"Waaahhhh—! Master!!"
A small black bat suddenly dove from the air, smacking straight into Duanmu Huai's face and wrapping its claws around his head.
"Help me! Help me!"
"Alright, alright, calm down…"
With a helpless sigh, Duanmu Huai reached up, plucked the panicked bat off his face, and smiled wryly.
The mission to find the secret treasure in the Eternal City turned out to be far more complicated than he had imagined. Following the map Ranni had given him, he descended deeper underground—only to discover an enormous subterranean cavern. What amazed him even more was that the cavern ceiling glimmered with a vast, illusory night sky, as if a three-dimensional projection of stars enveloped the hollow below.
That immediately reminded Duanmu Huai of Olgis's earlier report, and so he quickly established contact with her. As expected, she was there—and if his guess was right, she was inside the Eternal City itself.
Unfortunately, Olgis couldn't leave to meet him. She said the entire city was sealed, and she couldn't find a way out. Duanmu Huai told her to wait patiently while he figured out a way to reach her.
Later, he met with the half-wolf warrior who had been waiting nearby. From him, Duanmu Huai learned that the Eternal City was sealed by someone named Radahn. The only way to lift the seal and reveal the city again was to defeat Radahn himself.
In short—he needed to find Radahn, fight him, and win before he could enter the Eternal City. Radahn was said to be in Redmane Castle, deep within Caelid. If Duanmu Huai could reach the castle, challenge, and defeat him, he could finally proceed to the Eternal City.
Well… no surprise there. Out of ten player quests, eight were always like this.
When Duanmu Huai arrived in Caelid, he found himself standing upon crimson soil stretching endlessly in every direction. The sight instantly reminded him of what Bambi had told him before—how the temple she was stuck in was surrounded by a blood-red wasteland just like this.
Before he could even call out to her through telepathy, a sobbing black bat came hurtling toward him and crashed right into his face.
Apparently, quite some time had passed, and poor Bambi had been trapped inside that temple all this while—lonely and frightened.
At least Olgis and Lorena could still move around and explore, but Bambi had been hiding in a dark corner of the temple, afraid to even twitch. It was no wonder she was a nervous wreck.
With the little bat now acting as his guide, Duanmu Huai no longer had to waste time finding the way. He decided to postpone dealing with Radahn for now—first, he'd better rescue his adorable little princess.
After all, how could some scruffy old warlord compare to his cute, sweet-voiced little darling?
On the way, Bambi chattered nonstop, telling him everything that had happened.
After being teleported to the temple, she discovered that it was already occupied by a huge creature wrapped entirely in black cloth. At first, Bambi had wanted to greet it politely—but before she could even open her mouth, the thing let out a furious roar and attacked her! Terrified, she had fled for her life, only to find a monstrous bird-headed creature waiting outside the temple. With no other choice, she had darted back inside and hidden among the shadows high up on the ceiling, hardly daring to breathe.
Yup… that sounded exactly like something a bat would do.
"That black thing is really creepy," Bambi continued. "It never leaves the temple—just stays inside muttering to itself all the time. And sometimes it goes berserk for no reason… super scary!"
Too scared to move, Bambi had instead sent out swarms of bats to scout around on her behalf.
But… there weren't many living people here—only monsters.
Dog-like beasts with heads the size of dinosaurs, featherless giant crows, and even rotting dragons crawling through the muck. Most of Bambi's bats had been devoured by these horrors; only a few lucky ones managed to escape and make it back.
The poor little girl's heart was already shredded to pieces.
And understandably so—after all, her consciousness was linked to her bats. Just imagine: you're flying peacefully through the air when a massive dog's head suddenly lunges out from behind and snaps you in half—
yeah, that's enough to traumatize anyone.
From the half-wolf warrior, Duanmu Huai had already learned the story of this land. Caelid hadn't always been like this. During the Shattering War, the Valkyrie and Radahn had fought an epic battle here. The Valkyrie, unable to win, resorted to cheating—she unleashed the Scarlet Rot directly onto Radahn's head. The two ended up destroying each other: the Valkyrie fled, while both Radahn and Caelid were consumed by the Rot.
Now, the entire land was stained crimson, crawling with abominations born from the corruption. Even Radahn himself had gone mad from infection, wandering the battlefield as something neither man nor beast.
Honestly, if this weren't just a fragment world, Duanmu Huai would have thought that Valkyrie woman was a follower of some Plague God.
Losing and dropping bioweapons—that's as dirty as it gets.
Just as Bambi had described, the road was swarming with grotesque monstrosities: dog-beasts like tyrannosaurs, ravens the size of trucks, and even a group of long-legged centipede-men.
Even Duanmu Huai, a battle-hardened warrior, felt a shiver crawl up his spine when those multi-legged freaks came scuttling toward him with their dozens of clawed limbs clicking against the ground.
Ugh. These things were even nastier than Nurgle beasts.
Fortunately, they were disgusting but not very strong. Aside from Milfi squealing and diving into Duanmu Huai's arms, there wasn't much to worry about. The only real trouble came from the flying guardian stationed at the temple gate—it took Duanmu Huai quite some effort to bring that thing down.
Boom!
