helped seal his wounds.

Wonderstein lifted the edge of his concealed robe.

The area where the flesh had been torn away from his leg was now filled with wriggling, intertwining muscle tissues of a rosy, pink color.

It was a phenomenon similar to what he had seen in the necrotic tissues of those afflicted by the curse plague.

Unbound Debulroots causing cell proliferation rampage.

It was wise to cover the wounds with the robe.

If he showed this state, people would not only doubt his abilities but also question whether Maya could control Debulroots or not.

"Ugh!"

The pain had decreased, but his body was far from being in good shape. Stepping forward without thinking, the muscles suddenly relaxed, causing him to sway.

Maya's small hand supported him.

"Be careful…"

"Thank you, Maya."

Looking at his smiling face, Maya recalled what had happened earlier.

Her excitement was the first of its kind since she was born.

The trembling breath, the anger that surged through her cheeks, everything seemed not her own.

This emotion she was feeling now was incredibly confusing.

Someone to worry about, someone to be angry about, someone to like, and at the same time, someone to hate.

What is this emotion?

She twitched.

Her hand was shaking.

She looked at her palm.

Originally, her hand was as pale as her hair.

Veins were visible, showing a bluish tint.

But now, it was warm and had regained a healthy color, probably due to the side effects of accepting Debulroots into her body.

Was it because of this?

The warmth that invaded her arm through her hand, as if poison was infiltrating, spread to her heart, turning her arm pink.

Though the heartbeat was too faint to be called a pulse, the sensitive whiskers of a cat could detect it.

Meow meow meow meow.

Wally's quick-paced meows echoed in a corner of her heart.

He seemed happy somewhere.

It seemed like he was teasing her.

It was a strangely irritating crying sound.

Maya glared at the little creature.

Wally yawned, pretending not to see, and clumsily disappeared into the darkness.

The group soon reached the cathedral on the hill.

Unlike Charlotia's cathedral, which had pointed spires on the roof, Kievan Church had a round dome.

Before opening the door to the church sanctuary, Wonderstein thought he would see a scene he had seen in the game.

People horribly transformed, lying on the ground, blood and organs flowing out, a gruesome sight of them writhing in agony.

However, the moment he opened the door, the unexpected sound of cheers filled their ears.

"Wow!"

"I'm healed! I'm really healed!"

"It's a miracle! This is a miracle!"

"Everyone is truly…"

The church was lively, as if it was a festival.

There were no patients lying on the floor, waiting for death, as he had anticipated.

Though their bodies were burnt black all over, everyone was walking and talking normally.

"Oh, Ivanenko."

Just moments ago, as a soldier conversed and laughed with a villager, another soldier discovered them and rushed over.

Ivanenko, who had been bewildered by the scene inside the cathedral, managed to regain composure and spoke solemnly, "What's going on here?"

"It's a, a miracle! A miracle!"

"What are you talking about?"

"That's what it is. The nun you brought in earlier…"

"A nun?"

In response to the knight's question, the soldier nodded excitedly, "Yes. When you went to the guild, another visitor arrived. A young nun. She said she came to see the priest of the church, so I guided her. I thought it would be nice if she could help heal one or two people. But…"

Suppressing his excited expression, the soldier continued, "She has already used more than 30 healing spells. Moreover, it seems more effective and faster than the spells the priest used."

"What?"

"And she used a healing stake even more powerful than the one the priest used."

"Hmm, really?"

Ivanenko couldn't decide whether to believe that story or not. The village priest had served as both the local priest and even as the bishop in the grand cathedral. While not an expert in exorcising heretics, healing over 20 victims of the cursed plague was no easy feat.

But could a young nun exhibit greater power than that?

It was an unbelievable story.

"So, where is that nun now?"

"Over there, among the patients…"

As the soldier pointed, someone suddenly stood up. It was a woman dressed in a white habit similar to Wonderstein's.

She pointed at him and shouted, "Hey, handsome man over there!"

"Me… Are you talking to me?"

Nodding determinedly, she stared at him with a resolute expression, "Yes! I'm talking to you! Aren't you a mage? Why are you here?"

That was the question he wanted to ask.

A woman in her early twenties, with bright pink hair adorned with a flower pin the size of a palm. It was overwhelming and glamorous enough to be burdensome. She looked different from the character in the game, and she seemed a few years younger than he knew.

But there was no doubt that she was Valentina.

***

A massive pirate ship cut through the stormy seas, waves parting in its wake. The ship belonged to the pirate captain "Clawfoot," the leader of the raiders.

It was the loot obtained by the heroes during their escape from the stage 2, "Pirate Island Freeport."

Starting from Vergsong's private mansion, passing through Flolande, and using the clues obtained on Pirate Island Freeport, the hero party finally discovered the location where Wonderstein's resurrection ritual was taking place. Their destination was an island called "Ginang," situated in the middle of the Caribbean Sea.

Ginang was covered entirely by dense jungles, and along the coastline, thick mangrove colonies were densely packed.

This was the headquarters of the "Dock Cult," a group of mages who worshiped various sea deities.

They were pooling their powers to manipulate such an unnatural storm, and approaching the island seemed like a daunting task.

