Although the white-haired doll had escaped, its location had already been locked by Duanmu Huai's [reconnaissance servo-skull]. Logically, the next step should have been to storm its lair and wipe out this group of monsters completely.
But...
"So, why can't we act?" Duanmu Huai asked, not sounding angry at all as he listened to Lorena's response. As long as it was a quest, NPCs would always throw in a few obstacles—he was used to it.
"I'm truly very sorry, Sir Knight. It's... a long story…"
"It's alright, we have plenty of time."
I don't believe you can talk for an entire year, can you?
Lorena, looking a little awkward, began explaining the situation to Duanmu Huai. In short, it was... a schism within the church.
It all began some time ago, when demons attacked the country. The church, as expected, joined the fight to repel them. In the brutal early stages of the conflict, many clergy members were injured or lost limbs while battling the demons. They were forced to withdraw, and the situation had become increasingly dire.
Then, a stranger appeared out of nowhere. He claimed he could help the wounded by crafting prosthetic limbs, allowing them to return to the front lines. At the time, the church approved his proposal. Soon, those clergy who had lost arms and legs were fitted with mechanical prosthetics and resumed the fight.
It had to be said—these prosthetics were incredibly effective. In the end, with everyone's combined efforts, the church successfully drove back the demonic forces.
However... an unexpected crisis followed.
Among the clergy who had received mechanical modifications, many gradually shifted in their beliefs. They began to argue that machinery and steel were the true path to drawing closer to the gods—not just through exercise and prayer.
Initially, the church chose not to intervene. As long as the faithful still believed in the gods, differences in interpretation were considered tolerable. But over time, things began to change.
Those modified clergy eventually gathered in a side chapel on the far side of the city, claiming they wished to commune with the divine through machines. The archbishop, acknowledging their sacrifices, chose to tolerate it. They had risked everything for the city and its people—if this was how they chose to worship, so be it.
But after that... things began to spiral.
The self-proclaimed "Mechanicus" completely cut themselves off from the rest of the congregation. They refused to interact with others and began preaching a doctrine: the flesh is a burden; only by surrendering to steel can one truly commune with the divine.
This naturally alarmed the church—but they didn't know how to stop it.
In any case, this was merely an internal conflict within the church regarding doctrine. They couldn't possibly eliminate the other party over something like that. Not to mention, those Mechanicus monks had been heroes in the previous war, and the church couldn't just rashly start a civil war because of them.
So, the current situation was that the church and the Mechanicus each controlled half of the city, with the river in the middle serving as the dividing line. Normally, members from both sides would not trespass into each other's territory.
Moreover, it was said that the monks on the Mechanicus side still diligently helped the people with their problems, so the church had no intention of interfering.
However… all of this was based on the premise that the Mechanicus remained peaceful. If they truly had created such terrifying, bloodthirsty dolls and even sent them here to kill, then that would be another matter entirely. But because the matter was so serious, the church didn't dare to act recklessly.
"...…Therefore, the Bishop only ordered everyone to heighten their vigilance. She intends to negotiate with the other party…"
What good would that do? After listening to Lorena's explanation, Duanmu Huai rolled his eyes. This place had already become a soul fragment, which meant that something terrible must have happened in the end—something that led to the destruction of the entire city.
"Since you can't act, then let me handle it."
"Huh? But…"
"As you know, the doll that appeared yesterday seems to have some connection with Olgis. Even without your involvement, we would still investigate this to the end." As he spoke, Duanmu Huai glanced at the system quest prompt.
Although he had already found the white-haired doll, there was no indication that the quest had been completed, which meant the problem was far from resolved. That white-haired doll wasn't the one truly orchestrating everything behind the scenes. After all was said and done, it was already late at night. Lorena arranged for the two of them to rest in the church's guest room.
Duanmu Huai didn't choose to sleep on the seemingly soft and comfortable bed. Instead, he sat against the wall. Unless he returned to the space station, Duanmu Huai would never step out of his power armor.
Fortunately, once equipped, the power armor made his body feel completely merged with the machine, as though he had become part of it himself. Even his metabolism felt faint and suppressed.
But… what would it all become? Duanmu Huai looked up, gazing at the starry sky outside the window. To be honest, ever since arriving in this world, he had been constantly rushing around, completing quests. But all of it was built upon the looming disaster and the threat of the warp's Chaos Gods.
He knew very well that whatever he did on this planet wouldn't make much difference to the evil gods. To them, this world was merely a playground. The enemies here weren't actually strong.
The reason the Chaos Gods only sent low-level monsters wasn't because they lacked more powerful enforcers, but because the planet's relatively primitive civilization imposed a ceiling on power and strength.
But once out in the vast star sea, what Duanmu Huai would face wouldn't just be Chaos Warriors. Space hulks, fallen Space Marines, Chaos fleets, alien invasions, planar wars—these things would make the current chaos on this planet seem like a child's brawl by comparison.
The struggle with the star sea as the battlefield far exceeded the medieval level of warfare on this planet. In the game, even with a large number of players, there would still be many sacrifices and losses. But now, he was alone here—what role could he possibly play?
Duanmu Huai had always buried himself in quests to avoid overthinking. He just wanted to mechanically accept and complete quests, just like in the game, and not think too much about other things… But when he relaxed in the middle of the night, that complex feeling once again surged into his heart.
"Master?" Just as Duanmu Huai was lost in thought, a voice suddenly sounded in his ear. He came back to his senses and saw Olgis lying on him like a kitten, her pair of crimson eyes shining brightly as she stared at Duanmu Huai.
"You seem to be in a bad state?"
"I was just thinking about the future, and it's a bit troubling."
"Future??" Hearing Duanmu Huai's answer, Olgis tilted her head slightly.
"That's right." Staring at the doll-like girl before him, Duanmu Huai reached out and gently stroked her head as he spoke.
"In the future, we'll encounter very powerful enemies. They are pervasive, almost impossible to completely eradicate, and their strength is so immense that they cannot be destroyed entirely… To be honest, sometimes when I think about it, I wonder if this was the right decision. Maybe I should abandon all of this, find a place to live out my days in solitude, not provoke those troubles, and not bother with these messy affairs…"
Duanmu Huai wasn't lying. With his experience, he could easily find a beautiful, uninhabited planet and live comfortably there until he died of old age. After all, the universe was infinite, and the confrontation with the Chaos Gods would take at least hundreds of years to begin—and even tens of thousands of years might not end it. Was it really necessary?
In games, players didn't need to consider this question, because the game always had something for them to do. But reality was different. When you were the one who actually transmigrated into this world and knew its truths, continuing to make that hard choice became incredibly difficult.
To bravely challenge the evil gods? Or to comfortably choose to fall? For Duanmu Huai, this truly was a difficult decision. As he was thinking, he suddenly felt a warmth on his cheek. Duanmu Huai turned his head and saw Olgis staring at him.
"I don't know what Master is thinking… but I know Master is helping me, so I also want to help Master. No matter what, I will always be with Master."
"Thank you, Olgis." Hearing her reply, Duanmu Huai felt a sense of relief in his heart.
Then he closed his eyes again and entered dreamland. Olgis looked at the sleeping Duanmu Huai, thought for a moment, and then leaned into his arms. Soon, the moonlight gradually enveloped their figures, plunging the entire room back into silence and darkness.
(End of this chapter)