Returning once more to Bretonnia, Duanmu Huai gazed at the verdant hills and emerald rivers before him and let out a faint sigh.
To be honest, this picturesque scenery was terribly deceptive. If one were to look only at the green fields, the blue sky, and the distant castle spires, no one would ever guess that across this peaceful land, a fierce and raging war was underway—one in which evil was about to prevail.
As he looked over the landscape, Duanmu Huai pondered his strategy. The End Times had indeed been one of the major events that affected players in Star Sea Online, but the problem was that it had only gained attention after it happened. By then, the entire planet had already been destroyed, so the accounts players later shared were full of contradictions.
Which wasn't surprising—after all, there were always jokers everywhere. And since there were no survivors left to verify anything, when one player claimed he'd received a quest to "witness the end of the world," no one could disprove it.
After all, the whole damn planet had exploded.
Take this "Everchosen" thing for example—no player in his previous life had ever mentioned it. From what he could tell, this must have come from some genuine frontline intel. At that time, most players who remained on the starter planet weren't high enough level to reach the front lines, while those who were qualified had long left the beginner zones.
What the players knew was just the rough outline of the global situation. The highest-level military secrets, naturally, were far beyond their access.
To Duanmu Huai, Bretonnia's civil war wasn't the greatest threat, and the Chaos legions were at least predictable enemies. The true danger, he thought, came from the Skaven—those vermin needed to be annihilated completely.
In his view, the Chaos hordes were like a sudden, deadly disease—if left untreated, it could kill quickly, but with preparation, the patient still had a chance to survive and recover.
The Skaven, on the other hand, were like a cancer—growing with the host, impossible to fully eradicate, and any attack against them would inevitably harm the host as well.
Frankly speaking, if most of this planet were ever overrun by Skaven, Duanmu Huai wouldn't hesitate to issue an Exterminatus Order, launching Whirlwind Torpedoes to turn the entire world into a burning fireball—roasting those damned rats alive from the inside out.
Because of that, he didn't plan to waste too much time on a bunch of rebels. Rebellions always collapsed once their leaders died. So his plan was simple: find and kill this Mallobaude as quickly as possible, then move south to face the Skaven threat.
In his eyes, that was a far greater danger than a mere uprising.
But first, he had to locate the bastard.
He turned his gaze northward. On the distant horizon, a dark shadow loomed like a stormcloud over the land. That was Bretonnia's most cursed, desolate territory—the stronghold of the traitor himself.
Mousillon.
Duanmu Huai had heard tales of this place before: that it was ruled by the most evil duke in all of Bretonnia, rumored to be a vampire.
It was said to harbor the most depraved of witches—ones who demanded the villagers' children as "tithes," weaving clothes from their hair and bathing in their blood.
And the cruelest of knights—riders who galloped out of the darkness to slay innocents in their beds, devour their children, and even rip out their souls.
If one wondered why, in a land so devoted to chivalry, no knight had come to bring justice to such evil, the answer was simple. Chivalry itself forbade it.
Bretonnian knights were bound by their vows of class loyalty. A knight could not raise his weapon against a noble lady—even if that lady was a witch who bathed in children's blood.
Likewise, they could not defy their superiors' orders, even if those superiors were tyrants and monsters. In Bretonnia, "duty" and "honoring ladies" had taken on some rather twisted interpretations.
It just went to show—not all virtues were necessarily good things.
As for why the Lady of the Lake herself didn't intervene… well, that was her problem, not his.
He might be a Grail Knight, but Duanmu Huai had never been one to abide by the so-called "code of chivalry." Anyone who stood in his way—be it man, demon, or goddess—would have their head smashed in all the same.
"Sir Knight, what do we do next?" Lorena asked.
"We march straight into their lair, kill those bastards, and move on."
He gave his answer decisively.
"That cursed place isn't worth lingering in…"
He turned his head toward Bambi and Odelle.
"You two want to stay here and enjoy the scenery, or are you coming with us?"
"Bambi goes with her kin! Bambi's not afraid of bad guys!"
Bambi clenched her fists and waved them eagerly, while Odelle simply nodded silently beside her.
"Fine, then."
