The secret passage Shira had used to leave the palace remained exactly as it was. However…
"This thing really doesn't leave a single gap."
Looking at the red barrier ahead, Duanmu Huai sighed. It was obvious that the barrier didn't just cover the castle's core district—it extended underground as well. In terms of functionality, it was thoroughly competent.
But for Duanmu Huai and the others, it was somewhat troublesome.
"What do we do…"
Staring at the barrier before her, Shira was momentarily stunned.
"There's no other way. I'll handle it."
Duanmu Huai stretched out his hand, loosened his body, and walked toward the barrier. Seeing his action, Shira was startled.
"Lord Inquisitor?"
"Just watch!"
Duanmu Huai replied casually. He clenched both fists. In an instant, black flames erupted, enveloping his body. With a roar, he thrust both hands straight into the red barrier before him—then pulled with all his might to either side!
——————————!!
In the next moment, before everyone's eyes, the crimson barrier was forcibly torn open with a gap!!
Everyone was stunned by the sight, until Duanmu Huai's voice rang out.
"Hurry up, what are you waiting for?"
Only then did they hastily pass through the opening and enter inside. Once everyone had crossed, Duanmu Huai stepped through himself and released his hands—the crimson barrier sealed shut again behind him.
"Lord Inquisitor, are you all right?"
Seeing Duanmu Huai approach, Shira asked anxiously. She had personally seen soldiers melted by the barrier, yet Duanmu Huai had torn it open with his bare hands… It was completely beyond her expectations.
"It's nothing. Just a minor inconvenience."
Duanmu Huai waved his hand.
"Let's move. I imagine we still have quite a few problems to deal with."
At that very moment, inside the royal court, the scene was entirely different.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it!!"
Stisser smashed the wine glass in his hand onto the ground, his face dark as iron, frightening the nearby maid into hurriedly stepping back.
"Why? Why can't they repel those bastards?! Why?!"
Staring at the projected images before him, Stisser's complexion had turned nearly purple with rage.
He had thought that after sacrificing so much—even slaughtering the entire Royal City and transforming their corpses into flesh puppets—he would at least be able to crush those damned rebels!
But the reality was that his flesh puppets were almost meaningless against the enemy's steel!
At the beginning, the rebels had indeed suffered losses when facing the flesh puppets. But soon they adjusted their tactics. They abandoned the strategy of tanks covering infantry advances, and instead shifted to tanks advancing with mage support and infantry following behind, steadily pushing toward the castle step by step.
With that, Stisser's proud human-wave tactics became utterly useless.
Now, when faced with the overwhelming flesh puppet army, the rebels' method was simple. First came an aerial bombardment from the Valkyrie gunships to clear the field. Then the Steel Titan's plasma cannon blasted a path forward. After that came successive artillery barrages from tank formations, combined with continuous large-scale offensive magic from the mages.
As for any stragglers, the remaining soldiers swarmed them and finished them off.
Though the flesh puppets felt no pain and had no emotions, two fists could not defeat four hands. A group of soldiers could easily deal with a few survivors.
Damn it, damn it, damn it!!!
Watching this unfold, Stisser nearly lost his mind.
The flesh puppet army held overwhelming advantage against ordinary soldiers—but against steel, they had none. Steel was even more ruthless than flesh, and far more powerful. And damn it… why were they so easily defeated?!
If you beat Stisser to death, he still would not have imagined that while others might lack experience in such warfare, Duanmu Huai was intimately familiar with it. After learning the characteristics of these flesh puppets from Anne, he immediately adjusted tactics—treating this army just like Orks or a Tyranid swarm.
A cheap knockoff version, at that.
In Duanmu Huai's view, this army could even fight better than the Astra Militarum.
The reason was simple: their melee strength was high!
If the Astra Militarum had a shooting rating of 5 and a melee rating of 3—
Then this joint legion's soldiers had a shooting rating of 0 and a melee rating of 5…
And in this era, the latter was far more important.
Duanmu Huai could understand why the Imperium of Man favored melee combat. On one hand, it was due to the nature of the Chaos Gods. On the other hand—bullets and energy would eventually run out. But as long as you held a blade in your hand, you could keep fighting until you fell.
