Ruined Remains

Ruined Remains was a place filled with danger.

Duanmu Huai strode forward, looking around as the dazzling lights from his helmet illuminated the ruins ahead, which had originally been shrouded in darkness. Most of them had already been buried beneath the sand, 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. Behind him, however, a bulge rose from the previously flat pile of dust and sand, slowly creeping toward its prey—then it suddenly burst from the sand, bared its fangs, and lunged at its target.

At the same time, Duanmu Huai gripped his 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 wine barrel and nearly ten meters long. It opened its mouth and sprayed venom at Duanmu Huai.

Having landed a blow, Duanmu Huai did not foolishly stay where he was. Instead, the moment 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 blows of the steel warhammer, the giant serpent collapsed headfirst onto the ground. As it twisted its body and tried to struggle again, a shadow appeared out of thin air, 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 felt as if he had 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 hoping to uncover interesting secrets or even powerful treasures. That was far more interesting than simply killing 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. Then he crouched down, reached out, grabbed something buried in the sand, and yanked it up—it was a corpse. More than half of its body had long since rotted away, with stark white bones protruding from the nauseating flesh and swaying along with Duanmu Huai's movements as though they possessed a will of their own. Judging by the man's rotten, bluish face, he was likely the giant serpent's previous victim.

Consider your revenge taken.

Duanmu Huai remained calm in the face of the corpse. He had seen far too many disgusting things in Star Sea Online, especially after entering the Chaos God domains deep within Warp Space during the later stages. Every place there was a hundred times more revolting than a B-grade splatter film. Compared to that, this could practically be called artistically unconventional.

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

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

Elisa wore a miserable expression and looked as though she was about to cry. She should never have let herself tell the Black Knight about this place. And now look at this—if she had known it was so dangerous, she never would have come...

Though it was not as if she had anywhere else to go.

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

"Keep moving."

Duanmu Huai naturally 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 examined the wreckage around them, Duanmu Huai spoke. Back in the game, this was the sort of thing he had enjoyed most: wandering through ruined relics forgotten by time, imagining their former glory. What had once happened in this city? How many people had lived here? How had they set foot upon the path to destruction, eventually turning it into 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 I was a smuggler would have made more sense. What tomb raider is built like me? I'd get stuck in the burial passage.

Since he could not do it in reality, indulging himself in the game was not bad either.

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

Elisa did not seem unfamiliar with the place either. 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 techniques for creating Magic Automatons. The King used those techniques to create many fearless Magic Automatons, invading other countries and seizing vast amounts of land."

"Then how was it destroyed?"

Duanmu Huai asked curiously, and Elisa pondered for a moment.

"Apparently, they created an extremely powerful Magic Automaton in an attempt to conquer the world. But for some reason, that Magic Automaton went mad and attacked the royal city, completely destroying it. The King was killed by that Magic Automaton as well. Rumors say it was the work of some kind of curse... In any case, after that, the country declined, and its people left this place."

"I don't see any Magic Automaton wreckage."

Duanmu Huai looked over the wilderness around them. Aside from broken walls and ruined structures, nothing remained.

"They're only Rumors, after all, and this happened several centuries ago..."

At that, Elisa suddenly stopped. She tilted her head and listened carefully.

"Sir Knight, do you hear that? Water!!"

"Yes, I do."

"Great! Can we go over there?!"

Elisa grabbed Duanmu Huai's arm and looked at him pleadingly. She wanted to rush over there herself, 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 yet, and Duanmu Huai did not mind letting Elisa relax for a while.

The sound of water came from a river. Judging from its shape, it should once have 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 jumped up excitedly. Then, as if remembering something, she turned toward Duanmu Huai somewhat sheepishly.

"Black Knight, um... I want to take a bath..."

It was no wonder Elisa had such a need. Ever since Duanmu Huai had rescued her, the girl had been disheveled, covered in blood, and dressed in ragged clothes. By now, she reeked as well. If not for the armor's isolation, Duanmu Huai would probably have smelled the stench coming from her—a condition no beauty-conscious girl could accept.

"You have twenty minutes."

Duanmu Huai did not say much. Elisa did indeed need it, so he did not stop her. After scanning the area and confirming there were no hidden life signals, he nodded and walked away. Elisa cheered and plunged straight into the stream.

Duanmu Huai did not idle around peeping at Elisa while she bathed. On the contrary, with Elisa away from his side, he had an opportunity.

As an experienced player, Duanmu Huai knew it was basically impossible for them to escape the pursuit of those Evil God Believers. With this sort of chain quest, the pressure only increased as it progressed. At first, there were merely ordinary mobs, but Boss-level enemies should appear next. Duanmu Huai had already repelled three waves of mobs, and the completion progress for the "Escort" quest showed 3/?, meaning there would be more pursuers later, perhaps even powerful Boss-level enemies.

This was perfectly normal for players. Next, it depended on Elisa's value. If she was highly valuable, the entire organization would be more likely to mobilize. If her value was merely average, then as long as he cut off the hands those Evil God Believers had extended, he could resolve this problem.

But no matter what, Duanmu Huai would not let these Evil God Believers leave.

In the world of Star Sea Online, all Evil God Believers worshipped the Chaos God. They were the enemies of order.

They had betrayed order, joined hands with chaos, and brought disaster upon the world.

What blasphemy!

Star Sea Online offered a great deal of freedom. Players could choose any faction or power they wished, but the Chaos God and Evil God Believers were forever 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 trouble 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.

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

"Activate, Soul Resonance!"