The moment Maliketh changed form, Duanmu Huai felt it — a deep, uncontrollable fear.
It wasn't like the artificial terror from his own psychic abilities, but something primal — an instinctive dread born from the awareness of all life's inevitable end.
It was fear of death itself.
So this was the power of the Rune of Death.
Realizing this, Duanmu Huai's heart trembled first with shock, then with excitement. After all, he was no longer just human — in the main universe he'd be considered a demigod, on par with a Champion of Chaos. If even he could feel fear of death, that meant this "Destined Death" was genuine — power that could kill even gods!
That knowledge alone was enough to thrill him.
Except… there was one tiny problem.
How the hell was he supposed to fight this thing?
Clutching his thunder warhammer, Duanmu Huai stared at Maliketh, swallowing nervously. He was certain of one thing now — this monster could kill gods, and maybe even him. Sure, he technically had a "resurrection" trait, but the way this deathly power worked… it might not follow normal rules.
Just like that one berserker who could revive seventeen times — still got one-shot by a Mystic Eye of Death Perception.
If Destined Death worked the same way, then Duanmu Huai might really die here.
"Huff—!"
Maliketh, of course, didn't give him time to think. The beast leapt into the air, its great black-red sword cleaving downward. A wave of crimson-and-black energy howled toward Duanmu Huai. He had no space to dodge — only time to raise his warhammer in defense.
BOOM!
The blade beam struck him squarely. Instantly, Duanmu Huai felt something invade his body — a cold fire coursing through his veins, like death itself slithering beneath his armor. A system prompt appeared before his eyes:
[WARNING: Instant Death attack detected — resisted. Resistance successful. You are afflicted with Curse: Destined Death.]
[Destined Death: The flame that hunts the gods brings pain and curse. All attributes -5%. (Stackable.)]
What the—?!
Duanmu Huai almost screamed aloud.
A stackable -5% to all stats? If he took a few more hits, his attributes would literally go into the negatives!
What kind of sick joke was this? How was he supposed to fight that?! He might as well type /forfeit now!
Panicking, he retreated and immediately summoned a horde of his puppets to block Maliketh's advance. Not only had all his stats dropped by 5%, but even his maximum HP had decreased. A few more slashes like that, and he'd be a walking corpse!
No wonder Godwyn was killed by those Black Knife assassins — this debuff would destroy anyone! And that guy got jumped by several assassins at once… yeah, no wonder he died instantly.
On the plus side, his Charisma was still a rock-solid 1 point.
Guess having your stat locked low had its benefits.
…though it'd be nice if it weren't 1.
Not playing with you anymore!
Duanmu Huai had no intention of ending up another sacrifice to "Destined Death." Abandoning melee combat entirely, he switched back to his tried-and-true summoner build — after all, he was a Soul Walker, wasn't he?
First, summon Puppets to fill the field.
Then, activate Dragon Transformation, remove Puppets from the hand, and transform all summoned Puppets into Dragons.
Attack!!
In an instant, massive dragons filled the battlefield, roaring as they unleashed torrents of flame upon Maliketh.
But the beast was terrifyingly agile — it blurred across the ground as a streak of shadow, effortlessly evading the dragons' breath. Then it leapt skyward, greatsword flaring, unleashing waves of black-red swordlight that ripped through the dragon swarm, obliterating several at once.
MMP, this thing's ridiculous!
Duanmu Huai hissed between his teeth.
Maliketh's attack speed was insane, his AOE huge, and every strike carried an instant-death curse. Regular summons couldn't last seconds. But aside from spamming cards, what else could he do?
He quickly activated Mobile Armor, throwing up an energy shield. At least it might stop him from getting one-shot.
To be honest, Maliketh was the worst possible matchup for him.
Duanmu Huai's agility and reflexes were trash — his entire style relied on tanking hits and smashing faces. That worked fine against ordinary enemies, but this monster? Fast, evasive, cursing him with every blow? Yeah, not ideal.
