The Freak Show Foreman

The ground trembled.

The storm swept through the open field.

Dirt and rocks flew up and then settled back down.

The circus members who were running towards Ella stood frozen in their tracks.

The expressions on their faces were beyond words, filled with shock and despair.

As if confirming the kill, the demon slammed its hands down on the side of the fallen carriage.

With a thud, the carriage frame sank.

It was a scene so cruel that even the hope of her being alive was shattered.

If Ella was still alive, there was no other option but to avoid from the beginning.

The members desperately searched the surroundings with eyes filled with hope.

She might appear suddenly with her usual confident demeanor.

There's a possibility.

Our leader.

She's incredibly fast.

Maybe she dodged it…

They fervently tried to find evidence that she was still alive.

However, their hopes were brutally crushed in a heartless way.

Someone let out a sigh filled with gloom.

He pointed with trembling fingers towards the edge of the broken carriage.

All eyes turned to that direction.

Thick wooden planks were torn apart like paper.

The iron structure was bent and broken.

There, blood was flowing.

It was a bright red blood as if pouring out from a freshly cracked egg.

The blood didn't stop, continuing to flow down the slope.

It reached the limit of what could be extracted from a human body.

It became clear.

Ella was dead.

Bendict, standing next to the staggering Yurakne, supported himself.

Wrapped in bandages from head to toe, he alternately looked at the shattered carriage and the pool of blood.

He, the most composed among the monster members, couldn't stop tears from flowing through the bandages.

The triplets sat on the ground, muttering incomprehensible curses, the dwarf buried his face in the ground, wailing, and the skeleton stood motionless, as if lost in thought.

They all liked Ella.

Until Maya came, she was the only ordinary human in the circus.

Still, she never feared them.

From the moment they met, she treated them warmly without any hesitation.

'You guys are welcomed. Join us without worrying about the food. Welcome, cost-effective members!'

'How much do we have? Well, when you guys join, the number of members will double.'

'But there's a condition! You have to change bandages every day! People need to live clean!'

'Okay. Instead, don't call me aunt, call me sister.'

'Is it strange to say "peculiar" in front of our members because of my short height?'

'10 years old? Kids. Do you have the confidence to handle it? No, not that. Just live like the youngest.'

Despite her many criticisms and harsh treatment regarding the circus, she was the one who taught them how to stand on the stage.

She was like a savior who pulled their hearts out of the darkness.

But now, she…

Their leader…

Is dead.

Every member expressed their sorrow in their own way.

Among them, Womon was the one releasing his emotions most intensely.

'Krooo!'

He roared, grabbing his weapon.

It was a sword used when he performed as a vampire.

Although the wings were not real, the size alone was enough.

'You, Ella sister!'

Womon's two eyes glared with anger.

He charged towards the demon with his horns raised.

A fierce force accompanied him.

'Kik!'

Zakanuba laughed as it saw him rushing.

The trajectory of a simple, unmatched kitchen knife.

With just a few collisions, it fully understood the opponent's power.

Simple momentum was in favor of the opponent.

However, speed, technique, combat experience—everything was far inferior.

It slashed his claws, passing over Womon, who had fallen flat on the ground.

Scoff.

"Kwaaak!"

Blood stained the ground.

A scream erupted from Womon's mouth.

He exerted more strength to the leg that was trying to break free, turned around, and swung the sword again.

However, the demon dodged it once more and stabbed its claws into the other leg.

"Kruk!"

Zakanuba relentlessly focused on attacking his legs.

His sword never clashed with the demon's, not because he lacked confidence in his combat abilities.

It was a hunter's behavior – minimizing risks and maximizing gains.

If it didn't confront the enemy head-on, that massive force wouldn't be its adversary.

Thud.

Under the continuous attacks, Womon eventually knelt down.

Even in a state where he could only move his upper body, he continued swinging the sword, but Zakanuba, circling cautiously, only mocked him from a distance.

Eventually, the moment came when Womon's hand slowed down, and he missed the timing of his movements.

Zakanuba didn't miss the opportunity and rushed towards him.

In the moment it tried to slash his throat with its claws.

Somewhere, a rope flew and wrapped around its wrist.

"Itt! Everyone, hold onto me tightly!"

The one who threw the rope was Yurakne.

The magical rope she received from Wonderstein allowed her to pull it in any direction when holding it.

Her opposite arm was held by the triplets, and all the members, including the Ratmen who had been hiding, emerged, joining forces to resist.

Zakanuba had no intention of engaging in a futile struggle with them.

It realized that Yurakne was the one holding the rope.

It pulled the rope using the leverage of the wrist snap.

It expected the rope to come off her hand.

However, the rope didn't budge, as if stuck to Yurakne's palm.

"Itt! My Inspira never lets go! So, pull with all your might!"

Trait: Inspira – Wall Climbing

Applied to: Yurakne's Palm

Effect: The force applied to her palm acts as an equal force of gravity.

Requirement Resources: Yurakne's favorability 30

The reward for her favor at 30 was the blessing given by Kirku, inspired by the wall climbing seen at the Rose Windmill Cabaret.

