[Little Hammer Smashes Your Head]
[Primarch Gene No.15] [Evil Bane] [Death Guard]
[Class: Inquisitor (LV40)] [Doom Slayer (LV1)] [Soulwalker Specialization] [Warp Heat Consumption -50%]
[Strength: 18] [Melee +8] [Astartes Combat Training LV8] [Matter Displacement] [Target Weakness] [Win Against Many] [Bully the Weak]
[Agility: 4] [Shooting +0] [Cicaran Enhancement LV1]
[Constitution: 16] [Resistance +6] [Ecclesiarchal Siege Doctrine LV8] [Rage] [Immortal Warrior]
[Intelligence: 17] [Will +7] [High Psyker Combat Training LV1] [Soul Resonance (Special Skill)] [Primarch Gene Enhancement] [Psyker Duel]
[Perception: 8] [Awareness +4] [Ordo Tactics Assault LV3]
[Charisma: 1 (Locked)] [Communication -3] [Aura of Terror LV1]
After reading his character attributes once more, Duanmu Huai shrugged and closed the interface.
After advancing his class, he finally understood how this new path killed demons so completely. Simply put, whenever he slew a demon, the class would automatically absorb its most essential core. What remained was nothing but husk and residue, leaving the demon no chance to regenerate — only death.
The only downside was that the absorption rate was quite low.
Upon returning to the mothership, Duanmu Huai tested it on several demons. He discovered that for ordinary demons, the attribute absorption was less than 0.00001%. But the stronger the demon, the higher the gain. In other words, if he targeted Chaos Champions, High Daemons, or even a Greater Daemon, he could absorb a significant amount of attributes in one strike. Against common demons, though, the growth was negligible. Hmph, considering how this damn game always blocks players from grinding for levels, this outcome wasn't unexpected.
Still, the Doom Slayer class held enormous potential. Attribute points were rare; aside from the occasional +1 for every two level-ups, only special quests ever rewarded them. Yet the Doom Slayer's unique effect guaranteed that every time Duanmu Huai felled a boss, he would gain permanent stat growth.
Of course, there were losses as well. With both Heaven and Hell annihilated, all technology linked to the Father and Heaven was effectively severed. Even though Duanmu Huai's Night Sentinels had studied some knowledge from the Makyrs, the full tech tree connected to the Father was gone for good. As for the longed-for Creation Engine, that dream was dead.
But such sacrifices were necessary for the quest. After all, it's called Doom Slayer. If I don't destroy everything, how could I call myself that?
Looking back, he grew even more certain that the final quest option was designed purely to mislead him. The goal was to unlock a new advanced class. If he had absorbed the Father's Life Sphere instead, it wouldn't have been an advancement at all. Worse still, this was a one-time mission. If he'd missed Doom Slayer here, it would have been lost forever…
MMP, damn dog of a system is still as shameless as ever.
Still, he hadn't walked away empty-handed. For example, from the UAC he had salvaged the plasma cannon — the BFG, a weapon of mass destruction!
The Imperial tech tree did include similar energy weapons, like the lance. But compared to the BFG, the lance had obvious flaws: over long distances, the beam scattered; at short range, it had no advantage at all. On top of that, lances were relatively small. Truth be told, in energy weaponry, the Imperium lagged far behind the Eldar.
The BFG was on another level. Its range was vast, its power overwhelming — strong enough to bore a hole straight through Mars. To Duanmu Huai, it was far superior to the lance.
The only drawback was energy. The UAC's BFGs were powered by Argent Energy extracted from Hell. But now that both Heaven and Hell were gone, their supply was cut off. To Duanmu Huai, this wasn't a problem. His battleship ran on an Old One antimatter reactor — perfectly suited to power the BFG.
He immediately sent the weapon to the Inquisition Library for analysis. Once completed, he could spend [Construction Points] to replace every lance on his ship with plasma cannons, and even upgrade the main gun… though that would have to wait until he had enough points.
With the collapse of Heaven and Hell, the demon armies rampaging across the planet were finally wiped out. Duanmu Huai and his companions prepared to leave, leaving the rest to the Armed Response Alliance. He did, however, leave them a communicator — promising future assistance, for a price.
After all, with the Imperium in ruins, no one was paying Inquisitors anymore. If I don't make my own living, who will? Thankfully, his Night Sentinels were all spirits. Otherwise, feeding such an army would have been impossible.
