Surviving The Game As A Barbarian Episode 55

Episode 55(The Witch’s Forest (2))

Clean-cut features and a voluptuous body.

And a voice to match.

Elisha had the kind of looks that would make most men crush on her.

At least, until a second ago.

“Elisha!”

Hans C’s eyes went wide.

A frail woman, barely 160cm tall, collapsed to the ground.

Thud.

Her temple sunken,

Eyes bulging grotesquely.

Bright crimson blood spurting from where her ears should be.

The pretty Elisha was no more.

“What in the world have you…!”

Hans C exclaimed in shock, witnessing her gruesome state.

“Why! Why did you hurt Elisha! What did we ever do to you…!”

True, they hadn’t done anything yet.

So, I replied briefly.

“Ah, my apologies. It was an accident.”

The mace was heavy, and it slipped from my hand.

Really. So……

“Why don’t you come a bit closer? We can discuss compensation for this mistake.”

“You crazy bastard!”

Seems like that didn’t work.

Well, he does have a head on his shoulders, after all.

Realizing his fate, Hans C descended into a state of panic.

“Oh no… we’re all going to die…”

“Good to know you understand.”

I didn’t deny it any further.

But…

“Because of these crazy bastards…”

As I briefly smiled at the terrified Hans C, an inexplicable feeling of unease washed over me.

Looking around slowly, I realized the source of this odd feeling was his gaze.

‘Why is he looking elsewhere in fear, not at us?’

I naturally followed Hans C’s line of sight. At the end of it was the former Elisha.

Once beautiful, now a cold, lifeless corpse.

But as if sensing my gaze…

“Gik, gikit, gikigit…”

Elisha, who should have returned to her god, began to convulse with eerie sounds.

Her limbs jerked wildly as if electrocuted, like a zombie dance from a horror movie.

‘What the hell is this now?’

I couldn’t make any sense of it.

When I had struck her head with the mace, I was sure it was a one-shot kill, the kind that feels decisively final.

But why is she still writhing, making such chilling sounds?

“Gikit, gigik, gikit!”

“Bjorn? What’s going on?”

Don’t ask me, dwarf.

I’m just as scared as you are.

I’ve awoken in this body and wreaked havoc before, but I swear by my ancestors, I’ve never seen a corpse dance like this.

But…

Crack.

My jaw clenched in tension, a habit proving my body belongs to a fearless barbarian.

“…I’ll handle this.”

“Handle this? How?”

Instead of answering, I dashed forward and slammed the mace down again.

The target was Elisha’s face.

Whack-!

Her skull, softer than a deathfiend’s, caved in again, causing the dwarf to faint.

“Desecrating a body, even if they are plunderers—!”

Unacceptable?

So, what am I supposed to do?

“I was too scared to do anything else.”

“What? That’s not how someone who’s scared should act—”

I cut off his words with a response.

I don’t know why I have to explain this repeatedly.

“The best defense is a good offense.”

Exactly.

I’m scared, so I smash it to pieces.

Protecting myself by ruthlessly destroying the enemy.

That’s the barbarian way.

‘Ah, now I get it.’

This must have been why Aynar feared the Banshee. You can’t physically beat ghost-type monsters.

They need magic damage, not physical.

With this newfound realization, I looked at (former) Elisha again.

And I clicked my tongue in frustration.

“Damn it, still dancing…”

Even with her face completely caved in, Elisha continued to jerk her limbs in a creepy display.

Do we really need magic damage here?

“Dwalki! Use magic!”

“But…”

No ‘buts’ in this situation.

These types don’t respond to niceties.

They only listen when spoken to forcefully.

“Do it now!”

As I shouted, Dwalki began to chant a magical spell.

And at that moment.

“I can’t die!”

Hans C started to run away, turning his back.

It was a futile effort.

Before he could even take a few steps, an arrow from Rotmiller’s crossbow struck him squarely in the back.

Thwack!

Hans C fell to the ground, facing away in a tragic end.

Watching his pathetic demise, I muttered under my breath.

“Idiot.”

If only he had kept his armor, he could have withstood that arrow.

Intelligence really does save you from physical suffering.

