The Emperor’s Angel of Death

Chapter 2657: Metal Nightmare

“God——”

Seeing these monsters rushing towards Ayla, Mendoza instinctively wanted to save her, but his reason told him that going out meant death!

So he forced himself to shrink into the shadow of the rock, holding his breath, and even his trembling was suppressed.

After they surrounded Ayla, they emitted a scream full of metallic texture, like a crazy chorus. Stimulated, Ayla woke up from the confusion brought by her injuries, and then screamed as well.

“What! What are you——”

She raised a hand futilely trying to drive them away, but it was easily cut off at the elbow by sharp claws. One monster crouched down and bit wildly at her cheek, tearing off large chunks of flesh as Ayla shuddered and screamed. Blood flowed down its chin—as if waiting for this signal, the remaining three creatures also began to tear at the injured person.

Mendoza's eyes widened, as if forcing himself into some terrible penance. He watched the monsters tear at the bone protruding from the severed arm, pulling it out of the flesh with a large amount of thick arterial blood. He saw them stab Ayla's stomach with their claws, tearing open her muscles and pulling out her internal organs handful by handful, scattering them all over the ground.

After a brutal minute, Ayla's screams subsided. The creatures, having eaten their fill of her flesh, dragged her bloody remains out of the tunnel. As the monsters dragged away Ayla's incomplete corpse, Mendoza even saw one wrap Ayla's intestines around its neck like a scarf!

Mendoza had never been a coward, but he was really frightened. He had never heard of such monsters in the Slag Mountains war zone. Where did they come from? Were they biochemical monsters created by the mechanical slave owners?

Now he could only wait for those things to leave. He looked at his and Ayla's bundles on the ground. These supplies had to be delivered to the front line. This was his responsibility, and he needed to report this matter. There would always be a chance for revenge in the future.

After confirming that those things had left, Mendoza carefully slipped out. He picked up his bag, hid Ayla's bag, and then walked towards the tunnel in the opposite direction from where the monsters left.

While passing through the deep mountain tunnel, he was constantly vigilant behind him. However, when passing a small crack, he found that the crack in the tunnel was covered with a strange green light.

But he didn't dare to stay any longer and sped up.

As the tunnel curved to the left, he felt that he saw a flickering light in the distance, reflecting the rock into a bright yellow color. Perhaps this was a way out to the mountainside, a crack in the stone that led to the foothills along a secret trail.

Since that terrible thing happened, Mendoza felt a glimmer of hope for the first time. He hurried forward.

“Kaisa”

But a weak voice forced him to stop.

Kaisa

Mendoza was shocked. If he remembered correctly, this was Ayla's voice, her cry when she was unconscious, but she was clearly in front of him...

He slowly turned around and saw a figure staggering out of the green shadow. For a moment, Mendoza seemed to see Ayla's face, but after blinking, only half of that face remained, the other half covered in a rusted skull, with mad light flashing in its red eyes.

It walked slowly, murmuring the cry of “Ayla”, with a string of minced meat and metal hanging from its chin. Sharp bone nails protruded from its spine, like an erected crown, but with a metallic texture.

Mendoza's heart turned cold in an instant. It turned out that these monsters had been following him all along. Did they hope that he would take them somewhere?

The next second, the thing screamed and pounced on him. Mendoza turned around and ran in terror.

Knife-sharp claws attacked him, tearing his bag. As he fell forward, he spilled many things out.

In a panic, Mendoza groped for the weapon at his waist, a dart short gun found from the warehouse. Out of some kind of crazy reflex, when the opponent pounced, he raised the short gun and shot without thinking, without aiming at all.

The first serrated bullet crashed into the guy's mouth. These darts all had a dormant beacon built into the empty chamber. When a dart hit a target, it would send a signal that could guide other darts, causing other darts to continue hitting, causing a series of damage and even piercing bones.

In a series of bullet strikes, sparks flew out, and the monster howled and jumped to the side, with a big crack in its head.

Mendoza also cut the strap and jumped up, kicking out with his foot, his boot hitting it right in the chest. He felt like he had kicked an iron plate. Although it didn't cause any damage, it knocked it down, and then Mendoza shot at the top of its head with bullets again and again until the bullets ran out.

Finally, the burning red in the eye sockets gradually faded into dim black embers, and the skull also cracked under the continuous shooting of bullets, but the crazed Mendoza did not stop. He kept stomping on the thing's head until the monster's head turned into bloody residue, and anything that it used as a brain was shattered.

It was only then that he finally discovered the truth about these monsters. They were a group of machines, skeleton-shaped robots made of metal. They must be another masterpiece of the mechanical slave owners' perverted imagination. They put the skin of living people on themselves!

After a long time, Mendoza sat down on the ground with a soft feeling in his hands and feet.

Blood splattered on the ground, flowing along circles of torn intestines, flesh and Ayla's shredded clothes. Then Mendoza cried on the ground.

His hands were covered in blood, and every breath he took felt like a blade inserted into his lungs. He wanted to lie there forever, curled up in the darkness waiting until his compatriots brought help.

But he couldn't rest, not yet, because at this moment, Mendoza heard more monsters approaching.

In addition to the sound of their claws rubbing against the rocks, Mendoza vaguely heard screams, giggles, and crazy cries. He stood up trembling, baring his teeth as he cried, and hugged the bag that had been torn open.

As he began to run, deformed shadows appeared on the tunnel walls behind him, strange lights flickered and jumped, and the screams grew closer and closer.

“Recently, multiple Sicarian Ruststalkers have lost contact, which is a bit abnormal.”

Fabricator Hugo looked at the data flowing on the Tactical Suggestion Panel and chatted with the machine-priest Trope beside him. They were both the lowest ranks among the Tech-Priests. Although they were much more advanced than apprentices, they were still inconspicuous in the forge world.

Since their status was low, they definitely wouldn't get any good jobs. For example, now, taking a few apprentices to establish a forward base on a mountainside in B2 area of the Slag Mountains, providing information and equipment support for the Ecclesiarchy Guard and Combat Servitors who were “whack-a-mole” on the front line.