The fight against the Serpent God Yig was, in truth, somewhat unexpected for Duanmu Huai.
After all, according to the data on the player forums, Yig was one of the three great Prophecy Gods, and a Serpent God at that. So his first impression of it had been something along the lines of a spellcasting type — the sort that specialized in magic and prophecy.
But when the fighting actually started, he discovered...…this thing was a close-combat fighter, just like him!
Yig's hands opened into claws, fingers curved into raking strikes, and it launched into a frenzied slashing assault on Duanmu Huai — something straight out of the Nine Yin White Bone Claw school. Against an ordinary person, a single swipe from Yig would have torn them clean in two. But Duanmu Huai was completely unfazed, clenched his iron fists, and drove them straight back at Yig. For a moment, the two traded blow for blow without either side giving ground.
"RIIIP!!!"
Yig's claw swept down and tore Duanmu Huai's clothing open, leaving streaks of bloody marks across his body. But Duanmu Huai gave no quarter, taking the claw strike without flinching, he drove his fist forward at the same moment and connected squarely with Yig's chest.
"BANG!"
With that punch — something like a Seven Injury Fist — Yig's chest suddenly cracked open, scales scattering everywhere, and the creature was driven backward.
"Haah...…"
"Hmph...…"
Both of them staggered, then stopped, staring coldly at each other.
This Great Old One really wasn't easy to deal with.
Duanmu Huai clenched his black-flame-wreathed fists and fixed his gaze on Yig. Though he had wrapped his entire body in the black flames of Destined Death, and every time Yig struck him the black flames sapped its attributes and reduced its [HP] cap, Duanmu Huai was not getting off lightly either. As a Serpent God, Yig's body was saturated with venom, and every time Duanmu Huai landed a punch, even with the black flames' protection, he was still hit back by the venom's counter-effect.
In other words, as things stood, it was roughly even — every time Duanmu Huai hit Yig he got poisoned, and every time Yig hit Duanmu Huai it got its attributes shaved down and cursed by the black flames.
Though Duanmu Huai still felt he had the advantage. Pure venom could be tanked with sheer physical constitution, but the curse of the black flames...…heh heh heh. Did Yig really think Destined Death was something to take lightly?
And indeed, just as Duanmu Huai thought, Yig was having a miserable time of it on its end as well. Duanmu Huai's punches carried tremendous force, fully matching its own, and every time one of those iron fists connected, Yig felt as though its body had been struck by a massive hammer — even its bones felt on the verge of shattering.
On top of that, the cold black flames wreathing the man were deeply unsettling. Every time Yig made contact with the black flames, it felt as though its very soul was being scorched. And it could feel its own strength slowly, steadily burning away — like wood placed in a fire. Slow, but inexorable.
Well...…a genuinely powerful Great Old One really was no easy opponent.
Duanmu Huai shook out his hand and fixed his gaze on Yig. In the game, players rarely had the opportunity to go head-to-head with Great Old Ones or Outer Gods directly, because players in the game, despite being [Inquisitors], were still human. Even they would lose [sanity] at the sight of a Great Old One, and one bad [sanity roll] could end everything in an instant.
Under the normal game flow, when Yig appeared, most players would make a [sanity check] — pass it and move on, fail it and lose [sanity]. Then they would try to keep their distance from Yig and focus on eliminating the Serpent People, rather than doing what Duanmu Huai was doing — provoking Yig directly into a duel.
But Duanmu Huai was different. As the God of Destruction and the God of Jubilation, he had more than enough capacity to arm-wrestle Yig. That was exactly why he had chosen to provoke it into a direct confrontation — to gauge its strength firsthand. Not to mention the bonus from the special title he had earned.
[[Godslayer]: Nothing in this world can make you yield — you dare face even the gods in battle and slay them (All attributes increased by 5% against divine beings, divine spell resistance increased by 10%, attack power increased by 5%)]
Mm...…this felt roughly comparable to fighting one of an Evil God's greater demons.
Duanmu Huai fixed his gaze on Yig again and clenched his fists, while glancing at the system panel.
[You have encountered the Serpent God Yig — you must make a Sanity check]
[Sanity check: Success]
[The Serpent God Yig has encountered you — the Serpent God Yig must make a Sanity check]
[Sanity check: Success]
This was the first time since Duanmu Huai had arrived in this world that an enemy had successfully passed a sanity check against him.
So Great Old Ones really did have a degree of capability. At this rate, it would be a while before he went picking fights with the Outer Gods.
In the world of Cthulhu, there were Outer Gods, Old Gods, and Great Old Ones.
But in truth, the Great Old Ones were also Outer Gods — the reason they were distinguished from the Outer Gods was that they were Outer Gods who had been defeated.
The name said it all — Great Old Ones, those who once ruled in ages past. Meaning they were no longer the rulers.
