When Duanmu Huai dragged his blood-soaked warhammer back onto the flagship, the battle was already over.
The Covenant fleet had been completely annihilated.
Only five warships managed to flee the battlefield…
But Duanmu Huai clearly had no intention of letting them escape.
"Lock onto those bastards' positions.
We're chasing them."
Upon returning to the tactical command room, he issued the order calmly.
Meanwhile, the girls were still immersed in the overwhelming shock of interstellar warfare, unable to snap out of it.
Although An and Guleiya had once seen Duanmu Huai fight space pirates, that was nothing like two full military fleets clashing.
Watching enormous warships explode, the starry sky filled with blazing fire, the void littered with the corpses and broken limbs of Covenant creatures—
The contrast between the vastness of space and the insignificance of individual combat left them speechless for a long time.
"So this is… interstellar warfare…?"
After a long while, Loreina finally asked softly.
Even An was silent for once.
In their worlds, individual power mattered greatly—Loreina and An on a battlefield were practically tide-turning forces.
Their divine arts and magic alone could reverse the situation of an entire war.
But here, all they felt was helplessness.
They could only stand there and watch the battle unfold, unable to contribute anything.
"That's right. This is interstellar warfare.
Unless you're powerful enough to wipe out an entire fleet with a wave of your hand, individual strength isn't worth much.
But that doesn't mean people have no role to play.
Even in space war, humans are far from useless."
Duanmu Huai spoke, patting her shoulder.
"Alright, don't overthink it."
"Yes…"
"Master~~ we've found the escaping warships☆"
"Good. Pursue them!"
A curtain of shimmering light flashed ahead of the fleet.
Moments later, the dark void returned to view—
and in the distance, a few battered Covenant vessels were limping through space, looking absolutely miserable.
But it wasn't those ships that caught the girls' attention.
"Knight-sir, what's that thing?"
An stretched a finger forward, curiosity sparkling in her eyes.
She wasn't pointing at the retreating Covenant ships—
but at a huge ring-shaped structure ahead.
It looked like a massive iron bracelet floating in space.
After spending so much time in the void with Duanmu Huai, the girls were already bored of ordinary planets.
So seeing such a bizarre artificial structure immediately ignited their curiosity.
"Heh…"
Duanmu Huai naturally saw it as well.
Outwardly he chuckled, but internally he was a bit surprised.
What a coincidence.
In the game, Installation 04 was discovered after the Covenant attacked Reach, the UNSC ship Pillar of Autumn escaped blindly into slipspace, got lost, and accidentally stumbled upon the Halo ring.
Some players followed the Pillar of Autumn and also visited the ring—they felt exactly like An did now:
"It would be a waste not to check it out."
Then…
paradise instantly became hell.
He didn't expect the situation to reverse like this—
Now the Covenant were the ones fleeing recklessly… and they ran into Installation 04.
So—
what should be done?
Duanmu Huai barely needed to think.
He immediately made his decision.
"All ships, charge main cannons.
Lock onto the ring structure ahead.
Destroy it."
"Huh? Huh???"
The girls were startled by the sudden order.
"Why, Knight-sir?"
"Big Uncle, shouldn't we go investigate first?"
Even Shirley spoke up for once.
As a scientist, encountering a mega-structure from an alien civilization was the opportunity of a lifetime.
She was practically itching to examine it.
Heh.
Let's see if you're still excited once you meet the Flood.
Duanmu Huai rolled his eyes, then looked at them.
"Take a guess—what do you think this thing is for?"
"Umm…"
The girls froze, then started thinking hard.
"A prison, maybe?"
"I think it looks more like an artificial habitat…"
"Could it be someone's bracelet?"
"How big would a person have to be to wear that?!"
"Huh? You never know! The universe is huge—maybe there really are giants that big!"
As their wild guesses spiraled out of control, Duanmu Huai shrugged.
Ranni and Shirley were disciplined scientific thinkers.
An and Banbi's imaginations were… not.
Odelle even wondered if it was some race's giant space art installation—
And honestly, it did look pretty artsy.
"Alright alright, let me reveal the answer."
Duanmu Huai cut them off and spoke plainly.
"It's a weapon."
"...…A weapon???"
Their brains could not process that answer.
Nothing about the structure looked like a weapon.
