The next day, the five of them returned to the site of the massive battle between the Carapace Legion and the centipede creatures.
The atmosphere there was still grim.
Broken coral, shattered chitin, and dried black blood covered the muddy battlefield. The remains of countless Nightmare Creatures were scattered everywhere, half-buried beneath sludge and ash like forgotten corpses abandoned by war itself.
At first, Senrix had insisted on the simplest solution possible.
Fight the Carapace Demon head-on.
Unfortunately for him, literally everyone else rejected the idea almost imdiately.
Sunny called it suicidal.
Cassie looked horrified just imagining it.
Even Elysia, who usually trusted Senrix more than anyone else, quietly admitted that charging directly at a creature stronger than a centurion was probably a terrible plan.
Naturally, Senrix looked offended.
"What? It's a solid plan."
"It's a horrible plan," Sunny imdiately replied.
"It lacks imagination," Elysia added with a small smile.
"It lacks survival instinct," Cassie whispered.
Senrix crossed his arms and muttered sothing under his breath about cowards and betrayal.
That was when Sunny proposed a different idea.
Apparently, his mother used to tell him stories about ancient heroes from old Earth mythology. Most of his mories about them were vague and incomplete, but one story stood out clearly in his mind.
Odysseus.
The Trojan Horse.
Sunny explained the basic concept while gesturing awkwardly with his hands.
"We hide inside sothing the enemy already trusts… sneak in… then attack from the inside."
Senrix blinked once.
Then twice.
"…So basically fraud?"
"It's strategy," Sunny corrected him.
Elysia tilted her head thoughtfully. "Honestly, that sounds smarter than fighting the demon directly."
Cassie nodded in agreent.
Sunny proudly crossed his arms.
"That's because I'm a genius."
Then, after a pause, he added:
"We'll make a Trojan ass."
Silence.
Nephis blinked.
Cassie looked confused.
Elysia stared at him for several seconds before covering her mouth.
Senrix froze.
"…a what?"
Sunny frowned. "You know. The thing."
"The Trojan horse?" Nephis asked flatly.
Sunny opened his mouth.
Closed it.
Then slowly looked away.
Senrix exploded.
The laugh that escaped him was so loud it echoed through the battlefield.
He nearly collapsed onto one of the centipede carcasses, clutching his stomach while laughing like a man possessed.
"A TROJAN ASS?!"
Elysia failed to hold herself back and started laughing too, though hers was quieter and far more elegant.
Even Cassie struggled not to smile.
anwhile, Sunny's face beca completely dark.
"I rembered the important part!"
Senrix pointed at him while wheezing.
"No wonder your plans sound insane!"
For the next several minutes, Senrix refused to stop calling it the "legendary Trojan Ass strategy," much to Sunny's suffering.
Eventually, however, they finally returned to the actual task at hand.
A few days earlier, they had lured a Carapace Centurion into this exact area, accidentally triggering a brutal war between the legion and the centipede creatures.
Many corpses still remained.
The flesh had long since been devoured by scavengers and smaller horrors hiding in the labyrinth, leaving only cracked skeletons and massive shells behind.
But at was not what they ca for.
Thanks to Senrix's absurd hunting ability, they still possessed enough food to survive for quite a while.
What they needed now… was armor.
Sunny stopped in front of the hollow shell of a dead centurion and smiled with satisfaction.
The black-and-crimson chitin remained mostly intact despite the battle.
Massive.
Durable.
Perfect.
Nephis walked beside him and observed the corpse silently.
"This is what you wanted?"
Sunny nodded imdiately.
"Yeah. I figured nothing in this place would bother chewing through the shell itself."
He crouched beside the enormous carcass and knocked against the hardened chitin.
A dull tallic sound echoed faintly.
"Honestly, I wasn't even sure it would still be here. But this…" he grinned, "…this is perfect."
Senrix stared at the shell for a few seconds before sighing dramatically.
"So we're really doing the Trojan Ass plan…"
Sunny imdiately glared at him.
"Horse."
Senrix smirked.
"Too late. History has already been rewritten."
Elysia chuckled softly nearby while Cassie tilted her head in confusion.
"I still don't fully understand why it's called that…"
"You're better off not understanding," Sunny muttered.
The rest of the day was spent modifying the shell.
And it was absolutely miserable.
The inside of the centurion's corpse slled horrifying despite having been picked clean already. The scent of rot and dried blood clung stubbornly to the chitin, making Sunny regret being born several tis.
Elysia managed to tolerate it surprisingly well.
Nephis simply ignored the discomfort entirely.
Cassie suffered in silence.
anwhile, Senrix looked completely unbothered.
At one point, Sunny stared at him in disbelief.
"How are you okay with this?"
Senrix shrugged casually.
"I fought scavengers barehanded before."
"That does not answer my question."
By the ti sunset approached, the disguise was finally complete.
And unfortunately…
It looked terrible.
A strange creature slowly erged from the dead remains of the labyrinth and entered the ashen wasteland.
At first glance, it resembled a Carapace Centurion.
At second glance, however, sothing was deeply wrong with it.
The enormous shell tilted awkwardly from side to side as it moved. Its eight segnted legs dragged unevenly through the sand, several clearly moving out of sync. The torso swayed strangely, while the massive scythes protruding behind its back looked crooked and unstable.
It moved less like a terrifying Nightmare Creature…
…and more like a drunk insect trying to survive existence.
Inside the shell, absolute chaos reigned.
Sunny was currently regretting every life decision that had led him to this mont.
"This is your fault," he hissed.
"How is this my fault?" Senrix whispered back.
"You're too heavy!"
"Sorry for being built differently."
"Can both of you stop fighting before we die?" Elysia whispered from sowhere near the rear of the shell.
Cassie carefully held onto the inner structure, looking incredibly nervous.
anwhile, Nephis remained eerily calm despite the insanity surrounding her.
At one point, the fake centurion suddenly stumbled sideways.
Sunny panicked.
"LEFT! MOVE LEFT!"
"I AM MOVING LEFT!"
"THAT'S RIGHT!"
"Oh."
The entire shell lurched violently.
One of the fake scythes detached completely and fell into the sand.
Silence filled the inside instantly.
"…Did our arm just fall off?" Elysia asked quietly.
Sunny covered his face.
Senrix looked deeply disappointed.
"Our Trojan Ass is falling apart."
Sunny looked seconds away from committing murder.
Outside, however, there was no one nearby to witness the horrifying spectacle.
And so, sohow…
The fake centurion continued its drunken journey toward the Ashen Barrow.
Ahead of them, beneath the crimson leaves of the giant tree, the distant silhouette of the Ashen Barrow waited silently.
The sun slowly descended toward the horizon.
And the real danger was finally about to begin.
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