The Freak Show Foreman

The claw sliced through half of the carriage in one fell swoop.

Ella wrapped her head and bowed her body.

It was the best she could do.

Shards rained down over her head.

But the expected onslaught from the demon did not come.

She gently opened her eyes and looked up.

Something was blocking the demon's claws.

"Oh."

Confirming what it was, she exclaimed.

A gray stone protruded from the carriage trunk.

It was once a person.

Marisa.

A member who once challenged Wonderstein and turned into stone.

Ella had pleaded with him several times to return her to her original state, but Wonderstein repeatedly refused her plea.

Even before leaving Luz, he gave the same answer.

What nonsense to think people can change.

His kindness was merely for his own purposes.

He showed no mercy to those who might hinder him.

"A fairy turned into stone… interesting."

The demon laughed as he looked at the object that blocked his claws.

In the meantime, Ella quickly fell from the carriage.

The demon alternated between watching her flee and the frozen Marisa, then chuckled.

"I was confused."

He left Marisa frozen and approached Ella.

Ice webs grew with a clicking sound where his gaze was focused, binding her arms and legs.

"Ugh!"

Ella fell forward with a thud.

Ice grew tightly around her body from all sides.

"Hah, hah…"

She struggled desperately, managing to turn her head back.

The demon was approaching her.

At that moment, two beams of light shot out from her embrace.

"Oh, no!"

Ella screamed.

They were her animals.

Pigeon Dub and Mouse Chick.

Sensing their owner's danger, they rushed at the demon vigorously.

But they posed no threat to him.

With a glance, they froze in place.

Trapped in ice, they writhed on the ground.

"Hey, hey…"

Tears welled up in Ella's eyes.

They were precious friends she had been with since childhood.

They had become like this trying to protect her.

A white breath spewed from the demon's mouth exposed under the helmet.

Along with it, ice clung to Ella's face and hair.

She looked up at him with eyes full of despair.

He growled softly, baring his teeth.

"Shall I start with your arms or legs?"

In the face of death.

The face that came to her mind was annoyingly neither her teacher, nor her school friends, nor the mother she imagined.

The bright smiling face of the man

Frank Wonderstein.

His face flickered before her.

"Son of a bitch."

Even in this situation, he didn't show up until the end.

Always saying how great he is.

How far she's come because of him.

But when it's really needed…

Where the hell did you go?

You said we would climb to the circus Grand Prix together.

We still have two years left.

The reaper raised his arm.

Now there was no obstacle between him and her.

He slashed his claws.

She murmured the name mixed with affection for the last time.

"Wonderstein…."

Thud.

A great shock resonated through the ground.

Ice rose like white mist.

Ella felt the cold fragments brushing past her cheeks.

A black shadow blocked her path.

A warm cloak enveloped her body.

She looked up.

Moonlight softly illuminated the scene.

Dark hair fluttered in the wind.

Through it.

A face, both hated and welcomed, smiled at her.

"Ella Yang, it's fortunate that I'm not late."

Wonderstein.

Her stage partner and their director.

He had arrived.

Tears streamed down her cheeks.

She wanted to ask why he had come.

But as she was about to speak, Ella noticed something in his hand.

It was unmistakable.

It was the lid of the thermos he never let go of for the past few months.

Steam was rising from it as if freshly brewed.

Drinking tea in such a dire situation?

The joy vanished as soon as she saw it.

Ella felt something welling up inside her.

"This… this…."

She punched his chest as hard as she could.

Thunk.

But her body was so frozen that it seemed more like a pat.

Wonderstein smiled with amusement at her reaction.

"Ella Yang?"

"This… bastard…."

Her mouth was frozen, and words barely came out.

She blurted out whatever came to her mind.

Words she had wanted to say for so long.

"You… bastard…."

"Ella Yang…."

Wonderstein laughed at her reaction.

"There must be a lot you want to say."

"…Yeah."

She nodded.

There were so many questions she wanted to ask.

Where was Maya?

What exactly was happening in this village?

And what was this Curse Plague?

Was there any connection between gathering the members and that?

What had he done to her hometown?

She wanted to bombard him with questions right away.

But as his hand touched her cheek, she was tongue-tied.

"Just wait a moment. Let me sort things out first."

With that, Wonderstein brushed off the ice from her face and hair.

The warmth of his touch melted the ice away.

Ella felt her face flushing red.

She bowed her head and nodded slowly.

"…Okay."