He told Bambi and Milfi to stay far back and began kiting Maliketh, summoning another wave of puppets — this time transforming them into Paladins. Then came the mechanical troops, golems, and constructs — all charging toward the beast.
Only…
MMP, which one of us is supposed to be the boss here?!
Watching Maliketh carve through his entire army with that black sword, Duanmu Huai grimaced.
The scene looked just like those anime boss battles — the villain summons hordes of minions, only for the hero to power up, blaze through them in a flash, and cut down the boss in one glorious strike.
Except right now… he was the boss.
Fine then — boss it is.
If all else fails, there's only one solution left.
As expected, none of his summons — dragons, paladins, constructs, whatever — could stand up to Maliketh. They were too slow, too fragile, too mortal. Even magic attacks were useless — Maliketh was faster than spells themselves.
Figures. Must be some kind of dog-kin.
"Return the fragment, thief!!"
Maliketh roared, having slaughtered the last of Duanmu Huai's troops. The beast charged, black blade thrusting straight toward him.
Duanmu Huai didn't dodge. Instead, he stood tall, recalling the Inquisitorial Protocol for Proper Weapon Deployment.
Begin reciting the Hymn of Armaments.
Face your enemy and place one hand behind your back.
Offer a prayer to the Emperor, letting love and zeal guide your righteous fury.
Press the activation switch.
Count to three.
Throw forward.
Seek cover.
Pray for redemption.
SHHHK!
Maliketh's sword pierced through his armor, black-red fire surging up around him.
At that moment, a card shimmered above Duanmu Huai's head — Weapon Enhancement. He grinned, raised both arms, and looked straight into Maliketh's burning eyes.
"Surprise, motherf**ker!"
Then he pressed the button.
——
A blinding flash devoured the world.
Even the blood-red wasteland turned pale white.
A colossal mushroom cloud rose into the sky, flames and shockwaves roaring outward, swallowing everything in an instant.
The deafening boom shook heaven and earth, the sheer pressure crushing stone, air, and sound alike.
The black temple shattered like a toy block. Everything within a kilometer was flattened or consumed in fire. If Bambi and Milfi hadn't fled far enough, even they wouldn't have survived.
Cough… cough cough…
Duanmu Huai staggered upright amid the smoking crater. His power armor was half-destroyed, cracked and charred — but it had held, barely. As a relic-grade artifact and with his sheer resilience, he'd endured.
The beast, however, had not been so lucky.
"MMP… tough guy, huh? Thought you could dodge that, didn't you?"
He spat blood, glaring at the charred remains of Maliketh sprawled nearby.
Yes — this was the ultimate counter to all agile builds.
The final tactic of every tank player.
Self-detonation.
You can dodge, roll, and jump all you like — but when I blow up the entire map, where can you run?
My armor's thicker, my HP's higher, my defense absurd — I'll survive.
Will you?
That's the principle of combat: use your strength to strike the enemy's weakness.
When your defense is that ridiculous, not using self-destruct would be a crime.
The bomb he used was an Imperial rocket warhead, normally fired from a launcher. But players like Duanmu Huai — low agility, bad aim — didn't care for that. Why shoot it, when you could carry it?
Inspired by Fallout's mutants, someone had come up with the idea:
If they can hug mini-nukes and explode, why can't we?
It quickly became a favorite tactic of melee players everywhere:
Can't hit the boss? Fine — rush in, trigger the warhead, and go down together!
Oh wait, my armor's stronger, my HP's higher, my defense is thicker — guess I'm not the one dying, hahahaha!
And sure enough, it worked.
Duanmu Huai hefted his warhammer, walking toward the blackened corpse of Maliketh. The beast lay motionless, its black sword embedded in the ground. It must have tried to shield itself at the last second — too bad the blast radius was over a kilometer.
The fact that there was even a body left meant it got off lucky.
Silently, Duanmu Huai raised his warhammer and brought it down.
SPLAT!
With a sickening crack, Maliketh's skull burst. His body dissolved into black smoke, coiling upward before condensing into a single mark — a twisted black cross wreathed in crimson fire.
So this was the Rune of Death…
(End of Chapter)