Facing the furious dwarven engineer, Duanmu Huai could only spread his hands apologetically.
What could he do? He was helpless too!
The biggest loss from killing Archaon this time was his Metal Secret Dragon. Although the beast was immune to physical attacks, it was not immune to magic. Worse, after being hit by the breath of those three Chaos-God-blessed dragon heads, its body had been polluted by chaotic energy. In the end, Duanmu Huai had no choice but to burn it with black fire, lest it mutate into something even worse.
"...Well, if it's broken, it can't be helped."
After listening to Duanmu Huai's account, Buddy sighed heavily.
"But I told you, that thing wasn't easy to make. Without materials on hand, I can't build another one."
"If it's really impossible, just make me something ordinary... a mass-produced one. If it breaks, I won't feel bad."
"Alright then."
Buddy nodded.
"In that case, I'll draw up a new design for you..."
"I'll leave it to you. Oh, and this time, try not to make it too scary..."
"No problem."
Although Duanmu Huai had serious doubts about that "no problem," he had no other choice. He could only hope that Buddy would really make him something normal. It didn't need to be impressive—just build something roughly the size of Archaon's warhorse. That shouldn't be hard, right?
Leaving the Doll District, Duanmu Huai headed to the cathedral. There, he saw a group of Paladins training under the guidance of angels. Perhaps because of their divine instructors, the Paladins were putting in an exceptional amount of effort... though that wasn't surprising.
Even though the Holy City was peaceful now, the Paladins' training had not slackened. Soon, they would be sent as part of the Church's agreement with the Forest Folk, traveling to the Lands Between. There they would begin new missions. Duanmu Huai had used the Law of Death to destroy the Erdtree and eliminate the Deathborn and those bugged undead creatures, but the Lands Between remained dangerous. The Paladins would act as the Church's representatives in that perilous world.
That sort of battlefield suited them just fine.
Thinking about it, Duanmu Huai started to get a headache again. He still couldn't find a proper battlefield to train his new recruits.
The technological level needed to be high, the firepower fierce, and the intensity strong enough...
If nothing else, maybe he could send them to help the Guardians fight the Cabal or Fallen?
But the Guardians might not appreciate Inquisition interference.
"Forget it... I'll leave it to fate."
Duanmu Huai sighed, shook his head, and left the cathedral with Olgis.
After all, there was still plenty of time.
In the endless void, infinite visions shimmered.
A young girl cowered in the corner of a wall, trembling violently. Around her lay bodies—bloody, broken corpses sprawled across the floor. In the distance came the sounds of despair: screams, roars, gunfire. The girl dared not move or even breathe; she clamped a hand over her mouth, as though she could stop the sound of her own life.
Thump… thump… thump…
Heavy footsteps echoed beyond the wall, as if something enormous was walking by. The girl's body shivered uncontrollably.
And then—
"BOOM!!!"
The wall exploded.
A huge black shadow smashed through, standing before the girl.
"Ha ha ha, look what I found!"
The monstrous figure leered down at her, its voice a guttural laugh, and it reached out a clawed hand toward her.
"———————!"
The girl's body jerked violently—
And then she woke up, falling out of bed and hitting her head hard against the cold metal floor. She whimpered in pain, clutching her forehead, where a red mark was already forming.
That dream again...
Clutching the pendant around her neck, the girl began to pray nervously. For days now, she had been having the same strange dream. In it, she was another girl—a girl whose home had been invaded by terrifying monsters. She had watched as that girl's parents were slaughtered and fed to beasts, and all she could do was run through the ruins of the city, desperately fleeing for her life...
At first, she thought it was just a nightmare. But after so many nights, she could no longer tell whether it was dream or reality.
Should I… tell the Commander?
The girl—Hitomi, the Starlanguage Speaker Duanmu Huai had once rescued from a pirate ship—touched the pendant thoughtfully. Life on the ship was quiet; she had no assigned tasks, as Duanmu Huai had told her simply to stay put.
It made sense. To Duanmu Huai, she was an untrained, half-fledged psyker. If he could find some proper psychic archives, he might train her—but for now, keeping her quiet was safer. If she accidentally picked up whispers from the Warp, she could doom the whole crew.
Honestly, Hitomi didn't want to bother him with trivial matters. But Duanmu Huai had given her strict orders: If you sense anything unusual, report to me immediately. And his tone back then had been an absolute command.
This nightmare probably counted as "unusual," didn't it?
After hesitating for a moment, Hitomi got dressed and left her cabin.
Although blind, she had grown familiar with the ship's layout and soon found herself standing before Duanmu Huai's quarters. She reached out and knocked lightly.
"My lord, it's me."
"...…"
No response.
Maybe he's not here?
She knocked again. Still no answer.
After thinking for a moment, Hitomi decided to wait. No matter what, an order was an order.
At first, she stood quietly. Then, as time passed, she squatted down—and eventually sat on the floor.
And then—
"BOOM!!!"
Fire erupted before her eyes. The scene around her shook violently. She was running—no, someone was running, and she could feel it. Around her, heavily armed soldiers fired desperately behind them. A massive black shadow roared and lunged, seizing one soldier and tearing off his head.
"No! You damn monster!!"
Another soldier screamed and charged forward.
"Run! Go!!"
Hitomi's vision jerked again. Ahead of her lay only ruins—but she had to keep running, running until—
A hand suddenly gripped her shoulder.
"Ahhhhh!!"
She screamed in terror.
"Whoa—what the hell?!"
Duanmu Huai nearly jumped himself.
He and Olgis had just finished their evening walk around the Holy City and dinner at a local restaurant. When they teleported back to the ship, he found Hitomi asleep outside his door. For a moment he didn't even recognize her—thankfully, Olgis did. He'd simply reached out to wake her—
—and she'd screamed bloody murder.
Seriously? You can't even see, and I still scared you that bad?!
"Ah! My lord!"
Hearing his voice, Hitomi snapped out of her trance and stumbled to her feet.
"I-I'm so sorry, I—"
"It's fine. Did you need something?"
"Yes, my lord. Something… strange has been happening."
"Oh?"
At that, Duanmu Huai's expression turned serious. When a Starlanguage Speaker said something was "strange," it was worth attention.
"Come inside. Tell me everything."
"Yes, my lord."
She followed him into the room and carefully described her experience in full.
When she finished, Duanmu Huai frowned deeply.
"So, for the past few days, you've been dreaming of being another girl—running through a ruined city under attack by monsters?"
"Y-yes…"
"I see…"
He nodded slowly. It didn't sound like daemonic temptation. More like she was unconsciously picking up psychic transmissions from another Starlanguage Speaker.
"Alright. Can you determine that planet's location?"
"I think so… My lord, you mean this wasn't just a dream?"
"In my opinion, it's more likely you've received another Starlanguage Speaker's signal."
"Eh?"
Hitomi froze.
"You mean, the girl in my dream is another Speaker?"
"Why not? Starlanguage Speakers are rare, but not unique. And since the fall of the Imperium, many psychic bloodlines have lost their heritage. It's possible this girl has latent power she doesn't understand. For now, we don't know when or where this message originated… but give me the coordinates. I'll investigate."
"Yes, my lord."
Taking the data Hitomi transmitted, Duanmu Huai studied the coordinates. He didn't know exactly what was going on, but if that world really was as she described—a ruined planet where humanity had fallen and monstrous creatures ran rampant—
…then maybe it was the perfect battlefield to train his Inquisition recruits.
Either way, he'd have to see for himself.
(End of Chapter)