Among the weird shapes, extremely mottled and decayed things were facing away from them in a half-kneeling posture. Red-brown moss-like rust multiplied on every inch of it, giving it a softened and loose texture.
Judging by its appearance, it was a full-body armor, and it was worth a lot of money.
The past appearance has long been unrecognizable, and the patterned accessories have turned into vague raised strips under reddish brown, leaving only the upside-down sword-shaped emblem squeezed and twisted by the rusty part.
It should be kept in the hands of some families who once had a high status, cleaned and maintained every day, as a symbol of the martial arts of their ancestors. Its significance far exceeds its practical value, and it will not be worn except under special circumstances.
However, the fact is that it just appeared in the middle of the waterway, in front of the intruder.
There were knob-like protrusions of unknown origin on the helmet, which drooped down and made a slight sound like the opening and closing of a clam shell or the stirring of paste.
They noticed something at the foot of the armor, which they initially thought was sediment. It was a monk's robe, completely soaked by water, wrapped in a shriveled and contracted body, exuding a pungent rust-like smell.
Green said nothing, held his breath and drew his sword, approaching slowly.
The crouching position makes it look like a giant shell, stranded here after the contents died. And some resident creatures will soon occupy the space and make it a part of themselves.
When it becomes active, it will create the illusion that the original owner still exists for a moment.
The armor plates that had lost their firmware and hinges were slightly rubbing against each other in a way that was once impossible. As they got closer, the strange sound of rustling under the rust became more obvious, mixed with smacking sounds from the lips and tongue, almost like death.
A low, inarticulate cry for help.
They heard a somewhat familiar accent, but it did not come from the human figure wrapped in a robe, but from the buzzing sound in the semi-enclosed cavity like an iron barrel.
Before the monks had the urge to step forward to rescue him, the sound that seemed like human voices completely disappeared.
Instead, there were several layers of chewing and twisting, reminiscent of long toothed tongues licking and scraping the inner wall of the armor.
The armor, or the thing occupying it, moved in an indescribable way.
There are no restrictions on its movement at all. The joints of the armor are overextended and even twisted, supporting it to stand up. The helmet, which has lost half of its face armor, turns towards the living person, giving it a creepy gaze.
The broken window grid is broken and tooth-shaped, and there are shadows that cannot be fully illuminated, undulating where faces should be.
"devil......"
Green heard the monk murmuring. Even the most evil description could not express the feeling that caused extreme discomfort.
After experiencing all this, it is difficult not to suspect that the light of the Heavenly Father has abandoned this place, and they are in hell. Fear and confusion penetrate the protection of the holy scriptures, lashing the hearts that are almost collapsed.
They didn't even draw their weapons immediately, watching helplessly as the thing gradually approached with anthropomorphic movements, raising its long upper limbs.
But not everyone needs Heavenly Father by their side to have the courage to act.
"Blasphemy!" At the same time as the roar exploded, a long sword passed through the water splashed by the steps and stabbed the driven armor.
It did not dodge, and allowed the blade to pass through the missing half of the visor and penetrate into the helmet. A powerful stab directly penetrated something unknown, reached the back of the helmet, and tilted the entire head back.
.
Green felt himself thrust into a mass of bone and flesh, twisting his hands and trying to get his sword into it.
The upper limbs are grasped without any pause. The shape makes it difficult to connect it with the normal palms. It is more like a new thing that is fused and elongated with the original arm armor attached to the surface. It is between the link body and the body of some long shrimps.
between software.
There are no weapons, no rules, just predatory logic, hoping to capture new elements and incorporate them into itself.
In a trance, the figures on the stone wall twisted and moved, breaking away from the honeycomb grid, and surrounded him from under his feet, above his head, and from every direction. Like the deformed limbs in front of him trying to grab his body, they hooked his soul and dragged him towards the darkness far away from common sense.
Green struggled to pull the blade to one side, trying to get rid of these things.
It felt much heavier than expected. The armor was filled with filling material that left no gaps. It only deflected slightly in the face of full force, and then continued to get closer.
The helmet, which was still pressed against the blade of the sword, was pulled away from the breastplate, giving off the nauseating sensation of tendons being peeled off bones, or suction cups being pulled out.
"help!"
The monks who were just waking up from a dream hurriedly stepped forward to support him and slashed at the upper limb that was about to contact Green.
The attack from the reinforcements shook off large pieces of loose rust, buying Green, who was restrained by his weapon, some time to draw his sword, but did not cause any effective damage.
Even if it is in a state of decay, it is still a piece of plate armor, the most difficult thing to deal with in a battle formation. Apart from heavy weapons, you can only attack through gaps and weak points, or control the movement of joints.
Realizing that the attack was ineffective, a monk struck at the exposed gap between the helmet and breastplate.
With Green attracting attention, this blow cut through most of the area, but due to the neck guard, it could not do its full effect. The successful attack gave him a little peace of mind, and he prepared to expand the cutting range and separate the opponent's head and body.
However, the bizarre pain made him lose the ability to move further.
Looking down, the "arm" that had just been knocked down turned around without being restricted by the angle, and the long and jointed palm passed through the defensive gap and bit into the waist.
【bite】
This is the only word that can be used to describe that feeling. There seemed to be something like a barb hidden on the palm side of the hand, which tore the skin apart at the moment of contact and fixed it in a place where there was no point of contact.
What is even more frightening is that the pain is spreading deeper, with rough texture of rust flakes and sharp objects stirring the abdominal cavity, accompanied by several changing pain points that look like scratching, biting and tearing.
He tried to pull out his sword to cut it off, but encountered the same difficulty as Greene. The blade was tightly clamped and difficult to pull away.
The armor flew forward with the force of drawing the sword. The fear and pain destroyed the ability to resist first. The massive blood loss made his consciousness dull, and he was unable to make any effective resistance until he fell to the ground.
The sound of the weapon striking against the iron armor could be heard, but it remained unmoved and clung to the victim like a leech biting into the skin.
The hateful helmet filled with the smell of rust and blood hung down, and flowing shadows brewed in it, and then flowed out from the gap in the visor like retching.
This time Green saw the source of the chewing and licking sounds from the front.
Some are amorphous and contain substances with complex characteristics, like semi-solid embryos that break open the egg shell on their own and use precocious molars and soluble parts to crush and decompose the things they come into contact with and incorporate them into their own reconstruction.
When I realized how it was eating, the courage I had just mustered up and the remaining calmness quickly collapsed, and my last thought was to turn around and run away.
Few people realize that this is also the best opportunity - but that's exactly who Green is.
He took out the spare lamp oil and poured it on the amorphous object that was difficult to damage with swords.