Ruined Remains

Ruined Remains were a place full of danger.

Duanmu Huai strode forward, looking around. The dazzling light cast by his helmet illuminated the ruins that had originally been shrouded in darkness. Most of them had already been buried beneath sand and earth, with only a few remaining pillars and statues still standing, stubbornly declaring their existence.

Duanmu Huai advanced step by step, observing the decorations and constructs around him. Yet behind him, a bulge appeared in the previously flat mound of dust and sand, slowly approaching its prey—then it suddenly shot out of the sand, bared its fangs, and lunged at its target.

At the same time, Duanmu Huai tightened his grip on the Warhammer and spun around with a strike!

"Thud!!"

The steel Warhammer slammed into the shadow, sending it flying. It landed on the ground, let out a piercing hiss, and raised its body as it stared fixedly at Duanmu Huai—it was a giant serpent as thick as a barrel and nearly ten meters long. It opened its mouth and sprayed venom at Duanmu Huai.

Having landed his blow, Duanmu Huai did not foolishly stand still. Instead, as the giant serpent sprayed venom at him, he gripped his Warhammer and charged forward. Then he leaped high into the air, dodging the venom before bringing his hammer down on the serpent's head again, smashing it directly to the ground.

Under the merciless strikes of the steel Warhammer, the giant serpent crashed headfirst onto the ground. As it twisted its body and tried to struggle again, a shadow appeared out of nowhere, blocking its vision.

"-----!!"

Duanmu Huai stomped down, his powered boot ruthlessly crushing the giant serpent's tough head. The serpent tried to resist, but its skull was clearly not hard enough to contend with the merciless force of machinery. With a wet splat, the giant serpent's head was crushed into pulp.

Wilderness Giant Serpent killed. You gained 50 Experience Points.

Duanmu Huai glanced at the System Prompt, then turned and continued forward. At that moment, he seemed to have returned to the game. It reminded him of the feeling he had when he first experienced Star Sea Online—taking on different identities, walking through different worlds, exploring unknown adventures, and longing to uncover interesting secrets or even powerful treasures. That was much more interesting than simply grinding monsters, and exploring the unknown was quite enjoyable as well.

That was why he liked this game: countless planets, countless worlds, countless adventures.

The tension, excitement, and satisfaction of exploration always made it impossible to stop.

And it seemed he was not the only one exploring this place.

Duanmu Huai stopped. He crouched down, reached out, grabbed something buried in the sand, and forcefully pulled it up—it was a corpse. Most of its body had long since rotted away, with stark white bones jutting from nauseating flesh and swaying constantly with Duanmu Huai's movements, as if they possessed a will of their own. Judging by the man's decayed, livid face, he was likely the giant serpent's previous victim.

Consider it revenge for you.

Duanmu Huai remained calm before the corpse. After all, he had seen far too many disgusting things in Star Sea Online. Especially later on, when he ventured deep into Warp Space and the domains of the Evil Gods, every place there was a hundred times more revolting than a B-Rank splatter film. This could practically be considered artistically unusual.

Elisa, on the other hand, went pale at the sight of the corpse and nearly threw up.

"Black Knight, perhaps we should take another route... This place is far too dangerous..."

Elisa wore a miserable expression, as though she were about to cry. She never should have let a moment of madness make her tell the Black Knight about this place. If she had known it was so dangerous, she never would have come...

Though she had nowhere else to go if she did not come.

Those Evil God Believers had dispatched a large force to hunt them down. In fact, while heading toward the ruins, Duanmu Huai and Elisa had already encountered several pursuit squads. Naturally, Duanmu Huai had dealt with all of them. But from what they had learned, the two could confirm that the Evil God Believers had indeed sent many people, determined to bring Elisa back.

"Keep moving."

Naturally, Duanmu Huai did not listen to Elisa. He shook his head and continued onward, leaving her no choice but to follow.

"By the way, do you know the history of these Ruined Remains?"

As he looked over the wreckage around them, Duanmu Huai spoke. Back when he played the game, this had been one of his favorite things to do: stroll through ruined relics forgotten by time, imagine their former glory, wonder what had once happened in these cities, how many people had lived here, and how they had walked the path to Destruction until the place became an abandoned ghost city.

Because of that, Duanmu Huai had once considered switching to archaeology, but... well, they said he looked more like a tomb raider.

