What appeared on the screen was an ugly pig-like face behind a mask.
Well, the Cabal weren't much to look at in the first place. Covering their faces actually made them slightly easier on the eyes—though not by much.
"This is your final notice, humans."
The pig-faced brute on the screen stared coldly at them all, his voice rumbling with menace.
"Abandon resistance. Hand over the Traveler. I will grant you one way to survive."
"Oh? And if we don't?"
Hearing his words, Duanmu Huai let out a cold snort. The brute glared at him viciously, eyes filled with rage and hatred. Clearly, he had already guessed Duanmu Huai was the commander of the battleship.
"Otherwise, I will destroy this star system and wipe you all out."
"Oh… I'm so scared…"
"I am not exaggerating."
The pig-faced brute gestured, and the display shifted. At once, they saw it: not far from the star at the system's center, a massive I-shaped warship hung in orbit. At that very moment, it was continuously firing some kind of beam into the star. The sight made everyone's faces darken.
And then his voice rang out again.
"You have only twelve hours. If you refuse to surrender, we will destroy this star, and with it, your entire system will vanish!"
"Oh…"
So they have this trick too.
Staring at the warship, Duanmu Huai's eyes gleamed. Indeed, if one could destroy a star, the resulting explosion would devastate the entire system. He had never thought the Cabal still had something like this hidden. If he could seize that warship for himself, then dealing with the Necrons or Tyranids in the future would be much more convenient.
The brute clearly had no idea what Duanmu Huai was thinking. He simply glared and repeated his threat.
"Remember. Only twelve hours."
A second later, the transmission cut off.
The room fell silent.
"I never thought they would use this method to threaten us."
Zavala clenched his fists in fury, while the Warlock beside him shook her head.
"Then what can we possibly do?"
"It's simple. I'll take care of that warship. You handle things here."
Duanmu Huai made the decision instantly. His words shocked the others.
"Inquisitor, you mean to…"
"The enemy has planned this from the start. Cabal warships—no matter how many they throw at me—are nothing but scrap before my guns. That's why they've resorted to this trick, to lure me away. Since I only brought one warship, if I go after their toy, they can hit this city again."
"That much is true."
The Warlock nodded at his explanation.
"Right now the Last City's defenses are completely paralyzed. It was only thanks to your battleship that we drove them off. Without you, we could never hold against the Cabal fleet."
The Guardians' level of technology was… extremely skewed.
To put it politely, they had no standing fleet.
To put it bluntly, they had no warships at all.
After all, humanity in this system was reduced to a single city. With their resources and knowledge, they could not hope to build real fleets. The only things they had were single-person fighters. Their method of space combat was for Guardians to fly those craft, then board enemy ships with the help of Ghosts' teleport-like reconstruction abilities.
As a side note, Duanmu Huai did boarding because he enjoyed it. Guardians did it because they had no other choice.
In truth, Duanmu Huai thought they needed to learn to build proper warships as soon as possible if they wanted to survive among the stars.
"Besides, I imagine you can still resist these enemies for a while."
He had some confidence in their combat ability. Even without ships, as long as it wasn't a sudden strike… huh?
"My apologies, Inquisitor."
At that moment, Zavala bowed his head.
"We have already lost the power of the Light."
"…What???"
"I imagine you've seen it with your own eyes."
Duanmu Huai followed his gesture to the window. Above the Last City hung the great white sphere. But now, as if bound by some restraint, its surface was wrapped in a strange black substance.
"The Cabal did this. I don't know how, but once they chained the Traveler with that black device, we lost its Light. I am ashamed to admit it, but now we are little different from ordinary men."
"…That really is unexpected."
The confession caught Duanmu Huai off guard. In the game, he had never experienced this war—he only knew the Cabal fought the Guardians constantly. He hadn't expected this.
"If you could help free the Traveler, it would change everything…"
"I don't have the right kind of specialists here… but I'll let someone try."
The only one he could count on now was Anne.
"In short, that's the situation."
Standing at the base of the white sphere, Duanmu Huai explained the Guardians' connection to the Light to Anne. On its surface was fixed a strange rectangular black structure. According to Zavala, the Cabal had installed it there. It then spread a layer of black matter over the Traveler, and at that very moment, they had lost the Light.
"Hmm…"
Anne studied the massive construct curiously, stepped forward, and tapped it with her hand.
"I don't sense any energy at all. It's likely this black shell blocks it entirely. If I can destroy its central core, the effect should end. But I'm not sure my magic will work. Guleya, Feline, do you want to try?"
"I… I don't think I can…"
Guleya shook her head at the towering mass of metal. It was dozens of stories tall—far beyond her strength, dragon-blooded or not.
Feline shook her head too, clearly at a loss.
Using the macro cannons was out of the question—if they accidentally pierced the Traveler, it would be catastrophic.
"Then I'll try magic first."
Anne summoned a bolt of lightning and struck the black structure. But the electricity vanished instantly, absorbed without a trace. Anne's expression turned puzzled.
"What is it, Anne?"
"Interesting. This thing seems immune to magic. It must be built of some material that simply doesn't react to it… fascinating substance."
"If you like it, I'll take it apart later so you can study it."
Duanmu Huai turned to the doll-like girl at his side.
"Olgis, your turn."
"Yes, Master."
At his command, Olgis extended fine threads from her fingers, wrapping them tightly around the black shackle. She pulled with all her strength.
Squeeeeak—crack—groooan!
The structure creaked under the strain, but nothing gave way. It was obvious even Augis could not damage it.
"This thing really isn't easy to break."
Duanmu Huai shook his head. Thinking about it, that was only natural. If it were that fragile, the Cabal wouldn't have used it to chain the Traveler.
"Forget it. We can't waste time here."
He turned his eyes away.
"Stick to the plan. Anne, you help the Guardians evacuate civilians to the shelters. The [Night Watch] will go with you. I'll deal with that warship."
Compared to the pirate ship earlier, he was far more interested in this star-killer. This time, he was determined to take it.
After all, the Imperium did have [Cyclonic Torpedoes] capable of destroying planets, but a weapon that could wipe out an entire star system? That he did not have.
And it was exactly the kind of weapon he needed against the Tyranids. If he could burn out a few star systems ahead of them, he might buy humanity time. The galaxy had plenty of abandoned dead systems—perfect targets. Far better than Cyclonics.
Of course, he would also leave part of the [Night Watch] here. Since the Guardians had lost their Light, they couldn't hope to hold the line directly. All they could do was rally survivors in the shelters and defend them as best they could.
As for the Traveler being taken by the Cabal, he wasn't worried. The Light was not almighty. Even if that pig-faced brute gained its protection, Duanmu Huai would kill him all the same—after all, Doom Slayer was not just a joke.
With that thought, his face hardened and his gaze sharpened.
"Prepare to move out!"
(End of Chapter)