Early the next morning, Duanmu Huai set out from the camp with the others, heading for the slums to begin his investigation.
The road into the slums was extremely difficult. After all, it was the slums. You could imagine what kind of place it was—endless clusters of low, crooked houses, built without any regard for zoning or structural rules. All the buildings were crammed together so tightly that only a person-wide gap was left between them for walking. It was practically identical to a rush-hour train packed to bursting.
Moving through a place like this was obviously no easy task.
This was also why General Pastel hadn't included the slums in their operations plan. The radiation already made it hard enough to deal with, and those stacked-up, jumbled buildings were the biggest obstacle of all.
"This won't be easy. What's your plan?"
Pastel stood beside Duanmu Huai, frowning as he looked at the maze-like slum ahead. Just looking at it gave him a headache.
"That's simple."
Duanmu Huai replied calmly, then activated the comms channel.
"Mia."
"I'm here~~ Master, how may I serve you?"
"Give me a carpet-style saturation bombing of the marked location. Flatten the whole damn area."
"Understood~~~"
Mia's voice was still casual and breezy. Apparently, this puppet had introduced herself as a home-use robot from Sky City's amusement park. Her tone might have been deliberately programmed to sound like that.
After giving the order, Duanmu Huai raised his warhammer.
"What are you doing?"
Pastel looked at him, confused—but before he could say more, he heard the whistling of incoming fire from the sky.
Whooooosh—BOOM!!!
An explosion thundered across the slums.
A wave of fire and concussive blasts engulfed the entire area. The shockwaves tore through the low buildings, blowing them apart like they were made of cardboard.
Seeing this, both General Pastel and his soldiers were stunned. Some even dropped to their knees, bowing to the ground and loudly praising the miracle of Sigmar. Even Pastel himself dropped to one knee, pressing a hand over his chest and staring at Duanmu Huai in awe.
"My God... he really is Sigmar's Chosen One! His divine envoy!"
Duanmu Huai didn't care what these people were thinking. He simply raised his hammer, directing the bombardment, while watching the system messages scroll past his eyes.
[Chaos Cultist takes 100 bombing damage]
[Chaos Cultist takes 150 bombing damage]
[Chaos Cultist killed]
[You gain 15 experience points]
[Chaos Cultist takes 30 splash damage]
See? Why bother fighting them directly when you can just blow them all up?
Calm as ever, Duanmu Huai watched the battle log scroll. This was the player's privilege. For the people of this world, they had no idea what kind of enemy they were facing. But for a player, one solid AoE strike was enough to reveal everything hiding in the area. Even if he couldn't win, at least he'd know what he was up against.
But then a particular message caught his eye.
[Scout Skaven takes 50 explosion damage]
[Scout Skaven takes 85 impact damage]
[Scout Skaven killed…]
"Hm?"
Duanmu Huai raised an eyebrow.
Even Skaven were crawling around here?
Then again, not surprising—they were like cockroaches, everywhere.
But that wasn't all. More strange entries popped up.
[Mutated Griffon takes 120 explosion damage]
[Mutated Boar takes 90 impact damage]
[Mutated Cockroach takes 35 explosion damage]
Wow, this place really had everything...
Compared to Skaven and Chaos cultists, these mutated beasts were clearly tougher. Some even stopped taking damage halfway through—probably burrowed underground or fled.
[Mutated Griffon killed]
[Skaven takes 180 explosion damage]
[Mutated Cockroach killed]
[Chaos Cultist takes 75 splash damage]
[Relic Casket takes 30 explosion damage]
...… Hm??!!
"Stop! Stop stop stop!!"
A strange system prompt flashed before Duanmu Huai's eyes. Fortunately, he caught it and immediately lowered his warhammer, ordering Mia to cease the bombardment.
The explosions ceased quickly, and Duanmu Huai stared at the alert in disbelief.
A Relic Casket?
What the hell was that doing here?!
So-called "Relic Caskets" were property of the old Human Empire (note: not that backwater mess of a kingdom on this planet). They contained powerful relics from different eras—some even from the Dark or Golden Ages!
After the Human Empire was shattered by the Black Hole Project, these caskets were scattered and lost.
And now one had turned up here?!
Holy crap, that was a rare treasure!
Originally, Duanmu Huai just wanted to scout the slums. But now, this unexpected discovery completely altered his plans—no matter what, he had to retrieve that casket!
