Not far from where Arthur's bones lay, a full set of metal armor was scattered across the dirt.
If Arthur hadn't perished in that initial ambush, he would have donned this set of knight's armor after the princess was taken and charged once more into the Demon King's fortress.
Now that Arthur was dead, the armor should have remained buried in the cracks of the human world, alongside the gear of the other fallen soldiers. Yet, as Chris approached, the lifeless metal seemed to catch a spark of vitality. It was as if the armor had been waiting for its new master!
With a series of metallic clicks and whirs, the armor pieces separated and took flight. In a sequence reminiscent of a Saint Seiya transformation, the pieces began to latch onto Chris, starting from his boots and working their way up to his helmet.
Even though the armor had originally been sized for Arthur's shorter, stockier frame, the pieces miraculously elongated and expanded as they flew. By the time the last piece snapped into place, Chris had been fully transformed into a picture perfect medieval knight.
[Knight Armor: Grade: Green (Excellent) / Lv1. Full Body Armor, Special Weapon. Occupies 6 Equipment Slots: Helm, Chest, Gloves, Belt, Pants, and Boots. Requirements: Arthur's Proof / Strength 12. Absolute Durability: 1/1.
Effect: The 'Knight Armor' can negate exactly one instance of any valid damage, regardless of its intensity. Upon negating the damage, the armor will shatter completely. It forces the wearer into a 3-meter backward knockback and grants a 'Phase Movement' state for 3 seconds.]
If one ignored the damage negation, the armor's effect was practically identical to Chris's current [Hit Evasion] template skill.
In the hands of a master, it could even be used for the "Nitrous Oxide" trick to bypass certain environmental obstacles.
However, the most "infamous" and unique aspect of this armor was its durability.
It could block a zombie's slap, or it could block a planet destroying laser... naturally, Chris felt that using it to stop a planet destroying laser would be far more cost effective.
Furthermore, the number of slots it occupied was a massive drawback. If Chris hadn't been functionally naked, he never would have worn it.
But he considered the fact that since a Magician from Ghouls 'n Ghosts had already appeared, there might be higher level versions of this knight's armor hidden elsewhere, ones that would allow a player to cast magic.
"Man... my dude, that armor is actually pretty badass."
The "one eared" student, having finally caught his breath, stood up. He'd reflexively started to call Chris "bro," but the memory of his ear being shot off made him pivot to "dude" mid word. He was a classic case of "once bitten, twice shy."
"At least it's got a lining," Chris remarked, rapping a gauntlet against his chest plate. Clang! Clang!
Out of curiosity, Chris had once participated in a HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts) club, where he'd experienced the sensation of swinging a flail while encased in full plate.
His verdict: it was extremely awkward. In particular, the visored helmet was incredibly restricted. Peer through those narrow vertical slits felt even more claustrophobic than wearing a motorcycle helmet. He'd hated being only able to see what was directly in front of him.
Now he finally understood why the in game version of Arthur always kept his visor up... with it down, you literally couldn't see the road under your feet.
"Hey, you. Can you still walk?" Chris asked the other student, whose clothes were now soaked in dark, drying blood.
The "duck guy" hesitated, then shook his head.
While the "datafication" of his body had stopped the bleeding once he was out of combat, the actual loss of health and flesh was real. For a city kid who'd never known true hardship, the pain was almost unbearable.
As he shook his head, he held a faint hope that Chris would offer some kind of assistance.
The reality, however, was somewhat different.
"Oh. Well, good luck then. I'm out."
Under the horrified gaze of the student, Chris gave an indifferent shrug and turned away with a smooth, practiced ease.
Chris actually possessed a great deal of "team spirit." He was the type of player who, in games like Vermintide, Darktide, or Left 4 Dead, would risk his life to save a downed teammate even if it didn't affect the final score. He'd even save a bot.
But this college kid who'd made a series of reckless, selfish decisions clearly didn't meet Chris's criteria for a "teammate."
As he passed the one eared student, Chris paused for a brief second. Their eyes met, and Chris gave a slight nod before continuing forward with his long strides.
The one eared student wasn't bad; he had courage and combat skill, and he didn't crumble under pressure. But considering he was clearly friends with the "duck guy," Chris wasn't going to say anything to drive a wedge between them. He would leave the choice to the student.
Either follow Chris and push the main objective, or stay here and wait for death with his roommate.
Following his "waste not" philosophy, Chris also scavenged the "white label" equipment that the Guide had "sold" to the other rookies. Since the owners were dead anyway, there was no point in letting good gear rot.
He picked up a wooden baseball bat from Streets of Rage, a cleaver from Journey to the West, a straight sword from The Legend of Sword and Fairy, and a two-handed hammer from SD Final Fight.
He shoved all four weapons into his inventory.
The Heaven's Selection Space's inventory system functioned much like the hero template from Warcraft III, it had six slots. However, unlike Diablo or Resident Evil 4, there was no "Tetris" involved. Each slot could hold a specific category of item.
This confirmed Chris's earlier suspicion about why the Guide had only brought five pieces of equipment to "sell."
They were "white-label" weapons with no stats, but in this brutal early stage, even a "mosquito leg" was worth picking up.
Furthermore, for someone like Chris who was currently benefiting from a dual protagonist template, these basic weapons had a very specific use.
The graveyard was far larger than it appeared in the game, but the exit wasn't hard to find.
Under the moonlight that peeked through the passing clouds, Chris could see a dense forest in the distance and the faint shimmer of a river. That was almost certainly the direction of the first gate to the Demon King's Castle.
Looking in that direction, he could see red eyed crows perched on dead trees, as well as several large, writhing plants growing near the tombstones. They were the size of a man's torso, and when their "mouths" opened, they revealed rows of lamprey like needle teeth.
In a game world, the presence of monsters usually pointed the way to the objective. Ghouls 'n Ghosts was no exception.
These "Man-eating Plants" were mutated flora corrupted by demonic magic. The moment they caught the scent of a human, they would snap their mouths open and fire geysers of black fireballs formed from condensed malevolence.
They didn't eat people--they just killed them. They functioned as stationary turrets placed along the path to the graveyard's exit.
Because they were stationary and had limited range, it was possible to bypass them by taking a wide route.
But Chris had no intention of doing that.
A projectile sliced through the air, plunging with unerring precision into the open throat of a plant. It was the "Vampire's Gentleman Cane" that Chris had just used to polymorph a zombie.
Strangely, while the cane had been thrown, a second, identical cane remained gripped in Chris's hand.
A split second later, the cane that had struck the plant exploded in a puff of smoke. With a sharp POOF, the plant was transformed into a green, wide eyed duck whose tail was still rooted firmly into the ground!
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]