And the superhuman stamina and endurance of Space Marines made the latter even more advantageous for them.
As for firearms… well. If your speed was fast enough and your armor strong enough, once you closed the distance, the enemy could only wait to die.
Just like in many zombie games—what use is a pistol or shotgun to the protagonist?
Wouldn't a machete or spear be more practical?
At least you wouldn't end up emptying your magazine and waiting to die.
Firepower can be countered with greater firepower.
If the enemy deploys a Gatling gun, can't you answer with artillery? Or just launch a missile?
But against enemies that win through numbers, sheer power alone isn't enough—you must also consider sustainability. In that regard, melee weapons offer the greatest sense of security.
Of course, if Stisser were a master strategist, perhaps he could have applied some military classics to respond. But in truth, his knowledge was like that of a pitiful newbie who had just started playing a strategy game—draw a box, press A to attack. That was the only solution his poor brain could produce.
So when that solution failed, Stisser panicked.
"No… it shouldn't be like this. It shouldn't be like this!"
In his imagination, his flesh puppet army would charge forward, tear apart the enemy's defenses, wipe out their resistance in moments, and seize their weapons and equipment. But in reality, his puppet army couldn't even reach them. Most died on the way. The few who broke through by luck or chance were eliminated by magic or soldiers.
"It shouldn't be like this!!"
Watching wave after wave of flesh puppets charge forward, only to be annihilated in fire and explosions, then crash against steel war machines like waves against a dam and be crushed into fragments—while the enemy advanced steadily toward the castle without the slightest pause…
Stisser felt his limbs grow cold and weak. He was a civil official, not a general.
He had believed that with enough overwhelming power, strategy would be unnecessary.
Now he finally understood that he had been wrong.
Because the prerequisite for that belief was that he truly possessed overwhelming power.
Unfortunately, it seemed he did not.
"It's over. Surrender. We have no hope."
Seeing this, Queen Dowager Pamela, standing beside him, closed her eyes and sighed softly.
Her heart had long since died.
She knew what she had done. As the second wife of the late king, Pamela had been lonely and not particularly favored. When Stisser showered her with sweet words, she quickly fell for him. She gradually elevated him from a local bureaucrat to Imperial Chancellor.
She might not have been unaware that he was using her—but perhaps those memories were too hard for her to forget.
But now, Stisser no longer bothered to pretend.
When he deployed the flesh puppets to seize control of the Royal City and began slaughtering the residents, Pamela had tried to stop him. Unfortunately, by then, her identity as Queen Dowager no longer meant anything to him.
"Shut up!!"
At Pamela's words, Stisser found strength from somewhere, leapt up, and slapped her viciously across the face, knocking the noble Queen Dowager to the ground.
"You old woman, stop talking nonsense! Do you think you're still the Queen Dowager? Let me tell you—you're nothing now! Just an aging hag whose beauty has long faded! I might have had some interest in you before, but now being near you makes me want to vomit! Do you know who I am? I am the great descendant of the Holy Demon Order, destined to rule the world! An old woman like you isn't worthy to stand by my side!!"
At that moment, a voice suddenly rang out.
"Oh, sorry. Perhaps we've arrived at an inconvenient time."
"Huh?"
Startled by the sudden voice, Stisser turned his head. Only then did he notice that a group had appeared in the royal court at some unknown time. At their head stood a towering man clad in terrifying armor. Beside him stood a girl with golden hair and emerald eyes—
"Shira! You dare come back! Give me the key!"
Upon seeing Shira, Stisser roared and lunged toward her.
"Give me the key! Hand it over! As long as I have the key, I can—"
Before he could finish, Duanmu Huai's iron fist smashed into his face. With a scream, Stisser was sent flying, skidding across the floor before coming to a stop.
"Ah… ah… ah…"
Trembling, clutching his shattered cheekbone, Stisser writhed on the ground like a maggot, his face twisted in agony. As he howled, a shadow loomed before him. When he looked up, he saw Shira standing there, gazing down at him quietly.
The girl who once trembled before him, too nervous to breathe, now looked cold and stern—radiating an indescribable authority.
"Stisser, it's over."
Looking at the fallen Chancellor before her, Shira delivered her calm verdict.
(End of Chapter)