The force applied to her palm acted as an equal force of gravity, meaning nothing could be pulled away from her hand, no matter how much force was applied to it.

When the puzzled Zakanuba hesitated.

Womon, who was lying down, didn't miss the opportunity.

He squeezed out all the remaining strength and threw the sword towards Zakanuba.

If it hit, it would be a deadly blow that would shatter it in one strike.

However, Zakanuba anticipated Womon's attack.

Since Womon was the only one who could cause him harm, all its vigilance was focused on him.

The sword thrown by Womon barely grazed its cheek and flew to the opposite side of the arena, embedding itself in the ground.

Thud.

Seeing his attack with the force of his soul embedded in the ground, Zakanuba showed its teeth and laughed.

"Krirr!"

It was its victory.

Womon, trying something desperate, reached out with trembling arms towards him.

The demon laughed at him.

It was a meaningless resistance.

Zakanuba raised the arm on the opposite side of the one tied with the rope.

Now it was over.

It raised its claws to strike Womon.

Boom. Quack.

With the sound of skulls cracking, its skull split in half from the back.

Blood and brain matter flowed onto the ground.

Womon dropped the extended arm.

Zakanuba slowly turned its head backward.

Yurakne holding the rope and the members holding onto her were there.

And behind them.

Where the large sword Womon threw should have been embedded.

The spot was empty.

Zakanuba felt it with its body, wondering where it had gone.

The large sword thrown by Womon was now lodged in its occiput.

Trait: Inspira – Knife Juggling

Applied to: What Womon last threw

Effect: When silently calling the target's name, it is pulled back into the thrower's hand.

Requirement Resources: Womon's favorability 15

His favorability at 15, a reward for his knife-throwing display at the Rose Windmill Cabaret, and Kirku's blessing.

The large sword thrown by Womon returned to his hand, following his silent call.

The knife that flew back hit Zakanuba's head.

"Krir…"

Zakanuba collapsed, with eyes full of questions as if it couldn't understand what had just happened.

The demon was dead.

Womon, who was half-lying down, got up, touching the ground with his hands.

The members tied with the rope, their strength drained, sat down on the ground.

They all survived.

Moreover, they defeated the fearsome demon.

However, there were no rejoicing members.

They slowly stood up one by one and approached the wreckage of the shattered carriage.

Womon, who found it difficult to use his legs, was supported by other members.

Without saying a word, the members began to clear away the debris.

It was to salvage the remains of Ella and soothe her spirit.

Even Yurakne, who had been silent, spoke up.

"Ella…."

Her voice contained a mix of sadness and a slight sense of relief.

The members gathered around her.

They realized that what she had discovered was not the body of the assistant-ringmaster but something else.

A faint human figure emerged from the wreckage of the carriage.

It had the appearance of someone very familiar to them.

"Oh, Ella… my goodness…"

"Squeak! It's the ghost of the Assistant Director!"

"Bless… bless her soul…"

"Sorry we couldn't protect you…"

"Good, you need to go to a better place…"

"Sister… Well, farewell…"

The members bid their farewells to her ghost.

Ella, who had become partially transparent, looked at them with a puzzled expression.

"What are you all doing? I'm not dead!"

Upon hearing her words, the members raised their heads with a sorrowful expression.

"Ella…."

"Squeak! Assistant-Director! You're dead!"

"They say that a ghost doesn't know it's dead and continues to wander around where it died."

Unable to bear the situation any longer, Ella scratched the back of her head.

"No, really! Look!"

She took off the mask covering half of her face.

"Wait! Why didn't you come out earlier!"

The frustrated members saw Ella's tangible body.

They stared at her in disbelief.

"What… what happened?"

Name: Ghost Mask

Applicable Target: Full body, clothing and belongings under 5kg.

Effect: While wearing it, the user becomes semi-transparent, capable of phasing through materials. Affected by the environment.

Resource Requirement: Stamina

This was a gift from Wonderstein to Ella before leaving the Luz.

He thought it would be better to give useful items to the members instead of keeping rare magical items stored away.

He gave the magic item, like Maya's sketchbook and Yurakne's rope, to the respective individuals.

"Maya's sketchbook and Yurakne's rope, and now this mask! How does the leader keep finding these amazing items?"

"Doesn't matter. Thanks to them, we're alive!"

"Haha, Long live Director Wonderstein!"

"As expected, even demons are on our side…"

At that moment, Womon, blinking his eyes, pointed happily at the pool of dried blood under the carriage.

"Wait! What about that? What is it?"

"That? … Don't you remember what that carriage was? It's the one carrying our food supplies."

Excitement burst out from the members.

When leaving Luz, their sponsor filled one of the carriages with tomatoes.

"Thanks to the leader, I got an idea and I'm planning a festival. We have plenty of tomatoes. Take as much as you want."

Though tomatoes were tiresome for them, they couldn't refuse the sponsor's request.

Normally, they wouldn't mistake blood and tomatoes.

However, in the current situation, exhausted from the midnight demon attack and surrounded by dozens of corpses emitting the scent of blood, they failed to notice it.

"I didn't realize it because of the demon attack and all the bodies around. We were given tomatoes as a sponsorship. Let's just say it's our fate."