Chapter 58: Chapter 45 The Warning of Extinction_1
In the end, Duanmu Huai accepted the task. After all, he didn’t want the Novice’s Village to blow up where it was. Plus… Duanmu Huai wasn’t exactly clueless about how to tackle this task.
In fact, in the game, mid-late stage players had discussed this several times – if they had sensed the danger to Novice Planet at the time, would there have been a way to go back and help complete this task.
The conclusion they came up with was… it could have indeed been possible.
Because looking at the entire Doomsday event, even though Chaos prevailed in the end, the Chaos Legion was the least involved. The ones really causing issues were mainly four races: the Green Orcs who loved full-scale invasions (WAAAAGH) across the continent, the digging Ratmen, Necromancers who planned on ruling the world with death, and Vampires rallying under the flag of the Empire.
This was also why players generally had a low sense of alertness because the majority of the monsters they faced were these creatures. It gave the impression that they were just playing typical tower defense games.
For example, defending the Empire from the Vampires, protecting Bartonilla from the Green Orcs, safeguarding Zhen Dan from the Ratmen…
Who would have imagined that in the end, the Chaos Legion would suddenly make a grand entrance, blow up the entire planet with a “BANG”?
Isn’t this akin to humanity fighting World War II on Earth, only for extraterrestrials to suddenly appear and annihilate the planet?
Who could see that coming?
In essence, many alien races were causing a ruckus. All of them, except for the Green Orcs (because they only wanted to WAAAAAGH), were acting with the goal of world conquest, leading to the strenuous efforts of forces trying to maintain order on the continent. Meanwhile, the Chaos Legion quietly caused trouble in this chaos. They successfully opened the third Gate of Chaos, causing the planet to be engulfed into subspace. This made them the opportunist who outsmarted everyone in the end.
So, in retrospect, if they wanted to prevent all this, the best solution would have been to get rid of the deplorable Green Orcs, undead, and Ratmen to minimize their threat. Then stop the third Gate of Chaos from opening…
Among these, the most significant was the artifact located beneath the Sacred Temple of Ulric in Midheim. It was rumored that the Chaos Legion got hold of this artifact and performed a ceremony, which destroyed the entire planet.
Therefore, for the players, the most cost-effective method would have been to obliterate the Sacred Temple of Ulric before the Chaos Legion could reach it and blow up the artifact with it. If it couldn’t be blown up, it could at least be taken away. This way, at least the worst-case scenario could be avoided.
Even though Duanmu Huai wanted to confiscate it now, the Sacred Temple of Ulric hadn’t been taken over yet. Furthermore, Ulric’s disciples were formidable fighters. If Duanmu Huai were to charge ahead now, he’d most likely get beaten to a pulp. Therefore he decided to enhance his abilities first before discussing what to do next.
Luckily, there were still several years until Doomsday. Since the Doomsday event hadn’t started yet, Duanmu Huai had enough time to strengthen his cards and levels.
In this regard, the Lake Goddess was quite generous with her information.
In the Monastery of Monteford, a powerful Necromancer Artifact, the Skull Staff, was sealed. It could enhance the power of Necromancers, and rumors said that another Necromancer had recently been eyeing this artifact.
In the ruins of Todd’s Ruins, a crown of Witchcraft carried the will of an Evil Undead Mage. It contained the residual will of a legendary Necromancer. Anyone swayed by it would become a puppet controlled by the Crown of Witchcraft.
On the iceberg in the Milagrenuo region, a powerful Chaos Champion Warrior was once slain by Sigma. His residual Chaos Grave Digging Sword still remained frozen beneath the iceberg. This demon sword would absorb the souls of all it slain, binding them within it. Yep, why does this sound so familiar?
Wasn’t the Chaos Champion Warrior named Arthas?
In any event, the Lake Goddess shared some information with Duanmu Huai. Most of them… or basically all of them were about where the Chaos and Evil Artifacts were located. She expressed that since Duanmu Huai could completely annihilate these artifacts (alright, it seemed like she knew the Holy Grail had been disassembled), she hoped that Duanmu Huai would find and disassemble the other artifacts too. Without these evil artifacts, darkness and chaos wouldn’t dare to wreak havoc on this continent anymore.
Well… You sure aren’t hiding the fact that you want to screw me over, are you?
Even though the Lake Goddess made it sound noble and grand, Duanmu Huai still understood her veiled intentions. This was essentially her asking him to draw attention and incur hatred from others. After all, if he were to take these artifacts, it’s inevitable that he would catch the eye of alien races like the Vampires and Orcs. In that case… Hmm?
It doesn’t seem much different from the current situation.
As a Judge, shouldn’t I be battering these guys black and blue instead of getting tipsy and brotherly with them over drinks?
And so, Duanmu Huai and the Lake Goddess made a pleasant deal. She needed him to fight against Chaos and Evil. As for Duanmu Huai, as a Judge, it was his duty to fight and exterminate Chaos.
Besides, he did take the Holy Grail, so he couldn’t be too unreasonable since the Lake Goddess didn’t pursue the matter. It’s always good to have more friends right? Although, one should be wary with native friends like her to avoid being sold out without even realizing it.
As a reward, the Lake Goddess not only allowed Duanmu Huai to obtain those artifacts but also granted him the title of “Holy Grail Knight.” Although theoretically, only those who drink from the Holy Grail could become a Holy Grail Knight, Duanmu Huai was too cautious and the Holy Grail had been confiscated. Consequently, the Lake Goddess had to bless him differently, giving him a small token of her appreciation.
As for Duanmu Huai, he didn’t really care. As long as he didn’t drink anything strange, he could be at ease to some extent.
But if what was drunk got into his body, he would need to be careful.
And thus… the action begins.
Duanmu Huai wasn’t sure how many of the artifacts mentioned by the Lake Goddess would be recognized by the system as Holy Artifacts. Nevertheless, since he had accepted the task, he had no intention of giving up, right?
If there were artifacts that were recognized as Holy Artifacts, then it would be perfect; Duanmu Huai would be able to quickly level up his Space Station and activate the divine justice mode. At that point, dealing with these creatures would be a walk in the park.
Regardless of the outcome, after accepting the task from the Lake Goddess, Duanmu Huai finally had specific locations of potential Holy Artifacts.
And now, he only had one thing left to do.
Go get… those things!