To be honest, ever since arriving on this Sky City, those Seth high officials had been intensely coveting it.
For the Kingdom of Seth, which occupied the relics of the Holy Demon Order—the Battle God Metropolis—they had always regarded themselves as the rightful heirs of the Holy Demon Order. In the eyes of these Seth high officials, the city before them was clearly the Battle God Metropolis, and therefore it should belong to them!
Only their magic kingdom of Seth was worthy of owning this Sky City!
If at the very beginning it was merely envy, jealousy, and resentment, then after discovering that there were actually very few people stationed in this Sky City, these officials' hearts immediately began to stir.
Just as they had told King Gandhi, at present this Sky City, aside from Duanmu Huai and a few of his subordinates, was filled entirely with Seth people. If they banded together, what was there to fear about not being able to seize this city?
As for Duanmu Huai? Hahahaha—so what if they couldn't beat him? They could poison him!
In their view, Duanmu Huai was just a reckless brute. The fact that he had obtained this Sky City was probably pure coincidence. Otherwise, just look—there were barely any people stationed in the city. If it were them, they would have long since treated this as a priceless treasure. How could they possibly leave it so empty?
As for how he was able to control this Sky City, it was probably through some kind of magical item. As long as they obtained it, they would be able to control it just the same.
At that point, what would they still have to fear about riots?
As long as they lived permanently on this Sky City, wouldn't that mean they would become the eternal rulers of Seth, with no one able to overthrow them?
And if that still didn't work, then they would just use force. They had seven million people on their side. They didn't believe that no matter how powerful that man was, he would dare to oppose seven million people!
They weren't actually wrong about one thing—Duanmu Huai truly had no interest in fighting seven million people. At most, he would return to the Inquisition, then find a cosmic orbital position, release the Sky City, and then retrieve it again. That would be the end of it.
As for the rest, the universe itself would teach them how to behave. There would be no need for him to lift a finger.
Just like how games often say that a single Astartes can pacify an entire planet—naturally, that doesn't mean he charges in solo and kills everything. Otherwise, even if the planet were filled with tens of billions of pigs, an Astartes wouldn't be able to slaughter them that quickly.
At times like this, proper utilization was what mattered.
For example, exterminatus and the like…
The Seth high officials'算盘 were calculated perfectly, completely unaware that the look in King Gandhi's eyes as he watched them had already turned murderous.
In truth, at this very moment, King Gandhi had the urge to strangle these bastards to death.
Are you motherfuckers Demon spies sent here to sabotage us? How can anyone be this brain-dead?
King Gandhi naturally would not do such a shameless thing. For one, he himself was unwilling, and for another, he still intended to cooperate further with Duanmu Huai. Especially after meeting Anne and Guleya, King Gandhi realized that this was an exceptionally good opportunity.
One had to know that if Seth succeeded in repelling the Demons, reconstruction would definitely follow. But reconstruction required resources, and if Seth sought help from Herman or Rance, they would certainly get fleeced hard.
After all, on this continent, Seth, Rance, and Herman were like Shu, Wei, and Wu of the Three Kingdoms period—loving and killing each other in equal measure. If there were a chance to wipe the other out, none of them would hesitate.
If Seth's reconstruction fell into the hands of Herman or Rance, they wouldn't stop until they had peeled off a layer of skin.
But… Manaria was different!
King Gandhi didn't know where this magic kingdom of Manaria was located, but at the very least he knew that it wasn't on this continent—most likely on the other side of the sea. The principle of "befriend the distant, attack the near" was something King Gandhi understood perfectly well. If he sought Manaria's help for postwar reconstruction, then even if the price might be higher, at least it would be safe. It wouldn't be like dealing with Rance or Herman, who would constantly pull tricks.
Moreover, Duanmu Huai had personally stated that Manaria was stronger than Seth. King Gandhi didn't believe Duanmu Huai was just talking nonsense. That meant that this magic kingdom of Manaria was very likely truly stronger than Seth!
And in a situation like this—
You motherfuckers are picking a fight for me?!
You are definitely spies sent by the Demons!
At this moment, King Gandhi completely lost all patience.
"Guards!!"
Just as those Seth high officials were immersed in their beautiful dream of becoming the masters of the Sky City and living freely upon it, they heard King Gandhi roar in fury. The next moment, their bodies tightened as binding magic released by King Gandhi completely restrained them.
