Lady of the Lake

Following the forest path, Duanmu Huai and Okegis arrived before a lake. Lush grass covered the ground, while broken stone pillars and ruins could be seen all around. Judging by its appearance, this place had once been some sort of temple. In the middle of the lake stood a small island, upon which was a statue of a woman holding a golden Holy Grail.

That was the Lady of the Lake, then.

Looking at the statue before him, Duanmu Huai frowned. Just then, another System Prompt appeared before him.

Holy Relic signal detected. Holy Relic coordinates locked.

"Pfft—!"

Seeing this, Duanmu Huai nearly spat out a mouthful of blood. Where had this Holy Relic come from? Wait, could it be that Holy Grail?

Was he supposed to take that thing away?

Duanmu Huai stared at the Holy Grail in the Lady of the Lake's hands and pondered for a moment.

Say, if I took the Bartonians' Holy Grail, they wouldn't come after me, would they?

Not that they could beat me anyway.

At that thought, Duanmu Huai immediately felt reassured. He had already beaten the Green Knight flat on the ground, so what the hell was there to be afraid of?

With that, Duanmu Huai settled down. He aimed at the goddess statue in the lake, intending to activate his Jetpack and fly over to retrieve it directly. With this Holy Relic, he could build the Hall of Inquisition Library to analyze the Antimatter Energy Core, then construct a Reactor!

However, just as Duanmu Huai rubbed his hands together and prepared to act, the goddess statue suddenly radiated a dazzling golden light. Then, its form abruptly changed, transforming from a stone sculpture into a living woman!

???

What, was she putting on some kind of living-statue magic trick for him?

Duanmu Huai froze as he looked at the woman before him. Then he watched her bend down, scoop up a cup of water from the lake, and float across the surface toward him. She arrived before Duanmu Huai and held out the cup.

"Uh..."

Duanmu Huai looked at the cup she offered with open disdain. Did she think he hadn't seen her floating across the lake barefoot? Besides, the water in this lake was untreated and unhygienic. What if she had athlete's foot or something? Wouldn't drinking it cause trouble?

Still, refusing what someone offered him would be rather impolite. So Duanmu Huai reluctantly took the cup, glanced at the liquid inside, and system information quickly appeared.

Holy Water of the Lake: Upon drinking, grants the special traits (Goddess's Favor), (Goddess's Blessing), and (Psychological Immunity).

Title obtainable: Grail Knight (Charisma +2)

Holy crap? It added Charisma?

Duanmu Huai's eyes immediately lit up.

If it added Charisma, then I'm wide awake now!

Anything that adds Charisma is exactly what I want!

At that thought, Duanmu Huai no longer found the cup of holy water quite so objectionable. Sure, there were still one or two concerns, but at least it looked fairly clear. It was certainly much better than the aloe juice sold on Indian streets.

Clean and hygienic, right?

But Duanmu Huai still did not drink it immediately.

He knew that drinking the holy water would make him a Grail Knight of the Lady of the Lake, but... Duanmu Huai had no intention of selling himself to her.

What a joke. He was an Inquisitor. It was fortunate he was not from the Heretic Inquisition, or else the Lady of the Lake would have been someone who owed him loyalty. How could he turn around and work for her instead?

But he truly could not bear to give up the Holy Grail... After all, a Holy Relic was right within his reach...

"...?"

Seeing Duanmu Huai hold the Holy Grail without moving for so long, the blonde woman revealed a puzzled expression.

"This is a blessing from the Lady of the Lake. As long as you drink it, you will gain the strength needed to protect this world..."

I know that, but if the price is selling myself, then no thanks.

Who knew whether the Green Knight had fallen for the same trick back then?

After thinking it over, Duanmu Huai hesitated briefly before looking at the woman.

"Can you give it to me?"

"Of course."

The blonde woman nodded with a smile.

"This cup of holy water is bestowed upon you."

"No, I mean the cup... Can you give me that?"

"..."

Upon hearing Duanmu Huai's words, the blonde woman fell silent. She looked at him in astonishment, seemingly unable to comprehend what was happening before her... A Grail Knight asking for the Holy Grail itself—this was probably a first.

"Then thank you."

Since the woman did not refuse, Duanmu Huai took it as her consent. He nodded, then swiftly activated the teleportation coordinates. In the next instant, a teleportation beam appeared beneath Duanmu Huai and Okegis's feet, and the two vanished without a trace in the blink of an eye.

"..."

Only the blonde woman remained, floating over the lake and staring dumbfoundedly at the empty wilderness before her.

She had no idea how to react.

