Chapter 108 The Destructive Buzz in the Mist
Chapter 108 In the Mist (4) The Devastating Buzz
The shadows gathered and dispersed at the edge of the light, muddying the thick fog that seemed to be slowly settling into some terrifying shape.
George realized those were legs—though there were so many of them, and they were so long.
They dangled from the gaps in the tree canopy, like the slender, long fingers of a giant skull playing with the thick fog.
sieve-"
One leg cut through the fog and came to the edge of everyone's sight.
George saw that they were dark carapace segments, glistening with an oily sheen in the dim light.
These legs seem to be "exploring"—cautiously, inch by inch, like a blind person groping for a way, extending downwards from the canopy.
Immediately afterwards, the monster's body appeared before the terrified crowd.
They emerged from the depths of the fog, carrying with them a false sense of lightness.
Its bulky, dark body resembled a giant praying mantis, but its exact shape was difficult to discern in the mist.
They are supported by those extremely long and thin legs, and their height may be several stories high.
Beside them, several soft tentacles resembling horsehair worms swayed silently in mid-air, probing out of the thick fog and into the snow, leaving behind black slime on the ice shards.
George twitched his lips. He saw that the faces of these strange insects were crowded with compound eyes and hideous protrusions of varying sizes and shapes, which shimmered with a beautiful, oily sheen in the darkness.
The lower half of the head is not so nice, though, as it has a cracked suction cup covered with fine, tooth-like structures.
The air seemed to choke in everyone's throats because of the appearance of these monsters.
Bates was the first to react.
"spread!"
He moved almost simultaneously with the command, his "ancient sword" drawing a silver arc to precisely parry—the enormous mantis forelegs slashed down from the mist like scythes, attempting to hook the nearest Kelly.
The sword's edge struck the insect's carapace, producing a dull thud similar to breaking through thick ice.
Bates used the momentum to spin around, reversed the direction of the sword, and pierced the joint of the forelimb with the tip.
The strange insect hissed like air rushing through rotten wood, its forelimbs snapping back, but Bates was faster.
With a flick of his wrist, a flash of silver light appeared, and the carapace was cleanly severed!
Thick, viscous, petroleum-like black liquid gushed from the fracture, splashing onto the pristine snow, instantly carving out pits and sending up choking smoke.
"Don't stand still!" Bates simultaneously drew his revolver from his waist and fired three shots at the head of another drooping praying mantis.
The bullet struck the compound eye cluster, causing the monster to tremble violently and sway unsteadily.
But it didn't seem to be fatally injured; only more black blood gushed from its shattered compound eyes, flowing down its face.
Miss Moore removed the ruby pendant from her neck and quickly wrapped the gold chain around the back of her hand.
The gem, about the size of a pigeon egg, was fixed to the outer side of the knuckles of the index and middle fingers, resembling a special kind of knuckle duster.
With her other hand, she lifted the lantern and struck the metal frame of the lamp with a gemstone.
"Lord, You are like a refiner" s fire.Purify my heart as gold and silver
are refined.
The flame inside the lamp "exploded".
Clusters of bright, golden-red sparks, like swarms of bees in a hive, spewed from the lamp's opening and scattered in all directions.
They traced dazzling trails in the air, precisely swooping down on the limbs of the strange insects that had encroached upon the light's range.
The moment it touched the carapace, the flames stubbornly clung to it, causing the carapace to sizzle and smolder under the flames before quickly turning charred black.
The insect flesh was exposed to the air, and the injured monster emitted a piercing buzzing sound, its charred forelimbs suddenly retracting into the mist.
They tumbled in the fog, their outlines, illuminated by the flames, twisted and deformed, stirring the thick fog like boiling soup.
"Maintain formation! Don't let them divide us!"
Bates roared and swung his sword, severing the foreleg of another mantis that was trying to flank around from the side.
He no longer sought to inflict damage, but instead maintained a safe space around him with agile parries and counterattacks.
George gripped "Gleipnirlin" tightly, waiting for his moment.
A praying mantis lowered its head so low that its compound eyes were almost right in front of George.
The enormous suction cups opened slightly, reminding George of the gaping maw of the giant octopus sea monster Leviathan.
It is trying to bypass the area of light and approach Elliott from the other side.
"William, keep up with me!" George shouted, throwing out the runic rope as he did so.
The rope stretched out in the air, flashing gray and white, and precisely looped around the slender neck of the strange insect.
But he seemed to have underestimated the power of this behemoth.
The moment the rope tightened, the strange insect let out a sharp screech like a baby crying, and its entire body suddenly jerked upwards.
George felt a tremendous force on his arm, pulling him forward and nearly causing him to fall.
Elliott rushed forward, raising the Golden Sun Amulet high in an attempt to infuse it with spiritual energy to drive away the monster.
However, the moment the light suddenly appeared, the strange insect with its neck bound seemed to be greatly agitated.
Its forelimbs flailing wildly, its entire upper body rising upright, pulling George up with it.
"Let go—" Bates' warning came too late.
George was dragged off the ground by a tremendous force, his whole body pulled into the air.
He looked up and saw that hideous, terrifying face not far above him, black blood seeping from the gaps in the shells he had tightened, dripping onto the snow.
"George!" Kelly shouted, but she was surrounded by two other mantises and had to use sparks to deflect their limbs.
Bates charged forward, but a giant praying mantis swooped down from the side, its forelegs like two rusty scythes, crossing and trying to clamp down on the lieutenant's waist.
Bates had to parry with his sword, forcing his body to turn to one side.
Isolated and helpless.
George was suspended in mid-air, the ropes tightening around his ribs, his vision swaying as he saw the strange insects approaching from all directions.
He knew it was too late to use the [Song of Glass Island] now, and if those horsehair worm-like tentacles touched him even slightly, he would probably—
Fear surrounded him in the guise of an insect monster, but in the midst of this extreme crisis, a flash of inspiration struck him, and he came up with a solution.
George opened his mouth, and the warm spiritual fire within him surged and throbbed violently.
Breath burst forth from his throat in a peculiar way, and strange syllables emerged from his mouth.
"Buzz"
The sound wasn't loud, but it instantly stirred the texture of the air.
Centered on George, a visible ripple spreads outwards in all directions.
It passed through Bates' sword, through Kelly's lamp, through the amulet in Elliott's hand, and through the fire and snow that splashed in the air.
The effect was devastating in that instant.
The blade of the "ancient sword" in Lieutenant Bates' hand trembled violently, emitting a mournful hum. His hand went numb, and he almost lost his grip on the sword.
The glass of the lantern in Kelly's hand shattered with a "crack," scattering tiny shards of glass everywhere. The flame inside the lampshade instantly shot up, nearly scorching her gloves.
The golden sun amulet in Elliott's hand shone brightly, then suddenly dimmed, like a lamp with unstable voltage.
And those strange insects—they stopped.
Those heads, crammed with compound eyes, burst open at the same moment like ripe berries being hammered.