Ruined relics were dangerous places.
Duanmu Huai strode forward, scanning left and right, the dazzling lights from his helmet illuminating the otherwise dim ruins. Most of the structure was already buried beneath the sand, with only a few remaining pillars and statues still standing—stubbornly asserting their existence.
He advanced step by step, carefully observing the surrounding decorations and architecture. However, behind him, a bulge appeared in the otherwise flat sand, slowly creeping toward its prey—then suddenly, it shot out from the sand, baring its fangs and pouncing.
At the same time, Duanmu Huai gripped his warhammer and struck back!
"Thump!!"
The steel warhammer smashed into the shadow, sending it flying. It landed with a thud and hissed menacingly as it straightened its body, staring intently at Duanmu Huai.
It was a giant snake, as thick as a wine barrel and nearly ten meters long. It opened its mouth wide, venom spraying out in a deadly stream aimed at Duanmu Huai. But having already landed a blow, Duanmu Huai didn't foolishly remain in place.
As the venom sprayed at him, he gripped his warhammer and charged forward. Then, leaping high, he dodged the venom mid-air and smashed the hammer down on the giant snake's head, knocking it violently to the ground.
Under the merciless blows of the steel warhammer, the giant snake writhed in pain. As it tried to struggle up again, a black shadow suddenly loomed over it, obscuring its vision.
"—————!!"
Duanmu Huai stomped down, his power-booted foot crushing onto the giant snake's thick skull. The creature struggled to resist, but its bones were no match for the relentless mechanical force.
"Squelch." The giant snake's skull was crushed into pulp.
[Wild Giant Snake died, you gained 50 experience points]
Duanmu Huai glanced briefly at the system prompt, then turned and continued walking forward.
At that moment, he felt as if he had returned to the game again. It reminded him of how he felt the first time he played Star Sea Online—traveling through different worlds under different identities, exploring the unknown, eager to find secrets or powerful treasures.
That kind of thrill was far more rewarding than just grinding monsters. The excitement of discovery always made exploration endlessly fascinating. This was why he loved the game: countless planets, countless worlds, countless adventures.
Tension, excitement, and the satisfaction of exploration—once you got a taste of it, it was impossible to stop.
And it seemed... he wasn't the only one who had come here to explore.
Duanmu Huai suddenly stopped, then squatted down. He reached out and pulled something from the sand—it was a corpse.
Most of the body had already decayed. White bones jutted from the rotting flesh, swaying grotesquely with Duanmu Huai's movements, almost as if they had a life of their own. Judging from the bluish, decomposed face, this man had likely fallen victim to the giant snake.
Consider it revenge for you.
Duanmu Huai remained calm in the face of the corpse. After all, he had seen far more horrifying things in Star Sea Online—especially in the late stages, when venturing into the Evil God domains inside the Warp. Everything in that realm was at least a hundred times more revolting than a B-grade gore film. By comparison, this could practically be considered tasteful art.
Alisa, on the other hand, turned pale at the sight and nearly vomited.
"Sir Black Knight... let's take another path… this place is too dangerous…" Her voice trembled, and tears streamed down her cheeks. She looked like she was about to cry.
She really shouldn't have been so quick to tell the Black Knight about this place. Now she regretted it deeply. If she had known it was this dangerous, she would never have come...
But if she hadn't, she had nowhere else to go. The evil god cultists were still hunting them, sending large forces to track them down. In fact, on the way to the ruins, Duanmu Huai and Alisa had already run into several pursuit teams.
Of course, they were all taken care of by Duanmu Huai. But from them, the two had confirmed that the cultists were serious about bringing Alisa back.
"Keep moving forward." Duanmu Huai had no intention of listening to Alisa. He shook his head and continued deeper into the ruins, and Alisa had no choice but to follow.
"By the way, do you know the history of these ruined relics?" Duanmu Huai asked while scanning the wreckage around him.
This was one of his favorite things to do in the game: wandering through the ruins of long-lost civilizations, imagining their past glory. What had happened in this city? How many people had lived here? What led them to ruin? What tragedy had turned this once-great place into a silent ghost town?
Because of this interest, Duanmu Huai had once considered switching to archaeology. But…
Well, they said I looked more like a tomb raider.
