After defeating Queen Mek and killing three Hell Priests, the demon offensive gradually began to weaken. For the rest of the group, there were no leads for the moment. But for Duanmu Huai… this wasn't a problem at all.
Was Queen Mek captured for nothing?
In fact, the moment he caught Queen Mek, Duanmu Huai had tossed her straight to the Night Sentinels and given an order.
"Extract everything inside her brain."
Memory-reading, brain-probing technologies—both the Imperium and the Night Sentinels possessed them. Even the Makyrs had such methods. In truth, it was the Makyrs who had taught this very technology to the Argent people… only to end up victims of it themselves.
The Night Sentinels, of course, hated this traitor Queen Mek bitterly. As for what sort of treatment she would receive—well, considering that mantis-like face of hers, the tentacle-like lower body, and her height of over ten meters, she was hardly suitable for becoming material for something like "The Noble Queen Fallen.mp4."
But whether other bloody, violent scenes would occur… that was another matter.
Duanmu Huai didn't care either way.
And the Night Sentinels were efficient. Soon, they had pulled a vast trove of intelligence from Queen Mek's brain.
When Duanmu Huai read through it, even he was surprised—the secrets were simply too interesting.
According to her memory, the Makyrs and the demons… had actually been created by the same being!
Yes, if Queen Mek's memories were accurate, then the story went like this:
Once, this world was void. Then appeared an existence called the Father. Whether this Father was some kind of Star God–like ancient cosmic entity or something else, Duanmu Huai didn't know. In any case, just like many creation myths, a world called Urdak came into being with the Father as its center. Afterward, the Father felt lonely and created another world called Jerrad and filled it with life, so that they could develop civilization.
During this process, the Father also created a primordial god named Davoth to oversee Jerrad in his stead.
As with all stories, at first, under Jerrad's leadership, that race thrived and flourished. But it didn't take long before they fell into the universal anxiety and fear of death that plagued all mortal species. Moreover, they began to grow jealous of another race the Father had created—the Makyrs, Queen Mek's people.
The Makyrs were the first beings born in Urdak. They were like the Father's assistants and children, helping him research and create. More importantly, they possessed a massive machine called the "Divinity Engine." This machine could separate soul from flesh, transforming the soul into a "Sphere of Life." In other words, even if a Makyr was killed, as long as their Sphere of Life still existed, they could use the Divinity Engine to recreate a body and resurrect.
Naturally, this sparked jealousy and resentment among the people of Jerrad.
Why? We're all created by the Father. Why do you get eternal life while we just die like insects?
See? In families with too many siblings, fights always break out over unfair inheritance shares. In the modern world, it'd be worthy of an episode of "Society and Law"—something like "Brothers at Odds, Suing Each Other Over Inheritance."
But sadly, this world had no courts, nor any "out-of-court settlements." So Davoth led the people of Jerrad in an attack on Urdak, hoping to seize the Divinity Engine and immortality.
In the end, the Father defeated Davoth, separated his soul from his body, and sealed this rebellious child's soul within a Sphere of Life. The Father could have killed him outright, but out of paternal love, he merely sealed Davoth away…
Yes, very touching. What a good father.
Incidentally, Jerrad became what was now Hell, and Urdak was the Makyrs' Heaven.
Afterward, the Father transformed himself into the form of a Sphere of Life and departed this sorrowful material world. His Sphere of Life was kept in the holy sanctum of Heaven.
But then, something strange happened. Someone among the Makyrs betrayed the Queen and stole the Father's Sphere of Life, causing it to vanish without a trace.
That left the Makyrs in a panic. Though they could still revive through Spheres of Life and the Divinity Engine, every resurrection had to be confirmed by the Father.
It was like submitting a request to your superior: "Subject 0001 has died, requesting resurrection." Only after the superior clicked "Confirm" could the Divinity Engine bring you back.
But now, the superior responsible for clicking "Confirm" was gone. No one could replace him. This meant all resurrection requests were stuck in limbo. For the Makyrs, this was equivalent to facing the threat of death.
And so Queen Mek had no choice but to seek other methods to prolong her race's lifespan. Eventually, she turned her gaze toward Hell, and in the end, allied with demons in exchange for the energy Hell produced.
So, if they could just find the Spheres of Life of the Father and of this Davoth, and destroy them, wouldn't that mean these aliens could be annihilated for good?
Having read the intelligence provided by the Night Sentinels, Duanmu Huai considered deeply. Of course, Queen Mek's memories contained not just this, but also a vast body of Makyr technological knowledge. He ordered the Night Sentinels to categorize and store it all for now—he would later check if there was anything useful.