Duanmu Huai did not care what the Lady of the Lake thought. After teleporting back to the Core Cabin, he immediately placed the Holy Grail on the terminal, obtained the points, and unlocked the Hall of Inquisition Library. Only then did Duanmu Huai finally breathe a sigh of relief. He had truly worried that she might take the Holy Grail back. But now that the Holy Relic had already been converted, even if she wanted it... she could not take it back.

Next, Duanmu Huai took out the Antimatter Energy Core he had obtained earlier, left the Core Cabin, passed through the corridor, and entered the Hall of Inquisition Library on the other side.

Its style was exactly the same as the Strategic Command Room. The entire chamber was laid out much like a church, and the bookshelves lining the walls in every direction stood empty. A curved platform was positioned high in the center of the room, with an altar-like table upon it. Duanmu Huai walked over and placed the Antimatter Energy Core in the middle. Soon, metallic Servo-skulls slowly rose from the platform's four corners, emitting beams from their eye sockets as they scanned the core before them.

At the same time, a System Prompt appeared before Duanmu Huai.

Antimatter Energy Core (Analyzing)

Progress: 1%

Time required: 186 days

"That's going to take a while..."

Duanmu Huai frowned slightly at the progress bar, though he was not surprised. It was Old Ones technology, after all. Analyzing it would naturally be difficult and time-consuming.

As for the holy water in the Holy Grail, Duanmu Huai did not waste it either. He found a bottle and poured it in, intending to analyze it once the energy core was finished and see what it could do. After all, it was something that could increase Charisma. If he could analyze and manufacture it, then he could make this holy water himself in the future. Forget drinking it—he could use it to bathe and wash his face...

After finishing all that, Duanmu Huai brought Okegis back to the lakeside through teleportation. The poor blonde woman was still floating in the air, looking at him pitifully like a little girl whose lollipop had been snatched away.

"Sorry, but that cup is very useful to me. I have to take it."

Looking at the blonde woman, Duanmu Huai could only tell her the truth. In any case, her cup had already been dismantled, so she could not take it back even if she wanted to!

"But I won't take it for nothing. If there's anything you need me to do, as long as it's within my power, I certainly won't refuse."

Though forcing a purchase and sale was somewhat against the rules, Holy Relics were more important to Duanmu Huai right now...

"..."

Hearing this, the blonde woman sighed, then looked at Duanmu Huai again.

"Then, Knight, this continent will soon face an unprecedented calamity. I hope you can protect this world and eliminate the threat that is about to arrive."

As the blonde woman spoke, a quest notification appeared before Duanmu Huai.

Quest Activated: "Doomsday Calamity"

Quest Objective: Prevent the destruction of the world

This world is about to face a merciless catastrophe. Search for clues and stop it.

Holy hell, that was a huge assignment.

Duanmu Huai was shocked. He had thought it would be some mission like protecting Bartonia, but it had suddenly escalated to the level of the entire world... Wait, could the apocalypse here refer to the End Times?

The End Times could be considered the first major event in Star Sea Online.

To sum it up in one sentence... the players' Novice Village had exploded.

The situation at the time had been like this: more and more players had poured into Star Sea Online. Then, on this planet, every faction began fighting for one reason or another, including the Chaos Faction. The novice players had been delighted because it meant lots of new quests. But later, they discovered that those quests were unusually difficult, and as the plot progressed, the further they went, the more they felt that something was wrong.

So they began asking Inquisitor players who had already successfully left the Novice Planet and traveled into the stars for help.

At the time, those players were immersed in the joy of exploring the boundless cosmos. Aside from a few who went back to see what was happening, most did not take the situation seriously. They merely assumed it was part of the game's story progression. In their minds, there would be no problem in the end anyway. If players could not win, wouldn't there always be a CG cutscene to save them?

Well, the unexpected result was... the players ultimately lost. A mysterious being opened a third Chaos Teleportation Gate hidden within the planet, tearing apart the entire world and swallowing it into the Chaos realm of Warp Space. The whole planet was completely finished.

That ending shocked every player. Many had joined factions on that planet, grinded reputation, bought houses, and even recruited people there. Then one explosion wiped everything clean?

Who could put up with that?

So the players collectively erupted at the developers, demanding an explanation and compensation.

Yet the developers' response was remarkably shameless—this was all because the players had not worked hard enough. If they had diligently stopped the conspiracy and protected that planet, none of this would have happened.

So in the end, it was all the players' fault for not taking things seriously. What did it have to do with the developers?

Faced with the developers passing the buck, the players were dumbstruck. They had seen shamelessness before, but never shamelessness like this...

After that, quite a few people quit the game. But the remaining players began taking every quest and every planetary event seriously. Clearly, the Novice Village exploding on the spot had been painful, but it had also taught every player a lesson. It made them understand that if they merely slacked off, they really could cause a world to be destroyed.

If that was what this meant... then this quest was going to be far more troublesome!