5 Chapter 3 Go to the Ruins_1

"I'm so sorry...!"

Following Duanmu Huai, Elisa was looking embarrassed.

"I didn't mean to do that; it was just that I was too tired and was startled..."

"Mm."

"Oh, no, I didn't mean it like that... I wasn't saying you, Sir Knight, are ugly. It's just, well... it's just..."

Elisa stammered for quite a while before finally murmuring.

"Just... a tad scary."

"That's alright, I'm used to it."

Duanmu Huai was pretty laid-back about it. Much as Elisa said, he wasn't really ugly, but... exceedingly frightening.

He had a fierce and sinister aura like that of a serial killer in a Hollywood movie.

If you described him, he'd be utterly ferocious, leopard-headed, ring-eyed, and could play the part of Li Kui without makeup, instilling the fear of death with just one look at him.

After all these years, Duanmu Huai had grown accustomed to it.

It was tiring, so he figured, he might as well lay back and let it destroy him.

After all, what can you do when even a cosmetic clinic's doctor suggests you can only be made to look like the Incredible Hulk?

Just then, Duanmu Huai noticed a cloud of dust up ahead. He halted and looked forward. Soon, several heat signatures were marked.

Hm? What's this...?

Seeing the heat signatures before him, Duanmu Huai quirked an eyebrow then stood his ground, gesturing to Elisa.

"Stay behind me."

"Oh, yes."

Upon hearing Duanmu Huai's command, Elisa obediently nodded and hid behind him. Real-world people were significantly more obedient than NPCs. When doing NPC protection missions, those morons would just charge headlong into enemies, and some would even directly trigger alarms, forcing him into annihilation mode... Those idiots must be doing it on purpose, right?

As Duanmu Huai mulled over these dull thoughts, the sand and dust up ahead parted to reveal a group of horse-riding Evil God Cultists, who now stood before him. Gazing at the ferocious-looking Power Armor up ahead, the Cultists too were taken aback. However, when they spotted Elisa behind Duanmu Huai, they immediately adjusted their maneuvers.

"Kill him, seize the sacrifice!!"

The leading Cultist drew his weapon and issued the command. Following suit, the others raised their weapons, whipped their horses, and charged towards them!

"Hmph!"

In the face of the approaching enemies, Duanmu Huai merely grunted before striding forward. He raised his War Hammer high and forcefully swung it downward.

"Bang—————!!!"

The electrifying War Hammer smashed straight onto the head of the oncoming horse, knocking it to the ground. Its rider, an Evil God Cultist, flew out screaming as Duanmu Huai backhanded him and sent him hurtling away.

"Haah!!!"

At that moment, another Cultist came galloping from the side. With a loud yell, he swung his sword down onto Duanmu Huai's armor. Yet his attack simply bounced off the Power Armor, leaving no mark. Before the Cultist could react, Duanmu Huai, the colossal Steel Warrior, slammed into him, sending him and his horse flying out.

To Duanmu Huai, these Cultists posed no threat whatsoever. Compared to the Chaotic Demon, their attack was like a tickle. As a result, Duanmu Huai didn't even need to dodge. He stood still like a Steel Fortress and blocked the horsemen's onslaught, knocking them off their horses.

In the blink of an eye, the Cultists were defeated by Duanmu Huai, left in shambles and nearly obliterated.

What on earth was that thing?

Witnessing his own horsemen being downed one by one by Duanmu Huai, the squad leader turned as pale as a sheet. Although this guy had seemed formidable from the outside, he hadn't expected him to be this formidable. His own men weren't even a match for him, and their attacks couldn't even leave a scratch on that robust armor!!

Was this creature summoned through the ritual? Then why isn't it obeying them? And why was it together with the sacrifice? Why was it even protecting her? Had something gone wrong?

I must report this to the boss immediately!!

With that thought, the leader immediately turned tail and ran. But as soon as he turned around, everything in front of him went dark. When he instinctively looked up, a massive shadow was descending from the sky, crashing towards him.

"Boom!!!"

The ground trembled, and smoke billowed.

When Duanmu Huai emerged from the smoke, all that was left behind him were the bodies of the squad leader and his horse.

"They sure are quick to catch up."

Duanmu Huai discarded the body in his hand, glancing over at Elisa, who was pale as a sheet, and remained silent. He wasn't surprised by this development. Given that the Core Cabin could detect and teleport him near relevant mainline information, the girl must have something to do with the mainline mission of this planet, and perhaps even with the Holy Artifact.

Well, they're usually the main characters anyway... Often it's 'heaven bestows great tasks on those who can handle them,' forcing them to go through family destruction, disability, betrothal annulment, family extermination, and whatnot...

"We need to leave here."

Duanmu Huai said, and Elisa shook her head.

"It's too difficult... The nearest city is nearly ten days' journey away. We can't possibly evade the search parties of those Evil God Cultists..."

"That indeed is a problem."

Duanmu Huai nodded, and then an idea popped into his head.

"Right, are there any ruins or something of the sort around here?"

"... Ruins??"