His forehead was wrinkled in worry. The holy mark pulsated rhythmically, promising him an imminent death. It had to be cleansed ASAP.

1. Who had the power to do so?

2. More importantly, who would be willing to do so?

Perhaps the ghouls or Bloody Chains could help? But right now, the issue was the Holy Church and his undead state: respawning in town was NOT an option.

Objective —> Survive!!

”It may not be too late to evade our pursuers. Let’s go.” Jack remarked.

”Woo!” (Till the end!)

The little wolf had never seen its master this rattled, yet even now he remained steady as he led them back toward the Goblin Village.

This time, they were even faster. He would summon human-sized skeletons to help spread the little bait they still had. The monsters sure were lucky, free food!

Soon, the Goblin Village was in sight, but the safe haven they had expected turned out to be nothing but a pipe dream.

The Village was still there, but a gigantic spheric golden barrier already covered it. Those madmen had quarantined the whole Tier 2 Canyon area!!

”Master, can we get through this?”

”Easily, but it would slow us way too much. By then….RIP.” Jack spat out.

”Should we try hiding in the Tier 3 area?” Derek proposed, trying to be helpful.

Tier 3? The monsters in the Canyon’s inner region were very proactive. Even Jack didn’t have the confidence to survive it.

Tier 3 Area —> Death

Breaking the Barrier —> Death

Staying in Tier 2 Area —> Eventual Death

They say when a door closes, another opens….but what if death is behind all those doors?!! Jack could only give a wry smile.

A golden cloud had just appeared at the horizon to make matters worse. The enemies were here, no doubt spouting crap about punishing evil in the name of their goddess.

”RETREAT!” Staying here was a death sentence.

Even as they fled, the paladins were gaining on them. After all, they were far higher level, probably higher than 40-50…

Jack gave a self-derisive smile before decisively leading them toward a fissure in the wall, one no one sane would ever enter. In any case, they were going to die either way.

”M-master, are you sure?!”

”Woo!” (Just go in already!)

Jack chuckled as he stepped inside. This Hail Mary was positively going to be more dangerous than their current pursuers.

Welcome to the Terracotta Dungeon!

Heroes and devils eternally rest here!

Have fun exploring, feel free to stay forever!

They were in a stone hall, one filled with countless statues grasping various weapons and showing plenty of emotions: joy, anger, sorrow, and even lovesickness.

”Master, what are we—”

For some reason, Jack was sitting on the stone floor…carving pumpkins?! Derek froze, was now the best time for this?

”As soon as you step there, most of the statues will come alive. Fight as you did back in the Mines, collect ten different weapon types, and bring them to me.” Jack instructed.

”…” Collecting weapons? What for?

”Woo!” (On it!)

The heroic wolf led the charge without hesitation. As the sound of battle resounded, Jack kept carving, his hands flying as if having a life of their own.

Current Crafting:

Quality —> Shabby

Quantity —> Shitload!

Carving Speed —> Super fast.

A pumpkin would appear, and a few seconds later, he would have an incredibly ugly-looking orange suit that was frankly an offense to one’s sight.

Before long, the two came back victorious. But even then, Jack kept carving. He almost looked as if in a trance….yet he was producing complete trash.

”M-master? How about we move forward?” Derek was obviously worried.

”Young one, sometimes staying still allows one to move forward faster.” Jack would have almost appeared wise if he weren’t covered in pumpkin’s insides from head to toe.

”….”

”Woo!” (Nodding!)

This carving session wasn’t too long, but it felt like an eternity. The paladins could barge in at any moment, and yet he was just sitting there?”

He eventually rose before proceeding to the next part of his plan. The scene that followed almost had Derek doubting his master’s sanity.

For some reason, he was decorating the statues with disgraceful orange suits. Why?! Was he enjoying the last minutes of his life playing dress-up?!

”Now that’s perfect! Gotta hurry!” As if Jack’s previous stillness had been a lie, he rushed forward as if he had the Devil after him.

At the end of the hallway, a closed stone door looked positively massive. This thing was so sturdy that nothing could possibly affect it.

Jack barely took an instant to observe it, nodding to himself before summoning 12 basic level 20 skeletons. What they lacked in strength, they made up in obedience.

Jack quickly barked orders at them as they took place on a few specific bases where the statues had been earlier.

