Corvan nodded solemnly, releasing the strain on his bowstring. However, he still kept the arrow pointing at the Mutated Prisoner, preparing to draw his bow at any second.
Carter marched forward with his shield, hiding behind it and only reaching his head out to see the front.
"You have one job and one job only, Corvan. So listen carefully. This creature has only one ranged attack. That attack is executed by opening its mouth wide. When you see its throat start to bloat, it is when it stores up its spit. That's when you need to draw your bow.
But do not FIRE! When it is time, I will signal you. Aim straight for its mouth, understand? Not its throat, eyes, or chest. Its mouth!"
"I understand." Corvan nodded and squinted his eyes, focusing his vision on the Mutated Prisoner. If its throat even has a simple bulge, Corvan will prepare his strike right away.
The Mutated Prisoner spotted Carter and dragged its heavy body toward him. Its speed was so slow that it made Corvan underestimate it immediately. With a speed like that, it was no threat to them at all.
"Should we attack it? We can simply walk away?" Corvan said.
"We can. But these things are relentless. It has a good nose also, so it will always follow behind us. Leaving it alone can cause it to draw a huge crowd to us. You wouldn't want that, would you?" Carter said.
"You're right."
The Mutated Prisoner and Carter entered melee range. The Mutated Prisoner struck first, reaching out its hand to grab at the shield. Carter stepped back and pulled the shield away with him. His arm had already been tired from all the action, and now it was burning. But there was strength left in it, so Carter had to hold on.
The heavy weight of the large shield now became a big weakness. Carter had to use all of his body to jerk it backward just enough for the prisoner to catch the air.
He then thrust the shield forward, grazing its arm. The beast yelled loudly. Indescribable sentences that made no sense.
Its brain must have been mutated by all the experiments already, so Carter doubted it would have any ability to speak yet. In the game, there was no way to communicate with it either. You could definitely try, but it wouldn't give any result.
The beast dragged its body forward. Its back leaned forward, and its arms were raised to the sky. Carter immediately kicked the shield away to the side, saving it from the strike. Then he hopped a long stride backward, getting himself out of the danger zone.
Its two large forearms crushed the stone floor, cracking it into several pieces. With strength like that, it could have easily broken Carter's shield to pieces.
Carter took this opportunity to stab it again with the spear. His aim was a little off, so the spear grazed the ear of the Mutated Prisoner. The hard flesh bounced the tip of the spear away, preventing any injury from forming.
"Can you do this? You still have to save my wife?!" Corvan shouted from behind. His hands were shaking. He wanted to draw the bow so badly, but he held on.
"HOOOOOOOLD!" Carter screamed. "Just stay right there and wait for my cue, Hunter! Don't distract me!"
The Mutated Prisoner slapped the spear away. Its force was so great that it broke the spear in half, completely destroying it.
"Shit!" Carter hopped back further. He looked back to the Hunter, making sure his body did not block Corvan's view.
Carter unsheathed his short sword. The mace and knives were too short. The short sword was the only weapon left that was long enough to keep Carter safe.
"Come on! Come here!" Carter shouted. "Use your favorite attack! What are you waiting for?"
The Mutated Prisoner strafed to the left a bit.
"What are you doing?"
The beast picked up the large rectangular shield that Carter had kicked to the side. His action had given some ideas.
The Mutated Prisoner threw the shield at Carter. It was so sudden that he wasn't able to dodge. At least, not with his agility. In a moment of panic, Carter raised his hands up to cover his face, using the armor plates as a temporal shield.
The big shield smacked at Carter's forearms, knocking him back a few meters. He fell down to the ground, his back slammed on the hard floor. His two arms trembled from the impact and the pain. The arm plates were dented. They saved his life just in time.
A low, shrieking laugh emanated from the Mutated Prisoner. It showed a clear, arrogant expression on that grotesque face of flesh and meat. Its throat started to move and enlarge.
Corvan saw the opportunity and drew the bow immediately, the tip of the arrow aiming at its mouth.
"HOOOOOOOLD!" Carter shouted again. "Fire only when it opens its mouth. Shoot inside it!"
Corvan blocked out all the noise from the environment. His eyes locked onto the beast. He didn't blink, and his body stayed still like a statue. The weight of the bowstring strained the muscles of his arms.
Carter tried to get up. The Mutated Prisoner slapped its palm at him, which Carter was able to dodge by shifting his body back a little bit.
It was at that moment that the beast opened its mouth. A ball of clear, acidic spit was ready to fly out.
A high-pitched sound of the air splitting. It came from behind Carter, and then the arrow pierced right through the Mutated Prisoner's mouth. It didn't even stop inside its throat but instead came out of the back of the prisoner's neck.
Carter rolled on the ground, grabbing the shield on the floor. He raised it as soon as he could to cover himself before the beast.
The Mutated Prisoner tried to spit out its saliva, but with the big hole in its throat, there was just no suction to create enough force. And then its blood poured out, mixing with its acidic saliva. The familiar gagging sound was heard.
The beast swirled its arm wildly in the air, even smacking at Carter's shield once. Causing his arms to feel all the weight of its strike. But it did not focus on him, so the strike was bearable. Carter slowly stepped back, extending his distance from the Mutated Prisoner.
Corvan already drew another arrow, ready to fire again.
"Don't waste your ammunition. It is finished."
After a minute of panic, the Mutated Prisoner dropped on the ground.