I then turned my attention to the last one standing, the spearman Tyson.

“Aren’t you going to run?”

“No point in trying.”

His eyes and voice held a resigned acceptance.

But like with Hans C, I sensed something strange in his tone.

That’s when it happened.

Whoosh!

Black radiance suddenly burst from Hans C’s body.

Honestly, I was so freaked out that I instinctively hid behind Dwalki, but nothing else happened.

The light lasted for about five seconds before it vanished, and then I cautiously unfolded myself to check the scene.

“What the hell?”

I couldn’t make heads or tails of it, but Hans C’s body had transformed into something like a mummy.

All moisture drained, leaving a withered, lifeless husk.

Naturally, everyone’s gaze turned to Rotmiller, who had fired the crossbow.

“What in the world did you do, Rotmiller?”

“I didn’t do anything! I swear!”

I know, old man.

This must be related to (former) Elisha. Tyson hadn’t been touched yet, but he transformed just the same.

Dwalki, the mage, quickly offered his opinion.

“The life force extracted from those two has been absorbed into that woman’s body!”

Seems about right.

Playing games so much, I have a sense of what type this is.

I had a hunch anyway.

“Gik, gikit, gikigit…”

Elisha began to rise, still dancing her jointed dance.

Her face was still half-crushed.

Then, Elisha’s mouth opened.

“How, did, you, know?”

“Know what?”

“That, we, were, enemies.”

“Oh, that.”

I replied, trying to sound calm despite being scared out of my wits.

“Because all you bastards have the same rotten smell.”

Was that a satisfactory answer?

It must have been.

Half-headed Elisha laughed heartily at my response.

“Ki, hi, hi, hi, hi, hi, hi!!!”

Why can’t life ever just go smoothly for me?

“……”

This situation reminded me of the corpse golem battle.

Facing an unreal spectacle, everyone was petrified, and like before, I yelled to snap the team out of their daze.

“Snap out of it, everyone!!”

We’re all gonna get fucked.

I’ve been playing [Dungeon and Stone] for 10 years.

Though not a mainstream game, I pride myself on knowing everything about it.
And I wasn’t wrong.

“Ki, hi, hi, hi, hi, hi, hi!!!”

“How, how can this be? How can a dead person…”

The corpse had resurrected.

But according to my knowledge, this wasn’t a miracle by the god of adventure, Leatlas.

Regardless of what his followers do, Leatlas is essentially a god of good nature.

I briefly shared my conclusion.

“She’s a priestess of Carui.”

A priestess of the dark god Carui.

A hidden class accessible only to human clan members who become priestesses.

They possess the advantage of using both holy and dark spells, but at a great penalty.

“A priestess of Carui!”

“So, she was a servant of an evil god!”

Becoming a priestess of Carui meant instant execution if discovered.

That’s why they must form teams with malevolent NPCs and periodically offer living sacrifices to maintain their class.

‘Her raiding must have been for sacrifices. The labyrinth would be the safest place for that.’

Most of the cause and effect were clear now.

But one question remained.

Why us? Why were they so persistently after us?

There was no time to ponder that, though.

“You, caused, me to lose, valuable, minions.”

Had Elisha absorbed the life force from Hans C and Tyson? She seemed to have regained some of her original form as she spoke to me.

The crushed brain seemed to be healing, improving her speech.

Meaning, her intelligence was returning.

But…

‘What is she blabbering about?’

Do intelligence and morality really not go hand in hand?

I responded briefly.

“To blame others even now, you clearly weren’t raised well.”

Hans and Tyson met a young and tragic end because of her.

If she had just accepted her fate with her head crushed, none of this would have happened.

I resolved myself.

“I’ll avenge Hans and Tyson.”

And I planned to loot all their equipment and valuables.

Not an easy task, but when has my life ever been easy?

「Elisha Behenk has used[Call of the Dead].」

“Hey, look at that!”

The dwarf exclaimed and pointed to a spot.

Hans C and Tyson, now mummified, were slowly getting up. Having played the priestess of Carui a few times before, I wasn’t surprised.

‘Call of the Dead.’

A basic yet crucial skill of that class.