With a final crash, the bird-headed guardian collapsed. Duanmu Huai stepped up to the massive doors of the temple, pushed them open, and entered. At once, a small shadow dropped from the ceiling, wrapped its arms around his neck, and spun in the air before burrowing into his chest.
"Master! You finally came!"
"Yeah, I'm here. Are you alright, little one?"
Smiling, Duanmu Huai gently patted Bambi's tiny head. She immediately puffed her cheeks and started complaining.
"Not at all! It's dirty, it's stinky, there's nowhere to bathe, and nothing to eat! I'm starving! Maybe you could let me have just one little bite?"
"I'll take you out for a real feast later—"
ROOOAAARRR!!
Before he could finish, an enraged roar echoed from within the temple. A massive black shape lunged toward him. Without hesitation, Duanmu Huai snatched up Bambi and leapt backward out of the doorway.
Crash!!
A split second later, the enormous shadow burst through the temple doors, splintering them apart. It glared at Duanmu Huai with blazing fury.
"…Thief… you dare appear before me again?!"
"What are you talking about?" Duanmu Huai raised an eyebrow, placing Bambi safely behind him and motioning for her and Milfi to retreat. He gripped his warhammer tightly.
"I don't even know what you are, monster."
"…The scent of the Rune of Death…"
From behind the beast, another figure stepped forward — a warrior clad in a strange double-headed helm. He stared coldly at Duanmu Huai, raising his weapon.
"It was you who stole the fragment of the Rune of Death?"
"Huh?"
Duanmu Huai blinked, then realization dawned. He recalled the Black Knife Insignia he'd taken from the Black Knife Catacombs — and Rogier's explanation that the mark contained a fragment of the Rune of Death's power infused through a ritual. Wait a second…
His gaze hardened as he looked at the beast and the warrior.
"So you're Maliketh, the Black Blade, aren't you?"
"I will never allow the Rune of Death to be stolen again!"
The towering beast's voice rumbled like thunder.
"Return the fragment, and I may spare your life!"
"That's my line, monster."
Duanmu Huai's eyes narrowed as he lifted his crackling warhammer.
"Hand over the Rune of Death, and I'll grant you a swift death."
"You will not succeed."
The warrior in twin-headed armor stepped forward, sword in hand.
"I am D—and I shall not permit such evil! Prepare yourself, sinner!"
"That's my line!* Defying the will of the Inquisition—can you bear the price?"
With that shout, Duanmu Huai charged, warhammer roaring with lightning.
"Haah!"
The armored warrior met him head-on, greatsword swinging downward in a mighty arc. Duanmu Huai whipped his warhammer forward, the thunderous impact shattering the blade's momentum. He surged forward like a charging rhino, slamming bodily into the knight and sending him flying.
"RRAAAHHH!!"
The cloaked beast howled, sweeping a claw through the air. The slicing wind tore open the ground and slammed into Duanmu Huai. The monster then leapt skyward, dagger in hand, aiming to drive it through his chest.
"Useless!"
Duanmu Huai roared. Power gathered before him, erupting outward like a storm surge. The wave of force blasted the beast back. At that moment, the armored warrior rolled to his feet, lunging forward to stab Duanmu Huai from behind.
Clang!
The blade struck his power armor and bounced harmlessly away. Duanmu Huai swung his hammer in a blur—the head crackled with lightning as it smashed across the knight's helm.
BOOM!
The knight's body was hurled high, crashing to the ground. Before he could move, Duanmu Huai stepped forward and crushed him underfoot.
Squelch.
Gold-and-silver armor buckled like an insect shell under his boot. But in that instant, Duanmu Huai felt a strange reaction from the Black Knife Insignia inside his armor pocket. It pulsed violently, sending a chilling surge up through his leg and into his left hand. When he looked down, he saw a strange half-circular mark etched onto the back of his hand, black tendrils twisting outward from it.
At the same time, a system message appeared before his eyes:
[Acquired: Mark of Death (Fragment of the Rune of Death)]
So that's it!
Understanding flashed in Duanmu Huai's mind. Ranni had stolen half of the Rune of Death — the other half had been kept by this warrior. He must have just claimed it. Talk about luck—searching high and low only for it to deliver itself to me!
"Noooooo!!"
The beast's furious roar echoed. Duanmu Huai turned to see it glaring at him with murderous rage.
"I will never allow you to take the Rune of Death!"
"Oh, spare me. Didn't you steal it from someone else first?"
Duanmu Huai snorted. "So you can rob others, but I can't? What kind of logic is that?"
"I will not allow it…"
The beast raised its dagger, pointing the blade toward its own left hand.
"Hey—"
Both Bambi and Milfi gasped. Duanmu Huai arched a brow.
What was it with these bosses—first Godrick, now this guy—why did they all love cutting their own hands off? Were they ex-yakuza or something?
"Death… once more, become my blade."
Instead of severing his hand, the beast slowly drew the dagger back out. A wave of black, chilling flame burst from his body, burning away the cloak that had covered him.
Beneath it was a towering, wolf-like beast clad in dark armor.
"RRRROOOAAARRR!!"
The creature threw back its head and howled. Then it dropped to all fours, gripping a sword that now blazed with blood-red light — its dagger transformed into a great black blade.
Turning toward Duanmu Huai, its eyes gleamed with the cold brilliance of death.
"Prepare to die, thief!"
(End of Chapter)