After work, start to speedrun the other world-Chapter 60 - 35: Breaking into the Royal Palace_2

The two sides stood off, the atmosphere extremely tense.

Many soldiers poured in from the surrounding corridors, blocking any escape routes, leaving themselves isolated and without support.

Xi Mu looked around, drew the Hunting King’s Greatsword from his back, and as his hand caressed the blade, black flames infused with a powerful scent of death wound around the sword.

In the palace, the environment for escape was rather narrow, and it was not easy for the soldiers to flee if they wanted to.

That meant he could maximize his experience gains.

"Boom!" the dwarf loli leaped down, her feet sinking into the ground, she raised the exaggeratedly large hammer and pointed at Xi Mu, saying,

"You wanted to trick us into going to Kardon Village, and then sneak into the palace to assassinate Ashliya, right?" She lowered her hammers slightly, and her body temperature rapidly soared, making the air around her hot and dry.

"Your plan has been completely seen through!" The moment she finished speaking, the dwarf loli’s figure had already shot out, spinning in the air like a top and hammered down viciously at Xi Mu.

Xi Mu swung his sword to meet her, and with an explosion of air, the black flames that wrapped around the greatsword burst forth, affecting the surrounding soldiers.

It was only a spark that they had caught, yet in an instant, it turned into a great fire that consumed the soldiers’ bodies, reducing them to skeletons in the blink of an eye, and then to ashes.

"Hahaha, this is so much fun!" the dwarf loli laughed madly, swinging her hammers crazily at Xi Mu, her body temperature soaring wildly, red lines appearing on her skin, emitting steam.

"Which is stronger, the Goddess of Death’s flames or the flames of my god!" The flames she possessed, originating from the Flame Giant Surter, were the most potent flames capable of consuming the world.

Her opponent wielded flames from the Goddess of Death, flames that could bestow death upon life and guide it towards its end.

The fierce clash shook the atmosphere, emitting thunderous roars, and the courtyard’s stone slabs shattered as the crimson fire and the black flames of death interwove and splashed.

The surrounding soldiers did not dare to join the battlefield for a moment.

Until the mad dwarf loli was sent flying backward, an arm clutching a hammer spiraling through the air and crashing heavily into a building.

"Aaaaah... my hand!" Inside the house, the dwarf loli rolled, screaming, the stump of her arm burning with black flames, and the arm itself was turned to ashes by the fire.

Xi Mu merely glanced at her, then ran towards the depths of the palace, not planning to kill this NPC dwarf loli for now.

He would use her later to complete the Ashes Route sub-plot, then effortlessly do away with her.

Along the way, he went on a killing spree; it was no longer a siege against him, as he killed anyone he encountered with a single sword strike, like a nail piercing into the palace, rushing straight towards the depths.

"This is where it ends!" A dwarf in armor leaped down, swinging a serrated greatsword at Xi Mu’s neck.

His strength was greater than the dwarf loli’s, nearly level sixty, and he exerted a crushing power over Xi Mu.

But his combat skills... were terrible.

Xi Mu stepped aside, and his black flame-enveloped greatsword followed suit, slashing through the air to form a crescent that neatly sliced through the neck of the attacking dwarf.

The head dangled upside down as the body kept charging forward and skidding a long distance on the ground, leaving behind a shocking trail of blood.

Not long after he left.

The dwarf loli dragged her hammer with one hand as she arrived, looking at the headless corpse on the ground, her pupils contracted, and she stood frozen.

That was the body of her friend.

"What the hell is with that guy!" Unable to suppress her rage, her body temperature rose even higher, and the moment her blood dripped from the stump, it turned into a flame that carried a scent of madness.

"I must kill you, I will kill you!" Clenching her hammer tightly, she followed the trail of corpses in pursuit of the knight.

Even though she was stronger and had the blessings of a god, why was she so easily defeated by that man?

It was as if every action had been anticipated.

Moments later.

The dwarf loli finally caught up to the knight, but she saw an even more despairing sight; her comrade was on her knees, hands clutching a greatsword thrust into her chest, eyes filled with unwillingness, blood flowing from her mouth, nose, and ears.

