Ghost Knight King's Dungeon Project

Chapter 73 [Claws and Limbs, Knight and Beast]

Click, click, click…

The screeching sound of limbs scraping echoed through the snow dust behind the lake, and the grayish-white bony shell was cast together with the dark blue bronze to form a huge hermit crab-like creation.

The main body of the arthropod is a thick skull resembling a mammoth's skull, pieced together from grayish-white spirit bone fragments. Inside the skull is a jumble of undead copper structures, with connecting rods, cranks, bearings, and transmission gears spinning wildly within.

Beneath the massive skull shell, a multitude of mobile structures protruded: enormous wheel hubs like those of a monster truck, massive arthropods taller than a person, large arthropods with small wheels, and large wheels with small arthropods—a chaotic, haphazardly pieced-together crawling structure. The wheels churned through snow and weeds, while the arthropods traversed the terrain's elevation differences, crossing surfaces of ice and soft mud with minimal friction, half-stepping, half-stumbling, stumbling forward through the complex landscape.

The chariot, covered in black crystalline sand, was encased in a thick, grayish-white armor shell, with the joints and weak layers reinforced with black copper.

The complex components are connected in a way that can only be described as absurd, with bearings, rivets, redundant connecting rods and rough welds, exuding a bizarre industrial wasteland vibe, like a mechanical monster crawling out of a nightmare junkyard.

As the arthropod chariot clattered forward, the riveted components on the chariot vibrated violently, and the bearing rods in several parts were even shaken loose.

A dozen or so small, hermit crab-like bony structures crawled around on the surface of the chariot. They were made up of grayish-white bony spikes supporting rods, black copper limbs, and black copper adsorption components, each carrying a spirit bone skull on its back and wearing a black copper dome helmet with a cage-like mask on its head.

The small skeleton hermit crabs used the Nether Bronze Adhesive Components to firmly attach themselves to the surface of the Nether Bronze Chariot. Each skeleton hermit crab guarded a bearing, raising its heavy Nether Bronze pincers to tap the bearing rod that had become loose, knocking it back into place, and then using its wrench-like Nether Bronze pincers to tighten the loosened hinge.

Using this crude and rudimentary method to maintain the normal operation of the arthropod chariot, while emitting dense and chaotic scraping sounds—this is the instrument of the Sokofa.

Samael was slightly taken aback. He had also tried to create pure Nether Bronze artifacts, but on the one hand, the material properties of Nether Bronze limited his ability to work with it, requiring lighter and more efficient materials; on the other hand, lacking the technology to program construct modules, he could only start from the basic structure and slowly work out the rough functional modules by hand, which was quite tedious and difficult to adapt to various complex terrains.

It seems that Suokofa not only used spirit bone material as a lower-level substitute for witch metal, but also relied on hand-crafting functional modules to create a crude wasteland version of the Nether Bronze structure by hand—although the overall structure looks extremely rough and is almost unbearable to look at.

"I...I...I didn't have any weapons...I don't want to fight, and I don't want to be the boss. Why, why am I here?" Suokofa's stammering scream came from under the spherical dome helmet of the Nether Bronze Hermit Crab Chariot.

Click-clack! Click-clack! With a dense scraping sound of arthropods, the towering shadow of the skull hermit crab emerged from behind the fortress and charged toward the swarm of mud clumps that had gathered into the Nether Bronze Fortress.

Crack! Crack! Crack! A series of acid bombs were spewed from the gaps in the shield by mud clumps, hitting the surface of the arthropod with pinpoint accuracy. However, the construct of Sokofa did not use any flesh or blood material, so the acid bombs were meaningless against pure Nether Bronze and Spirit Bones.

With a loud crash, the hermit crab-like arthropod chariot carrying a skull slammed into the mud legion's shield. The scratching arthropods frantically clawed and tore at the shield, sparks flying, like a steel rolling mill, forcibly cutting and twisting the spears protruding from the gaps in the shield into four or five pieces.

The mud clumps shook from the impact, and cracks appeared between their shields.

“I…I’m sorry, I’m sorry! It was…it was Rahado who told me to do this!” Sokofa’s stammering voice came from under the skull hermit crab’s shell. “If I didn’t listen to him, he would drag me out of the tomb…”

Amidst a series of frantic clanging sounds, the skull-shaped arthropod chariot scratched at the bronze shield, leaving astonishingly deep marks. Its massive body slowly leaned forward, gradually pressing part of its weight onto the shield.

Crack. A crack gradually appeared on the surface of the bronze shield.

"He's going to take apart my little car... He uses [dead flesh] to create flying rotting corpse demons that circle around the car in the sky. I can't catch up with them or reach them. Every time he damages a part, I have to spend five or six days taking the whole car apart and reassembling it. Every module and component is interconnected. Taking apart one component requires re-activating seven components, and those seven components activate thirty-three components..." Suo Kefa shouted in despair.

