Krafft's Notes on Anomalies

The shouting reminder from the front spread through the forest and hit the ears of everyone in the team.

The team of more than twenty people, composed of soldiers, city guards and two knights' retinue, was loose and long in the woods, with the head and tail being thirty paces away. The oblique vegetation formed layers of information filters, and only the nearest retinue could see clearly.

The city guards in the rear didn't even hear the scratching metal sound. The word "enemy attack" swayed in Pingping's mind for a few times before he realized that something impossible had happened. However, there was no one in the dense forest. Can't find where the other side came from.

The warning did not play its due role. Instead, it caused greater chaos in an environment where command was disconnected. Most of the people who had never experienced actual combat since receiving training hurriedly drew their weapons and then became at a loss.

They never expected to encounter any resistance in Westminster. There should be no armed forces here who dare to face the ruling power.

In every direction, there is a deep green forest. The twisted shadows of trees filled with fungi seem to be moving in the background. The overgrown weeds and vines underfoot hinder the pace of those who are eager to get closer to their companions. Someone fell to the ground, and the people around them who were already frightened fled in panic, and the shapeless formation became more and more scattered.

Diego couldn't see any of this and instinctively looked around for the source of the arrow.

When the second attack came, the arrow passed through the side of the hull that was approaching him and tried to provide cover. It hit the ridge of the shoulder armor, and the broken wooden pole hit the helmet, making his ears buzz.

After a brief fright, he felt an unbearable rage at the audacity of his attackers, threatening the life of a knight with a sneak attack, and the most outrageous thing was that they almost succeeded.

This exposed the attacker's location and reminded Diego of what he should do most now. He raised his arms to cover his face with his arm armor, and lowered his face armor to cover his only weak point.

Then, identify the direction from the sight of the horizontal bar sieve, and rush towards the place where the arrow was shot. The figure squatting in the grass in the distance has not left yet, moving as if preparing for the next shot.

Maybe many people will feel a little scared at this time, but Diego is definitely not included. The armor on his body is a symbol of status and also gives him the courage to go rampant in any battle.

In terms of the force of the previous two hits, whether it was a bow or a crossbow with a low probability, the close range shot would leave at most a dent on the armor.

The heavily armed iron man ran, breaking twigs to crush the weeds, and pieces of mushrooms were crushed under his feet. From the slippery feeling, one could imagine those disgusting things turning into a stomach-turning mess.

The flexible joints allow him to perform short-distance sprints that are not inferior to the light armor, and at the same time, he does not have to worry about frontal attacks. The good accuracy of the two arrows just now was based on closing the distance. Diego could already clearly see the weapon in the shooter's hand, an old-fashioned hand crossbow obtained from unknown sources. Facing the charging knight, the man was finishing winding.

Diego didn't quite understand his motivation and purpose for doing this, risking his life to complete another meaningless shooting?

The archer took aim with his arrow. This time Diego didn't make any defensive moves. He raised his sword and crossed the last block of the road. However, the arrow was not shot at him, but aimed at another target and shot behind him.

There was an unfamiliar scream, not from the two guards. Diego had already arrived in front of the shooter. In the shadow of the blind spot in the helmet's field of vision, two figures rushed towards him from the side. It seemed that this was what the opponent relied on to dare to shoot three consecutive rounds on the spot.

The first person yelled and stepped forward, bumping into the side of the knight who had no time to change direction, trying to make him lose his balance and fall down.

But he greatly underestimated the weight difference between the two sides. The armor seemed to be filled with sand. He only staggered back a few steps to stop the momentum. Instead, he was thrown backwards and fell to the ground. He was still dizzy when the back of his head hit the bare root. After he recovered, the stabbing pain in his abdomen made him cry out in fear and pain.

Without giving the guy a chance to struggle, Diego rotated the sword half a circle and pulled it out. At the same time, he felt someone behind him strangle his neck, put some thin iron tool into the gap between the helmet and breastplate, and inserted it fiercely.

This decisive approach without hesitation does not look like an amateur bandit, but a desperado with both courage and fighting experience.

The blade scratched across the small chained iron ring, and the force was far from enough to break through this unexpected layer of protection and the cotton armor underneath, and he had no second chance. The left elbow of the saddle-shaped armor hit the side of the person behind him, and a long fragile bone with one end floating on the abdominal wall was broken by the impact, and the broken end was pushed deeper into the body.

As soon as the restraints around his neck were loosened, the knight broke free from the restraints, stabbed his backhand from his armpit, and pierced the stripped body with excessive force.

This took Diego a moment to draw the blade. The arrow strike that struck the disc armpit showed the shooter's incomprehensible fighting will. Instead of taking the opportunity to distance himself, he hit the imaginary weak point at close range and shot directly.

After discovering that the crossbow in his hand had no effect, he actually pulled out a short sword, screamed out prayer sentences that were deformed like a martyr in the flames, and swung it at the enemy who easily killed two companions.

The voice that seemed to come from the tree hole of the dammed strain was reciting content that was somewhat familiar to Diego, but it had a different meaning in the mouth of this crazy man. It was like an animal speaking human words and an evil person wearing a crown. The distortion is like a familiar shell being forcibly put on something else, but the imitation is so similar to the original.