The indifferent knight kicked her comrade’s head fiercely, and accompanied by the sliding body, it smashed heavily against a wall.

"Ah... you’re still alive," said the silver-armored knight, tilting his head and shaking off the blood on the greatsword, his cold gaze chilling.

"Don’t bother me; I’m not interested in you."

"`Flame Hammer!`" she bellowed with fury. The dwarven girl charged out swinging the large hammer with her only hand as if it were a burning meteor lighting up the night sky, and smashed it down hard against the silver-armored knight.

But now with her arm severed, she could no longer maintain her balance, let alone launch such a furious strike without considering her defense.

"Boom!" The greatsword met the hammer head-on, clashing with red and black flames erupting from the impact. It was the dwarven girl who gained the upper hand with this strike, not only bouncing the knight’s greatsword away but also finding an opportunity to counter-attack.

Assuming she had another hand to wield the hammer, that is. She still subconsciously felt as if she had two hammers, with which she could coordinate both attack and defense.

Bad news.

The dwarven girl realized this problem and planted her feet into the ground like steel nails, tensing her waist and attempting to swing the hammer before the knight could react.

However, what greeted her was the knight’s indifferent gaze. Using the momentum of his greatsword being deflected, he spun around.

With a swing of his greatsword, he struck the dwarven girl’s back with force, like hitting a bowling ball, sending her flying through several walls.

And in that moment, her tightly gripped hammer was knocked from her hand.

"Damn it! Damn it all!!!"

The anguished roar could be heard from a ruined house.

Passing by, Xi Mu glanced over and saw the dwarven girl, sitting on the ground, half-kneeling as she desperately tried to stand but collapsed helplessly again.

Her body had reached its limit. Not just the severed arm—her organs and spine were severely damaged too. Being able to shout with such power was already quite impressive.

Xi Mu indifferently withdrew his gaze and continued to make his way deeper toward the palace, leaving the dwarven girl who repeatedly tried to stand but ended up falling each time.

After a begrudging crawl to her fallen hammer, she despaired to find she no longer had the strength to lift it.

She was supposed to be stronger, so why had that human defeated her so easily? This frustrating feeling of overpowering yet being defeated was something she had never experienced before.

"Ah, ah ah, uuu..." The roars of anger gradually turned into choked sobs as the dwarven girl, propping herself up with one hand, let tears fall continuously.

She had never cried before. Dwarves needed a resilient will to forge the toughest weapons.

So she had always thought crying was the act of the weak.

But now she realized something: she was weak. The other party didn’t even deign to kill her.

Was it because she was a little girl, or because she was female? 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Unclear.

"I’ll kill you, I swear I’ll kill you!" Sobbing, the dwarven girl cried and cursed loudly in the moonlight, sitting in a duck position.

Never in her life had she been so thoroughly beaten, forced to recognize that she was just a little girl, to acknowledge her own weakness.

Meanwhile, on the other side,

Xi Mu walked through a long, bloodied corridor, where the bodies of dwarves and humans alike lay behind him.

He stood before a tightly shut door, looking at the terrified maid who, pushing against the door with her feet, shook with fear.

"Don’t worry, I’m just here to assassinate the second princess, Ashliya. I mean you no harm," he said.

The maid frantically nodded, even more terrified as she gazed upon the knight’s bloodied armor and the greatsword with its black flame.

Especially considering the trail of corpses behind the knight, the terror was all the more highlighted.

Xi Mu, trying to sound as gentle as possible, asked the maid who was nearly frightened unconscious, "Is the second princess, Ashliya, in here?"

"No... no... I don’t know!" The maid shook even more violently before rolling her eyes back and fainting.

Xi Mu, taken aback, mused, "It’s not like I have an elder god’s face, still quite handsome, and yet she faints from fright."

"Has the game adjusted NPC fear values?" He mused, even though he said so, he pushed open the door to Princess Ashliya’s room.

As expected, it was empty.