A Core Ship From The Start

Chapter 242: Chapter 192 Attack_1

Returning to Bartonilla, Duanmu Huai sighed lightly as he looked out at the picturesque landscape before him.

To be honest, the beautiful rural scene was quite deceptive. When looking at the serene grassland, blue sky, white clouds, and distant castle, one would never imagine that a fierce war was actually happening on this land.

Moreover, evil was on the brink of victory.

As Duanmu Huai took in the view, he was also strategizing in his mind. True, the Endgame was a significant event in Star Ocean Online that impacted players, but it was not recognized as such until after it had transpired. Due to the destruction of the entire planet at that point, the narrations from various players contained many inconsistencies.

This was understandable, since people would always be up to their antics, and with no way to verify, a player’s account of having witnessed the world’s destruction could hardly be disputed.

After all, the whole planet had exploded.

For instance, nobody in his previous life had ever mentioned the Eternal Chosen One. Judging by the current situation, this information should be a first-hand military intelligence from the frontline. Evidently, players who remained on the Novice Planet could not meet the level requirement to reach the frontline, while those who could have already left the Novice Village.

What the players knew was only the overall state of affairs. They were obviously not privy to top-secret internal military information.

In Duanmu Huai’s view, the civil war in Bartonilla was not the greatest threat, neither was the predictable Chaos Army. The real problem was the Skaven Ratmans — those were the creatures on the planet that needed to be eradicated. Compared to the mortal disease-like Chaos Army that would kill swiftly if not treated, they were more like a cancer, growing with the host and almost impossible to completely eliminate. Any attack on them would also severely harm the host.

Frankly speaking, if most of the regions on the planet were occupied by the Skaven Ratmans, Duanmu Huai would, without hesitation, issue the extinction order, and use the Whirlwind Torpedo to turn the whole planet into a blazing fireball, incinerating those damned rats.

Therefore, Duanmu Huai did not plan on wasting too much time on a rebel army. When the head of a rebellion falls, the faction would crumble. Thus, he planned to dispose of this guy named Malobode quickly and then head towards the Southern Countries to counter the threat of the Ratmans.

In Duanmu’s view, this posed a much greater threat than a rebellion.

But first, he had to find out where this guy had run off to.

With that thought in mind, Duanmu quickly redirected his gaze towards the north — on the distant horizon, dark shadows loomed over everything. That was the most evil and barren territory in Bartonilla, the land of the traitor.

Muxilong.

Duanmu Huai had heard rumors about this land — it was home to the vilest Duke in all of Bartonilla, and rumors even suggested that he was a vampire.

It was also inhabited by the most depraved witch — she forced villagers to offer up their children as “tithe,” weaving their hair into clothing and bathing in their blood.

Last but not least, it was the lair of the most brutal knight — it was said he would sweep in on his horse from the darkness, murdering the innocent in their beds, eating their children, and even peeling away their souls.

While it might seem odd that knights hadn’t visited to uphold justice in this one area of Bartonilla, so famous for its chivalry, the reason was rather simple. Knights, too, adhered to the principle of loyalty to their class, so a knight of Bartonilla could not point his spear at a noblewoman — even if she was a witch who sustained herself with the blood of children.

They also could not disobey the orders of their superiors, no matter how brutal the duke was. With their duty and kindness towards ladies newly interpretated in this territory, it was clear not all virtues were essentially good.

Why the Lake Goddess herself did not intervene…. was the Lake Goddess’s problem.

Judging Duanmu Huai by his actions, he never adhered to the code of chivalry. Even if it meant hammering up the Lake Goddess, he would not hesitate if she stood in his way.

“Sir Knight, what shall we do next?”

“Go straight into their lair, get rid of the thugs, and then leave.”

In response to Lorena’s query, Duanmu Huai provided a decisive answer.

“That evil land is no place to linger…”

Saying this, Duanmu Huai turned his head and glanced at Bambi and Audrey.

“Will you stay here admiring the view, or will you come with us?”

“Bambi wants to go with his master. Bambi’s not afraid of the bad guys.”

Bambi clenched her fist tightly and swung it around, while Audrey simply nodded in silence.

“Alright then.”

Without further ado, Duanmu Huai extended his hand and several puppets appeared out of thin air. Promptly, under the influence of the Power of Dragonization, their bodies shattered into frightening dark dragons. Thereafter, Duanmu Huai summoned the Metal Secret Dragon and climbed onto it, leading others.

“Alright, let’s go. Hope we can settle this quickly.”

