"It's just over five months until Halloween, don't you think you're out too early, Pumpkin Head?"

Li Wu bent his knees slightly, staring at the attacker in front of him.

"How much does that holiday have to do with me, sir?"

Although he couldn't make out the expression at all, Jack Pumpkin spread his hands and said in an innocent tone, "Those Irish people originally said that I was mentioning turnip lamps." ”

Without giving him time to continue, Jack Pumpkin lifted the lantern in his left hand.

The line of fire, which had been a trap, was bent and sucked in, making the flickering lights even more dazzling.

Li Wu opened his palm to aim at the enemy, and the crimson fire was ready to fire like a bullet loaded into the barrel of a gun.

No matter what the other person wants to do, it's always right to interrupt first.

It is necessary to take into account the fact that the two people lying behind the pumpkin head should be adjusted to adjust the accuracy of the output.

Finally, pull the trigger that exists in the imagination.

In a form more serene than the flames he had sparked in the past, the bullet left a flickering red glow in the air and fired towards the ridiculous-looking pumpkin's head.

The heated air in its path created tiny shockwaves, but before the scream could reach his ears, a line of flame that mimicked the traps set by the enemy had already bitten into Jack's pumpkin's hollow eye sockets.

It simply raised the lantern in its hand, and then its huge head shrank down out of thin air, leaving a blue trench coat in place like a magic show of a golden cicada's shell.

The lantern it had discarded floated where its head had been, and a laser-like line of red fire pierced through the center of the light, which had been transformed into a dark blue.

The fire that lit up by the swamp at night is said to be the lantern held by the wandering Jack Pumpkin – which is believed to be the Irish interpretation of ghost fire.

Now, the blue ghost fire swelled violently under the impact of the alien flames.

When you reach the limit, you will be hit with all your might, and you will return in the opposite direction of the attack!

With the help of Li Wu's attack, the light split into hundreds of ghost fire bombs, covering him and the Zashiki boy who was blown away by the explosion like a small fire cover.

But this ingenious counterattack fell only on the clearing, and the blue flames fell on the lawn and the woods, causing a silent explosion, dissolving the soil and trees in silence, and the shape of a corner of the park was completely changed only by the first wave of the two otherworldly beings, leaving behind a scarred pothole.

From Li Wu's first attack to the launch of a counterattack, the whole process only took a few seconds.

At the same time as he fired the flames, his body, which was already ready to attack, smoothly cut into the state of manifestation of the law phase.

In the first second, a "bullet" that surpassed the speed of sound came to the enemy, and he rushed towards Zashiki Boy, and the wind almost blew down the young youkai who had just risen.

In the second second, he maintained his momentum, picked up Zashiki and threw it farther away, and with the constitution of a youkai, he let out a rollercoaster-like scream, and the torrent of ghost fire intertwined into a net of death and attacked him.

In the third second, he unleashed a fist burning with wrathful flames from the front, blasting through the undodgable ghost fire, and using his experience in the battle with the wet girl, he incorporated the wandering trajectory of the ghost fire into the preview of [Pure Eye], brushed through the seemingly seamless fire net, and rushed in front of the enemy.

Maybe now he can even avoid the strafing of armed forces armed with heavy machine guns.

Such thoughts flashed through his mind, and he was somewhat surprised to find that as the trench coat was unfurled, the pumpkin head came out of the neckline and rushed towards him menacingly.

Take the initiative to take the approach of close combat—how dare it?

Jack Pumpkin is by no means a monster that is good at melee combat in the legend, not to mention that it also voluntarily gave up the hostages behind him.

Li Wu easily grasped the short knife it handed out, melted it into molten iron for the second time, and swung his left fist three times in a row in a short period of time.

Two punches slammed into the pumpkin's head, and the last punch was imprinted in the middle of the trench coat.

The game of playing watermelons with wooden sticks is popular in the summer in Sakurajima, and thanks to the kind Jack, he experienced the feeling of midsummer in May.

In addition to the hollowed-out features, Jack Pumpkin's skull had two more deep depressions, and orange-yellow liquid splashed in the air due to the impact of the final punch.

Shedding an unknown object that I don't know whether to count blood or brain, Jack spun like a spinning top that had been violently launched, bouncing on the ground that had been uneven by attack and defense, and finally leaned against the fake rock placed at the other end of the artificial lake, striking a top-down rift.

"Oops, isn't it too late to say surrender at this time? I want to survive and dissect more women. ”

It clutched its head, which was still dripping with its contents, and said in a flirtatious tone.

"It's a dissection and an autopsy, you're Jack from Halloween, not Jack from Fog, right?"

Li Wu raised his foot and stepped on its face, pressing his entire head against the fake stone.

