Chapter 256: Rune Puppets
Just as Zhou Ming had anticipated, the moment he and the Scorpion-Lion finished their preparations, waves of energy particles began to ripple along the walls on both sides of the passage before them.
The dark-yellow walls started to flicker with rune after rune. The originally solid walls undulated like water. Amid successive metallic clashing sounds, sets of armor stepped out from within the walls.
That was right—armor. Full-body armor capable of completely enveloping a person.
The inside was utterly hollow, yet each set stood before Zhou Ming and the Scorpion-Lion holding a long-handled axe.
The only unusual aspect was that the surface of the pitch-black armor was densely engraved with all kinds of runes, emitting terrifying fluctuations of energy.
“Be careful—Rune Puppets!”
As the heir of the Duanmu Family, the Scorpion-Lion immediately recognized the nature of the armor. He swiftly held his Golden Great Spear horizontally before him.
Fortunately, the space inside the tower was spacious enough. Each floor was nearly ten meters high, and the passage before them was several meters wide. Otherwise, the Scorpion-Lion’s strength would have been severely restricted.
“You recognize them?”
Hearing the warning, Zhou Ming was not overly surprised. Given the Scorpion-Lion’s background, it was normal for him to identify such things.
“In Tamu World, a very small number of Spellcasters do not treat Rune Mage as a secondary discipline. Instead, they devote all their energy to runes.”
“Besides relying on runes to master various spells, they are also proficient in using runes to refine all kinds of construct creations, such as golems and puppets.”
Without needing further explanation, Zhou Ming immediately understood what Rune Puppets were—something akin to intelligent robots among Blue Star’s technological products.
However, compared to intelligent robots, these Rune Puppets possessed formidable strength. Zhou Ming could clearly sense the dangerous aura emanating from them.
Before the two could continue speaking, the two-meter-tall Rune Puppets launched their attack.
“Blood Descendant Secret Technique · Phantom Snake Hands.”
Uncertain of the Rune Puppets’ exact abilities, Zhou Ming did not choose close combat. He immediately cast his exclusive spell.
More than a dozen blood-colored serpent shadows, almost tangible in form, appeared. They bared their fangs and prepared to strangle their enemies with savage ferocity—yet the Rune Puppets viciously cleaved downward with their long-handled axes.
In an instant, the dozen blood-colored giant serpents dissipated like bubbles.
“Ordinary spells are difficult to affect them. Rune Puppets mostly possess anti-magic measures.”
After Zhou Ming tested their abilities, the Scorpion-Lion immediately brandished his Golden Great Spear and charged forward.
In close combat, the will of Tamu World had little influence on Beast Knights. The Scorpion-Lion took the initiative without hesitation.
Seeing this, Zhou Ming also drew the Steel-Cleaving Sword and the Phantasmal Spirit Sword. Empowering himself with Gathering Sand Secret Technique · Power of the Giant Serpent, he transformed into a metallic storm and followed close behind.
When the twin swords in his hands collided with the Rune Puppets’ long-handled axes, Zhou Ming finally understood why Dulag had halted here.
The Rune Puppets not only ignored ordinary spells—their pure physical strength was also extraordinarily terrifying. Without using the Power of the Giant Serpent, even he would have struggled to withstand them.
Within the narrow passage, the most primitive form of battle erupted instantly. The violent clash of strength produced an unending series of metallic impacts.
The gale generated by the collision of power howled continuously through the passage.
Just as the battle reached a stalemate, the runes engraved upon the armor began to glow. Faintly, the ten Rune Puppets seemed as though they were about to merge into a single entity.
Zhou Ming excelled in gathering collective strength and had even studied the battle formations of the Foreign Races. He immediately understood what the Rune Puppets were attempting to do.
“Gathering Sand Secret Technique · Snake Scale Protection.”
The dark-gold snake tail beneath him lengthened visibly at an astonishing speed, instantly coiling tightly around one set of armor and dragging it before him.
As for the Rune Puppet’s resistance, it had no effect whatsoever against the tail’s snake scales, which possessed extremely powerful defense.
“Crack…”
The full-body armor that had seemed unified moments ago shattered and scattered across the ground under the crushing force of Zhou Ming’s dark-gold snake tail. The runes upon it immediately lost their radiant glow.
With the Rune Puppets’ attempt to form a battle formation thwarted, the Scorpion-Lion promptly hurled his Golden Great Spear like a javelin.
The terrifying strength of a Beast Knight caused the spear to tear through the air, smashing through four or five Rune Puppets as though skewering candied hawthorns.
Zhou Ming also swung his snake tail without delay, swiftly clearing out the remaining Rune Puppets.
“Are you even human?”
After the battle ended, the Scorpion-Lion retrieved his Golden Great Spear and sized up Zhou Ming’s half-human, half-serpent form.
“For ordinary people, neither of us are human.”
A faint smile appeared on Zhou Ming’s face. He did not deny the Scorpion-Lion’s remark, but neither did he exempt the latter from the same category.
Hearing this, the Scorpion-Lion did not continue the verbal sparring. Instead, he lowered his head to examine the scattered Rune Puppets.
“How should we deal with them?”
“Half each.”
The core runes on the armor had already collapsed, but the material itself was still valuable and could also be worn.
Since the two were exploring the Secret Realm together, the gains were naturally divided equally.
The Scorpion-Lion had no objections. He immediately took five sets of armor, while Zhou Ming stored the remaining sets into his Spatial Ring.
Having dealt with the guards blocking entry to the Third Floor of the Tower, the two pushed open the massive doors before them and entered.
What greeted their eyes were various pot-like vessels arranged neatly upon wooden racks. In a few of them, decayed plants had already turned into soil.
“This should have been where the tower’s master cultivated demonicized plants.”
“Unfortunately, after the tower’s master departed, the demonicized plants were taken away.”
Demonicized plants were what Spellcasters of Tamu World called plants that contained energy particles—equivalent to spiritual materials on Blue Star.
Seeing that most of the cultivation vessels were empty, and that the few remaining plants had already lost their vitality, the two could only accept the result helplessly.
After all, within an already abandoned Secret Realm, it was impossible to obtain massive benefits.
If this had been an intact Secret Realm, Dulag and Zhou Ming likely would not even have been qualified to enter.
With no other choice, the two continued to explore upward within the tower.
As Zhou Ming and the Scorpion-Lion advanced, they encountered various threats. Traps and rune arrays left within the tower revealed themselves one after another.
Even an abandoned Ownerless Secret Realm concealed dangers sufficient to threaten ordinary Professional Rank existences.
Fortunately, Zhou Ming and the Scorpion-Lion were both versatile in their abilities and capable of handling different kinds of threats.
Compared to the risks they bore, however, the rewards gradually began to appear during the subsequent exploration.
Strange demonicized metals, leftover experimental equipment, and knowledge related to runes.
Perhaps to the tower’s original master, these had been worthless scraps. But to Zhou Ming and the Scorpion-Lion, they were treasures beyond price.
At this moment, the two were like burglars entering a mansion—taking everything of value, since the Spatial Storage Equipment on them was more than sufficient.
However, when the two arrived at the ninth floor of the tower, a truly lethal threat finally emerged before Zhou Ming and the Scorpion-Lion.