Three months was neither particularly long nor particularly short.
And in those three months, quite a few things happened.
First, the Systems Alliance announced intelligence about the Reapers to its citizens, declared a complete lockdown of all Mass Relays, and entered full wartime emergency status. The public naturally reacted with panic and doubt — but fortunately, upon learning that the Inquisition would be joining the fight against the Reapers, most people breathed a sigh of relief.
After all, the Inquisition's combat power spoke for itself. Systems Alliance citizens had watched them cut through the Batarians like vegetables, and with the added boost of the Inquisition's religious standing combined with subtle, unofficial guidance from Alliance authorities, many people had come to see the Inquisition as humanity's guardian deity. Well — that wasn't entirely wrong.
Of course, there were inevitably "enlightened voices" who argued that humanity should not isolate itself behind closed borders but should stand shoulder to shoulder with other species to face the coming threat together. Isolating themselves would only let the Reapers pick them off one by one — this was the moment for the united strength of galactic civilization to shine, and so on.
Unfortunately, most of these voices had already been delivered to alien territories courtesy of Lumière's invitation system, and the Systems Alliance had then detonated the two primary Mass Relays connecting to their star systems, ensuring they had no way back. As for those who remained, they shouted plenty — but the majority of citizens weren't buying what they were selling.
After all, the public had its own straightforward logic: those alien fleets couldn't even beat the Inquisition — so what was the point of joining forces with them? There was a real chance it would mean diverting their own ships to bail out the aliens, and if that left them shorthanded and vulnerable to invasion, then what? In times like these, you minded your own business and didn't worry about others. It was absurd to sacrifice themselves for species that had previously invaded them — they weren't out of their minds. All that talk of shared consequences — those species weren't on humanity's side, so why should that matter?
And then...…the Reapers arrived.
For the Citadel Council, the Reapers' appearance was genuinely "sudden and unexpected." While they had made some deployments after the Systems Alliance's warning, they had completely failed to anticipate that the Reapers would go straight for their home territories.
This was, in truth, not surprising at all.
It had been noted before that Mass Relays functioned like railway stations — and historically, every race's combat strategy involved massing forces to blockade the relays, so that the enemy would be attacked the moment they arrived.
But the Reapers were not passengers on that train. They were the ones who built the entire relay system in the first place. Strictly speaking, they were the conductors.
And if the conductor was driving the train, where it stopped and where it bypassed — wasn't that entirely up to the conductor?
So while the Turian, Asari, and other forces massed their fleets to blockade the Mass Relays, the Reapers simply drove the train past the stops and pulled up directly outside their home stations.
By the time those fleets received distress calls and turned back to find their homeworlds under attack, the Reapers had already begun large-scale assaults and harvesting operations on every home planet. And even as those alien fleets rushed back to their home systems, it would do them no good — because what awaited them was nothing but a slaughter.
In the dark expanse of space, hundreds upon hundreds of warships drifted through the void — massive, like metallic squid — like a colony of deep-sea creatures roaming mercilessly through the cosmic ocean.
"Target acquired — attack!"
Staring at the colossal Reaper warships bearing down on his fleet, the Turian captain's expression was grave. He raised his hand and issued the command.
"Open fire!!!"
Sheets of fire erupted from the Turian warships and tore through space toward the Reapers. Yet even the most powerful fleet the Citadel had ever assembled found that their weapons produced nothing more than scattered sparks when they struck those Reaper hulls. And at that same moment, the metallic tentacle-like projections at the front of a Reaper warship slowly spread apart — and a red energy beam erupted from within.
"———————!!!"
The scarlet beam swept across space, slicing through three Turian warships in its path with the effortless ease of a sawblade through timber. In moments, three of the Turian fleet's capital ships had been reduced to fireballs and swallowed by the void. The Reaper warship continued its advance, and the ships behind it — whether they couldn't evade in time or were attempting to intercept — drove straight into it head-on. Like moths flying into flame, they erupted into a burst of sparks.
The Reaper warship passed through the explosion without a scratch and kept moving.
"...…"
Watching this unfold, everyone in the Systems Alliance couldn't help but draw a sharp breath.
"So this...…is the Reaper fleet."
Li Longcheng stared hard at the screen, fists clenched. The Systems Alliance had not been entirely without experience fighting Reapers. When the Cerberus operative Saren had been indoctrinated by the Reapers in the beginning, he had led a Sovereign-class Reaper warship in an attack on the Citadel, and the Systems Alliance fleet had ultimately destroyed it.
