Ch.115The Final Week. (6)

Surely the enemy had considered the possibility of surprise attacks or flanking maneuvers.

Though unintended, our main force was so thoroughly decimated that…

Like accidentally catching a mouse while backing up a cow, the enemy seemed to have let their guard down.

“The Savior wills it! Charge!”

“Kyaaaaaaah!”

As the mobile unit appeared from the asteroid belt and charged at full speed,

The enemy, seemingly flustered, hurriedly sent their cruisers from the rear to where their smaller ships were positioned at the front.

They appeared to be seeking the close-range support buffs from their smaller vessels.

The problem was that this “front” was the very battlefield where my main force’s cruisers were locked in close combat with the enemy.

In the midst of this chaotic battle, when light cruisers that had been waiting in the rear were recklessly pushed toward the battlefield,

The situation reversed as the enemy fleet became excessively concentrated, worsening their mobility.

“Now’s the time♡”

“Fire Overseer’s main cannon, target the center of the enemy formation.”

And so, with the enemy fleet forcibly concentrated, Overseer’s remaining main cannon and Pashtra’s serious beam—-! were unleashed on their center.

*PEEEEONG!!!*

*KWANG!*

“Enemy formation collapsing! Confusion is rapidly increasing in the enemy fleet!”

The lightly armored cruisers were either skewered like kebabs by Overseer’s main cannon,

Or cut in half by Pashtra’s beam cannon, or rather, completely disintegrated except for the bow and stern.

Seeing this spectacular display that instantly erased all the painful hours we’d endured, I immediately stood up to cheer.

But right after that.

*KWAAANG!*

“Ugh?!”

“Oh no, what happened, Griyanar?”

“This is… Commander? All of Overseer’s main cannons have been destroyed.”

“…”

As I received the news that Overseer had been rendered impotent, I realized that regardless of the enemy’s confusion,

Their commander’s small ships, whether male or female, were still functioning properly in automatic combat mode.

So I ordered the mobile unit, which was charging toward the enemy, to immediately fire their medium torpedoes to inflict damage on the enemy formation.

Of course, the dozens of 55-meter diameter medium torpedoes launched from the mobile unit were not only massive in size,

But also boasted mobility comparable to patrol ships, causing most of them to explode in mid-air when they encountered anti-aircraft fire from the fleet designed by the veteran player.

Nevertheless, the few torpedoes that survived used their large, beautiful, and heavy presence to instantly tear through the weak armor of light cruisers,

Causing massive internal explosions that rendered half of the enemy light cruisers either immobile or combat ineffective,

Or both, proving their exorbitant worth.

The problem was that in order to carry these medium torpedoes, the mobile unit ships had to sacrifice their own armaments,

So after the torpedo barrage, most ships could barely scratch even light cruisers and could only fly around like flies.

Anyway, with the mobile unit joining the battlefield,

A truly bizarre double battle of “enemy-my main force-enemy main force-mobile unit” unfolded, resulting in tremendous accumulated damage to both my side and the enemy’s.

But due to this messy battle structure, it was incredibly difficult for either me or the opponent to retreat.

The ships were already too close to each other, making it commonplace for smaller ships to get caught in the explosive chain reactions of larger vessels.

Superhumans from both sides were jumping between ships like stepping stones, resulting in ships being captured and recaptured.

During the battle, the formations completely switched places.

Some cruisers changed ownership as many as five times in a single hour.

The situation became so chaotic that precise control from either me or the enemy commander became virtually impossible.

At this point, I could once again understand why most veteran players, including myself three years before my possession,

Were particularly negative about PVP despite all the incentives thrown by the management.

———-

But now, five hours after having that thought,

Except for ships purchased from the store or obtained through gacha,

Most ships on both sides had either changed ownership at least once,

Or had been abandoned due to heavy damage, then repaired through repair ships or self-restoration modules and returned to battle.

After nearly 10 hours of combat that was too chaotic to be described merely as a “melee,”

I began to crave rest more than anything else.

The problem was that deciding on a full retreat here would be disastrous because, as mentioned repeatedly above,

This cursed battlefield was far too intermingled.

If I decided to retreat just because I was tired?

It was clear that my fleet would be thoroughly destroyed by attacks from the enemy fleet scattered in all directions.

The opponent probably knew this too, which is why despite most users hating this kind of insane melee,

They weren’t retreating and continued to cling on. But still.

Just as I was wondering how to resolve this situation…

—————————————-

<Notice!>

<You have received a 1:1 chat request from Commander Icarus. Accept?>

<Y/N>

—————————————-

‘Huh?’

I naturally felt suspicious about this sudden chat request, but only briefly.

Since there was only one “user” who would request to chat with me in this situation,

I immediately pressed <Y> and calmly began the conversation as the chat window opened.

—————————————-

-[What is it](Me)

-[Hey, you’re fighting well](Opponent)

-[Yeah](Me)

-[Pretty impressive considering your ship pool is worse than mine?](Opponent)

—————————————-

I felt irritated by this seemingly natural attempt to trash talk and considered closing the chat window, but…

—————————————-

-[Oh just to be clear, I’m not trying to trash talk](Opponent)

-[Seriously](Opponent)

—————————————-

With the newly appeared messages, my irritation subsided, though I maintained a curt attitude as I questioned the opponent again.

—————————————-

-[Fine, so why are you contacting me?](Me)

-[You know too, right? Honestly, it’s hard to keep fighting like this](Opponent)

-[Yeah](Me)

-[Plus both our main ships are destroyed, and we’re taking too much damage](Opponent)

-[…So?](Me)

-[What else? Let’s call it a draw and say goodbye](Opponent)

—————————————-

For someone who had struck first, they were showing a remarkably confident attitude.

I momentarily felt dumbfounded, but that feeling didn’t last long.

What I initially perceived as urgency in the opponent’s typing was actually just incredibly fast typing speed.

And with their tone of speech…

“Commander, may I report?”

“Yes, Jessica.”

“The current battle status between the enemy and our forces is, to be honest, we’re losing by a small margin.”

“…”

As Jessica’s report indicated, we were by no means in an advantageous position.

I realized that the opponent was actually approaching me with an attitude of “doing me a favor,” and I found myself in deep contemplation.

Of course, this only applied to the current battle.

If I gathered all the ships waiting at the base with Marian, along with the ships still being produced and those defending the resource areas,

It was obvious that the opponent, unable to resupply ships due to being an expeditionary fleet, would be completely destroyed.

So it seemed the opponent aimed to preserve both our fleets through negotiation rather than completely annihilating my main force.

But if I eagerly accepted their proposal right away,

The opponent might think, “Oh, this guy has no reserves? Screw the peace treaty, let’s go all in!” and launch a team attack.

So while I was tempted by their offer, I expressed refusal in the chat.

But…

—————————————-

-[^^🖕](Me)

-[Come on, don’t be like that](Opponent)

-[We both know we have some hidden cards, right? It’s better for both of us to make peace and end it here](Opponent)

-[If I really wanted a war of annihilation, I would have brought my clan. Why would I engage in a 1v1 PVP with you?](Opponent)

-[If you can’t trust me, I’ll initiate the peace treaty first, so please accept it.](Opponent)

—————————————-

—————————————-

<Notice!>

<Your opponent ‘Betelgeuse’ is requesting a peace treaty!>

<Effect: The combat situation between both sides will be immediately terminated.>

<Y/N>

—————————————-

‘What?’

Amid the rapid-fire chat messages, along with shocking information,

The opponent actually initiated a peace treaty first.

I momentarily couldn’t process the situation, feeling as if my brain had stopped working.