Duanmu Huai said no more. He stretched out his hand, and several humanoid dolls appeared from thin air. Under the effect of his [Dragonification Power], their bodies shattered and reformed into massive, pitch-black dragons. Then Duanmu Huai summoned the Metal Secret Dragon, and everyone climbed onto its back.
"All right, let's go. Hopefully we can wrap this up quickly."
In most worlds, dragons were symbols of ancient power—ancient, mighty, rare, once rulers of creation before falling into slumber for mysterious reasons. The same was true here: almost no one had ever seen a true dragon, and it was believed they all slept in eternal rest.
So when dozens of dragons suddenly descended from the skies, the entire province was thrown into panic.
Peasants, thieves, and even the most depraved knights—none of their madness or arrogance mattered anymore. Before the dragon horde, all their cruelty and sin were meaningless.
"Clang… clang… clang…!"
The alarm bells rang as soldiers rushed to the castle walls, loosing arrows into the sky. But the feeble volley couldn't even slow the dragons. Instead, torrents of fire rained down, engulfing the entire castle in an inferno.
The dragons roared as they swept past. Mousillon's once-grand castle became a blazing furnace, flames gushing out of its windows, black smoke billowing skyward. Soldiers screamed as they burned alive; others threw down their weapons and fled in terror.
A cloud of black smoke burst from a flaming window, coalescing into a man in ornate robes. Though disheveled and scorched, he tried to flee, shrieking—only for a silver claw to pierce straight through his chest and pin him to the ground.
Duanmu Huai leapt down from the Metal Secret Dragon, landing heavily before the man.
Anyone who could survive that much fire clearly wasn't human.
"All right," Duanmu Huai said coldly. "Tell me—who are you?"
"I—I'm the lord of Mousillon…! Okarson!!"
"Okarson?" Duanmu Huai frowned at the unfamiliar name.
"Where's Mallobaude? Isn't he here?"
"Lord Mallobaude isn't here! He's at the front… in the north!"
The man stammered in panic. He had no idea who this terrifying figure was, only that the power radiating from him was far beyond comprehension.
"He's fighting the last of Bretonnia's dukes at Montfort! Once he wins, he'll be crowned King of all Bretonnia—he'll save this nation from the lies that have bound us all!"
Then his eyes suddenly widened as he noticed the insignia on Duanmu Huai's chest.
"Wait—you're a Grail Knight?!"
"Oh? And what of it?"
Duanmu Huai wasn't surprised that he'd been recognized; in Bretonnia, very few failed to know the Grail Knight's sigil.
But to his amusement, the man—Okarson—lunged forward, grabbing at him desperately.
"Grail Knight! Please listen! It's all a lie! Bretonnia—our knights—we've all been deceived by that fraud, the Lady of the Lake! You too!"
"Oh?" Duanmu Huai raised an eyebrow. "Go on, then. I'm listening."
"The Lady of the Lake… she isn't a goddess who protects Bretonnia! She's actually one of the Elven gods! She disguised herself as the Lady to trick us, to steal our faith and souls—to make us slaves protecting the Elves! You've been deceived, Sir Knight! That cursed Elf has fooled this entire kingdom with sweet words, and that's why we rose up—to cast off her lies!"
Okarson grew more and more agitated as he spoke.
"Lord Mallobaude drank from the Grail and saw the truth! He saw the Elves' deceit and the coming end of this world! The Elves already know the world will perish—they've abandoned it! They plan to flee to a new world! And the knights of Bretonnia—we are meant to be their slaves, defending their new home!"
"Oh… now that's interesting."
Duanmu Huai had to admit, the story was intriguing. At least now he understood why Mallobaude had rebelled.
"So tell me—what about the disappearance of the Lady's saint?"
"When the truth was exposed, those Elven agents lost their right to remain here—they ran away like the cowards they are!"
"I see…"
Duanmu Huai nodded, then placed his massive hand atop Okarson's head.
And squeezed.
Crunch.
The man's skull burst like a ripe tomato. Duanmu Huai shook the gore from his hand, climbed back onto the Metal Secret Dragon, and looked northward.
"All right. Let's go."
(End of Chapter)