A Core Ship From The Start

Tied to a wooden stake, the pale-faced girl trembled uncontrollably. Beside her lay bodies, brutally murdered and mutilated, their limbs severed — once her guards and attendants, now mere mute corpses.

“Offer noble blood for our lord, awaken him from the age-old seal!! Great Ancient God, heed my call, reveal yourself!”

Not far from the girl, a strange man clad in a black robe and hiding behind a mask stood with his hands raised high, uttering blasphemous and evil spells. Innocent flesh and souls were being sacrificed to release the devil sealed here. All she could do was watch blankly.

She was petrified, longing to run away, but she has lost all her strength. She could even feel her own power slowly draining from her body as the flame signifying life grew dim, and even felt a hint of icy coldness……

“—————!!!”

Just then, a dazzling light cut through the gloomy sky. Instinctively, she looked up. She then saw a blazing fireball falling from the sky, crashing… right in front of her.

“Boom—————!!!”

The intense heatwave and blinding flash of the explosion proved almost suffocating, causing her to instinctively close her eyes. For a moment, she thought she would be burnt alive. However, the heat quickly receded, replaced by an icy cold breeze, prompting her to involuntarily open her eyes and look ahead.

And then, she gasped.

The Evil God Priest who was just arrogantly parading himself vanished without a trace, leaving behind only a massive, charred pit. At the center of the pit, fierce flames were still burning.

“Clank…clank…”

But before she could react, she heard a strange noise. A tall silhouette emerged from the pit’s flames, walking with large strides.

What was that?!

Seeing all this, the girl opened her eyes wide in surprise. Standing before her was a man taller than an orc, covered from head to toe in thick, massive, pitch-black armor. Semi-circular plate armor covered his shoulders, decorated with a white skull and a cross emblem. His hands gripped a menacing, shiny black war hammer. His helmet was quite terrifying too. It bore a hideous face, swinging left and right within the round depression, its eyes glowing deep red.

Could this be the terrifying demon beast that those Evil God Cultists have summoned?

Could it be the legendary Hell Knight?

Just when the girl was feeling horrified, those Evil God Cultists began to stir.

“He killed the Great Priest!”

“Kill this guy who is disrupting the ritual!”

Amidst the roar, she saw the Evil God Cultists charge towards the Black Knight with weapons in their hands, chanting spells.

“Seeking death!”

With a roar, the Black Knight raised his war hammer high against the charging Evil God Cultists, and as he moved, the black hammer burst into a dazzling thunderous glow. The Black Knight then brought down the hammer with a mighty swing!

“Boom!!!”

With the hammer striking the ground, the thunderous blast roared, turning all the Evil God Cultists charging at the Black Knight into black, smoking human-shaped charcoal. They were then reduced to ashes, carried away by the explosive winds.

“Quick, kill him!!”

Witnessing the Black Knight’s valor, the Evil God Cultists cried out in terror. They raised their hands, reciting blasphemous spells, and launched an attack against the Black Knight.

Upon seeing this, the girl gasped in shock―she knew how horrifying the dark magic of these Evil God Cultists could be. Her guards couldn’t resist such attacks and ended up dying..

Could this Black Knight withstand the Evil God Cultists’ attack?

“Boom, boom, boom!!!”

The assault of the Evil God Cultists hit the Black Knight’s armor, but contrary to the girl’s expectation, there was no explosion. Instead, the Black Knight suddenly raised his left hand, above which a cylinder suddenly shone brightly.

“———————!!”

In the next moment, a blinding flash and a deafening blast engulfed the Evil God Cultists, leaving the entire world seemingly silent. The Evil God Cultists trembled, swayed and nearly fell. But the Black Knight was unscathed. He grabbed his war hammer with both hands once again and rushed towards the Evil God Cultists in the back.

“—————!!!”

Suddenly, dazzling thunders and loud roars covered everything.

A moment later, the land was left charred.