Damn it, you might as well call me a smuggler—that sounds more believable. What kind of tomb raider is built like me? Wouldn't I get stuck in the tunnel?
Since it couldn't happen in reality, it was good enough for Duanmu Huai to enjoy it in the game.
"Uh... I've heard some things."
Alisa seemed familiar with this place as well. As she cautiously followed beside Duanmu Huai, peering around, she whispered, "I heard that this used to be a country that possessed very advanced technology for creating demon puppets.
The king of this country used that technology to create many fearless demon puppets and invaded other nations, occupying large amounts of land."
"Then how was it destroyed?" Duanmu Huai asked curiously.
Alisa pondered for a moment.
"It seems they created a very powerful demon puppet and tried to use it to conquer the world. But for some reason, that demon puppet went berserk, attacked the royal capital, completely destroyed it, and even killed the king.
There are rumors that this was some kind of curse... In any case, after that, the country began to decline, and its people abandoned it."
"I haven't seen any demon puppet remains."
Duanmu Huai looked around the desolate wilderness. All that was left were broken walls and collapsed ruins.
"After all, it's just a rumor, and it happened hundreds of years ago..."
At this point, Alisa suddenly stopped and listened carefully.
"Sir Knight, do you hear that? There's water!"
"Yes, I hear it."
"That's great! Can we go over there?!" Alisa grabbed Duanmu Huai's arm, looking at him with pleading eyes.
Although she wanted to run straight toward the sound, she didn't dare—after all, the dangers here were all too real. That giant snake just now was proof enough.
"Of course, no problem."
Since the evil god cultists hadn't caught up yet, Duanmu Huai didn't mind letting Alisa relax for a bit.
The sound of water came from a river. Judging by its structure, it had probably been a moat in ancient times, but with the passage of years, it had become a small, natural stream.
"That's great!!"
Seeing this, Alisa jumped with excitement. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she turned to Duanmu Huai with a hint of embarrassment.
"Sir Black Knight, um... I want to take a bath..."
It was no surprise that Alisa had this need. Ever since Duanmu Huai rescued her, she had been covered in blood, her hair matted, and her clothes tattered. She also gave off a strong stench.
If it weren't for his armor's filtration and isolation systems, Duanmu Huai would have smelled it long ago—and that was something no girl concerned with appearance could accept.
"Twenty minutes for you."
Duanmu Huai didn't say much. He understood her situation and didn't object. After scanning the area and confirming there were no hidden biological signals nearby, he nodded and walked away.
Alisa cheered and immediately plunged into the stream.
Duanmu Huai, of course, didn't idly peek at her bathing. On the contrary, her absence gave him time to think and prepare.
As an experienced player, Duanmu Huai knew it was basically impossible to shake off the pursuit of the evil god cultists. In these kinds of chained quests, the pressure always escalated as it progressed.
At first, there would only be small fry. But next… BOSS-level enemies were sure to appear.
Currently, Duanmu Huai had repelled three waves of grunts. The completion progress for the "Escort" quest showed [3/?], meaning more pursuers were on their way—and quite possibly, a powerful BOSS.
For players, this was nothing new. The key now was Alisa's value.
If she was extremely valuable, the entire organization might be mobilized. If her value was moderate, then dealing with their pursuing squads might be enough to end it.
But regardless, Duanmu Huai couldn't allow any of these evil god cultists to escape.
In the world of Star Sea Online, all evil god cultists were minions of the Chaos Evil Gods—absolute enemies of order.
They had betrayed order, aligned with chaos, and brought catastrophe upon the world. Blasphemers like that…
Unforgivable.
The game allowed for incredible freedom. Players could choose to side with any faction—except for the Chaos Evil Gods and their cultists. Those were always designated hostile forces and could never be joined or reasoned with.
Duanmu Huai's current strength was enough to deal with small BOSSes, but if stronger foes arrived, he'd be in trouble.
Even with his power armor, if his level was low and his gear hadn't been upgraded, he'd still be no match for high-level demons.
That was why he had come here.
Only in a place like this could he become stronger.
Thinking this, Duanmu Huai narrowed his eyes, then raised his right hand.
"Activate, Soul Resonance!"
(End of this chapter)