A rogue on the ship climbed up the main mast with a telescope to observe the situation. After a while, she lowered her head.

She swept her rain-soaked hair back and sighed. Then, the stage logo appeared.

<Stage 3: Dock Cult />

Kugung.

The sky flashed, and the thunder roared, shaking the world.

Throughout the ship, support characters who had accompanied the party on their journey were waiting. Some were covering themselves with waterproof cloths, some were huddled and squatting, others were enjoying warm cocoa, smoking pipes, handling ropes, fiddling with cannons, fishing, and more.

As the thief passed by them, each one threw a word or two.

Gunner Porsche: How about a direct frontal assault!

…

Chef Marcone: We need to keep an eye on those mages among us. They might be on the side of the Dock Cult.

…

Hound Mars: Whispers can be heard. There are voices that cannot be heard. They are the apostles.

…

The thief, who returned to the bridge, conveyed the situation she had just seen while wiping her wet hair from the rain.

The wizard predicted that the storm would weaken in about two weeks.

The remaining time until the resurrection ritual of Wonderstein is three weeks.

It seemed wisest to wait for two weeks and then enter.

However, the knight sitting at the center of the table shook her head.

"No, we need to go quickly."

"Why?"

The knight mentioned the 'Papal Punishment Corps' they encountered in "Stage 1: Flolande."

Composed of priests and exorcists, they had ignited a sense of competition, claiming they would capture Wonderstein before the group of heroes.

While they arrived at the cult headquarters before the hero's group, they fell into a trap and scattered.

"How do you know that?"

Even in the wizard's inquisitive response, the knight remained silent.

Her tone was now familiar.

"…Just now, one of the sailors attacked someone. He turned out to be a survivor of the Punishment Corps."

The Punishment Corps had been scattered across various locations on the island, pursued by the cult.

Considering their behavior in Flolande, it was somewhat expected, but they couldn't ignore people in danger.

Eventually, the heroes infiltrated the inner sanctum of Ginang using risky methods.

It was a place filled with monsters created by the cult and magicians armed with unique special abilities.

The heroes defeated them, rescued the Punishment Corps, and eliminated those who had been turned into enemies through modification.

Finally, they could reach the center of the cult.

Waiting there was the cult leader, the High Priestess of the cult, Rel Lohira.

She was a girl wearing a thin one-piece dress with a scarf around her mouth, and rabbit ears perked up on her head.

However, one should not be deceived by her appearance.

Even if they used all the skill books available in the prologue stage to enhance their combat skills, they could not defeat Rel Lohira in hand-to-hand combat.

Her attacks were simple, including thrusts, palm strikes, kicks, knee strikes, sweeps, and elbow strikes.

But her strategy was not simple.

She skillfully evaded all the attacks of the heroes and, when an opening appeared, launched attacks at an unstoppable speed.

Strength, speed, technique—she was a perfect martial artist in every aspect.

No matter what attack they made, she effortlessly evaded it using her swift evasion.

The developers of Tril Trilo had not simply given her an "invincibility effect" like in other games.

When gamers approached her with creative attack patterns, she perfectly countered them with her strength, speed, and technique.

Commonly known as "Perfect Mode."

When introducing TT3, the development team proudly mentioned that they had applied a military training algorithm developed for military use in South America, shocking many players.

Of course, even for her, who seemed invincible, there was a way to defeat her.

It was the clock hanging from the hall's ceiling.

Upon close observation, it could be seen that the clock flashed with a blue light when she entered "Perfect Mode."

If they noticed this and destroyed the clock, she would experience confusion, repeatedly aging rapidly, and her strength and speed would decline significantly. Then, she could easily be defeated with regular attacks.

"Lutermine's clock. It's a relic called the 'Time Drinker' belonging to Lutermine."

Relics were items one level above magical tools, representing powerful magical devices representing the power of a mage.

No matter how strong of a martial artist she was, it was impossible for her to perfectly counter every attack made by her opponents, as if she knew all their attack patterns.

She used Lutermine's clock to rewind time, analyzing their attacks while creating opportunities. When she attacked, the sudden acceleration phenomenon was also due to the power of the clock.

Of course, it was impossible to implement the ability to read the future in a game.

It was merely a macro that caught the gamer's input signals and responded accordingly.

As they continued to destroy Lutermine's clock, the number of patterns she read consecutively decreased.

If they completely shattered the clock in four attempts, she would undergo rapid aging, and her power and speed would significantly drop. At that point, she could easily be defeated even with standard attacks.

"The guy who revived and… I wanted to play a little more…"

The group of heroes defeated the elderly cult leader and stood behind her.

However, the resurrection ritual site was already complete.

In a corner of the empty ritual site, there was a person.

The leader of the Papal Punishment Corps, who took advantage of the heroes' fight to infiltrate the resurrection ritual site, was captured and imprisoned, unable to defeat Wonderstein.

The heroes freed her from the chains.

She expressed gratitude to the heroes.

She had been chasing the Black Magician since TT1.

The commander of the Papal Punishment Corps in TT3.

She was none other than the Saint Valentina.