He placed her a little apart and turned around.

There, the reaper was rubbing his arm.

"Well done. To strike my arm away. Hehe, today is a joyful day. Among humans, there are those who make me happy…."

"Hey, reaper."

Wonderstein called out to him.

He knew who the opponent was.

The reaper, Noua Zakanuba.

"Surely that's not your full power, is it?"

It was a provocation.

To dare question when humans were so weak against high ranking demons.

Noua Zakanuba's face momentarily froze and then relaxed.

"Hehe, humans are truly arrogant subjects. Oh well! I merely scratched you earlier. I can't afford to break my precious toy all at once."

He gripped the ground with both arms.

Bending his legs, he prepared to spring forward.

He intended to teach that arrogant human a lesson he wouldn't forget.

"Let's see you block this!"

The demon lunged at him, driving his claws with all his might.

Ella wanted to scream at him to dodge.

But for some reason, her voice wouldn't come out.

Partly because her throat was still frozen, but more so because of another reason.

The smug smirk on Wonderstein's lips.

Seeing it reassured her.

Thud.

The demon's body collided with Wonderstein's.

He was pushed back, leaving tracks on the ground that stretched for several meters.

The demon shivered.

He had charged at him with the momentum to send him flying over 100 meters.

But how far did he actually go?

He felt the force holding onto his arm firmly.

It felt like hitting a mountain…?

The dust cleared.

The demon couldn't believe what he saw.

Wonderstein stood unharmed, holding the demon's arm with just one hand.

The strength emanating from his arm was clearly coming from him.

"This… What… How can a human…?"

Wonderstein smiled at the stuttering demon.

"You've been harassing my members quite a bit. Are you prepared?"

His other hand clenched into a fist.

The demon instinctively felt it.

There was a force in that punch, similar to the one that blocked his attack.

"W-wait…!"

Wonderstein's arm shot out like lightning.

His fist struck the demon's abdomen squarely.

"Gck…?"

His waist twisted at an odd angle, making creaking sounds.

His body was sent flying like a bullet, tearing through the ground.

Kwaa! Kwurr!

The earth and rocks surged like a tidal wave.

A trench dozens of meters long was formed.

The demon's body, thrown in the middle, crashed into the cliff on the opposite side of the village.

Kung. Kurr.

The deafening roar, like an explosion, shook the hills.

The giant cliff collapsed.

========================

Title: TT3 Ultimate Strategy – Reaper Edition

Posted by: Torch Dancer

Hello!

This is Torch Dancer.

Today, I'd like to delve into the traditional strategy for defeating demons in the series.

The conditions for a demon's appearance in TT3 are the same as in previous installments.

You simply have to refrain from saving for 6 hours, 6 minutes, and 6 seconds on one stage.

Then, a corner of the map distorts, and the demon appears.

The demon can be considered an homage to old arcade games.

Back then, without today's internet, if a bug occurred, the game developers had to visit arcades nationwide with floppy disks to fix the game.

Monthly rankings that were updated were a sensitive topic for gamers.

If someone inflated their score using bugs, gamers would send collective protest letters to the game company.

So, the developers made it nearly impossible to exploit bugs by introducing invincible monsters if players stalled for too long.

These were called "demons."

They were literally designed to kill players.

Perhaps that's why demons in TTT boast such formidable performance.

The reason is twofold.

First, the appearance condition requires not saving for over 6 hours.

Even if you retry, after 6 hours, your control and memorized patterns become vague, making the waiting time pointless.

So, I recommend memorizing this guide and challenging it.

For the sake of your mental health.

Don't forget the essential tool, a stopwatch.

Being off by just 10 seconds could cost you your life against the demon.

Second, the demon's scythe.

The demon is vicious in all aspects – health, attack power, patterns – but among them, the worst skill for players is undoubtedly the demon's scythe.

Being hit by the demon's scythe steals your experience points.

In theory, it absorbs happy human memories, but in the game, it's represented differently.

It literally steals experience points, the precious memories we've accumulated on our adventures.

After allowing a few hits from the demon's scythe, you'll find heroes with only basic skills left.

Can we say they've become paupers, having all their happy memories stolen? (Laughs)

So, the basic strategy for defeating demons is to avoid the demon's scythe.

When you barely manage to defeat it and see characters with their stats reset, won't you feel depressed?

Now, let's get into the strategy.

First, let's choose the stage where demons are easiest to defeat, where allied reinforcements come in droves…