The relics inside a Relic Casket varied wildly, but aside from a few symbolic items, most contained real, universe-level weapons or tools of terrifying power. If this thing fell into the hands of Chaos cultists, Skaven, or any other lunatic, the threat to this world would be on par with the actual apocalypse.
With that in mind, Duanmu Huai gripped his warhammer tightly, looked straight ahead, and issued a new command.
"Move out!!"
Thanks to the bombing, the path through the slums was now wide open. The cramped, dilapidated houses that once blocked the way had been flattened, leaving behind rubble and massive craters. As for the mutated creatures or cultists that may have once hidden in them—they were gone. Only a few smoldering, broken corpses proved they had ever been there at all.
"Sir Knight, you really are amazing."
Walking behind Duanmu Huai, Lorena couldn't help but sigh as she gazed at the flattened slums. She knew a little about him and was aware he owned a powerful, flying iron bird. But she hadn't expected it to possess such terrifying destructive force.
"It's definitely useful, but the resource consumption is a pain."
Duanmu Huai shook his head. The Night Raven Blackstar's missiles weren't exactly in endless supply. Looked like he'd have to dismantle another relic, set up the [Void Barracks], and get production and storage back online.
He didn't have any servitors, which was annoying, but maybe he could ask some puppet technicians from the Doll District for help… commission a few more puppets...
Never mind that now. First, the casket.
Fortunately, when the system first alerted him about the [Relic Casket], Duanmu Huai stopped the bombardment immediately. That allowed him to narrow down its location—to the very center of the slums, where the comet had struck.
No surprise, really. A Relic Casket wasn't something this planet should even have.
But unfortunately, when Duanmu Huai arrived, he found they weren't alone. At the heart of the massive crater caused by the comet, a group of small figures was excitedly squeaking and dancing around a light-green crystal that looked almost like glass—
Yeah. Skaven. Of course.
"Kill them!"
There was no way Duanmu Huai would let Skaven get their hands on the casket. Whatever was inside, letting rats have it would be catastrophic.
He leapt into the air, his jetpack roaring as it blasted him skyward. Lifting his left hand, he aimed down at the Skaven and triggered the fire system.
BOOM!!
The explosion tore through the center of the rat swarm. The Skaven had been shrieking around the crystal, completely unaware of the attack. The blast wave ripped through them like a sonic tsunami, leaving them staggering like drunkards, unsure of what had hit them.
But Duanmu Huai, descending from above, had the answer.
Bang!!
His massive warhammer ripped through the air in a deadly arc and slammed into a Skaven's head, smashing its skull open like a watermelon. The rat's frail body crumpled and twisted under the sheer force of the impact—then, as if pressurized from within, it burst apart like a living bomb.
With one strike, Duanmu Huai scattered the Skaven around him. At the same time, the others launched their own attacks.
"Olgis!"
While swinging his warhammer and smashing the Skaven into the dirt, Duanmu Huai looked over at Olgis and shouted a command.
"Grab that green crystal and the casket inside it—hurry!!"
Back near the center of the blast zone, Duanmu Huai had already spotted the [Relic Casket] embedded in a chunk of dimensional stone crystal. Whether it had been sealed there intentionally or landed by accident, he couldn't say. The airstrike had blown open a section of the crystal, revealing part of the casket. That was probably why the system registered damage to it earlier.
But first things first—secure the relic. Fighting the rats here would accomplish nothing.
"Yes, Master."
Olgis quickly reached out her hand. With a flash of cold light, strands of silk shot from her fingers and wrapped around the massive 2-to-3-meter-tall dimensional stone. With a tug, she pulled it from the ground like uprooting a turnip.
But just then, the ground beneath them suddenly shifted. A massive Rat Ogre burst out of the earth with a furious roar and lunged at Olgis.
Are you kidding me?! These damn rats really do bury everything underground! Why don't you try burying a Thunderbeast next time?!
Duanmu Huai cursed as rage surged within him. He roared and charged at the monster.
WHAM!!
Clad in steel power armor, his massive form slammed into the Rat Ogre with such force that the ground itself shook. Even the monster couldn't withstand the assault, letting out a shriek as it fell backward. Duanmu Huai raised his hammer and swung it down hard at its head.
CRACK!!
But just as his hammer connected, perhaps due to the earlier bombing, the ground beneath them gave way. Cracks splintered outward, and both Duanmu Huai and the Rat Ogre plunged into the darkness of the pit below!
(End of Chapter)