The dying monster suddenly grinned even more with its hollowed-out smile: "Maybe that? ”

"It doesn't matter which Jack it is, who's the boss you're following now? The guy who supposedly claims to be the king? He doesn't seem to be taking care of it very well. ”

"You misunderstood, sir, I have always faithfully fulfilled my boss's orders, so I can't die here for the time being."

As it spoke, a mist filled the air, obscuring the lake and everything around them.

Li Wu exerted his strength suddenly, but only smashed the stones under his feet.

In the sudden white mist, a black shadow holding a blade loomed.

"Because they're both called Jack, the Ripper and Pumpkin Head are the same person?"

He retracted his leg and tugged at the corners of his mouth because he thought it was ridiculous.

"I don't know much, but isn't there a theory? By imitating all or part of a subject, in order to obtain the power of the object of imitation? ”

From the fog came the sound of a jack's pumpkin.

"Because we have the same name, maybe we have a similar essence? How can you even know if Jack the Jack and Jack the Ripper are actually the same person in history, sir? ”

A sword light that was more stealthy and powerful than the first sneak attack flashed through the fog, and was flashed back by Li Wu, who ignited the fire as a counterattack, but the strange shadow that was caught in turned into a mist and disappeared, melting into the surrounding white mist.

"You can't be the same person."

Li Wu, who had successfully confirmed the conclusion through this attack, concluded.

"Why? Are you such an uninteresting person with no imagination? Then I have no interest in disintegrating after killing Mr., so I'm going to take care of your friends, right? ”

The sound of malice was accompanied by another sneak attack, this time Li Wu grabbed the back of the shortblade with his bare hands, broke off its still white-gloved arm, caught the falling shortsword, and swung a clean stab.

The short blade plunged through the eye socket, but the Jack who had been hit also dissipated into mist.

"Because your real name is revealed, fool."

Li Wu replied.

During the first attack, he confirmed that the text on the monster's head was still [Jack Pumpkin].

If the murderous ghost Jack who committed a series of crimes in the fog capital in history and the prototype of the Halloween jack-o'-lantern legend are the same existence, then there is no reason to show such a text, and it is closer to the essence to write [Jack] directly, right?

He took a deep breath, and the flames spread out in waves.

They have moved from their original location to the other end of the artificial lake.

Therefore, he can also let go of his hands and feet a little, and he doesn't have to worry about accidentally hurting Teraya to find them.

The terrible heat steamed the wet dirt beneath their feet in a circular pattern, and the lawn turned to ashes in the first place—after tonight's battle, it would have taken the park's keepers months to repair the sight of a giant monster passing by.

The mist dissipated under the pressure of the flames of wrath that exorcised evil spirits, and even the artificial lake near the shore boiled and bubbled.

However, after he took the initiative to extinguish the fire and create a fog-free space, he did not see the other party's figure.

Instead, after he stopped exerting power, the distant fog re-generated, enveloping everything.

It's not impossible to expand the range of the flames, as long as you use the same method as you would fight against the Dryad summoned by the Leprechaun.

But in that case, maybe he would only be able to save two piles of ashes.

What's more, after destroying the fog itself, it may not be possible to guarantee that this pumpkin monster who claims to be Jack the Ripper will be unearthed.

Li Wu used his hand sword to block the cold light that attacked again, and his free left hand summoned the sword of Kurigara.

The sword light that could cut through the essence of the outer demon swept halfway through the waist of the enemy who launched the third sneak attack, cutting it in half, but the fourth attack soon came.

"What a sword!"

A sneaky sigh came from the mist: "But you're not sure who I am, are you?" Is it a pumpkin monster? Is it a murderer? Maybe it's a spring-legged jack who was active in London in 1837? I've recently fallen in love with the web invented by humans, and there are terrorists pretending to be me. ”

Except for the last one, it speaks of folklore named after Jack.

So, is the body of [Jack's Pumpkin] a stitch of many strange things called Jack?

No, I should say that you can't think like that.

It connects to the point where it suddenly reveals fog and a higher level of melee feats, and why it looks so weak in the initial combat.

Li Wu spliced the clues together, caught the throwing knife thrown at him with his bare hands, and projected it back at a faster speed, piercing through the enemy's head.

"That's too much, isn't it, sir? Isn't it time for me to turn over my hole cards? You're almost tired, aren't you? ”

After being killed by Li Wu again, Jack Pumpkin's voice was already a little angry.

"I feel like I could do this all night...... Also, is it because you're in a hurry that you're trying to trick me into believing that you're some kind of monster aggregate named after Jack? ”

Its sound stopped abruptly.

