Clash

The wind and sand howled.

A massive shadow blanketed the wilderness. Not far away, a group of trackers on horseback slowly came to a halt. Beside them, several enormous, crimson beasts resembling Demons let out low growls. Their savage eyes seemed eager to tear apart every piece of prey in their path. Not even the shrieking gale and blowing sand could stop them.

"The prey is ahead."

The leading Knight spoke in a low voice. He wore scarlet armor from head to toe, and the warhorse beneath him was exceptionally large. Upon hearing this, the others showed hungry glints in their eyes as well. Though they had already lost several squads, no one chose to retreat, for the Evil God they worshipped craved war, blood, and death.

No matter whether it was friend or foe, as long as there was blood and death, it would be offered to the great god in exchange for glory!

"Kill!!"

The Warhammer crackling with electricity whistled through the air and smashed heavily into the enemy's head, shattering his helmet and skull together. Duanmu Huai kicked the corpse aside without hesitation, then gripped his Warhammer again and launched himself at the Evil God Believers charging toward him.

This time, those attacking the two of them were no longer ordinary Evil God Believers, but fanatics of the Chaos God. They wore half-armor and horned helmets, wielding battle axes, dressed like fierce Viking raiders. Even so, Duanmu Huai had no fear of them. He stood at the entrance to the crumbling Rook, blocking everyone's path.

One man held the pass against ten thousand!

If you want your sacrifice back, step over my corpse!

Duanmu Huai was seeing red as well. Even when he had been a player, he had always liked charging headlong into battle. Besides, he had no way out now. As for surrendering to these Evil God Believers or negotiating with them, such thoughts had never even crossed his mind.

An Inquisitor's purpose was to eliminate every Chaos Faction. There would be no compromise and no negotiation. No matter who the enemy was or how many there were, as long as they worshipped Chaos Gods, they had to be utterly destroyed!

If a city believed, then destroy the city.

If a nation believed, then destroy the nation.

If a planet believed, then destroy the planet.

If a world believed, then destroy the entire world!

Eliminating Chaos Gods and their believers was an Inquisitor's eternal duty. Any compromise or submission was an unforgivable betrayal! It would result in every one of the Inquisitor's skills and attributes being completely sealed!

Loyalty that was not absolute was absolute disloyalty!

"Bang!!!"

Flesh and blood exploded. Duanmu Huai swung his Warhammer, smashing Chaos Zealot after Chaos Zealot to the ground. He did not immediately use his Soul Cards, because these Chaos Zealots were not particularly high-level and he could handle them alone. Besides, as an experienced player, Duanmu Huai knew the four great Chaos Gods and their believers very well. These people were clearly followers of the God of Tyranny. The God of Tyranny loved war and blood; put simply, all his subordinates were battle maniacs. But battle maniacs were not necessarily idiots. Even Barbarians knew how to judge the moment, and these zealots were no fools either. If he used his Soul Cards now, he would give the enemy an opening.

Moreover, Okegis's power was simply too great, so she needed to be held back as a trump card for now. There was only one opportunity to summon her. Based on Duanmu Huai's understanding of these zealots, if Elisa was important enough, they would likely summon a high-ranking Demon serving the Evil God in the end. That was the safeguard Duanmu Huai had prepared.

After all, why use a butcher's knife to kill a chicken? He could handle this trash himself!

"Whew..."

After smashing another attacking zealot to the ground, Duanmu Huai finally let out a breath and glanced at the panel. From yesterday until now, he had already repelled four or five waves of Evil God Believers. His level had risen to fifteen as well. As for his points, Duanmu Huai no longer put them into Strength. Instead, he raised Constitution and Intelligence to 10—the former increased his ability to withstand attacks, while the latter mainly raised his Warp Space overheating limit, allowing him to use more cards at once.

Logically speaking, Duanmu Huai should have placed all his points into Intelligence and raised the Warp Space overheating limit as much as possible. But he knew very well that such support only mattered while its owner was still alive. A Soul Walker might appear omnipotent, but fundamentally, he was more like a Summoner. Whether it was Pawns, magic, or equipment, everything was effectively summoned from Another World. As long as the Summoner himself was killed, nothing else mattered.

Before crossing over, Duanmu Huai had charged straight in and taken out quite a few Intelligence-focused Soul Walkers in PvP, so naturally he knew their weaknesses.

If a mage did not invest in defense, getting their field cleared and then being taken out in one combo was the inevitable outcome. Back then, quite a few Soul Walkers had been beaten to death by Duanmu Huai's hammer. Of course, he had used a cute girl character at the time, and plenty of people had rather enjoyed it.

But now, watching a vicious eight-foot-two brute smash their skulls in with a hammer, those people probably would not enjoy it quite so much.

"..."