The sealed Cthulhu, the Serpent God Yig whose followers were mostly hibernating underground — both were Great Old Ones. Of course, back in the age when the Serpent People flourished and Cthulhu had yet to be sealed, they would have been counted as Outer Gods.
In other words, when an Outer God's power was greatly diminished or they were sealed away, they "fell" from Outer God status into the rank of Great Old One.
As for the Old Gods — they were deities who, for various reasons, had become opposed to the Outer Gods. It was they who invented the Elder Sign — that repugnant artifact that made Outer Gods instinctively want to avoid anything it touched.
Beyond that, the Elder Sign's primary functions were to seal sleeping Great Old Ones or disrupt Outer God portals.
But...…honestly, this was a little absurd when you thought about it.
There were no Old Gods who protected humanity.
The gods that humans in this world worshipped simply didn't exist among the Old Gods. Which meant the faiths of humanity in this world were prayers to beings that didn't exist. What did exist were the Outer Gods and the Great Old Ones — neither of which were anything remotely benign.
The Old Gods, meanwhile, paid essentially no attention to humanity.
Did that make any sense?
Even cats had an Old God to watch over them.
But humans had nothing?
And it wasn't just cats — look at the Serpent God Yig before him, guardian deity of snakes. Atlach-Nacha was the god of spiders. So in this world, humanity's status ranked below that of snakes, spiders, and cats!
At this rate, rather than going to church, you'd be better off keeping a cat. Treat your feline lord well enough and maybe Bast, goddess of cats, would take a favorable notice of you and grant you a little something.
Surely that would be more useful than praying in church.
Duanmu Huai's current ambition was to become the Old God who served as humanity's patron — just as the cat goddess Bast watched over all cats. So strictly speaking, his Inquisition mark could also be considered a form of Elder Sign — an Elder Sign that protected only humanity.
But that wasn't the issue at hand right now.
Duanmu Huai reined in his thoughts and fixed his gaze on Yig ahead of him. The Serpent God's snake eyes stared back at him with cold calculation. It was clear that after this exchange, both sides had recognized each other as genuinely dangerous opponents. What followed would be a test of will — and in that department, Duanmu Huai had an advantage Yig simply couldn't match.
From Yig's perspective, Duanmu Huai was simply an unfamiliar Old God who had appeared before it. After all, Yig had come here solely to protect its Serpent People tribe — it may not have had any particular desire to fight Duanmu Huai to the death in this place.
But Duanmu Huai was different. As a Grand [Inquisitor], he would never allow any alien deity to walk free. The moment Yig had appeared, he had already committed himself to destroying it by any means necessary. Yig, however, clearly didn't understand this — and in combat, misjudging an enemy's resolve was a fatal weakness.
"COME ON—————!"
Duanmu Huai let out a roar and drove his clenched fists at Yig once more. Seeing Duanmu Huai charging again, a flicker of irritation crossed Yig's eyes. From its perspective, this was an entirely incomprehensible fight. Yig could not for the life of it figure out what its Serpent People had possibly done to provoke this inexplicable Old God into coming all this way for a fight.
Not to mention the opponent's black flames were disturbing and strange — exchanging blows wasn't doing Yig's own side any favors either...…honestly, Yig was starting to think about cutting its losses and leaving. After all, it had other Serpent People nests beyond this one to protect. If it could win, that was one thing, but the way things were looking, winning was far from certain — in which case there was little point staying here.
Yet the opponent clearly had no intention of backing down, and that infuriated Yig to no end.
Do I really have to be afraid of you?
"HISSSS—————!"
As Duanmu Huai's iron fist came driving in, Yig let out a hiss and reached out with its claws, seizing Duanmu Huai's fist.
"BANG!"
The two collided again. Yig's right hand clenched hard — and Duanmu Huai, without a moment's hesitation, used the momentum to push forward, dropping his shoulder and hurling himself bodily into Yig like a freight truck.
"HISSS———!!"
Seeing the opponent not retreat but instead continue charging straight at it, Yig was furious. It gripped Duanmu Huai's right fist with one hand while raising the other high, its blade-like claws raking down toward Duanmu Huai's head with tremendous force.
If Yig had been human, this would have been the moment to shout — this move will splatter your brains all over the floor!
"COME ON COME ON COME ON COME ON COME ON COME ON!!!"
But Duanmu Huai still showed no intention of dodging. On the contrary, he drove forward without hesitation, hurling himself straight at Yig.
What is wrong with this damned lunatic?
Seeing this, even Yig was inwardly alarmed. It had intended this strike to force the opponent back so it could seize the opening to get out of this place. What Yig hadn't anticipated was that the opponent would rather take the hit than give an inch.
Do we really have this much of a grudge? Gods and Great Old Ones don't usually go at each other this hard. I haven't even touched your home turf — is this really necessary?
Though a rapid succession of thoughts flashed through Yig's mind, all of this happened in a split second. Duanmu Huai had already closed the distance entirely, and Yig's claws came crashing down on his head.
"BANG!!"
