Chapter 2710: Chapter 1833: One After Another
Showing mercy to the enemy is cruelty to yourself; Duanmu Huai had seen far too many so‑called heroes like that. Of course, maybe it was precisely because they were "heroes" that they always insisted on betting everything on that microscopic chance.
Like "kind-hearted" Dark Elves, "holy" Enchanting Demon Knights, Genetic Thieves who supposedly don’t kill, peace-loving Green Orcs...
Even if that kind of thing did exist, Duanmu Huai wouldn’t give a damn.
They were Aliens all the same.
So in this regard, Duanmu Huai actually appreciated Frieren quite a bit. Even though she was a member of the Hero Squad, she really knew which way was up.
Once it involves Race, morality steps aside.
After all... lose your humanity and you lose a lot; lose your bestial nature and you lose everything.
A Race marked for extinction has no qualifications to talk about civilization and morality.
"Great Judge."
Just then, Lumiaire’s voice rang out again.
"How is the situation on your side?"
"Most of the Genetic Thieves have already been wiped out. The rest either need to be burned to death or... anyway, we’ll have to send people in later to completely clean this place out, and we also need to arrange a full genetic screening."
Duanmu Huai shrugged.
"But that’s not our job right now. What have you got on your end?"
"Because of you, my lord, the mob has chosen to shift its target."
Lumiaire paused for a moment.
"They’re concentrating their attack on Nest District 401."
"What’s there, another Genetic Thief camp?"
"No, the Titanium Clan embassy."
"......The Titanium Clan what?"
"Embassy, my lord."
Lumiaire’s voice remained as calm as ever.
"I just did some digging. This Hive City has signed a series of agreements with the Titanium Clan. Right now, the Titanium Clan enjoys a certain degree of extraterritoriality in this city. And... while I was investigating, I found something interesting. A considerable number of people in this Hive City belong to the pro‑Aliens faction, and most of them are in District 401."
".........We’re heading back. Now."
Duanmu Huai silently cut the link, then turned a cold gaze on Mary and Mianmu Zuoniao and gestured.
"Cleanup’s done here. We’re leaving."
"Where to?"
"Governor’s House."
Duanmu Huai spoke, then turned and strode back the way they’d come without looking back.
"If that idiot can’t give me a damn good explanation for why he allowed those lowly Aliens to stroll through a city of the Human Empire, I’ll throw him into the core of a reactor and let him savor the Tribunal’s wrath firsthand!"
And as it turned out, Duanmu Huai meant every word.
By the time he marched into the Governor’s House and yanked the Governor out from behind his desk, the man was already pale as a sheet and trembling all over.
"You failed to notice the Heretic scourge rampaging through your territory, and you failed to detect the Alien disaster festering in the Nest Districts. All of that I can chalk up to your incompetence and stupidity."
Duanmu Huai stared coldly at the Governor, as if he might open his mouth in the next second and bite the man’s head clean off.
"But what kind of colossal courage does it take for you to actually dare allow those low, filthy Alien Species to strut down the Imperial streets with their heads held high? You’ve got some nerve!"
"M‑my lord, I‑I had my reasons... please, allow me to explain...!"
Clearly, the Governor had been mentally preparing for this for a while, which was only natural. As a loose organization, the Tribunal’s Judges all operated differently. Some preferred to use one enemy against another; others believed that every last Alien should be exterminated—Duanmu Huai obviously belonged to the latter, and he was very much not the kind of Judge who tolerated overly "radical" behavior.
So what the Governor said next would determine how much longer his head stayed on his shoulders.
And as the Governor explained, Duanmu Huai gradually understood his situation.
This Hive City sat on the Imperial Frontier, a wretched backwater to begin with. And just his luck, the Titanium Clan had extended their territory out this far. From the Star map, they’d already taken up an almost two‑pronged encirclement posture around this Galaxy. Under those circumstances, this remote Hive City obviously didn’t have the military strength to protect itself from the Titanium Clan’s threat.
When the Titan Clan first arrived to "trade," the Governor had thought about driving them off. But he was very aware that the Titanium Clan was just looking for an excuse; if he drove them out, next time they showed up it would be with warships and big guns.
So all he could do was agree.
"Then what’s with those pro‑Aliens factions?"
"That is... my incompetence..."
The Governor lowered his head, muttering.
"Because the Titanium Clan has been doing business here for so long, a portion of the Imperial citizens who don’t know any better have been drawn in by the heretical doctrine they spread. And since the Imperial has never dispatched the fleet we requested to protect us, quite a few people have come to believe... that the Imperial has abandoned us..."
"So you all decided to throw yourselves into the arms of the Aliens?"
Duanmu Huai narrowed his eyes and gave the Governor a dangerous stare. The man was drenched in sweat, unable to utter a word. Duanmu Huai just snorted and opened a link to Lumiaire again.
"Lumiaire, what’s the situation over there?"
"The fighting is currently very intense. In terms of weaponry, the Titan Clan has the upper hand."
Lumiaire had clearly hacked into the Titanium Clan’s command network in a much more thorough way.
"They first tried to use firepower to scatter the mob, but the mob’s utter disregard for death exceeded the Titanium Clan’s expectations. The two sides are now engaged in close‑quarters combat inside the embassy. Because of the mob’s suicidal assault, the Titanium Clan’s lines are starting to show signs of collapse."
"Then let them collapse faster, and we’ll deal with the rest afterwards."
Duanmu Huai stared at the Governor in front of him and calmly issued his command. The latter was sweating buckets, shaking too hard to speak.
"Hmm... I’d say we’ve already got another problem to deal with right now."
"What problem?"
"The mob has done a Summoning. They brought in a Demon."
Lumiaire’s voice carried a helpless note.
"That’s why the Titanium Clan’s line is breaking."
"........."
Right now Duanmu Huai honestly wanted to toss a Thermite Bomb and blow this damn place straight off the map. This whole mess was screwed from top to bottom. Those damned oil men definitely hadn’t expected the mob they were using as a diversion to cause this much chaos. And now, perfect—things were utterly and completely fucked. If Duanmu Huai could still use his inventory, he’d have already nuked this trash Heap of a Hive City to oblivion.
Too bad he didn’t have that kind of firepower on hand.
"Send those Undead Soldiers over there first. We’re on our way."
Duanmu Huai gave the Governor a vicious glare, then issued his orders. He hated racing around putting out fires like this, but it was obvious the other side was really enjoying watching him run back and forth... and there was nothing he could do about it. This was still his job.
Just like how the Strength of Brutal Wrath comes from battle, Duanmu Huai, as the God of Destruction—specifically, the God of Destruction of the enemies of Humanity—could only gain Strength through the Destruction of Humanity’s enemies. So when Duanmu Huai killed Aliens, Heretic and Demons, he gained Strength. Ordinary Humans, though, were a different story.
After all, the Tribunal’s enemies were not necessarily the enemies of Humanity.
But the enemies of Humanity were definitely enemies of the Tribunal.
To Duanmu Huai, all these headaches were like side quests. Sure, he could skip all the side quests and go straight to the final boss on the main story. But—finish the side quests, level up, then go kill the boss. Isn’t that a hell of a lot easier?
Comments