In the end, Duanmu Huai still shook his head and refused the Kara tribe's invitation.
The reason was actually very simple. If it had been before he met Ling Nü, Duanmu Huai might very well have eagerly agreed. But after meeting Ling Nü—especially after receiving her hands-on instruction—Duanmu Huai had come to understand one thing: once anything turned into a duty or an obligation, it stopped being fun.
Even pleasure between men and women was no exception.
When Ling Nü was giving him lessons, Duanmu Huai basically couldn't muster any sexual interest at all, to the point where he once suspected that he might have gone limp. Later, after thinking it over, he figured that doctors probably felt just as calm when facing corpses—except for those with special fetishes.
It was like those internet-addicted teenagers. They might spend all day gaming online, playing until they forgot to go home, but if you sent them to an esports training center for a week, you could guarantee that afterward, just touching a game would make them reflexively want to puke. The effect of curing internet addiction would be outstanding.
The reason was simple. Playing games on your own was mainly for your own enjoyment. But once it became a task, everything changed. Wrong place, wrong time, wrong technique, and you'd get scolded nonstop. That was obviously not a happy thing. Over time, what was originally a relaxing and enjoyable activity turned into something stressful and suffocating, and naturally, no one would want to do it anymore.
Duanmu Huai was the same. Sure, the Kara tribe was indeed full of beautiful girls, but he wasn't lacking beauties around him either. Pleasure between men and women was about atmosphere and emotion. But the Kara tribe was clearly treating him like breeding stock—no, like a breeding pig—to be used. Naturally, Duanmu Huai wasn't happy about that.
What, were they going to set a pregnancy rate KPI for him too?
Ancient emperors who had three thousand beauties in their harem yet doted on only one were probably driven by a similar mentality.
Leaving behind descendants was a responsibility. Being with someone you liked was clearly on a different level entirely.
Besides that, there was another reason…
The Kara tribe was, after all, an alien race.
Duanmu Huai bore no ill will toward the Kara tribe, but he didn't have much affection for them either. The reason he stepped in to help this time was, firstly, coincidence, and secondly, because he was at odds with Hermann.
If it had been Seth or Lisass instead, Duanmu Huai probably wouldn't have charged in directly. He would have found someone to ask about the situation first. If the reasons given were acceptable, he would have simply stayed out of it. At the end of the day, Seth and Lisass were both human kingdoms, so when dealing with Lia, Duanmu Huai didn't really worry too much about these issues. But the Kara tribe was an alien race. Hmm… as an Inquisitor, Duanmu Huai still had to take that into consideration.
After all, he wasn't the kind of person who would eat anything raw or cooked without discrimination.
Of course, the last reason—and the least important one—was this.
If he nodded and agreed, wouldn't that mean he accepted the Kara tribe's evaluation of his appearance?
How could that be acceptable? He felt that he was still salvageable!
No matter when, humanity could not give up hope!
Duanmu Huai believed that he was only just a tiny bit away from being handsome.
One day, he would prove it with his own strength!
Igris was genuinely surprised by Duanmu Huai's refusal of their invitation. After all, this was a rare opportunity. But Duanmu Huai's attitude was firm, and she couldn't possibly force him to stay, so she had no choice but to drop the matter. Thus, the group only stayed one night in Kara Village before setting out again toward O.J.
"To be honest, I thought you'd stay a few more days in Kara Village."
Sitting on the side seat of the electromagnetic rhinoceros, Shizuka couldn't help teasing Duanmu Huai. After all, at last night's banquet, she had noticed that quite a few Kara girls were very curious about Duanmu Huai. Unfortunately, his appearance still scared them off. Just thinking about it made Shizuka feel amused.
"There's nothing to do even if we stay. Better to head to O.J as soon as possible and try to find the Little Demon King quickly…"
Duanmu Huai shook his head. Just then, a figure silently descended.
"Ninja reporting in! Ling Nü is back, nya!"
"So fast?"
Seeing Ling Nü suddenly appear beside him, Duanmu Huai was a little surprised. Earlier, he had sent Ling Nü out to scout O.J's situation. He hadn't expected her to return so quickly.
"Did you find anything?"
"Mhm mhm, Ling Nü has news about the Demon King."
"Oh? Really?"
Hearing this, Duanmu Huai's spirits immediately lifted.
"You're sure?"
"Of course. But… it doesn't seem quite the same as the Little Demon King you described."
"What does that mean???"
Although confused, Duanmu Huai patiently listened as Ling Nü explained. The situation itself wasn't complicated.
Simply put, O.J was currently in a Warring States–like era, with various daimyō occupying their own territories and fighting each other. However, not long ago, something strange happened—one of the competing powers, the head of the Oda clan, Oda Nobunaga, suddenly rose to prominence, leading a powerful army that swept through the surrounding forces and was now advancing along the road toward unifying O.J.