Duanmu Huai advanced, gripping his war hammer. In front of him was an Evil God Cultist, half-dead, staring at him in horror.

“Don’t come any closer! Don’t come over! You damn blasphemer, you can’t stop the great will………!”

However, before he could finish speaking, Duanmu Huai raised his war hammer and swung it down forcefully. The dark hammer smashed the head of the Evil God Cultist before him into fragments. The cultist’s body jerked violently, like a fish out of water, before falling deathly still.

[Judge Level raised to LV5, Skill Point +1, Attribute Point +1]

[Unlocked (Matter Displacement)(Temporal Stasis)(Subspace Energy Diversion)(Attack Weak Points) specializations, please choose your specialization]

“Choose Matter Displacement.”

With just a glance, Duanmu Huai made his decision. Among these specializations, Matter Displacement is armor-piercing, Temporal Stasis is slowing, Subspace Energy Diversion auto-absorbs to recover the shield, whereas Attack Weak Points increases critical hit damage.

Previously, Duanmu Huai’s game character had chosen the same way, regarding it as her family heirloom treasure. The Judge’s Power Armor had pretty decent defense in the early phase, so Duanmu chose the inherent “armor-piercing” Matter Displacement.

After all, the best defense is a good offense.

Regarding the two attribute points, Duanmu hesitated a moment, eventually deciding to add directly on to bring his Strength to 10 points.

He had considered adding to Charm, but…

Charm value is locked and cannot be increased.

Is the world playing a joke on me? Even the system can’t change my appearance?

Mumbling a curse under his breath, Duanmu Huai headed towards the girl tied to the wooden stake. She was still bound there, her face pale and filled with worry. Duanmu didn’t care about such minor details though. He reached out and effortlessly ripped the ropes binding the girl’s hands and feet. Once she was freed, Duanmu turned and spoke to her.

“Civilian! Report your status!”

“Huh? What? What do you mean?”

However, the girl in front of him didn’t respond immediately to a specific phrase like in a game… It’s not her fault; after all, this isn’t a game anymore, it’s reality.

Cough cough, too much time spent playing games.

Duanmu Huai’s face turned red with embarrassment, but thankfully, wearing a helmet hid his expression.

“Who are you? Why are you here?”

“I, I am ……”

However, before she could finish speaking, the earth beneath them began to quake. Lines of fresh blood appeared on the ground, and then a crimson light erupted in the distance. A monstrous figure emerged from the magic array on the altar.

“Is that… a Demon?!”

Seeing this, the girl screamed in terror. Duanmu turned and saw a strange creature marching towards them from the distance. It stood over three meters tall, its torso reminiscent of a humanoid demon, its entire body drenched in a deep red hue. Flame-like lights burned in its red eyes, and sharp teeth filled its mouth.

Below its waist, it had six legs that resembled mechanical spider appendages. In one hand it held a sword, in the other a shield, giving off an overwhelming aura of brutal terror. It blocked Duanmu and the girl’s way out.

“Ah, mortals… what interesting souls. Perfect to be my first meal in this world…”

The demon looked at them with a smirk, swinging its shield and sword.

“Hehehe… let me taste the flavor of your fear and death. I believe it will be a most delicious meal…”

At the same time, information about it appeared in Duanmu Huai’s eyes.

[Brutal Demon (Elite)]

[Level: LV10]

I see, so this thing is the boss. To think that those Evil God Cultists went through all that trouble just to summon this thing.

With that thought, Duanmu made his decision.

“Get away from here, and leave this brute to me!”

“Ah, okay!”

Hearing Duanmu’s orders, the panicked girl hurriedly nodded and backed away. At the same time, Duanmu tightened his grip on his weapon, turning towards the enemy standing before him.

It was just a LV10 elite. Even though he was only a LV5 Judge, it didn’t mean he was helpless!

“Come on…”

Duanmu locked eyes with the soul-grinding monster, his gaze icy cold.

Let’s see which one of us is stronger!