Continue on the Road

What was going on?

The orcs shifted the direction of their attack, and the caravan, which had been struggling desperately to hold out, suddenly felt the pressure ease. Only then did they come to their senses and look ahead. They saw a huge figure clad in terrifying armor, swinging a warhammer and battling those fearsome orcs in the middle of the horde.

"Sss—!! What kind of monster is that?"

Seeing the battle before him, one of the soldiers sucked in a breath and whispered in amazement. The others felt much the same. After all, in the minds of humans, orcs were the symbol of savagery, brutality, and physical might. In truth, that was not far from reality. Most orcs were tall, immensely strong, savage, and bloodthirsty creatures. Generally speaking, when humans encountered orcs, they would gain little from confronting them head-on.

But the black knight before them was different.

He swung the warhammer in his hand, lightning flashing across it, and smashed one charging orc after another into the ground. Blinding arcs of electricity and constant explosions rang out, making the battlefield look like a flaming hell. Far from retreating, the orcs grew even more excited. This was the kind of battle they sought!

Only the strong were worth challenging!!

Unfortunately, Duanmu Huai had no intention of WAAAAAGHing alongside these orcs.

In the eyes of outsiders, Duanmu Huai seemed even more frenzied than the orcs at that moment. In reality, however, his mind was perfectly calm, without the slightest emotional fluctuation.

For one thing, this was not his first time fighting these monsters. As a veteran player, he had long since gotten used to killing them.

For another, this was also one of the ways an Inquisitor protected himself.

As mentioned before, the Warp Space evil gods found it difficult to interfere directly with the material universe. Thus, the method they used most often was to manipulate their targets' emotions and lure them into corruption. In response to the evil gods' mental temptations, players had summed up four rules, commonly known as the Four Admonishments of the Inquisitor.

Fight without frenzy, think without confusion, cleanse without filth, enjoy without excess.

Fight without frenzy—you may fight, but do not fall into fanaticism, or the God of Tyranny could easily take advantage of you.

Think without confusion—you may think, but do not overthink, or the God of Deceit could easily toy with you.

Cleanse without filth—keep yourself clean. Do not become filthy like a beggar, and you can stay far from the God of Filth.

Enjoy without excess—you may indulge in pleasure, but do not give yourself over to it, lest you fall into the trap of the God of Desire.

As long as players followed these four rules, it was difficult for the evil gods to find an opening through which to influence them. Ultimately, everything had to be done in moderation. They could not stubbornly walk down a single path into darkness!

"Whoosh—!!"

While Duanmu Huai fought and slaughtered his way through the battlefield, Okegis silently appeared in the rear. She extended both hands, and the threads on her fingers flashed. Dozens of dolls appeared out of thin air and charged toward the orc army, blocking the weaker, low-level orcs outside.

The battle soon changed again. The orcs had driven the caravan into crisis, but they had also suffered heavy losses themselves. Now, with Duanmu Huai and Okegis, along with her army of dolls, stabbing them in the back, the orcs suffered even greater casualties. Although orcs were basically the sort who fought to the death without retreating, it was useless. No matter how hard they tried, they could not create matter out of thin air, much less activate a cheat that gave them invincibility and locked health. In the end, the group of orcs was beaten to death by Duanmu Huai, one hammer after another...

This showed that personal subjective will could not alter objective reality. Even WAAAAAAGH had its limits.

"Boom!!!"

Only when the last orc fell to the ground and became a corpse did the battle finally come to a complete end.

"Phew..."

Duanmu Huai removed his helmet and let out a breath. These orcs that refused to retreat even in death were truly annoying. Even Ratmen knew to flee and scatter after their morale collapsed, but to orcs, total annihilation was meaningless—the value of their lives lay in fighting, after all.

Whether they won or lost was another matter.

That was why fighting orcs was so painful. Winning brought no sense of accomplishment, while losing was even more humiliating.

"Thank you for your help, brave knight..."

The people from the caravan cautiously approached. Duanmu Huai certainly looked fierce, but at least he was human, which allowed them to relax. If he had been an orc or some other monster, it would have been an entirely different matter.

"You're welcome."

Seeing that their reaction was not too extreme, Duanmu Huai put his helmet back on.

"We have to travel this road too. We can't let these orcs run rampant here."

As he spoke, Duanmu Huai turned his head. Seeing the young knight hugging his sword and preparing to run, he snorted and gestured to Okegis. She raised her little finger slightly, and the young knight let out a wail as threads bound his entire body and dragged him back.

"Still trying to run? You useless coward. You didn't even dare fight, but now you've found the courage to flee?"

Duanmu Huai glared at the young knight and snorted. The latter trembled on the ground, not daring to say a word.

At that moment, the caravan leader instinctively looked toward the young knight, then suddenly widened his eyes in astonishment.

"Young Master Louis? Aren't you Young Master Louis?!"

"...Huh?"

Hearing the caravan leader call out, the young knight was startled as well. He hurriedly raised his head, but once he recognized the caravan leader before him, his face immediately went pale. He quickly turned his head away and pretended not to know him.

"You know each other?"

Seeing this, Duanmu Huai asked with interest. The caravan leader hesitated for a moment before nodding.

"Yes, Sir Knight. May I ask... what exactly is going on?"

