A Core Ship From The Start

Chapter 133: Chapter 115 – What are you running from?!_1

Of course, Duanmu Huai hadn’t forgotten the bald old archbishop. He hastily broke the railing to pull the old man out. From him, Duanmu Huai learned of their dire situation – the Vampire Count had taken them hostage to resurrect the necromancer Nagash during a ceremony.

The elf princess’s blood was vital to Nagash’s divination, which is why Manfred fed her well, but placed her under a curse that made her weak and unable to escape.

Hmm… no wonder the Elf Princess was lifeless when Duanmu Huai examined her earlier. Even if she wasn’t dead, she might as well have been.

The bald old archbishop had a much worse fate. Manfred planned to use him as a vessel for the resurrected Nagash, and so tortured him in every possible way to make him mentally collapse, turning him into a living dead. Then Nagash could possess his body and be resurrected.

Duanmu Huai and his companions had arrived just in time. Manfred should have started the ceremony to resurrect Nagash a while ago, but not all of Nagash’s relics had been collected. In fact, several had been lost. An exasperated Nagash was on the verge of berating Manfred. Thus, Manfred had to find other relics to fill the void and left another necromancer, Heinrich, to guard the place.

As for this necromancer…well, Duanmu Huai didn’t encounter him, so that must mean Kevin and the others were not so lucky…

“Boom!!!”

A sudden loud noise came from outside. At this sound, Duanmu Huai raised an eyebrow.

Well, that definitely sounded unfortunate.

With no time to waste, Duanmu Huai quickly picked up the Elf Princess with one hand and the old archbishop with the other. Activating his jetpack, he leaped into the air and flew right out of the underground jail. But as soon as he landed, he saw an explosion on the distant castle wall. A group of mercenaries were frantically rushing out, chased by a towering figure.

“You go help those two, I’ll deal with this one!”

Seeing this, Duanmu Huai quickly ordered Ann. He rapidly accelerated forward, positioning himself in front of the giant figure. With a swing of his hammer, he knocked away the giant axe coming down on him, narrowly saving the two-handed swordsman from being cleaved in two.

“You finally came!!”

Seeing Duanmu Huai, both the two-handed swordsman and Kevin sighed in relief, quickly retreating. Duanmu Huai, holding his War Hammer, was sizing up the creature in front of him, which was about his size. It wore bright red armor, adorned with white skull heads and bat symbols just like Duanmu’s. Carrying a giant double-edged axe, it had a hideous face resembling a skull under the helmet. Green flames flickered in its black eye sockets, an intimidating sight to behold.

“So this is your opponent?”

“Beware! The Steel Knight!”

Kevin shouted urgently this time as well.

“It’s not an ordinary undead monster! Its name is Zeal, once the champion warrior of the Brutal God! And now, it is the death lord of Nagash!”

“Oh, finally a worthy opponent to practice with.”

Hearing Kevin’s words, Duanmu Huai squinted his eyes immediately. The champion warrior of the Brutal God? This creature won’t be easy to handle, but… let’s deal with it when the time comes!

The death lord didn’t seem to take Duanmu Huai seriously at all. Without even giving Duanmu Huai an extra glance, it raised its giant axe and made a harsh swing. Meanwhile, Duanmu Huai, without any hesitation, tightened his grip on the war hammer, swung it forward, and directly hit the death lord’s battle axe.

“Thud!!!”

The war hammer clashed with the giant axe, creating a chilling impact sound. The ground around the two crumbled downward. Both of them trembled all over. It was not until then did the death lord finally cast a serious gaze at Duanmu Huai. But Duanmu Huai was no fool. Just as the death lord was about to make his move again, Duanmu Huai flashed backward suddenly, and dozens of puppets appeared in front of the death lord.

These fragile puppets naturally could not withstand the death lord. They were utterly shattered under the smashing swing of the roaring battle axe. But for Duanmu Huai, his goal had been achieved. As the puppets were sent to the grave by the Death Lord, the massive mobile armor once again appeared on Duanmu Huai’s person. At the same time, he once again expended 1000 experience to reset the card [Armed Enhancement]. Very soon, Duanmu Huai was shrouded in dazzling red light. With a roar, he brandished his war hammer and charged at the death lord once again!

“Boom! Boom! Boom!!”

The of their confrontation was like two humanoid tornadoes fighting each other, with no need for any tricks or cunning. They both simply wielded their weapons and swung at each other. Whoever could knock the other down first, would be the victor!!

Zeal, already a formidable opponent as the Brutal God’s champion warrior, has now been transformed into an undead, the death lord. Even a careless swing of its axe could shatter the fortified castle walls that even a catapult would struggle to penetrate.

