"What should we do now...…?"
At the same time, inside the command headquarters of the Free City of Castam, a blue-haired girl was staring worriedly at the map in front of her, her face full of concern.
For the Free City Alliance, the attack coming from Lisus truly caught them completely off guard, let alone the fact that the ones launching the assault were actually soldiers of the Kingdom of Herman. Rajel, being the first to bear the brunt, naturally faced the most severe challenge. And Castam, located near Rajel, understood the principle that when the lips are gone, the teeth grow cold. Thus, they dispatched their own troops and advanced equipment to Rajel to support them in resisting the Herman army together.
The initial defensive battle was extremely successful. With only 1,500 soldiers, the Free City Alliance army successfully repelled 5,000 Herman troops. At that time, the Free City Alliance was quite confident. In their view, as long as Lisus also mobilized its army and coordinated with them in a pincer attack, it would still be possible to eliminate the invaders.
However, what the Free City Alliance never expected was that they did indeed get the reinforcements from Lisus——but those reinforcements stood on Herman's side!
What in the world was going on?!
Naturally, the Free City Alliance could not understand such a development. Under the assault of as many as 9,000 soldiers, the Free City Alliance's mere 1,500 troops were routed without suspense. Rajel fell and was captured by Herman, and Castam was left with fewer than 200 people...…one could easily imagine that once Herman launched another attack, they would have absolutely no ability to resist.
Did they have to retreat? But retreat to where?
Just as the blue-haired girl was racking her brain in distress, suddenly, a figure hurriedly rushed into the camp.
"Lady Maria! Urgent intelligence! An internal rebellion has broken out in Rajel!"
"What do you mean?"
Hearing the report, the blue-haired girl was greatly shocked and hurriedly asked.
"We just received news—don't know why, but the Herman soldiers stationed in Rajel have started fighting with the Lisus soldiers!"
Hearing this, the blue-haired girl immediately stood up, staring at the messenger in disbelief, hardly daring to believe her ears.
"What did you say!?"
When Duanmu Huai rode the Electromagnetic Rhino into Rajel City, the city was already in total chaos. Lisus soldiers wearing red armor were locked in fierce combat with Herman soldiers clad in black armor.
"What's going on here?"
Seeing this scene, Kentou Kanami felt her head turn into a mess, while Duanmu Huai was completely unconcerned.
"Even though I don't know what's going on, it's not a bad thing for us...…perfect timing, I'll help them out as well."
As he spoke, Duanmu Huai raised his hand and shouted angrily.
"Herman soldiers, listen up!"
His roar thundered through the entire city of Rajel like a peal of thunder. For a moment, the Herman soldiers fighting in the nearby streets couldn't help but look in his direction. When they saw the mustached man's head clutched in Duanmu Huai's hand, they were immediately horrified.
"Your captain has already been killed by me, and the demon apostle Sapphire, who colluded with you in your disgraceful acts, has already been reduced to ashes under the wrath of the Inquisition! Repent for your fallen behavior of consorting with demons! Before the glory of the Inquisition, all sinners shall be purified!"
"What...…"
"How could this be...…"
Hearing Duanmu Huai's words, the morale of the Herman soldiers plummeted even further. In fact, the sudden recovery of consciousness among the brainwashed Lisus soldiers had already made the Herman troops feel that something was wrong. Now, upon hearing that the demon apostle who controlled the brainwashing had been killed, and that even their captain had met a miserable end, they completely collapsed. Very soon, the Herman soldiers could be seen throwing down their weapons and fleeing outward at full speed. Meanwhile, the Lisus soldiers were greatly invigorated, roaring as they launched another attack against the fleeing Herman troops.
"I really didn't expect this...…"
Watching the originally deadlocked battle instantly become one-sided, Kentou Kanami muttered to herself. She stared at Duanmu Huai in astonishment, not knowing what to say for a moment. She had never imagined that this man could so easily change the entire situation with just this.
Meanwhile, Yue Huasha, seated on the other side, nodded as well, wearing a look of complete satisfaction.
"As expected of the man I chose."
"That's enough."
Duanmu Huai sighed helplessly, then looked toward Kentou Kanami.
"Who is the ruler of this city? Take me there. Someone has to clean up this mess."
The Inquisition had always only been responsible for destruction and purification. Everything else was handed over to the planetary governors.
"Over there...!"
Under Kentou Kanami's guidance, Duanmu Huai and the others arrived in front of a mansion. The Herman soldiers here also seemed to have fled without a trace—at least, that was how it looked.
"I'll check the first floor. You're responsible for searching the second floor. Generally speaking, if the ruler of this city is still alive, they shouldn't be imprisoned too far away."