"Your Majesty?"
This left the Seth high officials utterly confused. Before they could even react, they heard a burst of hurried footsteps. Immediately after, one of the Seth Four Heavenly Kings, Yamada Chizuko, charged in with soldiers.
"Your Majesty! What's going on? This is—"
Yamada Chizuko, who had rushed into the room with the guards, looked at the Seth officials lying on the ground, equally dumbfounded. King Gandhi stared at them, his face iron-blue, then raised his hand and pointed at those officials.
"These idiots endanger the nation and bring disaster upon the people. Their crimes are unforgivable. Execute them!"
"Your Majesty?"
Hearing King Gandhi's words, Chizuko was startled. Although she had always wanted to chop these bastards to death, that had only ever been a thought. But now… King Gandhi was really ordering their execution?
"Execute them! Cut them down!"
King Gandhi didn't even dare explain why he was executing these idiots. Leaving aside everything else, if word got out and Duanmu Huai found out that his subordinates had such brain-dead idiots under him, then… whether they could maintain a good relationship afterward would be hard to say!
"Your Majesty, you can't do this!!"
At this point, the Seth high officials lying on the ground finally realized that their king wasn't bluffing—he was serious. Their expressions changed drastically.
"We were doing this for your sake—"
"Shut up!"
Before they could finish, King Gandhi roared, then threw a punch straight into their faces, beating them until they were black and blue, blood spraying from their mouths, knocking them unconscious on the spot.
"Execute them. Throw their bodies outside the city!"
At this point, King Gandhi couldn't even be bothered to look at them anymore—another glance would only make him die of anger. Although Chizuko didn't know what exactly had happened to her king, for her, this was actually a good thing.
In the past, she had also wanted to cut these people down, but because they were high officials, killing them would have thrown Seth into chaos, so she had endured it.
Now Seth was practically about to be destroyed anyway—if you don't kill them now, are you keeping them around for the New Year?
Thus, Chizuko didn't waste words. After saluting King Gandhi, she ordered the soldiers to drag these dead pigs out.
That very night, several corpses fell from the Sky City…
…and naturally, there was no "after that."
Duanmu Huai, of course, had no idea what had happened on King Gandhi's side, nor would he care. Because one day later, the Sky City finally arrived above the Fortress City, and the transfer of refugees began.
This was precisely why those Seth high officials had been so anxious—they didn't want to leave this city at all!
In fact, most people shared that mindset. Being in the sky was always safer than being on the ground, and if things went bad, you could always run.
However, King Gandhi clearly put a stop to this foolish idea and began ordering the populace to prepare for an orderly evacuation.
Since the king himself had spoken, even if others were unwilling…
…they could only obediently comply.
Duanmu Huai also left the Sky City with Anne, Guleya, and Aegis, heading for the Fortress City. After all, this had been his idea in the first place, and he wanted to see how the place had been built.
What surprised Duanmu Huai, however, was that not long after entering the Fortress City, he saw a scene that truly astonished him.
That was Uruze!
Of course, Duanmu Huai wasn't surprised to see Uruze in the Fortress City. After all, it had been him who persuaded Uruze to "abandon the darkness for the light" and come here to supervise the construction of the Fortress City.
But still…
Three days apart, and one must look at someone anew.
In Duanmu Huai's memory, Uruze had been a frail literary girl in a wheelchair, always wearing a gentle, quiet smile.
But now, Uruze was not only no longer in a wheelchair—she was standing atop the city walls, holding a longsword in one hand and a crossbow in the other, looking heroic and valiant. Duanmu Huai almost didn't dare recognize her.
"Uruze? What happened to you? Were you brainwashed or something??"
Looking at the Uruze before him, Duanmu Huai was completely bewildered. Upon seeing him, Uruze smiled.
"Ah, Lord Inquisitor… you've finally arrived… no, um… actually, I really should thank you…!"
"Thank me?"
Hearing Uruze's thanks, Duanmu Huai looked puzzled. He felt he hadn't really done anything for her.
Facing Duanmu Huai's confusion, Uruze merely smiled without explaining. Duanmu Huai didn't know Uruze's past, which was why he felt confused. But to Uruze, Duanmu Huai truly was her savior—the one who had pulled her out.
