Dealing with the man himself had not been much trouble. Once his health bar appeared, Duanmu Huai immediately charged in with Okegis and cut him down with ease. Then they returned to the real world.
However, as he looked at the System Prompt before him, Duanmu Huai was in no pleasant mood.
Quest "Angry Soul" completed Quest evaluation: Barely passing Although you were not his first choice, the combat power you displayed barely earned his approval Follow-up quest "Sleeping Maiden" triggered Soul Card +5
Fuck this... Duanmu Huai truly wanted to curse. Sure, he had failed two consecutive dungeon runs, so the system evaluation would not be high—but what was with that tone of utter disdain?
Besides, with your pathetic state, you had the nerve to look down on me?
Only at the very end did Duanmu Huai figure out what that man had wanted. Put simply, he had been tortured by both the guilt of being a father and the pride of being a scholar. The pain had become unbearable, and he had begged for release. Then Duanmu Huai happened to arrive, so that bastard dumped the burden on him and went to sleep forever in that world with his daughter. As for the mess he left behind, that was Duanmu Huai's problem now!
What kind of person did that? You went off to seek peace of mind and tossed your troubles onto me before running away? What rotten morals... Duanmu Huai only regretted not smashing the man's head into pieces with a little more force when he had dealt with the BOSS.
And the quest's name, "Angry Soul," had misled Duanmu Huai into thinking the Purple-Haired Maiden had been enraged because her father had been killed. In reality, that "Angry Soul" referred to the man's fury at his own twisted and cowardly will—basically, he had been impotently raging at himself?
I really should have smashed you to death just now... No, wait, I actually did smash you to death.
Forget it. There was no point saying any of this to a dead man.
Duanmu Huai silently dismissed the quest and began examining the Soul Cards in his hand.
Because of the low quest evaluation, he had received only five guaranteed cards this time.
Ghost Mansion (Bronze) Cost: 1 Whenever one of your followers, excluding Wraiths, is destroyed, summon a Wraith onto the battlefield Wraith (Bronze) Cost: 2 Attack: 2 Defense: 2 Certain Kill Undying Grudge (Bronze) Cost: 2 Deal 3 damage to one enemy target Necromancy (2): Increase the damage from 3 to 5 Death Shortcut (Bronze) Cost: 2 Grant one of your followers the Certain Kill effect Anser Qiao (??) Cost: 3 Attack: 2 Defense: 2 Sealed (Cannot be used)
Five guaranteed cards, and the last one could not even be used. Fine. Just as expected. Just as expected.
Necromantic cards had a special mechanic: Necromancy. It possessed many special effects that required enough dead cards in the graveyard to activate. Take Undying Grudge, for example. When there were two dead cards in the graveyard, Necromancy could be activated to raise its original 3 damage to 5.
Of course, once Necromancy was activated, the corresponding number of cards in the graveyard would be reduced by 2.
And the dead cards in the graveyard naturally came from cards destroyed in battle.
Fortunately, Duanmu Huai currently had no shortage of dead cards. After all, he could summon puppets without limit, and every destroyed puppet counted as +1 in the graveyard. At present, Duanmu Huai had at least nearly a hundred dead cards in his graveyard—so many that he had practically nowhere to use them. But things were different now. With Necromantic cards in hand, Duanmu Huai could establish a positive cycle: use puppets to fill the graveyard, then use Undying Grudge to kill enemies. If he acquired even more powerful Necromantic cards later, they would only become stronger when paired with puppets that filled the graveyard!
Not only that, but Duanmu Huai's greatest gain this time was Death Shortcut, the Bronze card.
The reason was simple: it granted one of his followers the Certain Kill effect!
Certain Kill!
The Certain Kill of the Necromantic faction was a rule-based killing curse. Unless the target possessed special abilities such as being unaffected by special effects or only being able to be defeated head-on, it basically meant certain death.
That meant if Duanmu Huai encountered a high-ranking Demon like the Bloodthirsty Maniac again, he would not even need to risk sending out Okegis. He could simply summon a puppet, use Death Shortcut to grant it Certain Kill, and have it touch the Bloodthirsty Maniac once. The latter would die on the spot.
However, Duanmu Huai did not intend to use this card on himself or Okegis. Certain Kill was a permanent effect and would not disappear unless its bearer died. So, to be safe, Duanmu Huai planned to use this card together with puppets. That would not only be more cost-effective, but it would also avoid taking up thermal energy consumption. More importantly, he could use it and discard it whenever he wanted without feeling bad about the expense.
And with this card, along with Wraiths and Angry Souls, dealing with the God of Filth's believers and subordinates would become much easier.