After all, with this kind of building, if Duanmu Huai stepped onto the second floor, the entire floor might collapse.
Although he could use gravity gloves to reduce his weight, but...…forget it, too troublesome.
"Yes."
After issuing his orders, Kentou Kanami led Yue Huasha to the second floor, while Duanmu Huai took Olgis to investigate the first floor.
The entire mansion looked utterly chaotic. The doors to the living room and dining room were wide open, tables and chairs overturned all over the floor. It was clear that the Herman soldiers had fled in extreme panic. However, just as Duanmu Huai reached the end of the corridor, he heard a girl's voice coming from one of the rooms.
"P-please, stop...…don't do this...!"
Soon, several men's voices rang out.
"Shut up! We're finished anyway. Before we die, let us have a good time! Get pregnant for us! Give birth to a Herman child!!"
"Nooooo!!!!"
"Hmph!"
Hearing the screams from inside, a cold glint flashed in Duanmu Huai's eyes. He then slammed forward violently. With a loud "boom," the door and even the wall were smashed open, creating a huge hole. When Duanmu Huai walked inside, he saw that in what looked like a guest room, a girl lay on the floor in disheveled clothing, while several Herman soldiers were holding down her arms and legs.
The sudden explosion and impact startled them. As those Herman soldiers turned their heads, they saw Duanmu Huai's warhammer swing out violently. The next moment, under the enormous pressure, the upper halves of their bodies were blown into a mass of minced flesh, splattering across the entire wall.
"Trash."
Glancing disdainfully at the remains, Duanmu Huai snorted coldly, then turned his gaze toward the girl lying on the ground.
"Are you okay?"
"Ah...…"
The girl still lay there. Even though her clothes had been torn to shreds, she showed no intention of covering herself. Only after hearing Duanmu Huai's question did she come back to her senses. She hurriedly sat up, covering her chest with the torn clothes and lowering her head.
"I-I'm fine...…"
"In any case, change into some clothes first."
Duanmu Huai didn't want to stay in this place any longer, so he casually said that and turned to leave the room with Olgis.
"Master."
After Duanmu Huai and Olgis left the room and returned to the corridor, Olgis curiously looked at him and asked.
"Mm?"
"Were those people just now mating?"
"Uh...…"
Faced with Olgis's question, Duanmu Huai was momentarily speechless, while Olgis nodded to herself.
"I see. I can understand. The books once said that when organisms face a crisis, they instinctively desire to continue their species. Is that it? Those soldiers knew they were going to die, so they hoped someone could give birth to their children?"
"That's not how it works."
Duanmu Huai felt that if he didn't correct her, Olgis would drift off in some very strange direction.
"Those guys were just venting their ugly desires."
"Then how do we judge which desires are ugly and which are not? Mating behavior between organisms is very normal, isn't it? If that's the case, does that mean all mating behavior among organisms is driven by ugly desires?"
"...…"
Duanmu Huai now deeply regretted bringing Olgis along. What kind of mess was this supposed to be?!
"Anyway, this kind of thing must be consensual on the woman's side. You heard it too—the girl didn't like them at all, yet they ignored her wishes and only cared about venting their own desires. That's what's called ugly desire. Do you understand?"
"...…I understand now. Humans are really complicated."
"Haa...…"
Hearing Olgis's reply, Duanmu Huai silently sighed. And just then, a soft chuckle sounded behind them. Duanmu Huai turned around and saw a girl standing behind him. She was different from before—now properly dressed. Noticing Duanmu Huai's gaze, the girl hurriedly lowered her head.
"Ah, sorry, I didn't mean to overhear...…"
"It's fine, it's just a small matter."
Duanmu Huai waved his hand and then looked at the girl. She was quite cute, with brown hair tied in a ponytail, wearing a maid outfit—so she must be a maid here.
"The Herman soldiers have already gotten lost. I came here to find the ruler of this city so they could come out and clean up the mess...…hm...…are you a maid here?"
Hearing Duanmu Huai's question, the brown-haired girl froze for a moment, then hurriedly bowed.
"My apologies for my discourtesy. My name is Mikiru Tiba Rajel."
"Rajel?"
Hearing this, Duanmu Huai raised an eyebrow, and the girl lowered her head.
"Yes...…my father was the city lord here, but earlier, when resisting the invasion of the Herman army, he went to the battlefield, and then...…"
"Alright, I understand."
Hearing Mikiru's reply, Duanmu Huai shrugged helplessly. Well damn, even the city lord of this city was gone—so what now?
"In any case...…"
As he spoke, Duanmu Huai looked at Mikiru.
"Now you're the only one who can deal with this mess."
He then said.
(End of Chapter)