Meanwhile, Duanmu Huai was no slouch. With the help of [Mobile Armor(3)], [Armed Enhancement(2)] and [Sacred Knight’s Summon(2)], and an additional 2 attack points from his base body, his attack stat soared to a staggering 9. His blows from the Thunder Warhammer pushed Zeal backward continuously, making the terrifying death lord retreat at every swing. After each blow from the Thunder Warhammer, the ground beneath Zeal would crack as a result.

This naturally enrages Zeal. Being a champion warrior of Chaos and also a death lord, he could not accept being pushed back by such a… (What the hell is this thing?).

How dare it!?

“Roar—————!!!”

Furious, Zeal roared and released his battle spirit in a swirling explosion. He once again grabbed his axe and took a swing at Duanmu Huai. Facing the blow that could split the earth, Duanmu Huai showed no fear. After all, he was wearing the [Mobile Armor]. Thanks to the [Guardian] trait, only the [Mobile Armor] would be destroyed if he was defeated. At this moment, Duanmu Huai spotted an opportunity to counterattack!

Against Zeal’s onslaught, Duanmu Huai charged fearlessly into the raging soul storm. He lowered his head, gripping his war hammer and breaking through the deathly force like a stubborn rock facing torrential currents. He made it next to Zeal and brought his war hammer down hard. At the same time, Zeal’s axe had reached Duanmu Huai’s head. In that fleeting moment, Duanmu Huai suddenly tilted his head, narrowly dodging the axe that almost grazed his ear, allowing it to land directly on his collarbone.

Meanwhile, the Thunder Warhammer in Duanmu Huai’s hand, imbued with Holy Light and lightning, struck Zeal’s chest.

“Bang!!!”

The next moment, both sides were sent flying, crashing heavily into the walls on each side. Seeing this, the others were dumbfounded, unable to say a word.

“Mr. Knight!?”

Ann, who was busy lifting the curse from the Elf Princess and tending to the old Archbishop’s wounds, was taken aback by the sight. She hadn’t expected that the giant from the other side could send Duanmu Huai flying!

“Crash!!!”

However, just as everyone was unsure what to do, the collapsed ruins suddenly overturned, and Duanmu Huai strode out from them. His Mobile Armor was completely shattered, but Duanmu Huai himself remained unharmed.

But Zeal was not so lucky. Duanmu Huai’s Thunder Warhammer was imbued with Sacred Power from Sigma. Having struck Zeal straight on the chest in this last blow, the Sacred Power from Sigma broke through Zeal’s defense and ran completely through him.

Upon standing up again, the armor and bones inside Zeal’s chest had started to crumble and disintegrate. The Sacred Power of Sigma, assisted by lightning, had penetrated Zeal’s entire body. But Zeal seemed unbothered. He just kept staring at Duanmu Huai, ready to grip his Battle Axe again, when suddenly his hands turned to dust and drifted away in the wind, and the enormous Double-edged Axe crashed heavily to the ground.

“Whoosh……..”

A fierce wind howled, turning the towering Undead Warrior to dust that dissipated in the wind. After the wind passed, the only thing left on the ground was the huge Double-edged Axe.

“Damn…….”

Only now did Duanmu Huai slump to the ground, inhaling sharply. Even though the Mobile Armor had blocked the Necromancer’s Critical Hit for him, the subsequent impact landed squarely on Duanmu Huai’s body—just as hard as if he’d been hit by a runaway truck.

“Mr. Knight, are you okay!!”

At this, Ann also hurried over, looking anxiously at Duanmu Huai as she asked. Duanmu Huai merely shook his head.

“I’m fine, just a little shaken……”

“That’s good…….. we should leave this place.”

“Master, we can’t get away.”

However, just then, Ogis walked over and said.

“We’ve been surrounded.”

“Oh?”

Upon hearing this, Duanmu Huai frowned, then stood up and looked out from the castle wall. As far as the eye could see, thousands upon thousands of Undead Army had completely surrounded them from all sides. Obviously, their adversaries were also ready for a fight. Having detected someone breaking into their prison, they naturally responded by bringing forth their full might.

“What… what do we do now…?! Let’s run!”

Seeing all the Undying Spirits outside, the mercenaries became pale with fear. They were unlucky. Half of them had already died in the battle with the Necromancer, and the remainder were all wounded. Even Kevin was panting heavily, looking grave.

However……

“Run? What’s there to run for?”

Duanmu Huai snorted coldly, frightening the shivering mercenaries even more as he squinted at the battlefield beyond the city walls—in the midst of the Undead Army, a bald head stood out.

“Just in time, let’s clean them all up in one go!”

As he spoke, Duanmu Huai put on his helmet and then opened the communication channel.

“Mia—prepare for ground bombardment!”

Soon, the always leisurely and calm voice of the Artificial Angel sounded in his ear.

“Understood, Master.”