"That's right.
Remember how we eliminated the Imu substance back on the war-torn planet?"
"Uh… wasn't it some kind of radiation or something…?"
"Correct."
He nodded to An.
"This thing works the same way—just on a much larger scale.
Not a planet.
Multiple star systems."
"Then… Big Uncle… what is the target of this weapon?"
Shirley asked carefully.
"All living beings."
"…Excuse me?"
Everyone froze stiff.
"All living beings?"
"Yes. Once activated, it kills all biological life within its effective range.
Now do you understand why I'm destroying it?"
"B-but why would anyone build such a weapon?!"
"Heh…"
This time, Duanmu Huai only chuckled without answering.
He had two reasons for destroying the ring.
The first was the one he told the girls:
It was a weapon of mass extermination—so it needed to be dismantled.
The second was simpler:
The Forerunners once defeated humanity's Star Empire expedition fleet, erased their history, destroyed their technology, and forcibly devolved them back to savages.
Well—
courtesy demands reciprocity.
If he didn't erase the Forerunner civilization from existence in return, what kind of Inquisitor would he be?
Wouldn't that shame the entire Inquisition?
Just then, MIA's voice rang out.
"Target is now within firing range☆"
"Fire."
Duanmu Huai waved casually, as if ordering the disposal of trash—
Which, to him, the Halo ring absolutely was.
Worthless Forerunner garbage.
"—————————!!"
Raging plasma torrents erupted from the cannons and lanced toward the ringworld.
What followed startled the girls—
The Covenant ships fleeing earlier suddenly turned around, desperately attempting to intercept the incoming fire to shield the ring!
Naturally, their efforts were meaningless.
They were instantly vaporized.
But Duanmu Huai understood their reaction.
To the Covenant, the Forerunners were divine beings.
The ring was a sacred relic.
Watching humans fire upon their gods' holy artifact—
Of course they would try to stop it, no matter how futile.
(Not that their religion was ever authentic…)
The Covenant resistance accomplished nothing.
The main cannon beams tore through their hulls and hit the ring.
In moments, under the barrage from multiple warships, the ring shattered into countless fragments.
But Duanmu Huai wasn't done.
He ordered continued bombardment until the fragments were blasted so thoroughly that even their mothers wouldn't recognize them.
The girls were somewhat regretful—
Such a massive artificial structure, destroyed before they even had the chance to explore it…
"All done."
Once he confirmed the ring was dead beyond dead, Duanmu Huai nodded.
"We're returning to Reach."
At the same time, chaos reigned on Reach.
"What on earth happened? Is any of this real?"
Colonel Holland stared at the footage, unable to stop himself from asking again.
Just hours ago, he had been drowning in despair over the fall of Reach.
But then everything reversed in an instant.
According to Noble Team, just as they were preparing to execute the plan against the Covenant supercarrier, a colossal warship suddenly appeared and blew the carrier to pieces.
Then it destroyed the incoming Special Justice Fleet as well.
If not for the burning wreckage of the Long Night of Solace still visible on the horizon, Holland would've assumed he was hallucinating.
But where did this fleet come from?
When Reach was attacked, Holland immediately signaled HQ with a Winter Contingency alert—
UNSC Command responded that the nearest fleet would need at least 48 hours to arrive.
By then, Reach would've been long gone.
Could this be a secret UNSC fleet?
But why do these ships look nothing like UNSC designs??
Looking at the video Noble Team transmitted, Holland frowned and turned to the man beside him.
"What do you think, Captain Keyes?"
Captain Jacob Keyes of the UNSC Pillar of Autumn stood next to him.
The ship was undergoing repairs on Reach, and originally intended to flee during the invasion—
but now?
The Covenant fleet was gone; there was no need to rush.
"I'm not sure.
They don't look like UNSC ships at all."
Keyes shook his head while examining the Glory Queen.
"Regardless, they are the Covenant's enemy.
Whether they are our friend… remains to be seen."
"BEEP—————————!!"
Suddenly, a comm alert sounded.
"Colonel Holland, that fleet… has returned!"
"…"
Holland and Keyes exchanged a glance.
"What now?"
"If it's fortune, not disaster—if it's disaster, we can't avoid it.
Let's go meet them."
At this point, that was their only option.
(End of chapter)