Originally, it only summoned monsters of the undead family, but by using a corpse as a medium, it became possible to control stronger minions.

Their eyes, devoid of reason, were proof.

“Grrrrr……”

Soon, Hans and Tyson, now ‘Hanson,’ rolled their eyes at us.

And then…

“Destroy them, my minions!”

Following Elisha’s command, they charged at us.

Boom-!

Hanson’s charge collided with the shield wall formed by me and the dwarf, marking the start of the intense battle.

[Leor Wuerv Dwalki has cast 8th-grade attack magic [Ice Spear].」
「Misha Karlstein has cast [Enhance].」
「The effect of the next active skill used will increase in proportion to soul power.」
「Misha Karlstein has cast [Poison Enchantment].」

Misha and Dwalki were busy dealing damage. But their efforts seemed ineffective.

The foes had superhuman strength. Even my mace couldn’t scratch them due to their high physical immunity.

To make matters worse, they had gained resistance to poison and cold after becoming undead.

Clearly, this was a poor matchup.

Clang! Whoosh-!

Despite Rotmiller’s extensive experience in undead combat and his liberal use of firebombs…

“What a futile effort!”
「Elisha Behenk has cast [Flames of the Dead].」

Black flames rose in the air, and began to absorb all the surrounding fire.

‘Shit.’

The situation had become complicated.

Fire, usually effective against undead, was rendered ineffective.

‘Do I need to destroy the core?’

Even if the undead’s entire body is slaughtered, they will not die as long as their core remains intact.

For reference, the skeleton’s core was hidden between the ribs, and Deathfiend’s was hidden in the brain.

So what about these guys who have been reborn with the power of the Dark God?

The answer was simple.

“Misha, can you kill her?”

The core of summoned creatures usually resides in their summoner.

Meaning, if Elisha dies, Hanson will find peace and return to the arms of the real God.

“Um…”

“It’s okay if you can’t kill her. Just inflicting damage will improve our situation.”

“I’ll try.”

Misha nodded

And then she was on my shoulders, leaping high and flying toward Elisha.

Her movements were so quick and flexible that even a fairy could take lessons from her. But Elishawas not an easy target.
「Elisha Behenk has summoned [Shadow Guardians].」

Shadowy figures rose from the ground, forming an impenetrable barrier around Elisha.

Even for Misha, breaching this defense to strike Elisha seemed tough.

But…

‘There’s no reason we can’t draw this out.’

If ‘Hanson’ had been armed, it might have been different.

But since we had already confiscated their weapons, their undead forms weren’t a significant threat.

In essence, the dwarf and I could hold them off indefinitely.

Having made this assessment, I reassigned our team.

“Dwalki, Rotmiller, you two help Misha.”

“But…”

“It’s fine. We’ll handle things here.”

“Alright then! Leave it to us!”

As Dwalki and Rotmiller joined the fray, the tide began to turn.

Of course, the Shadow Guardians regenerated as fast as they were destroyed, and Elisha still had enough energy to cast various curses on us.

“Looks like they’re running out of steam! Keep it up!”

Soon, the numbers of the incessantly summoned Shadow Guardians began to dwindle.

Even serving a malevolent god, their power source had limits.

Had Elisha not anticipated this?

“Darn it, these, these cursed beings!”

Cornered, Elisha began to shake in panic.

Yet, she retained enough survival instinct to mutter quietly.

“I will, not forget, this humiliation…”

After about 20 minutes, the number of Shadow Guardians had reduced to less than five.

Realizing her intention, I shouted in desperation.

“What? No, damn it, not now!”

Just as we were about to capture them, they were escaping!

Pushing aside ‘Hanson,’ who had been clinging to us throughout the fight, I dashed with all my might.

But…

「Elisha Behenk has cast [Spiritualization].」

Elisha’s body began to turn translucent and then she floated up into the air. She glanced at us one last time and said,

“You will never make it back alive.”

Then, she flew off into the darkness.

Whoosh-!

Like a dog chasing a chicken, I watched helplessly in her direction and let out a deep sigh.

“Damn it…”

We almost had the boss, but she escaped.

And worse, she left with a deep grudge against