A Core Ship From The Start

Chapter 251: Chapter 201: Rush In_1

Early the next morning, Duanmu Huai and his party set off again, heading towards Stonewell Castle. The woman stayed in her original place, seeming not yet ready to go to Stonewell Castle – well, in everyone’s opinion, it’s best she remained unprepared.

“Beloved, there won’t really be that kind of spider in there, will there?”

Bambi, who was sprawled on Duanmu Huai’s shoulder, asked anxiously. It was no wonder she was so uneasy, anyone who heard that woman’s words would imagine a massive, furry black spider inside the castle, its body covered with decapitated human bodies like pupae, bobbing up and down with the spider’s movements…

“Oh…”

Apparently, Audrey had conjured up the same picture. She turned green and looked away, clearly not intending to carry on imagining such things.

“I don’t think there will be… uhm, did the records of the explorers mention it?”

Duanmu Huai turned to the Forest Princess and asked curiously, and she shook her head in response.

“They mentioned the castle doors were tightly shut. Without siege equipment, they couldn’t get in, so they bypassed it by taking another route. They don’t know what’s inside the castle.”

“Whatever it is, it won’t be a spider… We’ll find out when we get there.”

The road to the castle was far from peaceful. In fact, it was just like any ordinary castle, with guards stationed everywhere. The idea of killing them seemed like a waste of effort, which naturally put off Duanmu Huai.

“Master, what’s wrong?”

Perhaps sensing Duanmu Huai’s mood, Miss Ogis asked curiously. Duanmu Huai merely shook his head.

“Nothing, it’s just the idea of them resurrecting after being killed doesn’t exactly motivate me to fight them. But these guys sure are troublesome…”

Actually, having to confront those in their path wouldn’t be too burdensome for Duanmu Huai. But the problem was, these soldiers were deviously hiding and launching ambushes on the road, which was most annoying.

Upon hearing Duanmu Huai’s complaint, Miss Ogis pondered for a while before suggesting.

“If that’s the case, I have a proposal…”

Miss Ogis’s suggestion took Duanmu Huai by surprise, but he found the content of her proposal a bit frustrating.

“Is this really okay, Miss Ogis?”

Audrey sitting behind Duanmu Huai asked uneasily, while Mistelina next to her seemed rather excited.

“Hahaha, this seems kind of fun.”

“What on earth are you thinking…”

Looking resigned, Duanmu Huai thought Miss Ogis’s proposal was quite simple.

The idea was that everyone would climb onto Duanmu Huai’s back and let him carry them all across.

Of course, for an ordinary person, this would be impossible. But Duanmu Huai was much taller and stronger than most, while the girls around him were generally petite, so it wasn’t entirely unfeasible.

As it was, Audrey, Mistelina and Lorena were sitting on Duanmu Huai’s back, while Bambi and Miss Ogis rested on his shoulders as usual. Princess Melfi of the Spirit Rat Tribe was nestled in Mistelina’s arms. Miss Ogis had secured them using her puppet threads to prevent them from falling off. Duanmu Huai looked as if he were carrying a large-stack of sacks.

What’s more, these ‘sacks’ wouldn’t stay still.

“Wow, so this is what a man’s back feels like? It’s hard.”

Mistelina stretched out her hand curiously to knock and prod on Duanmu Huai’s back, to which Melfi, cradled in her arms, rolled her eyes.

“That’s the armor, your highness… Of course, it’s hard.”

“Ugh… I feel kind of shy…”

Although Lorena had been carried by Duanmu Huai several times, her face was still flushed. Audrey, meanwhile, looked anxiously at Duanmu Huai.

“Master, won’t this affect you physically?”

“No problem at all.”

Duanmu Huai waves his war hammer. Although these girls added some burden, they weren’t very heavy, so they didn’t hinder his actions. If attacked, Miss Ogis would be watching. No problems are expected.

It was a bit peculiar, but if it could speed things up, it was a good choice.

“Are you ready, Miss Ogis?”

“I’m ready, Master.”

“Good, then…”

As he spoke, Duanmu Huai bent down and stared ahead.

“Let’s go!!”

The next instant, accompanied by the roar of the jetpack and the girls’ screams, Duanmu Huai charged forward like a rampaging rhino.

“Thud——— thud——— thud———”

Duanmu Huai sprinted at large strides on the road, his massive body perfectly balanced under the influence of his Power Armor. Even when burdened with several people, Duanmu Huai’s movement didn’t change in the slightest.