With the Sentinels joining him, his Void Dock and Void Barracks grew lively at last. The dock now stored numerous warships and vehicles from the Argent civilization. Unfortunately, none were void-capable starships — only atmospheric gunboats. Still, it was something.
Sitting in his chair and reviewing the spoils list, Duanmu Huai tapped the table in satisfaction.
This quest's rewards weren't particularly rich, but for his first step beyond the star sea, they were more than acceptable. Aside from his advancement to Doom Slayer, he had gained:
A complete Argent military technology research system.
15,000 Night Sentinel spirits.
The UAC's BFG cannon and its manufacturing schematics.
A full collection of texts from the planet's Great Library (Anne's request).
Fifty Argent warships and assorted weapons (heavy cannons, plasma rifles, rocket launchers, ballistae, Vulcan cannons, etc.) — though he personally had little use for ranged weapons.
That was more than enough.
With this advancement quest behind him, it was time to plan the next move.
He intended to head for the Guardians' homeworld — the Holy City — and establish contact with their Tower. Compared to most civilizations, the Guardians were relatively open-minded. As long as he built rapport with them, he foresaw few obstacles.
If he could even persuade some Guardians to follow him back to the newbie village, then with their aid plus his fleet and Night Sentinels, crushing the northern barbarians would be easy. That way, the End Times might be averted…
The problem was that he didn't know the Guardians' current situation. They weren't without enemies, facing threats from both the Warp and xenos.
Well, I'll find out when I get there.
Closing the spoils list, Duanmu Huai rose and stepped into the command room. The girls were chatting in their seats, but stood immediately upon seeing him.
"Ah, Sir Knight!"
"Master."
"Mm."
He nodded and approached the holographic console.
"Our business on this planet is done. Time to head to the next destination."
"Where? Where are we going??"
Anne nearly jumped with excitement, her big eyes glowing as she fixed them on Duanmu Huai. He chuckled.
"You'll see when we get there… This time, we'll use the orthodox method."
He opened the star map, activated the webway system, set coordinates from memory, and gave the order.
"Departure!"
At his command, the great warship plunged once more into the webway. Outside the windows, streams of light streaked past, before finally giving way to the vast darkness of space.
"Uuu… there's nothing out here?"
Anne pouted, staring into the empty void. Compared to their last jump, it felt as though the ship was drifting alone on an endless ocean, surrounded only by starlight.
"Mia, open the public channel. Collect all communication signals."
"Understood, Master."
The artificial angel tapped lightly on the console. A burst of static filled the speakers, then silence.
"No signals received, Master."
"Mm. We'll wait."
Unbothered, Duanmu Huai sat back down. The others, not understanding his intentions, quietly returned to their own tasks.
Anne, Olgis, and Feline all buried themselves in books. Since he had looted the Great Library, the three were inseparable from their reading. Each, however, had different tastes.
Anne devoured encyclopedias and engineering texts, fascinated by industrial architecture — a true mage's obsession.
Olgis preferred philosophy, fairy tales, and speculative works. If she's trying to understand humanity through that, she's off track… most people don't suffer like philosophers.
Feline, meanwhile, read only travel guides and food magazines, dismissing anything else.
Lorena spent little time on the ship, returning to the Holy City for worship. She only came when summoned.
As for Guleya…
"What are you doing?"
Curious, Duanmu Huai walked over to see her scribbling on paper.
"Ah, Sir Knight."
She looked nervous but lowered her head to answer.
"Nothing much. Just homework…"
"Homework, huh? Doesn't Anne have any?"
"I finished mine ages ago!"
Anne grinned, poked her head out of a book to answer, then dove back into her studies.
Truly a prodigy.
"Report, Master…"
Mia's voice interrupted.
"Detected an unencrypted public distress signal."
"Oh? Play it immediately!"
His eyes lit up. Mia pressed a few keys, and soon a panicked voice blared from the speakers.
"Mayday! Mayday! This is the Risk Assessment! We are under attack by space pirates! Requesting assistance! Can anyone hear us? Please respond!!"
Got one.
Duanmu Huai's lips curved into a smile.
"Lock on to the source. Let's go see what's happening!"
He issued the order at once.
(End of Chapter)