In most worlds, the dragon race was seen as ancient symbols with distinct characteristics – ancient, powerful, rare, attempted to rule the world once, but eventually fell into slumber due to various inexplicably reasons. In this world, it was the same, as hardly anyone ever saw a real giant dragon. It was rumored that these giant dragons had fallen into a deep sleep and were almost impossible to awaken.

Therefore, when dozens of giant dragons flew over the territory, all inhabitants were thrown into panic.

Regardless of the oppressed peasants, the brutal rogues, or the fallen knights, even if they have gone so mad as to disdain the Lake Goddess and have their hands covered in blood and sin, all of these mean nothing in the face of the giant dragon army.

“Ding…….ding…….ding……….!”

The bell tolls, and the soldiers rush to the city walls of the castle, raising their bows and arrows to aim at the giant dragon in the sky. However, the sparse arrows completely fail to stop the giant dragon. On the contrary, a torrent of flame falls from the sky, instantly engulfing the entire castle in a roaring fire.

The dragons swoop past, and Muxilong’s grandiose and solemn castle is immediately transformed into a burning furnace. Erupting flames spurt from the windows, causing a thick black smoke to billow up from the castle. The soldiers on the wall attempting to resist either die screaming under the flames or throw down their weapons and flee for their lives.

A clump of black smoke flew out of the window enveloped by flames, transforming into a man dressed in regal attire. He was a mess at the moment, but he was still screaming and trying to escape — however, the next moment, a silver claw pierced through the man’s body, pinning him firmly to the ground and strangling any thoughts of escape.

Following that, Duanmu Huai leapt off the Metal Secret Dragon and stood in front of this man.

Considering the man hadn’t died in all of this, it was clear he was no longer human.

“Alright, tell me, who are you?”

“I, I am the Lord of Muxilong…Orgus!!”

“Orgus?”

Hearing this unfamiliar name, Duanmu Huai furrowed his brows.

“Where is Malobode? Is he not here?”

“Lord Malobode is not here, he is at the front … in the North!”

Faced with Duanmu Huai’s questions, the man hurriedly began to speak. He didn’t know who this terrifying being before him was, but it was clear that he possessed a strength beyond his imagination. Although he didn’t know why he was searching for Malobode, it was clear this was not something of his concern.

“He’s in Monteford fighting with the last duke of Bartonilla! Once he wins, he’ll become the king of all Bartonilla, rescuing the entire country from that evil lie…”

While speaking, the man spotted the badge on Duanmu Huai’s chest, and his eyes suddenly widened.

“Wait, you’re a Holy Grail Knight?!”

“Oh? So what if I am?”

As for the man recognizing him as a Holy Grail Knight, Duanmu Huai wasn’t surprised. After all, in Bartonilla, those who didn’t recognize the Holy Grail Knight’s emblem were the minority!

However, what Duanmu Huai did not expect was that this man called Orgus would reach out and grab his hand after finding out his identity.

“Holy Grail Knight! Please listen to me, all of this is a lie! Bartonilla, we, the knights, and everyone else have been deceived by the fraudulent Lake Goddess! You have also been deceived!”

“Oh?”

Hearing this, Duanmu Huai looked at him with interest.

“Come on, tell me, what’s going on?”

“The Lake Goddess… the Lake Goddess is not the deity that shelters Bartonilla! She is actually the Elf God! The reason she disguises herself as the Lake Goddess is to deceive us Bartonillans, to obtain our faith and souls, so that we become slaves to guard the elves!! Holy Grail Knight, please listen to me, you are just being deceived by that damn elf! She has used sweet words to deceive the people and our nation, so we gathered to fight against all of this!”

Talking about this, Orgus became increasingly agitated.

“Lord Malobode obtained the Holy Grail, and when he drank from it, he discovered the whole truth! About the Elves! And about the impending apocalypse! The Elves were already aware of everything! They have already abandoned this world, trying to make their way to a whole new world! And the knights of Bartonilla will become the guardians of that world, protecting the Elves’ new home!!”

“Oh…interesting.”

It must be said, hearing this fellow’s revelation, Duanmu Huai did find it quite interesting; he finally understood why Malobode had launched a rebellion.

“So, what’s the story about the Lake Goddess Fairy disappearing?”

“After the lie was exposed, those Elves acting as spokespeople naturally lost their qualifications to stay and fled!”

“Oh…”

Hearing this, Duanmu Huai nodded, then extended his hand, gently laying it on Orgus’s head.@@novelbin@@

Then, he grabbed forcefully.

“Pfft.”

Immediately afterwards, Orgus’s head was crushed like a tomato. Duanmu Huai lifted his hand, returning to the Metal Secret Dragon.

“Alright, let’s go to the North.”