It had been mentioned before: Uruze, her father, and her elder brother had all been top leaders of the Pentagram. Later, due to ideological differences with Nielson, the three of them left the Pentagram and founded Iceflame. After that, an accident occurred.
During an operation outside, they fell into an ambush. Uruze's father and brother were killed, only managing to save her before dying. Uruze herself was injured and unable to walk, which was why she ended up in a wheelchair.
In truth, after that incident, Uruze had fallen into deep despair. Having lost both her father and brother, she didn't know what she could do anymore. But she also didn't want to see Iceflame—the organization her father and brother had created—disband. So she persisted.
Of course, at that time, Uruze herself was mentally in chaos. She even became somewhat laissez-faire toward Iceflame, which was why Iceflame eventually degenerated into something resembling a bandit gang.
Later, when Duanmu Huai arrived, Uruze hadn't expected that this gentleman would be able to help Iceflame in any way. But after listening to Duanmu Huai's lecture back then, she truly experienced a moment of clarity.
So what should she do?
Just as Uruze was struggling with her future, Duanmu Huai found her a job—as the representative of the Level-2 Citizens, responsible for supervising the construction of the Fortress City.
Uruze accepted this job and carried it out with dedication. She mediated conflicts between Level-1 and Level-2 Citizens while also overseeing the construction work. Without realizing it, she poured a great deal of effort into it.
Then the riots erupted. The Demons invaded Seth. And the Fortress City came under threat.
At that point, Uruze could no longer sit still.
She had already determined her goal—her ideal. Now that it was finally within reach, how could she allow the Demons to destroy it?
Thus, Uruze finally made up her mind, left her wheelchair behind, and once again became a valiant warrior. She led the Level-2 Citizens, coordinating with the Ice Legion, and repelled several Demon attacks in succession.
Up until now.
Of course, Duanmu Huai didn't know any of this. But Uruze was deeply grateful to him. If Duanmu Huai hadn't pointed her toward a goal, she would probably still be wasting away in Iceflame, sinking into self-destruction, rather than standing up and bravely resisting.
Naturally, she was too embarrassed to tell Duanmu Huai all of this.
So Uruze changed the subject, steering the conversation elsewhere, and proceeded to give Duanmu Huai her report.
The basic framework of the Fortress City had already taken shape. It was a city capable of housing tens of millions. At the very beginning, only the Ice Legion and Level-1 and Level-2 citizen laborers were here, totaling about one million people.
Later, due to the riots and Demon invasion, after cities across Seth fell, the Fortress City successively took in another four million refugees—both Level-1 and Level-2 Citizens.
Among the Level-1 Citizens, those with combat ability fought, while those without chose healing or logistical support. Among the Level-2 Citizens, some who had originally been bandits also took up weapons and joined the battlefield. The rest either cared for the wounded or continued reinforcing and repairing the Fortress City.
The problem was that as the population increased, supplies within the Fortress City were steadily dwindling. Now that the Sky City had arrived and opened teleportation routes to Manaria and the Holy City, the supply issue had finally been resolved.
However, Uruze's worries had not completely disappeared.
What she feared most now was…
…the Demonfolk.
After all, Demonfolk possessed invincible barriers. Ordinary people simply had no way of harming them. The reason the Fortress City had managed to repel Demon attacks earlier was because the attackers had been ordinary Demons, not Demonfolk.
Otherwise, if a Demonfolk took action, the Fortress City would inevitably fall.
In fact, before Duanmu Huai arrived, Uruze had already received intelligence that a force led by the apostles of the Demonfolk Camilla was advancing toward the Fortress City. This had made her extremely tense.
After all, the apostles of a Demonfolk were also not to be trifled with. Even if they repelled the apostles, if they attracted the Demonfolk themselves, that would be a dead end!
Fortunately…
Duanmu Huai had arrived.
She could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
"By the way, why haven't I seen Shizuka?"
Duanmu Huai looked around and realized he hadn't seen Majin Shizuka. Curious, he asked. If he remembered correctly, Shizuka had stayed behind with Uruze at the time, mainly to protect her, and her magic was indeed formidable. Yet now she was nowhere to be seen.
At the mention of this topic, Uruze's expression immediately turned serious.
"That is exactly the other matter I needed to report to you…"
"Miss Shizuka… she…"
"…left the Fortress City."
"...Huh???"
(End of Chapter)