After evading the Foundation's frantic search, Duanmu Huai opened a portal, slipped back onto the warship, and began carefully studying the card.
"Hmm...…Deus Ex Machina — what exactly is this card?"
Looking at the Soul Card before him, Duanmu Huai felt somewhat uneasy. He understood what "Deus Ex Machina" meant. Simply put, it was like those moments in stories where the protagonist's party is losing badly against the final boss, on the verge of a total wipe, and then the protagonist's courage and love moves heaven or something of that nature — and suddenly divine power descends from above, fully reviving the whole party with buffs, weakening the boss, and letting them claw back from the brink for an impossible comeback.
This kind of narrative device was called "Deus Ex Machina" — in short, at the critical final moment, something inexplicable and illogical materializes out of nowhere and forcibly alters the story's ending.
So when he had first heard the name, Duanmu Huai had always assumed it might be some kind of mechanical device or relic.
But he hadn't expected...…
A [Servant Card]?
That's right — this was exactly what concerned him. The behavior of the [Deus Ex Machina] itself was one thing, but being a Servant Card meant she had her own consciousness, and that was a problem.
Because that meant you had absolutely no way of knowing who she would help.
If she helped the protagonist, that was the "protagonist claws back from extinction against the boss's overwhelming dominance" scenario.
If she helped the boss, that was the "boss on the verge of annihilation surrounded by the protagonist's party" followed by "hahaha, that's my escape route!" reversal.
Which made it clear that Deus Ex Machina was a double-edged sword. If she were simply a relic or some kind of technology, that would be one thing.
But a Servant...…this was very complicated.
No wonder the card had the word "Sealed" on it. Even the Foundation apparently wasn't comfortable letting something like this — a massively powerful weapon with its own consciousness — roam freely.
Should he unseal it?
Staring at the card before him, Duanmu Huai hesitated for a moment.
Better unseal it. After all...…he was counting on her to deal with the Reality Anchor situation.
[Seal Released]
With that thought, in the next instant the Soul Card in his hand began to tremble — and then the originally black-and-white card was suddenly suffused with color, while at the same time the card's effect display changed once more.
[[Deus Ex Machina (Legendary)]]
[Cost: 5]
[Attack: 4]
[Defense: 5]
[Effect: (Entry Theme) Grants your main combatant the special effect "Whenever you play a Creature card, reduce [Warp] heat cost by 10%"]
["I am the mechanical god who governs causality. Whether to steer the world toward stability or bring greater chaos — all of it is your freedom...…come now, what is it that you desire?"]
"What the—?!"
Seeing the card's effect, Duanmu Huai was completely stunned.
Though the card's effect looked simple — just a single short sentence — from Duanmu Huai's perspective, this was absolutely...… broken beyond belief.
A quick review was in order. As a [Soulwalker Specialization] user, Duanmu Huai had an upper limit on his [Warp] heat, and most of his summons occupied a portion of that heat capacity. However, the [Warp Armor] effect halved the [Warp] heat cost of all his summons, which was why he could maintain a sufficient number of active Soul Cards most of the time.
The cards Duanmu Huai currently had in play and maintained on the field were [Olgis (6-3)], [Lorena (3-2)], [Anne (8-4)], [Guleya (8-4)], [Phyrin (3-2)], [Mia (2-1)], [Kukuru (3-2)], and [Odelle (6-3)]. The puppets permanently stationed on the mothership didn't count toward consumption since they fell under the [Warp] fragment category. These standing deployments occupied approximately forty percent of Duanmu Huai's [Warp] heat capacity, leaving the remaining sixty percent primarily reserved for summoning additional Soul Cards or casting magic during special circumstances.
After all, [Sky City] + [Godly Relic], while truly devastating area-clearing tools, consumed a considerable amount of [Warp] heat — he needed to hold some in reserve in advance.
But with the [Deus Ex Machina] effect, everything changed entirely.
Duanmu Huai's puppet cards all had zero cost, and according to the [Deus Ex Machina] effect, every time Duanmu Huai played a Creature card, it reduced his [Warp] heat cost by ten percent — which meant that if Duanmu Huai played a pile of zero-cost Creature cards, he could bring his [Warp] heat cost down to zero outright.