With a whoosh, the bell-shaped helmeted flesh-and-blood octopus from the mud legion leaped out of the mud and darted onto Lockkoff's arthropod, attempting to burrow inside and cause destruction.

However, a skeletal hermit crab wearing a dome-shaped helmet extended its sharp limbs and swiftly severed the tendrils of the heart-shaped flesh-and-blood octopus. The octopus's tentacles fell off and were kicked aside by the limbs.

"The car, the car is already full... Ha, ha, uh..." The skeleton hermit crab chuckled nervously, stammering as it waved its claws and clanged at the loosening grimace bolts. "I...I don't plan to share the car with anyone else..."

Crack! The Nether Bronze Shield, crushed by the chariot, shattered completely, and the mud ball, along with the Nether Bronze Shield, was crushed to pieces! The dozen or so acid bombs buried in the necromantic mud ball were also crushed and exploded violently, splashing acid and blasting the mud apart.

The bronze arthropod chariot emitted a screeching scraping sound and a clicking noise, but remained completely undamaged.

In the intense clash of the undead copper, the massive skull-bone hermit crab chariot crushed the mud legion, along with its shields and spears, shattering the entire undead mud mass's formation.

“Th...thank you…” Sokofa stammered, “Rahado, I...that’s all I did…”

The chariot crawled laboriously, trying to leave the chaotic battlefield, only to find its limbs stuck to the muddy wreckage.

After the mud ball was crushed, the internal psionic circuit structure was destroyed, and the slurry stopped flowing. In the low temperature after the snowfall, it began to freeze slowly, like glue gradually solidifying, heavy and hard, sticking to the wheels, axles and limbs of the huge skull hermit crab structure.

“It’s time to charge,” Ansba said. “Smash the arthropod structure of Lockkofa.”

"Wait a minute, let me negotiate first," Samael said hesitantly.

"Why?" Ansba asked. "Sockf is not a formidable enemy. All we need to do is knock away the skeleton hermit crabs that are responsible for maintaining the structure on that chariot, and the construct will slowly fall apart on its own."

"Suo Kefa creates spirit bone and dark copper structures only because his territory has a harsh environment, scarce resources, almost no corpses or flesh and blood undead, so he uses this method to maintain a small amount of power."

“He didn’t come voluntarily. We could simply ignore him—or negotiate peacefully with him,” Samael said. “Besides, our target is Rahador. There’s no need to waste our energy here.”

"La...Lahador!" The helmeted hermit crab left behind by Sokofa in the fortress cried out to Lahador, "Help me! My limbs are stuck in mud!"

“Alright, hang in there a little longer, I’ll send the Corpse Demon to retrieve your chariot right away—” Rahador lazily looked down from the fortress, casually kicking the dome-shaped helmet beside him. “Or, could you trouble your chariot to hold off another volley of Ansba’s cavalry charge for me, to buy some time? Consider this an advance on next week’s friend fee, my good friend Sokofa.”

"No, no, no... I, I only have these two arthropod chariots..." The helmeted hermit crab huddled in its shell, its arthropods scratching nervously. "I worked so hard to build them, they are my, my life's work, you can't—help me, leave the chariots behind..."

"Don't argue, it's just a war chariot. Losses are normal in war. Just figure out how to rebuild it yourself—it's a structure made of spirit bones and underworld copper anyway, it doesn't consume any necromantic resources." Rahado waved his hand, controlling a chainmail-armored corpse demon messenger to contact Dekgon over a long-distance delay.

“You need to have a big picture perspective, you know? This is for a greater good. How about I give you a place to live after I conquer Samael’s territory?” “But, but…” Sokofa stammered.

"Shut up, I'm busy, this is so annoying." Rahador raised his thin bronze boots and kicked the helmeted hermit crab away with a clang.

The bone spur supporting the spirit bone was kicked off, and the bronze limbs lost their balance, frantically digging and grabbing. As the dome helmet rolled to the side, it landed upside down and couldn't turn itself over for a while. It struggled on its back, too afraid to speak.

The arthropod was firmly stuck to the spot by the sludge of the deteriorating humus, struggling frantically as it watched helplessly as the undead alliance of Ansba and Samael drew ever closer in the distance.

Ansba's barrel-helmed skeleton cavalry, carrying heavy lances, charged forward. Their skeleton undead warhorses, with their hooves adorned with dark bronze claws and spikes, moved steadily and swiftly despite the slippery snow.

"No, no, no, no..." Suo Kefa wailed.

Arriving ahead of Ansba's troops, a line of slender, unarmored ghouls, wearing bell-shaped helmets and carrying long, curved bronze swords, glided swiftly across the frozen snow, their feet treading on sharp ice blades, until they reached the Lockkofar arthropod chariot, which was fixed in place by sludge.