In a depression not far behind Duanmu Huai, Elisa curled herself into a ball, trembling too much to speak. She had not chosen to move away. In fact, she could not run. At Duanmu Huai's side, she could still receive the Black Knight's protection, but once she left him, Elisa would have no protection at all.

Not to mention, staying this close made it easier for Duanmu Huai to turn around and crush her to death with one swing if things went wrong.

I hope it won't hurt too much...

"Awoooo!!!"

Just then, a sharp howl suddenly rose through the wilderness gale, startling Elisa.

"W-what was that sound? A wolf?"

"The main act is here."

Hearing the sound, Duanmu Huai perked up and gripped his Warhammer as he looked ahead. Soon, several figures riding tall horses emerged from the sandstorm, accompanied by vicious-looking, crimson four-legged monsters.

Chaos Hounds, just as expected.

Duanmu Huai's gaze turned cold. Chaos Hounds themselves were weak and hardly worth mentioning, but they were genuine monsters. If they could appear here, then someone must have summoned them from the God of Tyranny's world. In other words, there was definitely a powerful Demon among this group of enemies!!

The only question was whether this was a minor boss, a mid-level boss, or a major boss.

But he would find out after fighting them!!

"Awooo!!!!"

With an enraged roar, the Chaos Hounds spotted their prey as well. Howling, they raced down toward Duanmu Huai.

Duanmu Huai's eyes flashed at the sight.

The next moment, Soul Cards flickered before him.

Puppeteer's Cloak activated!

Artisan's Belief activated!

Draw Puppets and Armed Reinforcement!

Summon the Puppets onto the field! Activate Puppeteer's Cloak's special ability and add two Puppets to your hand!

Summon the two Puppets added to your hand onto the field! Add another four Puppets to your hand!

"Swish, swish, swish!!"

In the blink of an eye, a magnificent black cloak trimmed in gold draped itself over Duanmu Huai's Power Armor. Then, fluttering without wind, several Puppets dressed like thieves and assassins burst forth from beneath it, curved blades and Short Swords in hand. They sprinted toward the enemy, clashing with the Chaos Hounds in an instant!

"Awoo—!!"

The Chaos Hounds naturally had no idea what those things blocking their way were, but they did not need to know. They only needed to tear apart everything in front of them. The Chaos Hounds bared their fangs and pounced on the Puppets, clamping their jaws around their bodies. Yet at the same time, the Short Swords and curved blades in the Puppets' hands pierced the Chaos Hounds' bodies.

Before long, large numbers of Chaos Hounds fell, while the Puppets fighting them also collapsed and vanished without a trace.

"Hm?"

The red-armored Knight atop the tall horse froze for a moment at the sight, then snorted.

"Magic. More of these boring little tricks. Before my lord's might, they are utterly meaningless!"

As he spoke, the red-armored Knight raised his lance and pointed it at Duanmu Huai.

"Charge!!!"

Knew you'd pull this.

Watching the Chaos Knights charge toward him, Duanmu Huai snorted. The followers of the four great Chaos Gods had different traits. The God of Tyranny despised magic most of all, and his followers likewise scorned it. That was why Duanmu Huai dared to play One Against Thousands here. If it had been the treacherous and cunning god instead, Duanmu Huai would not have been stupid enough to stand here and court death—his subordinates were all masters of magic. Doing this against them would be no different from waiting to be bombarded by spells.

Dozens of Puppets rushed out again, charging toward the Chaos Knights before them. The damage they could inflict was not great, but it was not nonexistent either. Soon, several Knights were attacked and destroyed by the Puppets. Yet the man at the front, riding a tall horse and clad in scarlet armor, remained entirely unaffected. On the contrary, the Puppets attacking him were torn to pieces by the howling airflow before they could even approach.

Just as expected, this guy would not be easy to deal with.

Staring at the Chaos Knight Storming toward him, Duanmu Huai's expression grew grave. He gripped the Warhammer tightly with both hands and coldly watched his enemy. At the same time, with a thought, another card quietly appeared.

Armed Reinforcement activated! Grant one unit on the battlefield +2/+2!

At that moment, crimson flames burned around Duanmu Huai like a blazing forge. At the same time, a +2 appeared beside his attributes.

The attack and defense values of Soul Cards were calculated based on a player's attributes divided by ten. Thus, if Duanmu Huai's current attributes were converted into Soul Card values, he would have 1 attack and 0 defense—only his Strength had reached 12, while every attribute below ten was calculated as 0.

Therefore, once Armed Reinforcement activated, it meant that Duanmu Huai's Strength and Constitution both surged by 20 points for a short period!

"Haaahhhhh!!!!"

At the same time, the Chaos Knight reached Duanmu Huai. The lance in his hand swung down fiercely.

Facing the attack, Duanmu Huai roared, raised his Warhammer high, and met it head-on!!