Which in turn meant he could summon enormous numbers of high-cost, high-damage cards.
After all, no matter how many high-cost Soul Cards he played, as long as the [Deus Ex Machina] effect was active, Duanmu Huai's [Warp] heat consumption would essentially be permanently zero. This was essentially the equivalent of a mage being able to cast their ultimate spell forever without spending any [MP]. What a ridiculous ability — any [boss] on the receiving end of this would be completely wrecked!
In the game, what gave [Soulwalker] players the most headaches wasn't having too few Soul Cards — it was the difficulty of playing high-cost cards all at once. After all, the more powerful the card, the higher the cost, and something like Duanmu Huai's [Dimensional Transcendence] would have been completely unplayable if not for a special property that reduced its cost through magical amplification. And those powerful cards each carried steep costs — easily hitting double digits, which in [Warp] heat terms translated to triple digits — something players had to seriously think twice about before using.
It was just like a mage's [MP] — limited, and if you burned it all casting Fireball after Fireball, you'd be lying on the ground waiting to be looted.
But now, with this effect, Duanmu Huai could open with [Blade Rain] or [Frozen Blizzard] without a single worry about cost.
"Opening with an ultimate move as a friendly greeting," so to speak — after all, his cost was zero, so he could throw out as many big moves as he liked.
"Summon!"
With that thought, Duanmu Huai didn't hesitate and chose to summon. In the next instant, the Soul Card in his hand vanished — and then a massive iron coffin materialized slowly out of thin air, landing before him, and then...…nothing else happened.
"???"
What was going on?
Looking at the coffin before him, Duanmu Huai was completely baffled. The card had clearly shown a beautiful woman — so why had he been given a coffin?
Did he need to open it himself?
Duanmu Huai didn't think twice about it — he reached out, grabbed the lid of the coffin, and pulled with force — it didn't budge.
[Beep—————]
At the same moment, a system notification appeared before Duanmu Huai.
[Warning: Conditions not met. Awakening not permitted.]
"...???"
What?
He had already unsealed it, and now it was telling him awakening wasn't permitted???
And what on earth did "conditions not met" even mean???
Though, come to think of it, the so-called [Deus Ex Machina] was by nature something that only appeared at the very end of a story — wait. It wasn't going to tell him that this thing would only wake up when he was fighting the four Dealers, was it?
In that case, what good was it to him right now.
Duanmu Huai was completely at a loss staring at it.
He had gone to all this trouble to obtain a godlike card, and it turned out he couldn't use it because the conditions weren't met. The Foundation was probably in the same boat — if it was what he suspected, then for the Foundation, the Deus Ex Machina would probably only awaken when the world was on the verge of destruction too...…
Oh well, at least the card was in his hands now, wasn't it?
Duanmu Huai consoled himself with that and quietly put the [Deus Ex Machina] away. Having it was better than not having it.
"Master."
Just then, Olgis walked in.
"Oh, Olgis. Not much to do lately?"
"Very little. I've been reading."
Well, Duanmu Huai hadn't brought her to the new instance, so she really did have nothing to do.
"Sorry, this instance has been a bit complicated. We'll sort something out next time."
"I see...…Mia has sent word. Traces of the Reaper fleet have been detected."
"Oh?"
Hearing this, Duanmu Huai's expression immediately sharpened.
When Duanmu Huai arrived at the combat command center, Mia and the others were already waiting there.
"The Reaper fleet has been found?"
"Yes. Current preliminary estimates put their numbers at around fifteen thousand — likely the advance force."
"Heh, quite a number...…how many warships does the Inquisition fleet currently have?"
"Approximately eight thousand five hundred."
"The time is a little tight, but there's nothing to be done about it."
Hearing Mia's response, Duanmu Huai furrowed his brow, but there was no other option. Building warships in reality wasn't as easy as in a game where you could just press a button and they'd be generated. If not for Maria having optimized the manufacturing process, it would have taken even longer. Fortunately, the number of star systems the Systems Alliance currently occupied wasn't enormous, and as long as the Inquisition moved, it should still be sufficient to protect most of the human star systems.
As for the alien races...…well, that was their problem. Mind your own business and don't worry about others.