Of course, the road ahead was heavily guarded by fully armored soldiers wielding long spears, some even equipped with crossbows. But to Duanmu Huai, these obstacles were meaningless. He roared and directly charged at the opposition.

Even the soldiers who had lost their rationality sensed danger and fear at the sight of Duanmu Huai’s arrival. They instinctively backed off and raised their spears to the front. Meanwhile, behind them, soldiers stood behind the crossbow turrets – yet at this moment, Duanmu Huai’s towering figure had completely swallowed them.

The soldiers were screaming, but rather than a battle cry against their enemy, their shrieks were filled with fear. They gripped their long spears and charged at the gigantic enemy who donned peculiar armor. However, their attacks were useless: the spears shattered immediately upon impact with the armor, and the soldiers themselves were sent flying by the resulting massive impact.

“Bang!!”

At the same time, a large arrow fired from the crossbow turret struck Duanmu Huai’s chest. Yet, the arrow, which was strong enough to pierce a man, did not slow Duanmu Huai down. As soldiers hiding in the jungles on either side tried to attack Duanmu Huai, he had already breached the front line and advanced without a hitch.

After breaking through two checkpoints, Duanmu Huai entered a tunnel. The tunnel was dimly lit, but this was no match for Duanmu Huai. He rushed through the gloomy tunnel and arrived at the city gate. Between him and the gate was a narrow path, with a precipice on either side. The path led to a giant gate and a bridge leading to it.

It was indeed a place easy to defend but difficult to conquer.

Duanmu Huai took a glance and continued to charge forward.

However, just at that moment………

“Whoosh!!”

A shadow suddenly fell from the sky, landing in front of Duanmu Huai.

“Foolish……”

“Get out of the way!”

Duanmu Huai couldn’t care less for others’ idle talk. He simply raised his war hammer and swung it with a bellow. The Thunder Warhammer whistled through the air and hit the shadow that hadn’t landed yet, sending it flying. The shadow flailed in the air before falling into the precipice below.

Duanmu Huai did not pay attention to this temporary obstacle. To him, it was barely worth considering as a hindrance. At this moment, he had already passed the rickety path over the precipice and stood in front of the city gate.

At this moment, the city gate was fully blocked by a large iron fence, making it impossible to open. Clearly, Duanmu Huai could hardly care about such minor issues. He paused in front of the gate, then suddenly leaped up into the air!

“Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!”

Accompanied by the terrified screams of Audrey and Lorena, and the excited shrieks of Mistelina and Bambi, Duanmu Huai, carrying the girls, took to the skies. At the same time, he swiftly shifted his gaze to survey the entire castle.

From the exterior, the entire castle seemed to have entered a state of combat readiness. Crossbow turrets were placed on the stairs on both sides of the gate, and fully armed soldiers were stationed. In the courtyard, even more soldiers were held in reserve – as if they were waiting to go to war with an enemy that didn’t seem to exist.

So who exactly is their opponent?

This thought flashed through Duanmu Huai’s mind but was quickly dismissed.

At this moment, Mistelina’s voice suddenly rang out.

“Knight, there is a tower over there!!”

“Hm?”@@novelbin@@

Following the direction of Mistelina’s pointing finger, Duanmu Huai indeed saw a high tower to one side of the castle. It stood alone on the outside of the castle, connected only by a bridge. Something seemed to be atop it……

“It’s the Mother of the Earth! Knight, please take us there!”

“Alright.”

Since Mistelina had said so, Duanmu Huai immediately changed direction and flew towards the tower. Then, he descended from the sky, landing heavily on the top of the tower.

“Thud!!”

Duanmu Huai landed on the ground and looked around. The entire top of the tower was a circular platform devoid of anything, except for a ring in the middle that held two massive… what were those things?

“It looks like a… finger…”

Bambi nervously popped her head out and looked at that thing. On hearing Bambi’s words, Duanmu Huai nodded in agreement. What lay before them indeed resembled human fingers. Based on the appearance, they seemed to be the index and middle fingers, half-buried in the soil, with only these two fingers sticking out.

Or perhaps, there were only these two fingers left.

“…Mother of the Earth, how could…”

At this moment, Mistelina walked to the front of the two fingers, a look of sorrow on her face as she gently touched them.

“Could it be….you have truly faded away?”