In the field of vision of the visor divided by strips, the face twisted with fear and driven forward for unknown reasons, coupled with the out-of-tune words, actually made the soul protected by the thick plate feel horrified for a moment.

He blocked the incoming dagger with his horizontal sword. In the fierce metal collision, a little thought escaped and recalled the source of the other party's neurotic shouting. It was an original line from the holy book, which was used to encourage those who died in heroic battles. , will be able to ascend to the kingdom after death.

This especially aroused a kind of fear that he didn't want to admit. The action that was supposed to be to seize the blade and disarm him changed, he hit the gauntlet on the roaring mouth, and then he held the blade and thrust the sword into the opponent's left chest.

It wasn't until this fanatical or crazy man fell that Diego regained a little peace. The meaningless shouting and the sound of iron weapons coming from behind left him no time to think about the inexplicable impulse, and he chose to kill. each other instead of keeping prisoners.

With the support of the knights, the attackers, who were already small in number and had a brief advantage through surprise attacks, quickly fell into a disadvantage, and no other long-range weapon appeared.

They are poorly equipped, dressed the same as civilians, and lack armor. They are roughly between gangsters and low-level caravan guards. Their extraordinary fighting will may make most underground gangs fearful, but it cannot make up for their skills and materials. difference.

Not everyone has the will to die together. After Diego once again knocked down a guy who loudly recited quotations from the Transfiguration Bible, the remaining few people quickly entered the daily routine of non-professional armed forces and some professional armed forces, collapsed and escaped. , incidentally played the role of pointing the direction to the pursuer.

"Where's that guy?" Diego realized that everyone had joined in the melee, including the guard who was supposed to be dragging the prisoner leading the way. He was kicking down an opponent who was still trying to get up, and then struck with a sword.

"Dead, shot to death." The guard shook off the blood on the sword blade and smeared the remaining bit on the deceased's clothes.

"These guys who deserve to go to hell actually know how to silence them!" Without enough time to sort out the scattered team, Diego, with his followers and the soldiers who could still be gathered, chased after the fleeing enemies.

He was convinced that there was some secret behind it that could get him out of his current situation, even if it had nothing to do with the disappearance. But the premise is to catch up with the remnants of the enemy, rather than losing the leader and the ready-made guidance in this forest.

There was little hesitation. The victory just gave them full confidence. The goal was right in front of them. The soldiers also believed that the generous commander would give them a share of the pie afterwards. The victory reward was waiting for them to collect.

Including Diego, the team with high morale followed the fleeing figure in front. Those people seemed to have no idea what their actions meant, and they just ran in a certain exact direction. Their habit of the environment prevented them from being slowed down by the slippery ringworm-like bacteria on the ground, and they always maintained their pace. distance.

Diego gasped for breath, and the armor that protected his life was also weighed down at this time. The hot and humid weather made the lining of the cotton armor soaked with sweat. The chain armor seemed to have broken an iron ring during the fight, and the break broke the skin on the side of his neck. The helmet could I smell the salty smell of sweat, and the salt irritates the broken skin.

There was also an indescribable strange smell that tickled his nose, causing him to sneeze uncontrollably, unable to resume his breathing rhythm, and his throat felt sweet.

He had to admit that there was indeed a smell, similar to...dust, just like the feeling when he put this helmet that had not been used for a long time on his head, and there were tiny particles adsorbed everywhere.

Panting and lack of oxygen, his mind was dizzy, and the sweat that could not be wiped crossed his eyelashes. There was a slightly painful and tortuous scene in his limited field of vision. Those luxurious colors that mostly grew on the ground also swayed around his eyes with the flow of liquid, reminding him of In the past, he endured the difficult time of facing off against his sparring partners through this kind of discomfort. As long as he squinted his eyes for a moment, he would be caught. He was often the one who got caught.

But no one was here to trouble Diego Knight now. He avoided a tree trunk, blinked, squeezed out the sweat from his eyes, and his eyes became slightly clearer.

However, the spreading colors have not diminished. They are indeed spread out in large areas in the field of vision. Various, many of which are rarely seen bright bacteria are accumulated in clusters. They exist above and below, and they are more beautiful than what they have seen before. It is dense, but there are no traces of artificial cultivation.

This idea made him feel absurd. How could one cultivate mushrooms like wheat? What's more, the growth of these fungi has exceeded their imagination. Diego even felt that if they were allowed to go further, they would fill the entire forest, occupy every inch of space, and squeeze into his armor.

The bizarre and disgusting imagination only stayed in his mind for a while, but it left a peculiar taste on his tongue, as if he had really inhaled the mushrooms that filled the world.

"Damn rats, centipedes in the sewer!" Diego roared and ran, shifting his emotions to the amateur armed criminal gang that had brought him to this terrible place. This adjustment method allowed him to concentrate.

The dense forest of mushrooms in front of them finally came to an end, and they finally blocked the group of people in a bay of dark harbor waters with floating oil stains.

The chased person fled to a rough dock built with blackened logs and dotted with Yayoi mushrooms. There was only a small wooden boat filled with water and a rescuer hiding under a hooded robe. He used dirty white dye to draw a figure on the front. The plate is unflatteringly round.