And so, with the mastermind completely eliminated, the disaster that had swept through the city finally came to an end.
Though... angels and demons, huh...
Recalling the angel he'd seen earlier, Duanmu Huai couldn't help but feel a little contemplative. This was actually a story steeped in the hidden history of the Empire. Back when the Empire initiated the Black Hole Project, there had been fierce debates over the Warp and its Chaos Gods. Ultimately, the decision was made to initiate Phase Two of the Black Hole Project: the "God-Making" plan.
The core principle of the plan was simple.
Since the Warp couldn't be destroyed and the Chaos Gods couldn't be killed, they would instead harness the power of faith to create gods that protected humanity. Fight poison with poison—use gods from the Warp against other Warp gods.
Put simply, imagine the Warp as a planet ruled by four massive superpowers—that's the four Chaos Gods, tightly gripping all aspects of existence. Other forces didn't even get a chance to breathe. The Black Hole Project was the equivalent of nuking the entire planet, tearing down the Chaos Gods' empires. The God-Making Plan was about seizing the brief opportunity before the four Chaos Gods could fully recover, building up their own factions and power base—creating gods strong enough to stand against them.
Of course, the plan wasn't guaranteed to succeed. But no matter. If it failed, they'd just nuke it again.
Repeat until it worked.
So far, parts of the plan had seen success. Many civilizations and factions had taken advantage of the opening to "create" their own guardian deities and belief systems. But those native gods were still too weak—either devoured by the Big Four, or driven to hide in some remote corner of the Warp. Since the Warp had no boundaries, there was always somewhere to run.
Though there hadn't been some earth-shattering war, that was exactly how Duanmu Huai wanted it. Otherwise, why go through all this trouble? He could've just sat around and waited for the final boss to show up.
Of course, Duanmu Huai didn't walk away empty-handed. Archbishop Relya of the Holy Church officially named him a Holy Knight, declaring him an eternal hero of the city. Along with countless titles and honors, she also handed him a pile of material rewards.
But for the Church, the matter wasn't over yet. Since Ivel had been a follower of the King of the Frozen Abyss, the cult he'd founded—the Cult of the Machine—was now a huge problem. Although its members hadn't reacted during the raid on the demon temple, and seemed unaware of it all, a thorough internal trial and investigation were clearly inevitable.
But that was no longer Duanmu Huai's concern.
Now that things here were wrapped up, his next move was to cross the Chaos Warrior camp and claim the Crown of Sorcery, using this world fragment.
However, just as he was preparing to leave the Church, an unexpected figure appeared before him.
"You did well, Knight."
The speaker was none other than the angel who had annihilated the demon nun. It was Duanmu Huai's first time seeing her up close. On the surface, she looked like any ordinary cute girl—apart from the pair of white wings on her back, she barely differed from a human. Her chestnut hair was short and bouncy, her eyes clear as the sky, and she wore a lace-trimmed short-sleeved jacket. She looked quite lovely.
"I only did what I had to do."
"That's not it..."
The angel girl shook her head. She walked up beside Duanmu Huai, reached out, and gently grasped his hand, lifting her gaze to meet his.
"We've been watching... watching this endless cycle of suffering. And now, you've finally brought it to an end. Please, allow me to offer you my heartfelt gratitude."
Her voice was as clear and melodic as a mountain spring, filled with a kind of ethereal resonance. Upon hearing her words, Duanmu Huai raised an eyebrow—maybe others wouldn't understand what she meant, but he instantly did.
It was obvious that, back in the main world, the city had been destroyed by the King of the Frozen Abyss. The god the people had once worshiped here must've lost and gone into hiding somewhere in the Warp. Yet, through the lingering link of faith, they had discovered this soul-fragment world hidden in the Warp.
But still...
"If you already knew about this, why didn't you stop it yourselves?"
He looked directly at the angel girl and asked. She shook her head.
"We couldn't. This world was already trapped in a nightmare loop, far too fragile. If we had intervened recklessly, the whole world might've collapsed. It was only because of your involvement that the flow of fate was diverted, giving us the chance to act."
