The Spy

In fact, Duanmu Huai had already grown suspicious of the Elf Scout on the way to the temple.

As a scout, she knew far too much.

Of course, scouts specialized in gathering intelligence, so it was not strange for her to know a few secrets.

However, when she opened the seal, Duanmu Huai knew that there was definitely something wrong with the Elf Scout's identity.

The reason was simple. Everyone knew that bank vaults contained large amounts of valuables and cash. Anyone with a little inside knowledge might even know which way the vault door opened.

But not just anyone could have the key to a bank vault.

When Duanmu Huai saw the Elf Scout recite a few incantations and open the seal, he knew there was a problem.

If the seal were really that easy to open, then what had the God of Filth's followers been doing here just now? Wasting time roasting marshmallows over a campfire?

"All right, tell me your true identity, elf."

Duanmu Huai gripped his Chainsaw Sword and stared coldly at the elf. His mood was extremely calm. As a player, he had experienced far too many things like this.

For example, after working their asses off to escort an NPC to a designated location, the NPC would suddenly transform into the final boss.

Or they would work their asses off escorting an NPC to a designated location, only for the NPC to suddenly turn around and try to destroy the world.

Or, yet again, they would work their asses off rescuing an NPC, only for the NPC to reveal their true colors the moment they got out and spread a plague virus across the entire world.

To be honest, after seeing too much of this, players became numb. No matter how dramatic the plot twist was, after it happened again and again, everyone got used to it.

So, in the later stages, whenever an NPC suddenly transformed into a boss, players basically just silently drew their weapons and attacked.

They could not even be bothered to say another word, let alone pretend to be shocked.

They might even feel a little excited.

After all, one more boss meant one more loot box!

Therefore, Duanmu Huai remained perfectly calm.

Even if this Elf Scout was actually a spy of the God of Deceit or the God of Desire, he could face it calmly. He had already weathered far too many storms.

No matter how dramatic the development was, it was difficult to stir any feelings in Duanmu Huai anymore.

"I am indeed a scout, Sir Knight."

Feeling the cold blade against her neck, the elf swallowed and spoke. She had clearly watched how this sword had cut the Apostle of Plague in half. The elf did not believe that she possessed the same ability to withstand blows as the Apostle of Plague.

"At the same time, I am also a royal spy."

"Explain yourself. What exactly is going on?"

Duanmu Huai did not lower the Chainsaw Sword in his hand. This Elf Scout was clearly not as simple as she appeared, and he wanted to know her true identity.

"I did not deceive you, Sir Knight."

The elf hesitated for a moment before deciding to tell him everything.

Only after hearing the elf's explanation did Duanmu Huai understand what had happened.

At its root, it was still just a political mess.

When Elisa had introduced the situation to him earlier, she had said that the sudden death of the Empire's ruler had plunged the entire Empire into a struggle for power. The Elf Scout's information was more detailed because she was a royal spy—a spy who served only the emperor.

According to the Elf Scout, the emperor's sudden death was suspicious in itself. He had suddenly fallen ill and died while mobilizing a great army to launch an expedition against the other races.

Hmm? Why does that sound so familiar?

In any case, after the emperor's death, the expeditionary army suffered heavy casualties and had no choice but to retreat to the Empire. His heirs also began fighting for power in secret, vying for the throne of the next emperor. Of course, all that was too far removed from the present, so they should focus on something more relevant.

That was why the Elf Scout had appeared in the Silver City.

The reason was simple. The lord here was a loyal royalist. During this Great Expedition, he had provided the emperor with most of the regular troops in his territory. That was one of the reasons the Silver City's internal defenses were so weak, allowing the Ratmen and Evil God Believers to break through. After all, although this was a border region, it did not border any other countries. There was only wilderness and desert all around, and no one had ever imagined that those Evil God Believers and Ratmen would be bold enough to attack the city.

As for this Holy Relic, known as "Water God's Gift," it had been bestowed upon the lord by the emperor as a reward for his loyalty. Of course, according to reason, Holy Relics would normally only appear in the territories of royal heirs. Thus, having this Holy Relic here was equivalent to possessing an imperial decree, and at the very least, it could help the lord resist threats and trouble from the political sphere.

Naturally, the emperor was not a fool. He could not simply give away something as precious as a Holy Relic and then forget about it. Thus, he had dispatched a royal spy—the Elf Scout—to secretly infiltrate this territory and monitor the Holy Relic's whereabouts to prevent anything from going wrong.

And something had indeed gone wrong.

The main reason she had told Duanmu Huai all this was that the emperor was already dead. Royal spies like them were directly subordinate to the emperor. In other words, once the emperor died, these spies became rootless duckweed. They had nowhere to go and no superior they could contact.

According to imperial tradition, before the previous emperor died, he should have informed the next heir of the spies' existence and transferred command to them. But... who could blame them when this emperor had died so suddenly?

There was still one problem, however.

"You said before that the Holy Relic was protected by the Empire Mage, who had placed dozens of seals on it, and that only those with royal blood could wield it."

"Yes."

The Elf Scout nodded. Then she stood up and reached toward the white pearl. However, before her fingers could touch it, she was sent flying backward as if struck by something, crashing heavily into the wall.

No wonder those Fat Warlocks had struggled so much. It seemed the Empire Mage really did have a few tricks up his sleeve.

Duanmu Huai glanced at the Elf Scout as she struggled to her feet, narrowed his eyes, and nodded. Then he thought for a moment.

