"Wh-what?! There are more evil spirits?!"
Chika panicked on the spot. "Amamiya-kun, what do we do?!"
The two scarecrow guardians moved to stand before the wooden clown in bizarre, jerky postures. Then, from beneath their tattered cloaks, dry stalks of straw began extending outward—like roots sprouting from a tree—spreading rapidly across the floor and sweeping toward the group.
"Stay calm. In a situation like this, we should trust in the power of numbers." Natsuki's tone was steady. He turned to the others: "Does anyone here think they can deal with those two scarecrows?"
"No."
Everyone shook their heads.
"They're evil spirits. How could ordinary people possibly deal with them?"
One of the female players couldn't help but lash out: "Evil spirits in the game don't usually attack us right off the bat. You must have angered that clown butler."
"That's right." Others chimed in. "We should have just listened to what the clown said. This is all your fault."
"..."
In the face of danger, the loose alliance shattered in an instant.
Natsuki hadn't had time to seize the clown butler, so the finger of blame pointed squarely at Chika alone.
"I'm sorry..."
Chika bit her lower lip, looking wounded.
Kaguya's brows pinched together.
Chika could criticize herself all she wanted. But no one else was allowed to say a word against her.
"Chika-chan didn't do anything." Kotoriyū Rokka rushed to defend her. "You guys shouldn't talk like that."
"I have an idea." Natsuki suddenly said.
"What idea?"
Everyone turned to look at him.
"It's simple. The situation has just become a game of hide-and-seek." Natsuki loosened up his limbs, shot Kaguya a quick look, then grabbed Chika's right hand and turned to run. "I'll take my leave first, as courtesy demands."
"Eh eh eh?!"
Chika, her hand suddenly seized by Natsuki, couldn't help but follow along at a sprint: "We're just... running away like this?!"
What else was there to do?
If he could rename everyone Zhang San, he could make them all disappear with a single punch. But unfortunately, the evil-sweeping duo technique was a single-target ability—utterly useless in a group fight. It was like a certain puppet-bodied mid-lane mage: wiping out lone enemies was no problem whatsoever, but the moment there was one more opponent, you'd be on your knees.
When their eyes had met earlier, Kaguya had read the meaning in Natsuki's gaze without hesitation. She followed without a moment's doubt.
The remaining players stood frozen, mouths agape. After two seconds of stunned silence, they snapped out of it and, without a word, took off running after them.
There were only two scarecrows, and the castle was enormous. As long as luck was on their side, the chances of actually being caught weren't that high.
From this point on, the game had shifted from huddling together to survive—to every person for themselves.
Natsuki pulled the pink-haired girl up to the second floor. When they reached the corner of a hallway, his footsteps suddenly stuttered to a stop.
There, on the dim, eerie floor, sat a grotesque bug the size of a basin. The moment it spotted them, it reared up, its mouth letting out a horrifying hissssss.
"A facehugger?!"
Chika yelped in alarm.
A facehugger couldn't possibly be this big, could it? And that thing should be showing up on a spaceship—not inside a medieval castle.
Because of the dim lighting, Natsuki couldn't quite make it out clearly—but this bug... didn't it look a bit like a river crab?
"What the—!"
"That bug is terrifying!"
The other players, chased up to the second floor by the scarecrows, all jumped at the sight. Without a word, they immediately chose the opposite direction from Natsuki and bolted deeper into the castle.
"Let's go up to the third floor." Kaguya frowned as she reminded him.
A bug that size made the very thought of approaching it completely unbearable.
"Up we go."
Natsuki nodded and ran for the third floor.
From here, the players split into two groups. The other five stayed together—Rokka grabbed hold of Yukino, and together with Natsuki's group of three, they all ran up to the third floor.
"Hah... hah..."
Chika pressed a hand to her chest, panting lightly. "We should be safe now, right?"
"How about we find a room and hide?" Rokka suggested.
"No need." Kaguya shook her head. "The scarecrows move very slowly. If we stay in the middle of the hallway, no matter which direction they come from, we can react in time."
"We really shouldn't hide in a room." Yukino Yukinoshita spoke up in agreement. "...Provided the only threats in this castle are the two scarecrows and that wooden butler."
Natsuki looked out through the window. The blizzard outside showed absolutely no sign of letting up. The sky remained dark and overcast, as though it intended to storm on until the very end of the world.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Heavy footsteps suddenly rang out.
Natsuki followed the sound and spotted a towering creature at the far end of the hallway. Its neck was completely bare—where a head should have been, there was nothing at all.
"Oh no, a Ghost Rider?!" Chika blurted out.
Natsuki said: "That's clearly a Headless Horseman."
Ghost Rider was one of Marvel's supreme powers. The Headless Horseman didn't even qualify to tie its shoes.
Watching the Headless Horseman stride toward them, Natsuki murmured:
"If it were just the one..."
Creak.
Before he could finish, a door on the right side of the hallway suddenly swung open.
A woman in a maid's uniform stepped out. The skirt of her outfit was extraordinarily long, nearly dragging against the floor—a hauntingly classical style of maid dress.
"There's a maid inside the castle too?" Natsuki was surprised.
The maid slowly turned to face them, revealing two pitch-black, hollow eye sockets.
Well then.
A ghost maid appearing in a ghost castle—that was perfectly normal, wasn't it?
Two evil spirits at once. The evil-sweeping duo technique couldn't be used. The group silently backed away, heading in the opposite direction down the hallway.
"This is so strange." Chika couldn't help but complain. "Just a moment ago there was absolutely nothing here. How did so many evil spirits show up all at once?"
Natsuki quipped: "You were just complaining about how quiet it was."
Chika: "Now it's way too lively. I'd rather it stayed quiet."
"You two, stop talking for a moment..."
Kaguya couldn't help but say—when the corner of her eye suddenly caught a black shape hurtling through the air toward them. Her body tried to react, but it was already too late.
In that very instant, Natsuki moved with blinding speed. He shifted half a step to the side and planted himself squarely in front of Kaguya.
Splat!
A burst of red bloomed across Natsuki's shoulder.
Kaguya's eyes flew wide open. Her heart clenched as though someone had seized it in a fist, suddenly tightening.
"How strange—it doesn't hurt at all?"
Natsuki was surprised.
The stepping sessions with Miko had brought a significant improvement to his physical conditioning over the past while. His body had reacted far faster than his conscious mind could keep up with.
"Someone's attacking from a hidden position!"
Chika shouted in alarm.
Whoosh whoosh!
From the darkness ahead, more projectiles came flying. The group ducked and dodged, shielding their heads. The thrown objects struck the castle walls and burst open in splotches of red.
Forced by the situation, Natsuki spotted a door right beside him. He shoved it open and ducked inside to take cover. Kaguya stayed right at his side. Chika and the other two slipped into a separate room.
The door shut behind them for now.
Natsuki let out a breath of relief—then felt his right hand suddenly seized in a tight grip. He turned his head and found the ice queen biting down hard on her lower lip. "Squat down quickly."
"Hm?"
"Let me look at your shoulder."
"It's fine." Natsuki wiped his shoulder with his hand. A slick, sticky red substance came away on his fingers. "It seems to be... ketchup?"