Of course, if that were all, it would only indicate that the man was strong. However, according to the information Ling Nü had gathered, this Oda Nobunaga was extremely brutal, and his army even included monster troops. Moreover, he himself claimed to be the Sixth Heaven Demon King. Not only that, according to deserters who fled from the battlefield, this Sixth Heaven Demon King seemed completely invulnerable. No matter what methods were used, they couldn't cause him even the slightest bit of damage.
Unable to deal damage… hmm, that did indeed sound like the invincible barrier characteristic of demonkin or Demon Kings.
But Saizer had clearly said that the Little Demon King was a beautiful girl.
According to Ling Nü, that Oda Nobunaga should be a middle-aged man, right?
What was going on here?
"In any case, the plan has changed."
Duanmu Huai made a decisive decision. Previously, he had chosen to infiltrate O.J because searching for the Demon King should have been done covertly. But now that the other side had already made such a big, public move, there was no need for Duanmu Huai to cooperate with any stealthy search games. This was actually better—at least it saved the trouble of searching. All he needed to do was grab the person and ask them directly.
Thus, Duanmu Huai decisively summoned the Sky City once more and led everyone straight toward O.J.
"So I'm saying, using this from the start would've been fine…"
Naturally, Shizuka couldn't help complaining. As a mage, she reacted to the Sky City the same way Maria reacted to machinery—once she saw it, her eyes went blank and she couldn't move. But Duanmu Huai didn't care about such trivial matters. Before, it hadn't been necessary. Now that plans had changed faster than expected, adjustments had to be made accordingly.
The Sky City was naturally much faster than the electromagnetic rhinoceros. In less than half an hour, the edge of the continent and the vast ocean appeared before them. At the same time, what entered their view was an island on the other side of the sea, and the long bridge stretching from the island to connect with the continent.
"That's Tenman Bridge, nya."
At this moment, Ling Nü was acting as a tour guide. Kanami refused to return to O.J, so among them, Ling Nü was naturally the most familiar with the area.
"As long as we cross Tenman Bridge, we'll reach O.J."
"What's over there?"
Duanmu Huai raised his head and looked toward the other side of the island. At this moment, dark clouds covered the sky there, and thick smoke rose from the ground, almost shrouding half of O.J Island. Hearing Duanmu Huai's question, Ling Nü raised her head, looked in that direction for a moment, and then answered.
"Uh… that should be the territories of the Asakura clan and the Uesugi clan. Did the Sixth Heaven Demon King already attack that fast?"
"We'll know once we go take a look."
Hearing Ling Nü's answer, Duanmu Huai didn't hesitate. He quickly accelerated the Sky City and headed toward the smoke-covered O.J Island.
It didn't take long for the Sky City to arrive above the smoky area. Looking down, they could indeed see dense masses of people engaged in battle—human armies and monster legions alike. Although they were different from the demon armies Duanmu Huai had seen in Seth, it was obvious that those were not human troops.
"What do you think?"
Shizuka looked at Duanmu Huai and asked. He frowned.
"Either demonkin or a Demon King. In any case, it has to be one of the two."
"So what are we going to do now?"
"Is that even a question?"
Hearing Shizuka, Duanmu Huai chuckled, then reached out and took up his steel warhammer.
"Go down there, beat the shit out of it first, and then talk!"
As his words fell, Duanmu Huai leapt forward, jumping straight off the Sky City like a paratrooper without a parachute, plummeting directly toward the ground.
"Wah—he just jumped like that?!"
Seeing this, Magico was completely stunned.
"What do we do?"
"What else can we do? Stay here and watch the show."
Shizuka sighed helplessly.
"I can pretty much guess what he's planning to do."
As she spoke, Duanmu Huai was already falling from the sky. Gripping his warhammer tightly, he crossed thousands of meters of altitude and slammed straight down toward the ground!
Then, he crashed heavily right into the middle of the battlefield!
"Boom!!!"
Duanmu Huai's descent immediately drew the attention of both sides. Whether it was the monster army or the humans, all of them turned their heads in astonishment toward the spot where he landed. Then they saw a tall man carrying a massive warhammer stride out from the impact site, wearing a cold, ferocious grin as he stared at the monster army before him.
"I don't know where you came from, but since I'm here now, you can go back to where you came from!"
As he spoke, Duanmu Huai raised his hand.
"Perfect. Let me test the power of this card!"
At this battlefield, corpses were scattered everywhere. For Duanmu Huai, it was simply the perfect testing ground.
Activating Soul Card — [Blasphemy Sphere]
In the next instant, following Duanmu Huai's action, a pitch-black spire shaped like a twisting spiral burst out of the ground behind him! Immediately after, crimson runes, like fresh blood, surfaced upon it. Then, the corpses scattered across the battlefield suddenly began to writhe. They stood back up, raised their hands high, and two arms extended from their backs, transforming into sharp blades.
Then Duanmu Huai slung the warhammer over his shoulder and snapped his fingers.
"Go."
"———————!!!"
With Duanmu Huai's command, countless corpse aberrations roared as they charged toward the Oda clan's demon army!
(The End of This Chapter)