"...Your objective probably isn't just the Holy Relic."

"I don't know what you're talking about, Sir Knight."

Although the Elf Scout appeared calm, Duanmu Huai's next words immediately broke through her composure.

"Elisa. She's one of your protection targets too, isn't she?"

"..."

"She has royal blood, right? She might even inherit the Empire."

"..."

The Elf Scout did not answer, but many times, silence was an affirmation.

I knew it.

Duanmu Huai glanced at the Elf Scout, who had gone stiff and motionless, and snorted softly. He had not initially considered this possibility either. But after hearing the Elf Scout's explanation and combining it with his gaming experience, it was not difficult for him to reach this conclusion.

First of all, the strength of the Evil God Believers pursuing Elisa was the best evidence.

Demons normally lived in Warp Space, but they could not use Warp Space to influence the real world. They could only tempt Psykers and have them use various blasphemous rituals to blur the boundary between reality and Warp Space, allowing the demons to enter the real world.

Under such circumstances, any Chaos Demon that came to the real world could be said to be an extremely precious and rare "specimen."

Yet, to hunt down Elisa, the fanatics of tyranny had even sent a Bloodthirsty Maniac, a high-level demon!

Although it was not a Daemon Lord or a Greater Demon, a Bloodthirsty Maniac was already an extremely rare high-level demon in the early stages.

Was it worth it for the daughter of a mere lord?

There was only one answer: she was not merely a lord's daughter. Otherwise, there was no reason for her to survive after the lord himself had been killed.

However, after hearing the Elf Scout's explanation, Duanmu Huai immediately connected all the clues in his mind. Obviously, Elisa might not be the daughter of the lord and his wife at all, but a blood relative of the emperor. For some reason, the emperor had concealed her identity and entrusted her to this lord and his wife to raise. Moreover, the Holy Relic had deepened Duanmu Huai's suspicions even further. According to the Elf Scout, only those with royal blood could touch and take it away, which was why Holy Relics were generally found in the territories of royal family members.

But this was a border region. Was the Empire really going to send a royal family member all the way here to retrieve the Holy Relic?

Looking at it from another angle, if Elisa was a member of the royal family, then would this territory not effectively be royal territory?

That made it perfectly reasonable for the emperor to place a Holy Relic here.

Although the Elf Scout had not answered Duanmu Huai's question, judging by her reaction, his guess was probably close to the truth. After all, Duanmu Huai had experienced far too many plotlines like this.

Of course, it was also possible that this crafty Elf Scout was simply putting on an act for him.

Either way, it had nothing to do with him.

After all, Duanmu Huai had already scanned the Holy Relic when it appeared, but the system had not reacted at all... It was somewhat disappointing.

"Forget it. This has nothing to do with me."

Duanmu Huai thought for a moment before putting the matter out of his mind.

"There's one last thing I want to ask you."

"...What is it?"

"Do you know of any haunted places nearby?"

"...?"

Duanmu Huai had no intention of getting involved in some civil war within the Empire. His targets were only the Chaos Gods and Evil God Believers. He had no interest in the internal strife of an empire with a mere medieval-level civilization. Although Duanmu Huai was certain this was a major story quest, strengthening his own power was more important to him at present.

There were followers of the God of Tyranny and the God of Filth on this planet. The God of Tyranny was one thing, but the God of Filth, which played around with viruses, was something else. At present, Duanmu Huai truly had no especially effective means of countering it. Thus, what he needed to do now was visit as many Ruined Remains as possible and use "Soul Awakening" to collect Soul Cards—preferably powers capable of countering that walking virus reservoir known as the God of Filth's followers.

Fortunately, perhaps because Duanmu Huai had frightened them with his slaughter in the temple, the Ratmen and Cultists never showed themselves again. Knight Commander Kado also took the opportunity to order his soldiers to reinforce the castle's defenses. Only when the reinforcements arrived did they finally breathe a little easier.

The leader of the reinforcements seemed to be an old acquaintance of Knight Commander Kado. Their first meeting went fairly smoothly, and Duanmu Huai also exchanged greetings with him under Kado's introduction. The other party was quite courteous toward Duanmu Huai as well.

Duanmu Huai had to admit that he seemed to be adapting to this world better and better.

In the world before he crossed over, even going outside could easily get passersby calling the police. No one who looked at him thought he was a good person. But in a world where strength came first, his build and appearance actually made him easier for people to accept. After all, according to the usual conventions of online novels, when the reinforcement commander heard that the protagonist had single-handedly slaughtered an entire Ratmen army, destroyed an Evil God ritual, and killed an Apostle of Plague, he would assume that the story had been greatly exaggerated.

After all, protagonists were usually normal people, and no one would assume that they possessed any special abilities.

But Duanmu Huai was different. The moment he stood in front of you, with his two-and-a-half-meter height, his imposing Inquisition Power Armor, and his terrifying face, anyone would believe that he had destroyed an Evil God, let alone killed a Ratmen army.

He had to admit that this appearance was pretty useful sometimes. At the very least, it prevented many of those scenes where someone pretended to be weak and ended up provoking a conflict.

One look told you he was a ruthless man. Who would dare to come looking for death?

Humans really were visual creatures.

After the reinforcements arrived, Duanmu Huai said goodbye to Elisa and left the Silver City. Although Elisa was reluctant to see him go, Duanmu Huai was not saying he would never return...

After all, whenever players reached a new place, they could finish the side quests before doing the main quest. There was no rush, was there?