“We can talk again later,” said the bell-helmeted ghoul with the long scimitar, “but on the condition that you don’t interfere in this battle anymore.”

They raised their long, curved blades and cut through the sludge—it was a tangled mass of rusty copper tree roots.

Slurry alone could not possibly impede movement; these were specially enhanced versions produced by combining the manufacturing methods of Skeleton Warriors and Mudball Necromancers.

"I...I...I'll never go out again!" The skull-shaped hermit crab chariot pulled its wheels and limbs from the solidified mud and roots, and sped off wildly, clattering around Lake Rahador, fleeing towards its lord.

"Sokofa, you wait, I'll deal with you later!" Rahado waved his fist at Sokofa's fleeing arthropod chariot, then turned to the other side.

"Dekgon!" he yelled at the hidden ranks behind him, "Why are your troops just standing there like idiots, standing at a distance like that?"

……

In the northern eastern part of the core area of ​​the skeleton, in the desolate region bordering Graymoss, the vast plains have long been abandoned, the cracked ground covered with withered grass, and sparse rusted bronze trees among the withered grass. The sand and dust that once floated in the air have been cleared away by the snowfall.

On this savanna-like wasteland, the ruins of an ancient city are faintly visible in the dim yellow dust, but the city is long dead and has become a playground for the undead and monsters.

Snow lay piled high in the ruins of the ancient gladiatorial arena, now filled with the dead and beasts, while the clanging of chains echoed between the broken, magnificent pillars.

Strong and imposing flesh-and-blood undead roamed among them, unarmored, naked, and wearing cage-like blindfolds. Their bodies were skinless, dripping with blood, and their muscles were bulging like gnarled old tree roots, interspersed with strange and monstrous beast organs.

On the backs and shoulders of the flesh-and-blood gladiators, heavy chains, like cloaks, were pierced into their tendons with hooks made of Nether Bronze. The ends of the chains were hung with the heads and bones of various monsters, which were hung on the chains as spoils of war, making a rattling sound with each movement.

The corpse of a massive, lion-shaped monster lay on the ground, its body riddled with wounds. A dent from a huge bronze gauntlet remained on its neck, its cervical vertebrae were broken, and blood was still dripping from the corner of its protruding fangs.

Flesh-and-blood gladiators dragged chains, suspending the enormous lion and letting out excited roars.

The burly figure, dragging his body covered in chains, moved forward step by step with heavy thuds. He slowly raised his gauntlets, grabbed the lion's head, and a flash of cold, metallic gleam appeared.

The lion's head was forcibly torn off, along with a small section of broken cervical vertebrae, and hung by Deckon on the already full of chains.

"Dekgon! Why are your troops just standing there like idiots, Devgon?" A serpentine ghoul wearing a Collins-style helmet and leaning on a bell-belled cane slithered up and asked.

“I sent the Corpse Demon to you yesterday to request your help, not for you to watch the battle. Samael's actions destroyed almost half of my forces before we even got into close combat. Why didn't your troops come to my aid…”

The muscular, sheet metal armor slowly turned around.

The serpentine chainmail corpse demon stopped talking.

Deckon extended a large, claw-shaped gauntlet of dark bronze, grabbed the neck of Rahador's serpentine corpse demon, lifted it up, and brought it close to his helmet.

His helmet was a gladiator helmet with the eye area welded shut, leaving only holes, and the ridge of the helmet was high, like a raised sail.

“What Samael?” he roared hoarsely. “I have no interest in Samael.”

“You, or Samael, Sokofa, or any other Ghost Knight, are all cowards. You play the tricks, gadgets, machines, and traps that only cowards would use.”

“Let me tell you, in the entire Skeleton Heart, only Ansba is fair and square, and he’s worthy of fighting me.”

"I'm asking you, have we arrived in Ansba yet?"

He grabbed the corpse demon by the neck and lifted it off the ground.

"His skeleton cavalry is about to charge! Hurry, get your gladiators up there!" Rahador's rotting demon writhed with difficulty within the massive claw-like gauntlets of Dekgon.

……

Samael's carrion hunters, carrying long curved knives, swiftly crossed the battle line and advanced to the lake.

Ansba's skeleton cavalry advanced, and although the snow somewhat dampened the vibrations, the thunderous hoofbeats were still loud and booming, transmitted through the earth from their feet and legs directly to their chests, like a deep, muffled roar.

"Ansba!" An excited roar echoed from behind Lake Rahador. Amid the clanging of chains, the flesh-and-blood gladiators roared and charged forward like wild beasts, almost on all fours, their muscular arms and claws digging into the ground as they surged forward!
(End of this chapter)