The process of thinking is simple.

First of all, believe in your own abilities and believe that [Jack Pumpkin] is the essence of a monster.

Compared to the Osori werewolves or headless horsemen who have fought before, the legend of [Jack Pumpkin] is somewhat different.

The former has distinct characteristics of primitive religious worship, while the latter is a product of the introduction of Cruciform to the British Isles.

Regardless of the version of the story, the basic structure is that a man or child named Jack – in some versions he is emphasized to be a miser or drunkard – tricks the devil into a drink by inviting him to drink, and convincing him to turn into a sixpence to play tricks on the boss when he pays for the drink, only to use silver paper to hold down the demon's coin and seal it up.

There is even a legend that Jack tricked Satan into a tree, and then carved a cross with divine powers on the tree, so that the Lord of Hell was trapped in the tree.

Either way, the story ends with Jack not being accepted into hell and heaven after his death, and can only wander the earth with a hollow lantern carved from turnips - his original image should not have much to do with a pumpkin.

"The core element of your story is actually [deception]."

Li Wu lowered his hands and let the short blade slash at him.

The sword light passed through his body like a mirror.

"What bullshit are you talking about!"

"That's right, isn't it awkward that a drunkard from Ireland has to handle that contrived tone?"

Li Wu grabbed Jack Pumpkin's wrist and slammed it to the ground like a towel that had not been wrung out, raising his foot and stomping on its head.

"What did you say in that first sentence?" The Irish first said I was talking about turnip lamps, which was already a lie from the start. ”

The corpse left behind this time still dissolved into mist, but the speed of dissipation was much slower.

"You're trying to set a language trap to make me think that your current posture is who you are. But in fact, it was only when the Irish who immigrated to the New World discovered that pumpkins were more suitable for hollow lanterns, that Jack's image changed to what it is today, and the jack-o-lantern became a symbol of Halloween. ”

The white mist around them rolled and receded, and the blue ghostly fire weaved into layers of nets, closing in on the human in the center.

"It's only your own power to summon ghostfire, but other than that, you're just echoing the perception of others and transforming into the ridiculous pumpkin head you are now."

By deceiving and adjusting himself to the impression of others, Li Wu believes that this is the truth of the power that a person who has deceived demons should have.

"Whether it is claiming to be dissected, holding a knife blade, or even imitating a trap laid at the scene of a murder, it is all prepared for the sake of lies. If I hadn't wavered in the mood of 'why does this guy feel like Jack the Ripper?' you'd make up something else, wouldn't you? ”

After the deceived person rejects the lie, the false power dissipates.

Li Wu raised his right hand and recited the words that summoned Stonehenge.

The approaching net of fire was shattered by the sudden rise of a stone arch, and in the retreating mist, a leaping stone pillar lifted Jack's pumpkin into the air as it fled towards the edge.

"The breath of the sun...... How can it be! ”

It exclaimed.

Speaking of which, Halloween also seems to be the Celtic celebration of the solar cycle.

Li Wu didn't think about what Jack's reaction meant for a while, he bent his knees and shot himself out as a weapon, grabbing Jack's pumpkin who had lost his ability to resurrect.

He whirled in the air and slammed the pumpkin-shaped head into the top of the pillar, striking small pits.

Jack Pumpkin, who still wanted to resist, maintained a prone position, and a new lantern slipped out of his left sleeve.

But it didn't have time to condense the ghost fire, because of the bonus of Stonehenge, his whole body was full of jumping, and Li Wu, who was urging him to release the power, had already raised his feet and trampled on the lights like a mischievous boy.

He grabbed Jack's head with both hands, pulled it off the column, and snapped it down!

"You want to dissect, don't you?"

A ring of cracks spread out at the top of the hard stone pillar.

"You can't die here just yet, can you?"

The summoned pillar trembled under the violent ravages of its master.

"Cook my friend, huh?"

Holding up something that no longer saw to be a pumpkin head, more like some kind of abstract art made from fruit, Li Wu threw the final blow.

The entire stone pillar broke off from it due to the violent impact, and the two people on the column fell from the sky.

Jack Pumpkin, who is extremely tenacious, crawls forward with his mud-stained white gloves.

"It has to be ...... Remind the boss ...... As long as you can get to that place! The goal has not been reached......"

Li Wu grabbed the hem of his trench coat and lifted him upside down.

With his left hand, he summoned the sword of Kuligara again, aiming it at Jack Pumpkin, who had been recognized as his true body.

"Happy Halloween."

The long sword burning with blue flames pierced through the center of the trench coat, silently licking the monster's body.

This time, disguised as a murderer, the creature from Celtic mythology let out a cry of despair.

(End of chapter)