— Click! —

Their weight was enough to activate the pressure plates as the stone door opened with a heavy Clang!

”There’s a reason this place is so hated. Puzzles, puzzles everywhere. Well, there’s also the enemies.” Jack grumbled as he rushed through the door, recalling his undead, the door slowly closing.

That’s when they heard the sound of a portal buzzing. The paladins had arrived! They stared at Jack with such enmity, as if he had killed their friend…oh he had.

They instantly raised their hands, throwing shiny holy magic his way. He sidestepped most as the rest landed on the heavy stone door, making it shake heavily, rock dust falling off.

”Run!! Don’t destroy any statue.” Jack ordered, leading.

Not destroying any statues was easier said than done. Some were immobile, others roaming around, but they were absolutely everywhere!

< Terracotta Statue Lv 35! :moai: >

Normally they should have been progressing sneakily or methodically while eliminating the danger. Right now, they were simply rushing from point A to point B!

In the back, they suddenly heard an incredible commotion. Paladins 1, stone door blocking the way 0.

— SHATTER! —

Jack couldn’t help but gulp as he heard that. Those guys were cheating. Couldn’t they take the time to do the puzzles like everyone else?!

In any case, he made sure he was going in the right direction. Still, that didn’t prevent him from slapping pumpkins on the various statues all around.

”Master, why are you—”

”Less speaking, more running!” Jack hurried him.

Then they finally arrived at their destination. It was a medium-sized room that was filled with even more statues.

In the middle, there was a statue of large Chicken with scales. It was very small and looked quite mean, giving it a very silly look.

Still, Jack knew not to underestimate this monster. This thing wasn’t a creature that the current him could defeat.

He turned toward his Disciple.

”If you head northeast, you’ll find a palace-looking room with plenty of performer-looking statues. Steal their masks and hide under the wine table at the entrance.”

”What then?”

”Woo?”

”You wait for me, both of you. Now, go!” Jack shouted, knowing the statues trailing behind them and the paladins were about to reach them.

He had to hurry. In the wall were plenty of sockets that could fit weapons in them. He grabbed the various armaments, slotting them in, skeletons ready to activate each.

That’s when all enemies barged into the room. In their rage, the paladins did short work of the creatures since they were attacking them too, turning toward Jack.

He was utterly boxed in, without any escape. They completely covered the only entrance.

”Little ghoul, there is no running anymore!” A paladin uttered sadistically. Running? Why would he run?

Jack Vs. 11 paladins….as if! There was no way he’d even try to fight them. He ordered his undead to activate the weapons

/keys they held.

— Click! —

Barely anything seemed to happen, but that was only an illusion. In the center of the room, a tiny cockatrice was now coming to life, shaking its stiff body.

< Young But Mean Cockatrice Lv 45! :lizard::chicken: >

Jack hurriedly activated his safety measures!

— He used his legging ability, which made his lower body invisible.

— He equipped the strongest Anti-Chicken Title he had

— He grabbed his shield and hid behind it.

— He prayed to survive this fight

What would this do? Could he resist the monster directly? Not at all! His only chance was to cheese its aggro somehow so it wouldn’t target him.

This was especially important considering this thing turned anything it looked at into stone. Perhaps the paladins could forcefully resist it, but he couldn’t!

The Cockatrice was tiny, and its line of sight was low. The invisibility would help against it accidentally looking his way.

The creature was also as mean as it looked and a bully. It always targeted the weaker members first in a party. The title would make him appear stronger.

The shield could possibly help because it shared a similar element as it came from another angry chicken (kinda).

He counted the seconds. They felt like an eternity. But then one of the paladins made a phenomenal mistake.

”What’s with this Chicken? Get out of the way. We’re here to enact—” The paladin mercilessly struck the creature, only to turn into stone suddenly.

Luckily for him, his allies were all next to him, and they quickly used healing magic, saving his life. But that in itself was another great mistake.

Healing —> Generates aggro.

Jack was almost dancing as he saw that. The mighty Boss did not care one bit about him anymore.

Suddenly the mean-looking Chicken looked oh so damn pleasant! Jack silently thanked brother Cockatrice for this nice carry.

Part one of his plan had been a resounding success! Now he just had to keep dodging and enjoy the show…