Chapter 104 104 – Bait

The real Boogeymen moved their hand, gesturing to the fake bodies to attack Kai.

They moved simultaneously, raising their hands in a clawing motion. Because of their sheer numbers, they couldn't come at him at the same time, and only four could reach him at most.

Standing in the middle of them, Kai slowly dragged his left foot and ducked, dodging their attack. Then with a swift movement, he kicked one of them to the side with the full force of his leg.

The first fake bodies got blown away, crashing against the ones behind them. But the other three that attacked him earlier had changed their course and tried to stab him with their claw.

He immediately blocked their attack as he coated his hands with pale blue Spirit Power, deflecting them to the side and counterattacked.

None of the Boogeymen fake bodies had the ability to use their Spirit Power, apparently, and all of them were weaker than the one he fought in Oni Village.

He easily dealt with the first four ones as the others got blown away by the bodies he sent flying. Unlike the ones who chased Liliana earlier, they had a rather slow regeneration. Some of the destroyed body parts didn't get fixed as fast as the other two, who went over to the vampire girl.

'They must be mass-produced ones. The carefully made ones must be sent to other places as I initially thought.'

Straightening his posture, Kai looked around his surroundings. The main body didn't seem to have the intention to attack him yet.

"Kishisisi, as expected from the perfect body!" The Boogeymen laughed eerily. "You're strong. But weaker than us! Behold!"

A loud rustling sound echoed as the Boogeymen spread their arms and tossed a black marble into the air. The fake bodies squirmed around, moving toward the black marble that fell to the ground.

Kai felt something big from that and recognized it as a core of the Boogeymen's fake body he fought back in Oni Village. That core was really troublesome as it could make the fake body recover even when he destroyed all of its body.

"No, you don't!"

He immediately jumped toward the core that sucked the rest of the Boogeymen's fake bodies into it, but the real body didn't let him. The main body jumped toward him and swung its hoe, forcing him to put his arms up to defend himself from it.

"Guh!"

The hoe hit his arms that got covered in pale blue Spirit Power, blowing him away to the ground and creating an explosion sound.

Crash! Bam!

A 1 meter deep crater was created with him as the center. His arms didn't survive the attack, but he quickly got up and dodged the following attack from the Boogeymen by jumping away.

Bam!

The creature landed where he stood earlier. The crater got deeper from its landing and raised its face, which was covered in a rag.

Kai landed a bit away from the creature, looking at the Boogeymen and the sphere made of a combination of fake bodies that got bigger and bigger behind the creature.

Still, it didn't seem that Kai had the leisure to mind the fake body. The Boogeymen stood up once again, swinging their hoe to get rid of the dirt stuck on its blade.

"Kishisisisi! You're durable too!"

"My, thank you." Kai smiled bitterly. Getting a compliment from a creature that seemed to target his body was something he certainly didn't appreciate. "You're durable too. Why don't you die right here and now?" He asked cynically.

"Kishisisi, no no no no. Boogeymen live forever as long as there is fear in this world!" The Boogeymen's buttoned expression changed. Their eyes turned into an amused slit and their mouth into a friendly smile.

"Is that so? I know it, though."

Before coming to Romania, he learned about the Boogeyman and its legend in the few days he didn't have anything to do.

Boogeymen were creatures born from children's fear of the horror story told by their parents. They were born without any form and gained form using a local legend. That was why they were described as a scarecrow, meaning they could change their bodies and faces at will.

However, it seemed like the real Boogeymen 'took over a body' instead of 'changing their body.' Only their fake bodies could change their bodies at will, and they were worth being called scarecrows as they could also fix their bodies by using natural materials around them: dirt, stones, or trees.

And apparently…

'The Boogeymen is trying to get my body. Someone else should have tried to bring me here, maybe that Alchemist or someone else from Memento Mori who awakened the Boogeymen. But…'

A smile crept up on his face as he ignored the fact that the blob of sphere behind the Boogeymen's real body started to gain a humanoid shape.

'That's what I planned all along. This is still within expectation… Except for the fact that they attacked Liliana. But that would make this easier, so that was a pleasant surprise for me.'

"Kishisisi, give up. You won't be able to defeat Boogeymen!" A shrill laugh echoed from the Boogeymen's mouth as the fake body regained its humanoid form, standing 5 meters tall behind its main body. "We are one. We are immortal! We are everywhere!"

'It's a shame that my other plan failed because they hadn't shown up yet, but… I don't think I can continue this farce any longer. That fake body looks rather strong.'

Relaxing his stance, Kai held his neck with his hand and cracked it, confusing the Boogeymen. At that moment, the arms that he used to block Boogeymen's attack earlier were exposed, surprising the creature.

Their buttoned eyes turned into big O-shape as they pointed at Kai with their clawed hands.

"You!" Their voice was trembling in anger that boiled from within their body.

The Boogeymen's fake body also trembled as it fully regained its form, with a body made from dirt, a slim face with sharp teeth from sharpened rocks, and clawed hands from strong tree branches.

It was natural that the Boogeymen were mad.

"That body! You destroyed it!"

Even if the Boogeymen were a creature of legend and born from fear, in the end, it was from the fear of children. This creature wasn't smart, only strong and scary.

The Boogeymen only had the intellect at the same level of children, so their thoughts could be predicted easily if someone had a clue about its plan.

Still, that didn't mean they weren't dangerous. In fact, that itself was what made the Boogeymen dangerous, as it could only retort to something simple and hard to predict without any clue. Exactly what happened 10 years ago when the Boogeymen suddenly appeared and wreaked havoc.

"Ah, this?" Kai pointed at his arms, which were dangling like doll arms that got destroyed. It didn't regenerate, and its inside was exposed. Instead of blood and meat, it was clear that his arms were made from plastic and metal materials.

"You destroyed this, remember?" He said, using his broken hand to take off the mask he wore. Under the mask was a metallic color, totally different from his skin. "What a shame. I've taken a liking to this Puppet Marionette. It's like playing a game."

Kai's voice had changed, turning it hoarse, and had a bit of noise. He tossed the mask aside with a voice changer Talisman and shrugged his shoulders.

"I do admit I can't defeat you in this state, but…"

When he said that, a cry of a bird arrived from above.

'It's finally here.' He thought, looking up at the sky.

The Boogeymen also looked up, their eyes turned into a slit.

It was a large flaming bird, Amber's original form. And on her back was a man with his body covered in pale blue Spirit Power, looking down with an amused gaze. One of his eyes was closed, and then two voices rang at the same time.

"I believe I can do pretty well with my real body."

Kai stood up on Amber's back, stretching his arms and cracking his neck. At the same time, the 'Puppet Marionette' he controlled earlier fell on the ground like a broken doll.

"My bait didn't get the prey I tried to lure out, but at least I managed to pull a scarecrow out of its hiding place."