For the moment, though, nothing caught his interest—except the Divinity Engine.
It reminded him of another race from the game.
The Guardians.
They too were a human civilization that had stepped into the cosmos, and were barely considered one of the core civilizations of the galaxy. Guardians possessed a device called a "Ghost." As long as a Ghost remained, then a Guardian who wielded the Light, even if slain, would revive within moments.
That sounded remarkably similar to the Divinity Engine. More importantly, it was far more convenient.
Of course, Guardians weren't without weakness. If, at the moment a Guardian was killed, their Ghost was destroyed, then the Guardian would truly die.
Still, for players, that ability to resurrect in short order was very practical. Some even chose Guardian as a side-class—after all, it was like carrying around a Soulstone for instant battlefield revival. In fact, Duanmu Huai was already planning to recruit a squad of Guardians to help him tackle the End Times.
A bunch of undying Guardians would certainly be more useful than ordinary soldiers.
And in the game, Guardians behaved much like players. They often mimicked players' antics, which made players fond of them. To the players, Guardians felt like NPCs designed to imitate their own style—they formed parties, shouted for teammates, enjoyed PK matches, weren't afraid of death, and occasionally cracked morbid jokes. As long as there was a quest, Guardians were willing to lend a hand.
But Guardian issues could wait until later.
Duanmu Huai drew his thoughts back to the intelligence before him.
What he truly wanted was a clue from Queen Mek's memory regarding the location of the Father's Sphere of Life, or that of Davoth. Unfortunately, her memories only suggested that Davoth's soul sphere was somewhere in Hell. The Makyrs had never been able to delve deep enough into the Hell dimension, so she herself had no idea where it was.
Knock knock knock.
Just then, a sudden knock at the door broke Duanmu Huai's thoughts. He lifted his head toward the entrance.
"Come in."
"Ah, Sir Knight!!"
The door opened, and Anne walked in, waving to him.
"Anne, what is it?"
"Well, um, a representative from the Armored Response Coalition came to see you. They said they want to discuss the next plan of action with you."
"All right, I understand."
Nodding at her words, Duanmu Huai suddenly thought of something. He looked at her curiously.
"You can communicate with them now?"
Until now, only Duanmu Huai had been able to communicate with this world's humans through his power armor's translator. The others couldn't understand the language at all. Though Anne had asked him for some textbooks to learn the language… hadn't it only been a few days?
"Hehehe, I only needed one day to learn it. Pretty amazing, right?"
"Amazing indeed…"
Duanmu Huai silently gave her a thumbs-up. As expected of Manaria's number-one mage—her intellect was beyond words.
After this, Duanmu Huai left the camp and headed for the gate. There he saw a nervous young man in ARC uniform, bald-headed and fidgeting. Clearly, the sight of the Night Sentinels unsettled him. When he spotted Duanmu Huai, his face turned pale, but he hurriedly raised his hand in salute.
"G-Greetings, Inquisitor…! Forgive me for disturbing you at such a busy time…"
"What's the matter?"
Duanmu Huai had no interest in pleasantries. He spoke bluntly, and the youth hesitated before answering.
"Y-Yes, well… Dr. Hayden has invited you to the ARC headquarters, regarding our next course of action…"
Dr. Hayden?
At the name, Duanmu Huai frowned slightly but nodded.
"Fine. Lead the way."
"Yes, sir!! Please follow me!!!"
The Armored Response Coalition's headquarters was located aboard an aircraft carrier, allowing rapid deployment to counter demon incursions. Though the death of the three Hell Priests had greatly weakened the invasion, scattered demonic forces were still active. Humanity, having lost sixty billion people, lacked the military strength to reclaim all the territory. At present, both sides were locked in a stalemate.
On the way to ARC headquarters, Duanmu Huai learned from the youth about Dr. Hayden. He was the first man to rise and rally humanity against the demons when they first invaded. Later, ARC itself was founded by him as its central figure. In fact, ARC's weapons and equipment were all based on technologies he had developed.
Even Dr. Hayden himself had once led an army deep into Hell in a bid to shatter the demonic offensive, though he ultimately failed and was grievously wounded.
But when Duanmu Huai finally stood before Dr. Hayden, he understood why the man had not shown himself until now.
"T-This… is Dr. Hayden…"
The youth pointed nervously at a repair pod before them. Inside was a robot body, shredded and mangled, only the upper torso left, arms torn to pieces.
(End of Chapter)