Though the blow made Duanmu Huai shudder violently, he didn't stop — he kept moving forward and drove his shoulder straight into Yig's chest.
"THUD!!!"
In that instant, Yig felt an overwhelming force slam into it from the chest. The cold black flames condensed into a chill that cut straight to the bone, driving deep inside — and in that moment Yig felt as though all the strength had drained completely from its limbs, and even its soul seemed frozen by the uncanny fire.
Because of this, Yig's grip on Duanmu Huai's right fist released — and at the same moment, it was knocked into the air by Duanmu Huai's impact. The only thing Yig could see in that instant was Duanmu Huai's face bearing a savage, ferocious grin.
"Gweh gweh gweh gweh gweh gweh — take this, Yig! I'll pulverize you to dust! Die!!"
As he said it, Duanmu Huai clenched both fists and took aim at the Serpent God before him — and then...…
"ORA ORA ORA ORA—————!!!!"
An endless barrage of iron fists exploded outward, driving into Yig's completely unguarded body. This time, it could no longer resist Duanmu Huai's assault — it felt as though every part of its body was on the verge of exploding from the pain. In that moment, Yig finally felt fear — a fear it hadn't experienced in a very long time. No...…perhaps it was the first time since becoming a Great Old One that it had felt the true terror of death and destruction.
It had to get out of here. Had to leave. Or it would be killed.
But that thought was as far as Yig got.
In the next instant — time stopped.
And at the same moment, Duanmu Huai drove his fist forward one final time.
"ORA———————!!!"
Accompanied by a roar and a howl, Duanmu Huai's right arm launched forward like a battering ram, plunging straight through the Serpent God Yig's chest and punching clean through its body.
Then time began to flow again.
"AGHHHHHHH!!!"
Feeling the pain tear through its chest, Yig let out a piercing shriek — but it was already meaningless. At the same moment, black flames erupted from its gaping mouth, its eyes, its ears, even the wound itself, and in the blink of an eye had completely engulfed Yig. Moments later, when Duanmu Huai finally lowered his arm, all that remained before him was a heap of black ash that bore no resemblance to anything identifiable.
"This...…"
Watching what had just unfolded, Lorena and Mary were equally dumbstruck. Neither of them had expected Duanmu Huai to be this ruthless — taking a hit on purpose just to close the distance and finish the opponent off in one go...…
"———————!!"
But before they could recover from the shock, a sudden piercing cry erupted and rang through the entire cavern.
"Hm? Wh-what's happening?"
The sound was so agonized it was as if something was being subjected to terrible torment, and it startled both Lorena and Mary.
"Don't worry about it. Those Serpent People are finished."
Duanmu Huai spoke in an unhurried tone. As if to confirm his words, the two girls then watched as the chrysalis-like pods hanging from the ceiling of the temple began splitting open one by one, and Serpent People came crawling out of each. At first, the girls tensed, thinking these Serpent People were emerging to avenge their god — but then something they hadn't expected happened.
The Serpent People who had crawled out from their cocoons after ending their hibernation didn't so much as glance at the intruders in the temple. Instead, they clutched their own heads as though in tremendous pain, thrashing and rolling on the ground — and then, as though they had gone completely mad, flung themselves one by one into the altar. And with that, they breathed their last.
"Hm? Wh-what's going on, Mr. Duanmu?"
Watching the Serpent People rushing to kill themselves one after another, Mary was completely shocked. She had read about lemmings following each other fearlessly off cliffs and into the sea — but why would the Serpent People be doing this?
"Simple. Their god is dead, which means they're more or less dead too."
Duanmu Huai shrugged. That was the nature of a patron deity — once the deity died, the race under its protection was subjected to the agonizing death-shock the deity experienced in its final moments. It wasn't intentional, but the dying agony of a god was not something ordinary creatures could withstand. And so those Serpent People who couldn't endure it — naturally had their [sanity] drop to zero, went mad, and killed themselves.
In just a short while, the screaming gradually faded away. Duanmu Huai summoned a collection of puppets and ordered them to immediately scout the surrounding area for any stragglers. Lorena and Mary came to stand beside him.
"That's a relief, Sir Knight — you're not injured, are you?"
"And just now, watching you fight that creature — it really gave me a scare...…"
"Don't worry."
Duanmu Huai waved his hand.
"Just a minor wound. Nothing fatal."
And besides — he hadn't come away empty-handed.
With that thought, Duanmu Huai looked again at the system panel before him.
[Player has killed the Serpent God Yig]
[Player has obtained a Great Old One's Echo]
[Player has obtained Special Skill: "Harbinger of Epolyte"]
[[Harbinger of Epolyte]: A remnant of a mysterious truth, a fragment of divinity. An arcane technique that allows you to momentarily summon part of your limbs in the form of a Great Old One.]
"Hmm...…"
Looking at the description before him, Duanmu Huai sank into thought.
What exactly would this look like in practice?
(End of Chapter)