I Became the Leader of the Monster Circus Troupe

“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.

“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!”

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!”

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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.

She seemed momentarily surprised but soon blinked her frost-covered eyelids and sent him a reply.

­’If we stay like this, both of us will die. One of us has to survive.’

­’Then save yourself first.’

­I’m in the Reaper’s curse zone.

Around Lumiw, a bitterly cold wind raged.

The Reaper’s curse affected not just physical temperature but also magic. Inside that zone, even magical energy froze.

­’Hold out your hand. Show me your ticket.’

­’I refuse.’

The Scarecrow firmly rejected her proposal. He couldn’t abandon her and return alone.

­There’s not much time.

The spreading ice gradually reached her nose and mouth.

The hard ice, which had been spreading, was reaching toward her nose and mouth.

‘I can just cut through that fluff and get to it.’

The manifested blades spun around her hand, ready to pierce through her own skin if necessary.

The scarecrow was furious at his own helplessness.

Should he leave her behind?

It was unfortunate, but there was nothing he could do.

Debulroots only worked on living beings.

If his limbs were still intact, he might have been able to tackle the reaper and force-feed something, but that wasn’t an option in the current situation.

“I can’t use it on myself or the enemy?”

Then…

A thought flashed through his mind.

A way for both of them to survive!

“Damn it.”

He mustered all his strength and pushed himself up with his fists and knees. Although wobbly, he could manage one leap.

‘Hey, what are you doing? What can you possibly do in that condition…’

‘Lumie, trust me and leave your body to me.’

‘What? What are you talking about? What are you planning…’

The scarecrow hurled himself towards her.

The reaper, who had glanced back to see what he was doing, smirked when he saw the scarecrow hug her and then collapse helplessly.

“Do you think you’ll be a shield?”

The scarecrow took on the reaper’s curse in her place. Given the significant size difference between him and Lumie, he was able to block most of the curse directed at her.

“Hah, hah, what, what are you… thinking… doing something this foolish… Hah, we’ll both die…”

She glared at him, breathing heavily. She was more angry than grateful.

Her ticket was clutched in her ice-covered fist, and his ticket had just become the same.

As they had entered the reaper’s cursed zone, the blade illusion disappeared as the magic froze.

It was over for both of them now.

The scarecrow gave her a self-deprecating smile.

“I didn’t want to run away alone.”

“Are you… an idiot?”

Though her words criticized him, a smile crossed her face.

“Are you really determined to die with me?”

“Huh? What are you talking about? We’re going to survive together.”

“What?”

“Trust me.”

With his words, something surged into her body.

Lumie instinctively tried to resist it, but seeing the scarecrow shake his head, she stopped managing her magic.

With death imminent, what was there to fear?

She allowed Debulroots to operate freely within her body.

The scarecrow’s modification of her body was simple. It was a trait he had used once before.

Trait: Palm Mouth

Application Area: Hand

Effect: Creates a mouth on the palm.

Resource Requirement: [Devulroots x6]

He also embedded a single directive: to tear the paper in her hand with her teeth.

A bright light burst from Lumie’s hand, enveloping her body.

As the tingling sensation spread from her palm, she realized what he had done.

“Hey, you!”

She quickly manifested a blade to tear the ticket in his hand too. But as the reaper, startled by the sudden burst of light, focused his gaze, the magic solidified even more, making movement impossible.

The scarecrow whispered in her ear.

“Wait for me up there. I’ll follow right behind you.”

“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