Falling from the Sky

I'm going to die.

Tied to a wooden stake, the girl's face was deathly pale as she trembled uncontrollably. Beside her lay corpses with their limbs severed, brutally slaughtered—once her guards and attendants, but now nothing more than silent bodies.

"Offer noble blood to my lord and awaken it from its ancient seal! Great Old God, heed my call and reveal yourself!"

Not far in front of the girl, a strange man in a mask and black robes raised his hands high, loudly chanting evil and blasphemous incantations. He intended to release the fiend sealed here at the cost of innocent flesh and souls. All she could do was stare blankly.

So scary. I want to run away. But the girl had completely lost her strength. She could even feel it slowly draining from her body, the flame of life growing weaker and weaker, while a trace of coldness crept over her...

"—!!!"

Then, suddenly, a flash of brilliant light appeared in the dim sky. The girl instinctively looked up. Then she saw a blazing fireball plummeting from the heavens and... crashing down before her.

"Boom—!!!"

A scorching blast of air mixed with blinding light rushed toward her, forcing the girl to shut her eyes. For one brief moment, she thought she would be burned alive. But the heat quickly faded, and cold air swept over her again. She involuntarily opened her eyes and looked ahead.

Then she sucked in a sharp breath.

The Evil God Priest who had been flaunting his power moments ago had vanished without a trace. All that remained was a huge, charred crater concealing everything. At its center, flames roared fiercely.

"Clang... clang..."

Before the girl could react, she heard a series of strange sounds. Then a towering black silhouette strode out of the flames.

What is that?!

Her eyes widened in shock. Before her stood someone even taller than an Ork, his entire body covered in massive, thick black armor. Semicircular plate-like Shoulder Armor covered his shoulders, decorated with white skulls and cross insignias. He gripped a black, vicious-looking mechanical Warhammer in both hands. Even his helmet was terrifying: within its circular recesses, a grotesque faceplate swayed from side to side, its eyes glowing crimson.

Could this be the terrifying monster those Evil God Believers summoned?

Could it be the legendary Hell Knight?

Just as the girl trembled in terror, the Evil God Believers suddenly began shouting.

"He killed the priest!"

"Kill the bastard who's interfering with the ritual!!"

Amid furious roars, the Evil God Believers grabbed their weapons, chanted spells, and charged at the black Knight.

"You're courting death!!"

Facing the rushing Evil God Believers, the black Knight roared. He raised his Warhammer with both hands, and brilliant lightning burst across its black surface. Then he gripped it tightly and swung it down at the charging cultists!

"Boom!!!!"

As the Warhammer struck the ground, howling lightning instantly spread outward, turning every Evil God Believer charging at the black Knight into blackened, smoking human-shaped lumps of charcoal. Amid the explosive gale, they crumbled into ash and scattered away.

"Quick, kill him!!"

Seeing how fierce the black Knight was, the Evil God Believers cried out in panic. They raised their hands, recited blasphemous incantations, and lunged toward him.

The girl gasped. She knew how terrifying the Evil God Believers' dark arts were. Her guards had been unable to withstand their attacks and had died because of them...

Could this black Knight withstand their attacks?

"Boom boom boom!!!"

The Evil God Believers' attacks slammed into the black Knight's armor, but instead of exploding as the girl expected, the black Knight suddenly raised his left hand. Above his heavy gauntlet, a cylinder flashed with light.

"—!!"

The next moment, a dazzling flash and an almost deafening burst of noise erupted among the Evil God Believers. For an instant, the entire world seemed to lose all sound. The cultists trembled and staggered, barely able to remain standing. But the black Knight was completely unaffected. He gripped his Warhammer with both hands again and strode toward the Evil God Believers behind them.

"—!!!"

Then blazing lightning and thunderous explosions swallowed everything.

A moment later, the ground had become a field of scorched earth.

Duanmu Huai gripped his Warhammer and strode forward. Before him, a half-dead Evil God Believer stared at him in terror.

"Don't come any closer! Don't come any closer! You damned blasphemer, you can't stop the great will...!"

Before he could finish, Duanmu Huai raised his Warhammer and brought it down with crushing force. The black Warhammer smashed the Evil God Believer's head into pieces. His body jerked once like a fish, then fell completely still.

Inquisitor level increased to LV5, specialization point +1, attribute point +1

Unlocked the (Material Misalignment), (Spacetime Stasis), (Warp Energy Redirection), and (Attack Weakness) specializations. Please select a specialization.

"Select Material Misalignment."

After only one look, Duanmu Huai made his decision. Among these specializations, Material Misalignment was armor penetration, Spacetime Stasis was slow, Warp Energy Redirection automatically absorbed attacks to restore shields, and Attack Weakness increased critical damage.

He had made the same choice when playing the cute girl character before. As an inherited piece of equipment, the Inquisitor's Power Armor offered quite solid defense in the early stages, so Duanmu Huai chose Material Misalignment, which came with armor penetration.

After all, offense was the best defense.

As for the two attribute points, Duanmu Huai hesitated for a moment before putting them all into Strength, raising it to 10.

He had considered adding them to Charisma, but...

Charisma was locked. It couldn't be increased.

Are you screwing with me, heavens? Even the system can't change my appearance?

After silently cursing, Duanmu Huai turned and walked toward the girl tied to the stake. She was still bound there, her face pale and full of worry. But Duanmu Huai did not care about such trivialities. He casually reached out, snapped the ropes binding her hands and feet, and set her free. Then he stared at her and spoke.

"Civilian! Report the situation!"

"Huh? What? What do you mean?"

However, unlike in the game, the girl before him did not immediately give an answer just because he had spoken a specific line... which made sense. This was no longer a game, but reality.

Ahem. I've played too many games.

Duanmu Huai's old face reddened. Fortunately, he wore a helmet, so she could not see it.

"Who are you? Why are you here?"

"I, I am..."

Before the girl could finish, the earth beneath their feet began to tremble. Then scarlet lines emerged from the ground. A blood-red radiance burst out in the distance, and a massive figure appeared from the Magic Circle on the altar.

"It's... it's a Demon!?"

The girl screamed at the sight. Duanmu Huai turned his head and immediately saw a bizarre monster emerge in the distance. It stood nearly three meters tall. Its upper body resembled a humanoid Demon, crimson from head to toe, with sharp fangs and scarlet eyes burning like flames.

Below its waist were three pairs of long legs resembling mechanical spider limbs. The monster held a sword in one hand and a shield in the other, radiating violent and terrifying energy. It stood directly in front of Duanmu Huai and the girl, blocking their path.

"Ah, mortals... what interesting souls. You'll make a fine first meal for my arrival in this world..."

The Demon sneered at them, waving its shield and sword.

"Hehehe. Let me taste your Fear and the flavor of death. I'm sure this will be a very delicious meal..."

At the same time, its information appeared before Duanmu Huai's eyes.

Tyrant Fiend (Elites)

Level: LV10

I see. So this guy is the boss. Thinking about it, those Evil God Believers had gone to all that trouble just to summon this thing?

With that thought, Duanmu Huai made his decision.

"You get out of the way. I'll handle this thing!"

"Ah, yes!"

Hearing Duanmu Huai's order, the helpless girl hurriedly nodded and retreated. At the same time, Duanmu Huai tightened his grip on his weapon and faced the enemy once more.

It was only an LV10 Elite. Although he was currently just an LV5 Inquisitor, it was not as though he could not fight!

"Come on...!"

Duanmu Huai stared coldly at the Soul Grinder.

Let's see which of us is stronger!