But at that time, there had been only one Reaper warship, and it had been a righteous gang-up — with the Shepard siblings' active involvement on top of that. So the Systems Alliance had never felt it was anything they couldn't handle.
Events had now proven, however, that when these warships appeared in numbers of hundreds and thousands, that was an entirely different matter.
"It's fortunate we destroyed the Mass Relays."
Admiral Hackett couldn't help but remark.
"Indeed...…"
Hearing the Admiral's words, Li Longcheng gave a nod. Though Duanmu Huai had warned them about the Reapers using the Mass Relays for surprise attacks, seeing it firsthand made clear just how terrifying that power truly was. This wasn't something you could solve by massing forces at home planets or relay stations — as entities who could freely manipulate the Mass Relays, the Reapers could use that technology to appear at any weakly defended point in any star system at will. That was the true crisis.
If even the Turian fleet — the most powerful military force the Citadel had — was this helpless before the Reaper fleet, the other races' fates were easy to imagine.
Although the Systems Alliance had begun large-scale construction of new capital warships to counter the Reaper fleet, they had only completed a few dozen. Against this many Reaper warships, that was still decidedly stretched thin.
Nothing to be done about it — even if the ships could be built, the crew didn't simply appear from nowhere. They weren't like Duanmu Huai, who could produce puppets to operate warships at will.
"At the current rate, how long before the Reaper fleet reaches us?"
"Unknown. Perhaps one to two months. Hopefully longer — Mr. Duanmu said he would find a way to delay the Reapers' advance as long as possible."
"All we can do is use whatever time we have to prepare as thoroughly as possible."
As he spoke, Li Longcheng and Admiral Hackett exchanged a glance, and both sighed.
After all, they had made their choice. Whether that choice was right or wrong...…was in the hands of fate.
So what was Duanmu Huai doing at this very moment?
In truth, Duanmu Huai was currently on the Turian homeworld, and his purpose in coming here was exactly what he had told Li Longcheng — to delay the Reapers' advance as much as possible.
"...…Hmph. Sure enough — even Turians amount to this much and no more."
Standing on the rubble-strewn streets of the ruined city, looking at the bodies covering the ground, Duanmu Huai's expression didn't change in the slightest. He hadn't come here to help the Turians resist the Reapers — that held no benefit for him. But he also wasn't about to let the Reapers run amok here unchecked. For instance...…
"ROAAARRR—————!!!"
Suddenly a bestial howl erupted, and Duanmu Huai saw a creature with deathly white skin and glowing blue eyes — something like a mutated zombie — come charging out of a nearby alleyway and lunge at him. He put it down with a single punch that reduced its head to nothing, leaving a headless corpse on the ground.
"Hmph. Husks, as expected."
Looking at the creature before him, Duanmu Huai gave a cold snort. This was one of the Reapers' signature tactics — impaling dead bodies on spikes and converting them into Husks to serve as ground assault forces. Once an entire planet had been cleared, those Husks would be taken away, further processed, and incorporated as components of actual Reapers.
In that respect, the Reapers' approach to warfare wasn't unlike the Tyranid Hive Mind — sustained by whatever they consumed on the ground, growing stronger the more their enemies fell.
And for Duanmu Huai...…this was essentially a rehearsal for dealing with the Swarm.
"You like playing with Husks, do you? Then let me see — which is stronger, your Husks or my undead variants? Is it the Reapers, or is it the Blood Moon?"
As he spoke, Duanmu Huai extended his hand, and a Soul Card appeared between his fingers.
Activate — [Profane Monolith]!
"BOOM—————!!!"
In the next instant, the ground behind Duanmu Huai suddenly cracked open, and a jet-black stone monolith erupted from the earth and stood upright on the broken ground. Across the surface of the black stone monument, vivid crimson runes began to illuminate one by one.
An invisible pulse swept across the entire ruined area — and in the next moment, the Turian corpses lying across the ground began to swell and contort. Razor-sharp bone spikes shot out from their arms, and writhing, twisting tentacles erupted from their gaping mouths. Then these creatures rose to their feet, one after another...…
"Destroy every enemy in our path — reduce them to nothing!"
"ROOOARRR!!!"
At Duanmu Huai's command, the numberless undead variants let out piercing shrieks — and then, like starving beasts, scattered in every direction.
And for the Turians, this was the beginning of a nightmare.
(End of Chapter)