Ch.223″The battle continues, on and on and on.” (4)

While we were talking, the sixth battle had already begun.

Strangely enough, this round was proceeding in a truly “happy” manner.

And the reason for that was…

“Icarus, I noticed your fleet doesn’t have many small ships… would you like to team up with me?”

“Oh.”

“That sounds good. I’ll take care of everyone’s rear.”

“Excellent, then let’s go right away.”

Out of nowhere, Arcadia and Betelgeuse had declared they would fight alongside my fleet.

They even closed the chat window and used my ship’s communication channel to talk with each other.

Despite this sudden formation, the combination of the three of us was ex-tremely effective.

As evident from Arcadia’s fleet composition, she had a formation suitable for flanking maneuvers, surprise attacks, and other mobile tactics.

Accordingly, she would throw her fleet—including three battlecruisers—straight at the enemy fleet, engaging in in-fighting and literally running rampant through their formations.

It was exactly what people imagine when they think of a “veteran player”—it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call her “a ghost who toys with enemies using insane physical skills.”

Of course, with Arcadia’s characteristics, she would clearly suffer tremendous losses if the opponent simply maintained distance and bombarded her from afar.

“The enemy is keeping plenty of distance.”

“Excellent! Launch all carrier-based aircraft from the Kraken and light carriers!”

They’re keeping their distance?

Then it’s time for the mindless spam of carrier-based aircraft & missiles to rain down.

*Whoooosh… BOOM!*

“Strategic missile hit on the enemy battlecruiser! Heavily damaged… no, sunk!”

“Satisfying.”

No matter who the opponent was, when we used the teleport-spear power to teach them a lesson… who could withstand having at least 3-4 capital ships like cruisers and above being destroyed?

Moreover, with this structure, both Arcadia and I would have difficulty responding if enemy reinforcements pushed in from “another direction” on the frontline.

But Betelgeuse thoroughly covered exactly that other direction, such as our rear.

As a result of the three of us moving together and engaging in exciting head-to-head battles with opponents…

Eventually, the enemy team of 5 players’ fleets were shredded by our 3 fleets—mine, Arcadia’s, and Betelgeuse’s.

The remaining 7 allied fleets diligently ganged up on the other 5 enemy fleets and pushed them back, allowing us to achieve a clean and neat victory in the game.

And naturally, as we happily played while grinding down the enemy, our teammates expressed their hap-piness in the chat window.

—————————————-

-[LOLOLOLOL free bus ride LOLOL]

-[Two rankers together is sweet]

-[No, two rankers farming noobs together? What do you mean it’s not farming?]

-[LOLOLOLOLOL]

-[That was so good]

—————————————-

Of course, the enemy team completely lost their mental fortitude after witnessing such a spectacle.

When the remaining 5 received an offensive from our 7, they all surrendered in less than 10 minutes, preventing the rest of our users from getting kills…

—————————————-

-[FFS if you take all the kills we should be getting, what are we supposed to do]

-[They’re so damn strong, I’ve softened them up for you, GL]

-[What?](me)

—————————————-

Among our 7 allies, 2 of them actually tried to backstab my and Arcadia’s fleets as we were returning after finishing a battle.

—————————————-

-[Now, now, easy there. Comfort fades quickly, but pain lasts a long time](Betelgeuse)

-[Oh please]

-[FFS when did you get here]

-[LOLOLOLOLOLOL]

-[The backstabbers get backstabbed instead LOLOL]

—————————————-

Like a true political officer(?), Betelgeuse had deliberately arrived a step behind and planted a bunch of medium torpedoes behind the two users who were just about to backstab us.

Those poor fellows, with their rear ends suddenly expanded, paid the price for their treachery by losing a light carrier and a battlecruiser each just before the game ended.

==========

Anyway, after receiving their surrender so quickly, I immediately hit the surrender button and spoke with a more relaxed attitude to the two people still connected to my communications.

“Thanks to both of you, I had an easy ride. I hope we meet again in the next round.”

“Whew, we really had a good combination.”

“I hope so too. Good work, everyone.”

With that communication ending and the battle completely over, we returned to the “waiting area,” where I could immediately see the battle results…

—————————————-

<‘Ancient Empire Capital’ 6th Battle Results>

<Victory>

<Player’s Lost Ships>

<None>

—————————————-

‘Hmmmm, delicious.’

Since Arcadia and Betelgeuse had handled all the direct combat with enemy fleets, including close-quarters battles…

And since I had no small ships and only provided long-range support…

For the first time during the event, I was greeted with the result that my fleet had suffered absolutely no losses, which made me indescribably happy.

‘So this is what being carried feels like.’

Something I hadn’t experienced at all during rounds 1-5, I was finally experiencing it belatedly.

So this is why newbies, and even veteran players who occasionally act senile, whine about wanting to ride on the buses of other veteran players.

Having newly realized one of life’s truths, I felt strongly as if I had gained the kind of enlightenment often mentioned in martial arts novels.

==========

And in the next battle, I was able to enjoy another sweet ride…

“We’re on the same team again.”

“Oh, hello there.”

Surprisingly, Arcadia was paired with me on the same team again.

And there was one more super-sweet advantage I could enjoy…

—————————————-

-[hi hi]

-[hi]

-[hiii]

-[Why do we have one more person?]

-[Yeah]

-[Well our max user count is like 500k, right? When you divide in half, there might be some decimal places in the division?]

-[Ah]

-[The impossible 11th number…!]

-[Oh]

-[That’s so cool]

—————————————-

Perhaps because of how users were classified, with the possibility of byes…

The system had forcibly changed a 10 vs 10 into an 11 vs 10.

Most players had already lost the majority of their fleets after 6 rounds, reducing their numbers significantly.

And now with one more “fleet” added, plus the combination of Arcadia and me who had developed teamwork, joining forces…

The poor enemy team suffered the same kind of bad luck I experience when rolling gacha, and was crushed in pain and sorrow.

Of course, without Betelgeuse from the previous round, we brought along another user we’d never met before as an escort instead…

But naturally, the skill of Betelgeuse was so impressive that even Arcadia and I, who were rankers ourselves, had expressed some admiration.

The escort provided by this temporary user had far more holes than I had anticipated.

As a result of the failed escort…

—————————————-

<‘Ancient Empire Capital’ 7th Battle Results>

<Victory>

<Player’s Lost Ships>

<2 Patrol Ships, 4 Resource Mining Ships>

—————————————-

My free-spirited but ultimately doomed 2 patrol ships couldn’t withstand the enemy’s barrage and met their fate.

Of course, due to the “failed escort,” surviving enemies approached and wiped out more than half of my resource mining ships as well.

But looking at it differently, in exchange for just 2 patrol ships and 4 resource mining ships, I was able to maintain an amazing mi-racle of an 8-win streak…

“Farewell, patrol ships. Stay strong even in the vastness of space.”

“…”

After saluting the patrol ships that had sacrificed themselves to protect the larger ships, especially the Hresvelgr, burning themselves to ashes in loyalty…

I decided to put in effort upon effort for the next battle to come.