What the hell? Saying he looked like a smuggler would have been more believable. What kind of tomb raider was built as solidly as he was? Wouldn't he get stuck in the burial passage?

Since it would not work out in reality, getting a taste of it in the game was good enough for Duanmu Huai.

"Uh... I have heard a little."

Elisa did not seem unfamiliar with this place. She followed beside Duanmu Huai, cautiously peering around as she spoke in a low voice.

"I heard this used to be a country. It possessed extremely advanced technology for manufacturing Magic Automatons. The King used that technology to create many Magic Automatons that feared neither death nor pain, invading other countries and seizing much land."

"Then how was it destroyed?"

Duanmu Huai asked curiously. Elisa thought for a moment.

"It seems they created an extremely powerful Magic Automaton and tried to conquer the world. But for some reason, that Magic Automaton went mad, attacked the Royal Capital, and completely destroyed it. The King was also killed by that Magic Automaton. There are rumors that some kind of curse was responsible... In any case, after that, the country began to decline, and its people left this place."

"I do not see any Magic Automaton wreckage."

Duanmu Huai looked across the wilderness. Aside from broken walls and crumbling ruins, nothing remained.

"After all, they are only rumors, and it happened several centuries ago..."

As she said this, Elisa suddenly stopped and listened carefully.

"Knight, did you hear that? There is water!!"

"Yes, there is."

"That is great! Can we go over there?!"

Elisa grabbed Duanmu Huai's arm and looked at him pleadingly. She wanted to rush over immediately, but—she did not dare.

After all, there were simply too many dangers hidden here. That giant serpent from earlier was the best example.

"Of course."

The Evil God Believers had not caught up to them yet, so Duanmu Huai did not mind letting Elisa relax for a while.

The sound came from a river. Judging by its shape, it had likely been a moat long ago. But time had changed everything, and the former moat had become a small stream.

"Wonderful!!"

At the sight of the stream, Elisa excitedly jumped up. Then she seemed to remember something and turned to Duanmu Huai somewhat sheepishly.

"Black Knight, um... I would like to take a bath..."

It was no wonder Elisa had such a need. Ever since Duanmu Huai rescued her, the girl had been disheveled, covered in blood, and dressed in rags. By now, she reeked as well. If not for the armor's isolation, Duanmu Huai could probably smell the stench coming from her—something no girl who cared about her appearance could accept.

"You have twenty minutes."

Duanmu Huai said nothing more. Elisa did indeed need it, so he did not stop her. After scanning the surroundings and confirming there were no hidden life signals, Duanmu Huai nodded and walked away. Elisa gave a cheer and dove straight into the stream.

Duanmu Huai was not bored enough to peep on Elisa while she bathed. On the contrary, with Elisa away from his side, he had an opportunity.

As an experienced player, Duanmu Huai knew that escaping the pursuit of those Evil God Believers was basically impossible. In chained quests like this, the pressure only increased in the later stages. At first, there would only be minor mobs, but next, BOSS-level enemies would likely appear. Duanmu Huai had already beaten back three waves of minor mobs, and the completion progress for the "Escort" quest displayed 3/?, which meant there would be more pursuers later, perhaps even powerful BOSS-level enemies.

This was normal for players. Next, it would depend on Elisa's value. If she was extremely valuable, the entire organization would be more likely to mobilize. If her value was merely significant, then cutting off the hands those Evil God Believers had stretched out would resolve the problem.

But no matter what, Duanmu Huai could not possibly let those Evil God Believers leave.

In the world of Star Sea Online, all Evil God Believers served the Chaos Gods, making them enemies of Order.

They had betrayed Order, joined hands with Chaos, and brought disaster upon the world.

What blasphemy!

Star Sea Online had a high degree of freedom, and players could choose any faction they wanted. But the Chaos Gods and Evil God Believers were always hostile factions and could never be changed!

With Duanmu Huai's current abilities, he could only handle minor BOSSES. If stronger enemies arrived, he would have some difficulty holding them off. Even with Power Armor, his own level was low, and the armor's stats were not high. Before high-level Demons, he would still be easy prey. That was why he had come here—because only here could he grow stronger.

At that thought, Duanmu Huai's gaze sharpened. He raised his right hand.

"Activate Soul Resonance!"