"How long before they arrive?"
"Based on current projections, approximately three months."
"Good."
Duanmu Huai snapped his fingers, then turned to look at the curly-haired girl standing nearby.
"Lumière — begin preparation for Phase One of the combat plan."
"...…Do we really have to do this?"
Hearing Duanmu Huai's order, Lumière looked somewhat troubled. In truth, Duanmu Huai had long since drafted a plan for dealing with the Reapers, one step of which involved having Lumière hack into the Systems Alliance network, then sending invitations to pro-alien faction members with significant influence among humanity, "inviting" them to alien territories — and then using the Reapers to wipe them all out in one sweep.
"The Inquisition has always been, and will forever remain, a human supremacist organization. We absolutely cannot allow any heretical filth who dares to sell out humanity's interests by consorting with alien races to survive. If not for this plan, I would have had the Night Wardens string them up on streetlamps long ago. Move."
"...…I understand."
Lumière gave a slight nod. She was uneasy, yes, but Duanmu Huai had already discussed this with her before, and Lumière herself understood what mattered more.
Whatever way you looked at it, from humanity's perspective, there was no reason for her to feel sympathy for traitors who cozied up to aliens.
"Connect me to the Systems Alliance."
After issuing that command, Duanmu Huai turned back to Mia. Before long, Li Longcheng's face appeared on the screen before him.
"It's been quite a while, Mr. Duanmu — what have you been occupied with lately?"
"What I should be occupied with. But now you're going to be occupied too."
"What do you mean...…?"
"Three months. The Reapers are coming."
"...…Hm?"
It had to be said — hearing that, Li Longcheng was instantly shaken.
"Are you certain?"
"My scouting fleet has detected traces of the Reapers. I'll be sending you the intelligence data shortly. You should start preparing."
"But — three months, that's far too little time...…"
No wonder Li Longcheng was flustered. The news had come far too suddenly.
"We don't have sufficient warships yet...…"
"Saying that to me won't help. Say it to the Reapers and see if they'll give you a fair chance to catch up. Besides, didn't the Shepards already warn the Citadel Council long ago? They chose not to believe it — that's hardly something we can be blamed for."
"Well...…I know, I know. Is there any other way to slow their advance?"
"There's a way, of course."
Duanmu Huai said this calmly, and hearing it, Li Longcheng's eyes immediately lit up.
"You have a solution?"
"Of course. Blow up the Mass Relays connecting to other star systems."
Yes — that was what Duanmu Huai had come up with. The Mass Relays and the Citadel were things the Reapers had planted here in the first place to make their harvesting more convenient. Destroy the Mass Relays, and the Reapers would have no high-speed transit to other star systems — they'd have to travel the long way, which would naturally slow their advance somewhat and buy the Systems Alliance more time.
"...…I understand."
Li Longcheng wasn't foolish — he paused for just a moment before immediately grasping what Duanmu Huai meant. Indeed, while the Mass Relays had facilitated humanity's expansion across star systems, in enemy hands they became a blade thrust directly into the heart of humanity.
"Don't worry. Without the Mass Relays, I can provide you something better."
What Duanmu Huai was referring to, naturally, were star gates. Hearing this, Li Longcheng let out a breath of relief.
"Understood. The Systems Alliance will act immediately...…should we notify the Citadel about this?"
"Go ahead and notify them."
At that, Duanmu Huai let out a cold snort.
"Even if they know, what can they do? Are they going to build warships capable of fighting the Reapers in three months? Besides, the Shepards already warned them about the Reapers long ago. They chose not to believe it — we can hardly be accused of lying."
"Understood."
Li Longcheng gave a nod, then cut the communication — after all, the Reapers' arrival was a momentous event. Though the Systems Alliance had been making preparations ever since Duanmu Huai's early warning, when the final moment actually arrived, they still felt they hadn't prepared enough.
"Good."
Watching Li Longcheng cut the feed, Duanmu Huai rubbed his hands together and headed back to his quarters.
He had originally intended to take some more time off, but now that the [Deus Ex Machina] was in hand — even if it couldn't be used yet — it was about time to settle accounts on this current instance and see if he could pull anything useful for dealing with the incoming Reaper fleet.
(End of Chapter)