"Oh, it's nothing much. Yesterday, this fellow called me a despicable demon and challenged me to duels several times. Then I beat him, tied him up, and took him prisoner."

"I see..."

The caravan leader's expression relaxed at once.

"To be honest, he is actually the son of our guildmaster..."

"Oh, so you want him back?"

"Well, if possible..."

"Here, take him. Keeping this useless fellow around would only waste food."

As he spoke, Duanmu Huai looked toward Okegis. She manipulated her threads once more and tossed the young knight directly to the caravan leader's feet. The caravan leader wiped away his cold sweat and signaled his subordinates to carry away the endlessly wailing young knight. Only after the young knight had left did he solemnly bow to Duanmu Huai again.

"Thank you so much, kind Sir Knight. If not for you, our young master would probably have lost his life..."

"Oh? Has this fellow always been such an idiot?"

"Well..."

Faced with Duanmu Huai's question, the caravan leader looked troubled, but he still quietly explained the situation. As expected, the brainless young knight was the son of the guildmaster of the Lake Sword merchant guild. He had loved listening to stories of knights' adventures since childhood and had even pestered his father to find a knight to train him. However, the young man clearly had no talent. At first, everyone had simply indulged him. After all, it was normal for a child to dream of becoming a knight. He would mature once he grew up.

That was what they had thought.

But no one had expected that as he grew older, he would become increasingly obsessed, completely lost in stories of knights. He would often walk around wearing knight's armor and carrying a sword, imagining that some old man in the city was an evil witch, or that an ancient dragon was sealed beneath Carcassonne, acting just like Don Quixote and causing no end of ridiculous trouble and headaches.

This gave his parents endless headaches, but they could not stop him from becoming a knight. After all, in Bartonia, becoming a knight was "politically correct." If his parents tried to stop him, the big-mouthed fool would go around spouting nonsense, and the merchant guild would be finished in Bartonia. Thus, they could only lock him in their villa to keep him from causing trouble outside.

No one knew how he had slipped out... If he had not encountered Duanmu Huai, he would probably have ended up as a corpse.

After all, although Bartonia was said to be a country as idyllic as a pastoral poem, that only applied to its cities and the villages and towns nearby. In an environment built on medieval civilization, the areas between each settlement were largely uninhabited wilderness. Robbers and bandits were common along the roads, while creatures such as orcs and goblins were even more numerous.

With this weakling at Level 3, who did not even have a protective artifact, going outside meant being killed instantly.

Duanmu Huai also explained his own group's situation. When the caravan leader heard that they came from the Empire and wanted to find somewhere in Bartonia to hide from the disaster, he thumped his chest and promised that once they returned to Carcassonne, he would report the matter to the guildmaster. The Lake Sword was not a major merchant guild, but helping out a little would not be a problem.

Having another connection was always a good thing. Duanmu Huai had been thinking the same way, so the two sides decided to travel together toward Carcassonne. They no longer needed that idiot as a guide, so Duanmu Huai decisively sent him back to the caravan. With the young man's brainless nature, he might well lead himself straight into an orc nest.

Of course, before setting out, the caravan did not forget to set fire to the battlefield, burning the corpses of both sides and the entire ground until everything was thoroughly reduced to ash. This was not because Bartonia had a tradition of cremation. As mentioned before, orcs were essentially a kind of fungus. Before they died, their bodies scattered vast quantities of spores. Once those spores landed on the ground, they would grow into a group of little orcs.

If the caravan did not uproot and exterminate them now, then when they returned by the same route, they would only find a larger horde of orcs WAAAAAAGHing at them.

"Master, what exactly was wrong with that human?"

The group resumed their journey. At that moment, Okegis voiced her confusion to Duanmu Huai.

"You mean that idiot? What about him?"

Duanmu Huai was not surprised that Okegis had questions. After all, her main quest was to observe humans, understand humans, and experience souls. The various things humans did must have seemed full of all kinds of mysteries to her.

"I don't understand. Why did he muster the courage to challenge you earlier, but immediately choose to submit after he lost?"

Okegis was clearly baffled.

"It's simple. That fellow was afraid. Don't let his initial burst of passion fool you into thinking he feared nothing. It was all an act. When he first attacked me, he really did intend to die if he failed. But the second time, he was already fighting for his pride... because he refused to let himself tuck his tail between his legs and run away."

"But even after that, he continued following us?"

"He couldn't accept the result. That's how half-hearted people are. They don't have the courage to come forward and throw their lives away, but they're unwilling to flee in disgrace either, so they follow along to see whether another opportunity might arise."

Duanmu Huai curled his lips.

"That's why he surrendered so easily after being captured. His original attitude was just an act. He was nothing but a paper tiger, one slap away from being flattened. He simply refused to admit that he was a weak, cowardly coward who feared death, so he made up excuses about being willing to fall and become a demon's servant to make himself look better."

After all, it was just a case of chuunibyou. They all liked things such as skulls, standing against the world, and Heavy Metal, making themselves look both fallen and cool... That fellow was no exception.

"Humans are so complicated..."

After hearing Duanmu Huai's explanation, Okegis could not help sighing.

Duanmu Huai merely chuckled in response.

After all, that was simply the truth.