As for the Sleeping Maiden quest, Duanmu Huai had no way of completing it yet. The quest required him to visit at least five Necromantic Shard Worlds—and so far, he had no clue where to begin. He could only take it slowly.
Besides, that card's attack power was not especially high. In fact, it was only after examining the card that Duanmu Huai understood why the Purple-Haired Maiden had been able to fight him on even terms.
With attack and defense at just 2 energy levels, she had only been at the same level as him...
It might have been a core card, but Duanmu Huai truly could not see what made it so impressive.
In any case, he would leave it for now.
After obtaining the six Soul Cards, Duanmu Huai left the Fallen Moon Forest and returned to Silver City. Although the Elf Scout had provided him with several pieces of intelligence, he had not triggered any quests anywhere except the Fallen Moon Forest, so he did not waste his time. Since no quests had been triggered, they were probably just rumors.
When he returned to Silver City, it was still in a state of utter decline. There were barely any pedestrians on the streets, with only soldiers guarding the city walls. Even the city gate that had been smashed apart had only just been repaired. That was hardly surprising. Before leaving, Duanmu Huai had heard from the Elf Scout that most of the residents had panicked and fled the city after the attacks by the Ratmen and Evil God Believers.
After greeting the guards at the Rook, Duanmu Huai entered the castle.
However, to Duanmu Huai's surprise, when he arrived in the castle hall, he did not see Elisa and her mother, nor did he see Captain Kado. Instead, he saw the man who had led the reinforcements here before... What was that guy's name again?
Forget it. Whatever his name was, the fellow was currently sitting grandly in the lord's seat, calmly watching Duanmu Huai.
"Ah, what a surprise. Black Knight, I never thought you would actually come back."
"I'm just here to see Elisa. Where is she?"
Duanmu Huai swept his gaze around the room and asked in a low voice. At his question, the man revealed an even more smug smile.
"Ah, rest assured. Miss Elisa and her mother are both quite safe... As for you... perhaps you should consider your own situation."
As he spoke, the man snapped his fingers. In the next instant, a large group of fully armed Brutal Cultists suddenly rushed out from all around them. Armed with crossbows, swords, and shields, they surrounded Duanmu Huai completely.
"What is the meaning of this?"
Duanmu Huai glanced around and asked coldly. The man merely smiled faintly.
"It is nothing, really. I merely reached an agreement with certain people and hoped to keep you here... Aaaaahhh!!"
Before the man could finish speaking, Duanmu Huai hurled the Warhammer in his hand. With a thunderous crash, it shattered both of the man's legs.
"Att-attack!!"
Seeing the man attacked, someone quickly shouted. The Brutal Cultists raised their crossbows and aimed at Duanmu Huai's helmet—yet in the next moment, the scenery before their eyes suddenly split in two at a slant. Then the fully armed soldiers in the hall, holding swords, shields, and weapons, all seemed to be cut apart by invisible blades. They turned into scattered chunks of flesh and blood that rained across the floor.
Only then did Okegis lower her hands, the gleam of Puppet Strings flashing past her fingertips.
Duanmu Huai had no interest in such trivial matters. He merely strode forward, heading toward the usurping lord.
"You dared to make a deal with the Evil God, betray Order, and become Chaos's lackey!"
"Y-you, don't come any closer!!"
As the tall warrior clad in black armor approached him, the man whose legs had been crushed turned deathly pale. He desperately tried to struggle, but he could not move at all.
"I am a lord personally appointed by the Emperor! If you kill me, that will mean making an enemy of the Empire... Aaaaahhh!!"
Before the man could finish, Duanmu Huai stepped on his hand and ground his right hand directly into pulp.
"So what?"
"...You... doing this means defying the Emperor..."
Upon hearing that, Duanmu Huai reached out, picked up the Warhammer that had shattered the man's legs, and raised it high.
"Those who betray Order and submit to Chaos must die. Whether it is the Emperor or the King, all lackeys of Chaos must be eliminated!"
As he spoke, Duanmu Huai brought the Warhammer down with all his strength!
Bang!!!
Blood and brains splattered across the wall. The man's body jerked up like a fish before crashing heavily to the ground, never moving again.
"Hmph."
Duanmu Huai retrieved his Warhammer without even sparing another glance for that idiot's corpse.
He had never expected something like this to happen. Reality really was not a game...
"My, I never expected you to be this fast... I thought I might make it in time."
Just as Duanmu Huai was thinking, a voice suddenly sounded behind him. He turned around and saw the Elf Scout supporting the battered Kado as she waved at him. Behind her stood Elisa and her mother, both still shaken.
"But fortunately, it seems I wasn't too slow either, was I?"
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