With those words, she bowed her head.
"This kindness... we will not forget..."
Leaving that statement behind, the angel girl turned and departed. Duanmu Huai shrugged as he watched her go, then reached out and opened his system interface.
A system prompt appeared right before his eyes.
[Special Quest: 'Extinction Day' – Completed]
[Quest Evaluation: Outstanding!]
[Reward: Acquired special skill "Paladin's Summon" (Spend 3 Graveyard Cards to summon 'Paladin Cavalry.' All allied followers gain +2/+0 and [Charge].)]
[Your reputation in Soul Fragment "Holy City": Revered]
[Your reputation in Soul Fragment "Heaven": Respected]
[You have permanently acquired the world soul fragment "Holy City."]
Nice!
Seeing this, Duanmu Huai clenched his fist in excitement.
The biggest reward of this quest was undoubtedly the world soul fragment!
As mentioned before, a soul fragment was a projection of a place within the Warp—something that hadn't yet disappeared. Most soul fragments were unclaimed. So essentially, whoever found them first became their rightful owner.
In this case, both Holy City and Heaven were world soul fragments. Based on Duanmu Huai's guess, Heaven was where the angel girl had come from. Before, they'd likely been unable to connect to Holy City. But now, thanks to Duanmu Huai's actions, the connection was reestablished. Which meant he could now interact with the angels in Heaven, even summon them to fight alongside him...
Yeah, that's way more stylish than summoning ghosts and angry spirits.
Soul fragments were divided into two distinct types.
One type was purely functional, like the ones Duanmu Huai had obtained earlier: [Dollhouse], [Ghost Mansion], and [Sky Fortress]. These acted more like factories or production units.
[Dollhouse] created [Dolls].
[Ghost Mansion] turned destroyed units into [Wraiths].
[Sky Fortress] produced [Constructs] and [Mech Troopers].
These were fixed soul cards with specific effects.
But world soul fragments were completely different. They were full zones—like the Holy City Duanmu Huai was currently in. It encompassed not just the city, but even the surrounding farmland and forests. In essence, it was a complete, self-sustaining regional fragment.
Even better, once a [Soulwalker] claimed a world fragment, they could travel freely within it and convert anything inside into a soul card for summoning.
For example…
Duanmu Huai extended his hand. A soul card materialized.
[Missionary Priestess Lorena (Gold)]
[Cost: 3]
[Attack: 4]
[Defense: 5]
[Lorena's Holy Water (Cost 1): Heal 2 HP, draw 1 card]
[Lorena's Iron Fist (Cost 2): Deal damage equal to your strongest follower's attack to an enemy follower]
With this card, Duanmu Huai could bring Lorena out of the Holy City and summon her into the material world to fight alongside him.
But...
"This is f***ing broken…"
Looking at [Lorena's Iron Fist], Duanmu Huai's eye twitched. No wonder she looked like a soft-spoken girl—turns out she could punch like a truck. His highest-attack follower was Olgis, so if Lorena used that skill, she'd hit just as hard as Olgis?
Aside from that, the special skill he earned—[Paladin's Summon]—was exactly his style. By consuming cards from the graveyard, he could summon the spirits of Paladin Cavalry into battle, and they'd also buff all his current followers with +2 attack. That meant he could build up a massive offensive force in an instant!
Sure, he used to flood the field with [Dolls], but they had low attack. At best, they'd let him pull off some sneak plays like back at the cathedral.
But now things were different!
Duanmu Huai was already planning how to use his cards.
Start with [0-cost Dolls] to swarm the field, launch an attack, let them die, then trigger [Paladin's Summon], spend graveyard cards to call in [Paladin Cavalry], and strike again. If they also got wiped out, he could activate [Ghost Mansion] and turn them into [Wraiths] for a third wave!
With [Paladin's Summon] boosting all their attack by 2, that would be enough to wipe out most armies across the continent!
And best of all—it was practically zero-cost!
Thinking about it all, Duanmu Huai felt like the skies had cleared, the rain had stopped, and he was finally on top of the world.
This quest...
Was pure profit!
(End of Chapter)